June 27, 2024 • 45 mins
With construction set to begin on the new Nissan Stadium, Owen and Stoney take this opportunity to relive the glory days of The Colosseum, LP Field, and Nissan Stadium throughout the years, and wonder what it'll take to get the homefield advantage it used to have back for the new stadium.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
From so Bros HQ in Nashville,Tennessee to wherever you're cheering on your Tennessee
Titans. The Sobros Network prients theUnofficial Titans Podcast. Welcome back for another
(00:36):
episode of the Unofficial Titans Podcast righthere on so Bros Network. Mind's right
asses Tight as offseason Content twenty twentyfour rolls on today, We're gonna be
paying homage to the great Nissan Stadium. They're tearing up the parking lots.
You ain't gonna be able to tailgatethis season. They're already starting the construction
(00:58):
on the new stadium that's gonna bein Nashville here in a few years time,
and Owen and I thought it wouldbe nice to take a trip down
memory lane and relive some of ourNissan Stadium experiences. This is the latest
in a series of off season episodesthat have been pretty good so far this
season. I'd say Owen and Ilooked at the Titans Jags rivalry at the
(01:23):
season premiere. We got to knowa to z Sports Film Rooms James Foster
a little bit. Zach and Idove into the career of Lindell White a
couple of weeks ago you never knowwhere this thing's gonna take you. Of
course, if you don't know already, I am your host for the show
The EIC at Sobros. Network,Big Natural, Stony Keeley. You can
(01:46):
catch all my Tennessee Titans coverage atStackingtheinbox dot Com. Got some good film
studies up there. Not too longago, Zach and I did an end
depth breakdown of the Bill Callahan runscheme at the Cleveland Browns and how we
think that might project to his tenurewith the Titans, as well a lot
of in depth stuff there. NFLdraft coverage five bucks a month, cup
(02:07):
of coffee a month, and youget access to all that stuff. But
of course I couldn't do it alone. I wouldn't want to do this episode
alone. And I've got my guywith me, my co host for the
Unofficial Titans Podcast. He is CinderellaMan. One take Oh, coming to
us from the freshly repaired Dad Zone, Outspoken, Owen Reid, Owen,
(02:30):
how you doing today? My man? Hey everybody, Hey, Stony,
It's true. We've gone from theSad Zone back to the Dad Zone.
Here we go. I've got that, I've got that Friday feeling. Tgif
we're finally here, I'm doing good. How about you, buddy. It's
a beautiful day in Nashville. I'mjust you know what, I got rice
(02:51):
cooking in the microwave. It's agreat day to be alive. Brother.
Absolutely so Nissan Stadium. Your likeinitial reaction, just is it time for
Nashville to get this new stadium,this new home for the Tennessee Titans.
Yeah. I mean as many goodmemories as I have with Dson Stadium,
(03:14):
it's definitely dated and you could justtell every time you go to it that
you know, the NFL is ontobigger and better now. And if you
ever, you know, take atrip down to like Mercedes Benz or one
of these newer stadiums, there's justthe quality there is just so much higher.
The experience is better. So Ilove Dyson Stadium, but yeah,
(03:38):
it's time for an upgrade. Soif you didn't already notice, if you
didn't already know this, I can'teven read my own notes. Like I
said, they're gonna start tearing upthe parking lots. I don't remember when
I know that. Basically by thetime the season starts, I have no
clue where fans are going to gatherbefore the game, and it's kind of
(04:00):
the first domino to fall, right, Like, so far we've we've just
talked about the new stadium and allthat stuff, but now like, oh
shit, it's here, We're notgoing to be able to tailgate. Did
you were you a big tailgater?Owen? Do you have any any memories
of tailgating out in that parking lot? You know, I will say,
and this is not to detract fromany of the Titans tailgaters. There's a
(04:24):
lot of time honored tradition that goeson there. But I think the unique
thing about Nissan Stadium is that it'ssituated within walking distance of Broadway. Yep.
So you know, not that Iyou know, I'm okay with losing
out on traditional tailgating, but Ifeel like the natural move for most Titans
(04:46):
games or events at Nissan Stadium isthat you go downtown, you know,
you kind of you get the pregameexperience there and then walk over to Nisson.
