The sad news is that the Nashville Sports Council. who job it is to oversee the arena and other facilities and promote sports in Nashville has badgered Freeman to the point that he stepped down as Chairman of the Predators to take the target off the team for the arrows the Council has been firing.
The council has been very short sighted in dealing with Freeman's IRS situation by giving him unrealistic "deadlines" that he has no control over. He is basically waiting the IRS to give him a final dollar figure of what he owes.
He has paid what is not in dispute and is willing to pay the rest once the situation is hashed out. If you are in a big hurry for a decision, you lose any bargaining power you have by having the money in your pocket. It's all legal and above board and could take years to sort out.
The Sports Council is misdirected in taking on the golden goose that saved the Preds from leaving town in 2007. Instead of heavy-handed bargaining for additional terms on the lease, they should be spending the effort encouraging the locals to show up and buy tickets which would be the best way to bring long term stability to the franchise.
POTG Radio...
Last nights POTG Radio show is up on podcast and was a very fast paced show. We had three guests with a wide range of topics.
We had Steve Silver, the President of Sani Sport, who has developed technology to keep hockey players healthy and equipment smelling good. It is quite an impressive process that is more interesting than it sound on paper.
We also had Sheri Magrini from Chicago who has put together the PekkaRinne.com website that has everything you ever wanted to know about Pekka. It is really well done and she truly has a passion for making it a great site. Please give it a look.
In Pred Nation...
John Glennon talked to Paul Fenton last night about the Grebeshkov trade and other potential deals. He also has the lines from practice on Monday with a first line that is kind of retro.
Mark at The View From 111 has a much better discussion on the Freeman tax situation that everyone should read. If only the media would report it in an even handed way like this. Good job Mark! In a separate post, he looks at Boston as a potential suitor for Dan Hamhuis.
With all the local carrying on about David Freeman, here is an obscure article that list Freeman in a potential ownership group for the Detroit Pistons.
Ryan from the RLD previews the Preds at the deadline at Crash the Crease.
Dirk the Forechecker did his research Sunday night and has the dismal findings that Nashville's local TV gave less than minimal coverage to the gold medal game. Dirk also brings back the wildly popular Automatic Trade Rumor Generator. He also takes a look at difficulty of the remaining schedule for all 30 teams.
Section 303 has a few points about the rest of the Preds season.
See Puck City has a great commentary on the trade deadline.
Terry Crisp was on the Thom Abraham show. Forechecker has the audio clip.
The Nashville Post reports that he Olympics have inspired Predators ticket sales more than any other team in the NHL.
Preds101 is back with three things folks should know about the Preds as play resumes.
Around the NHL...
Matt Reitz did yeoman's work in putting together a complete spreadsheet of all UFAs and RFAs as we head into the trade deadline.
Rosie's Rebounds wraps up the Olympics at Inside Hockey.
Pro Hockey Talk debuted at NBC and is headed by former SB Nation and Defending Big D writer Brandon Worley. Maybe Brandon can straighten NBC out on their hockey coverage.
NBC had big ratings for hockey at 17.6 on Sunday and averaged 13.9 during prime time for the whole run. NBC screwed the public one final time when they cut off the closing ceremony early to go to a new TV show at 9:30 Central. They didn't even say good bye.
Here's perspective on the ratings from @Buccigross Sunday's gm drew a higher overnight rating than every World Series gm since '04 AND every NBA Finals telecast since 1998, and every NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four game since at least '98.
From @stevelepore: Game drew a 33 share. Meaning 1 in every 3 Americans with a TV watched. Steve also has a good column looking forward at where things go from here. He also hands out grades. Ouch! More from @stevelepore: The CAN/USA Gold Medal Game drew higher numbers than the Grammy, Rose, Bowl, Masters, Daytona 500. 27.6 million
The IOC dismisses complaints against NBC. What else would they say since they made a billion dollars off NBC.
The What's Brewing Cancer Fundraiser page is up and running. They are having a big party to raise money on March 20th in Jersey City and a radiothon on BTR on the 25th. We will be talking about this more as the time nears. For updates follow @whatsbrewinstock on Twitter.
CNBC classifies hockey as a "niche audience" in a post about the high ratings.
Could ex-MLB players head Donald Fehr be the man to lead the NHL players?
Shawn Gates has an abbreviated Twitter feed from Sunday's gold medal game.
Odds and Ends...
Here are some Twitter tools to evaluate your effectiveness.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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