So I think that's still an effect. It does suck to see,
like all the the tight knit Titanscommunities kind of lose a spot when it
comes to tailgating. Actually in NissanStadium, But you know, I don't
(05:11):
have I've never been a tailgater thereand I don't have any memories associated with
it. Yeah, I've done ita couple of times, and it is
it is pretty fun. I didit once. And the reason I don't
do it it's not like I don'thave anything against tailgating. I think tailgating
is really fun. I just neverhave a parking pass to park at the
stadium. So like, if I'vegot a park at the garage and I'm
(05:36):
I'm not lugging a cooler from thefucking courthouse across the river down into the
stadium parking lot. I don't evenknow if you can do that. I
feel like somebody might stop you ifyou're trying to do that. But you
know, I'm gonna go somewhere whereI can just sit and have a few
drinks and then make my walk overand not have to worry about all that
stuff. So I'm kind of withyou. Like, man, when Buffalo
(05:58):
Billiards was open, oh god,we'd go in there and just get completely
tore up and then stumble across thepedestrian bridge over in Bernissan Stadium. But
there were a couple of times thatI got to do it. I got
to do it on a one ofthe Thursday night Jags games where it's just
like beautiful night, and I wantto say it was like October beautiful night
(06:20):
in Nashville, where it's that timeof year where it's still kind of warm
outside but kind of cooling off atnight. A little bit, had a
beautiful golden hour stroll across the pedestrianbridge, and then we met up with
my hookup, the guy that gotus the tickets. He had a buddy
that was parked over there, andwe got to go do the whole thing,
(06:41):
like tossing a football around in theparking lot, eating some barbecue,
some brisket, and just kind ofhanging out, crushing some Diet Miller's before
the game. And I do rememberthinking like, I'm not a big game
guy to begin with. I goto maybe one game a year, and
much less like tailgate guy. I'vejust never been tailgate guy. It's fun.
(07:04):
But I did go that night andthink like, oh man, I
get it. I get why thisis so special for so many people.
And you're bonding over the guy thathas the season parking pass next to you,
and you get to know these people, you create friends. I think
it's a really important way to createcommunity. And I'm kind of with you,
(07:25):
man, like I hope that theTitans fans that do that kind of
stuff have figured out a way tokeep that tradition going, because I do
think it's it's important in football ingeneral in a larger sense. What about
you, how do you feel aboutgoing to the games? Like? Are
you a big game day guy?Or are you like me and I'd just
(07:46):
rather like sit at home and watchit on the couch. Yeah, I'm
with you. I try to goto one game of season. I don't
think I hit one last year,though, But I either I'd much prefer
either to watch it at my placeor you know, maybe make the walk
over to Alley Pub and watch itthere. I'm just not a big in
(08:09):
person Nissan Stadium experienced guy, justbecause you know, there's the hassle of
getting downtown. There's all kinds ofpeople at Nissan Stadium, some of which
are just there to have terrible timesand ruin your time. You know,
(08:30):
there's just a whole lot that goesinto it. Yeah, I'm with you
when I do go and this drivesmy wife nuts, but I can't see
for shit. And we get likethese seats down near the ground, near
near field level, and if theygo to the other side of the field,
you can't even see what's happening.So when we do go, I
(08:52):
actually like to get the nosebleed seatsup top because I tell my wife,
I'm like, this is like watchingAll twenty two in real life, Like
I can see, I can seethe entire field what's going on from up
here. But I'm with you.I try to make it to at least
a game a year. And nowpeople are rolling their eyes like these two
(09:15):
dudes that never go to Nissan Stadiumare trying to to pay tribute to the
glory days of Nissan Stadium. Butyou know what, that's what we do
here on the Unofficial Titans Podcast.Now, I will say, you know,
in defend I regularly go to NissanStadium, maybe not on game days,
(09:35):
but the Titans are actually really goodabout hosting a lot of fun events
for Titans fans. Oh yeah,yeah at Nissan Stadium. So I'm quick
to sign up for that if youcould get me, you know, to
a Titans event where it's going tobe Titans fans and people that love the
Titans. I'm there for it.Game days a little different though, And
that's kind of couples into the Broadwayexperience that you get a lot of the
(09:58):
tourists and maybe people that don't loveNashville like we love Nashville. Uh.
And I think that creates kind ofa you know, it's a unique opportunity
for them, but can also createproblems. I'm glad you said that,
man, because like you've been toa couple of the draft parties that they've
had over there, haven't you.What what are those like? Man?
(10:18):
Those are just the highest vibes.It's it's always a fun time. Uh.
I've gone I think the past,I don't know, maybe four out
of five drafts Uh, okay,and just every year it's you know,
they do the locker room tours,tons of giveaways, a lot of fun
(10:39):
events you can do meet and greetswith uh, you know, old Titans,
current Titans. Uh. It's justa ton of fun. Uh.
A lot of a lot of diehardTitans fans there. And I would highly
recommend any time that the Titans hostthat draft party to go. So what
do you think we've we've gotten alittle bit of the concer art that has
(11:01):
been published by the Titans. Whatdo you think of just like the look
of the new Nissan Stadium that we'regoing to be having here in a few
years. Well, from the outside, it looks like a PlayStation, so
that's kind of cool. It doeskind of look like a spaceship of sorts.
But from the inside, it lookslike it's going to be a top
tier, you know experience. Youknow, they they've really been talking about
(11:24):
emphasizing how it's not necessarily you know, just cramming as many people as possible
in there, that they really wantedto be a special, luxurious experience.
So I think that's cool. It'sgonna, you know, limit opportunities for
tickets even more so now than before, but I think if you're able to
(11:46):
get in there, that it'll beone worth having. It kind of feels
like a smart move though, becauseI think for a long time the focus
was primarily on how many seats canwe fit in this thing? But man,
like the times are changing. Youand I are both examples of that.
(12:07):
Like, it's a better viewing experienceto just sit on your couch and
watch it home, and I thinkthe last couple of times that I've been
to Nissan Stadium for a game,there have been plenty of open seats available.
So I think you're starting to seeI think you'll start to see this
trend continue where cities are focusing onsmaller stadiums, better experience to get people
(12:30):
back out to them. You thinkthat's the right call, if that's the
natural progression of things. Yeah,absolutely, I think, not even just
within the realm of football, butI think everything started to cater to you
know, what kind of big experiencethey can give somebody. You know,
Yeah, you have the sphere inLas Vegas that's just like this massive production
(12:54):
every year you see, you know, WrestleMania is getting bigger, the Super
Bowls getting big and not biggers insize, but bigger is in just the
show that's put on. So Ithink that following that trend will benefit Titan.
I kind of see this as aas a sort of marker of Nashville's
growth, that we're going to geta stadium like this. It almost feels
(13:18):
like the culmination of all of thebuilding up of Broadway and downtown and all
the hotels and the fancy new restaurantsand bars, and all of this growth
kind of seems to be culminating towardsthis East Bank project, where it's not
just the stadium. It's going tobe over there, but they're building restaurants
and hotel space and living space,and it kind of feels like this whole
(13:43):
part of town is going to changeover the course of the next couple of
years. What do you think itsays about Nashville as a city, Like,
is this the payoff for the lastdecade's worth of growth or do you
see this as more of just themachine getting bigger and bigger and almost out
(14:05):
of control. Yeah, I don'tknow how I want to take that necessarily.
That's an interesting question because the cynicin me says that Nashville's kind of
growing at a rate that it's justexpanding without necessarily having direction. Yeah,
you know, maybe maybe the thouStadium could be a focal point to build
(14:26):
around, but I'm not sure.I don't know. How do you feel
about it? Yeah, I'm kindof at a at a point where I
felt like this level of growth overthe last specifically the last couple of years,
kind of feels unsustainable. And Ihave been that cynic recently, saying
(14:46):
like, man, there's like ata certain point the bubble's going to burst,
and the bubble just never really seemsto burst. So to me,
it kind of feels like that nextstep as a city where yeah, Nissan
Stadium is great and they do cmafestthere every year and there's a ton of
people that flock to it, butit's not really a place that we're getting
(15:09):
those premium events, and as anentertainment city, as a sports city,
this kind of feels it kind ofdoes feel like the icing on the cake,
where we get this stadium, weare going to start seeing a lot
bigger events come to town, likethe super Bowl, like maybe in National
(15:31):
Championship Final four, that kind ofstuff. And that's not even getting into
the entertainment stuff like cmafes that I'msure will continue there and who knows what
else they can cook up and thebig concerts and events and all that stuff.
So I'm kind of looking inward likeStony, maybe you just were overthinking
(15:54):
this thing and this really is justgoing to take Nashville to another level.
But I do still have that voicein the back of my head that just
kind of feels like, man,this is kind of excessive for what has
been a small town for a longtime and still has the infrastructure of a
small town. It just seems likeit's gonna make things harder. So I
(16:15):
don't know. That's why I wascurious to ask you, because I kind
of feel conflicted about it too.No, I'm with you one hundred percent.
I think one of the big thingsthat always sticks at with me when
they're talking about the expansion of Nashvilleand how it's gonna go getting these big
events is transportation. Honestly, becausethere is no public transportation, and in
(16:38):
order to have you know, theSuper Bowls and the you know football,
you know, NCAA Championship, anythinglike that final fours, I think you
need some sort of public transportation.So I think that's one thing that Nashville's
made possibly neglecting, not possibly,is neglecting active believe that would have to
(17:00):
be addressed before that could happen.I think the World Cup was potentially going
to happen, uh, And whenit came down, they were like,
you know, top four in transportationwas the big issue that was cited as
to why they weren't picked. Yeah, so getting there I guess one one
(17:22):
would hope anyway getting there, thegrowing growing pains of a of an it
city trying to emerge as a bigcity. So I'm gonna ask the basic
question. At least, I'm abasic bitch when it comes to this,
events that you want to see onceNashville gets this new stadium, It's easy
for me. I'd say the superBowl. I'd say a national championship in
(17:45):
college football. I would also sayWrestleMania, which we know we're going to
get at some point, But whatare what are some events that you'd like
to see once this, once thisbad boy opens up. Yeah, WrestleMania's
you know, the top for meobviously. Uh, you know, I've
never been always wanted to go,and it would be pretty cool for the
(18:07):
first time for it to happen inNashville. Yeah, a super Bowl would
be wild. I'm trying to thinkwhat else, just you know, I
feel like seeing these big tours comethrough, and I think having you know,
a premium spot like that, youknow, maybe another tailor tour there
we go. Yeah, why notlet's talk about the old days a little
(18:29):
bit and remembering when I don't know, I would say I would say the
old Coliseum days, Steve and Eddie, the home field advantage that those early
year Titans had as far as likehome field advantage, crowd environment goes,
I would say that was probably peakNissan Stadium, which back then I think
(18:52):
it was just the Adelphia Colisseum.But we need to bring the Colosseum name
back, by the way, we'refucking tight. Absolutely, Titans do their
bidding, do their battles, whateverin colisseums. So anyway, do you
think it's fair to say that thatwas kind of the height of the home
field advantage that that stadium had.Yeah. Absolutely, I'm one hundred percent
(19:15):
with you on calling it. Itcould be Nissan Colisseum. It's not that
hard. There's no reason for itjust to be a stadium, yep.
But I think I think that waspart of it that, you know,
give me that kind of uniqueness tothe team, that it was new to
Nashville and people were really excited toclaim it as their own. They made
(19:37):
Adelphia Colisseum and then the Coliseum kindof that that exciting experience. I'm curious
how you will weigh in on thisone, but what do you think the
secret sauce for that was. Doyou think it was just that it was
a city that at the time wasn'tas populated with tour like you had a
(20:00):
more local fan base that was justsuper excited to have the NFL in town
and so they got behind their team. Or do you think it was just
as simple as hey, the team'sgood, the team's good, and when
you're winning, your fans are goingto get behind you. I think it
was a good combination of both.You know, the Titans had a hot
(20:21):
start, but I also think thatNashville was kind of, you know,
a big city, not as bigas it blew up to be, but
still, you know, one ofthe bigger cities that kind of cramed football
because you know, before the Titansplayed here, you know, you had
the Vanderbilt Commodores, which is,you know, not football. So if
(20:45):
you wanted to go see a footballgame in a big stadium, you know,
you'd either have to go all theway to Knoxville or Memphis, you
know, maybe Atlanta to watch theFalcons something like that. But I think
that when the Titans came to Nashville, you know, really provided that opportunity
for fans to lock in and belike Okay, this is ours. We've
never had it before and we'd loveto have it. Yeah, I'm kind
(21:08):
of with you. It kind offeels like a convergence of of many factors
kind of contributing to that the teamstarted to stink. I don't know if
the shine wore off or what,but by the mid two thousands, I
can remember going to I was atthe Chargers ot game where Ladanian Tomlinson scores
(21:30):
the walk off touchdown in overtime andup in the nosebleeds, like we just
that was kind of the first timeI noticed and there's there's a lot of
Chargers fans up here and it waslp Field at the time. There were
signs everywhere that said lt Field AndI just got an error on Skype for
(21:53):
some reason. So I don't know, can you still hear me owen?
Yeah, I could hear you.Okay, cool, We're gonna keep it
going then, So remember signs therebeing like lt Field, And that was
the first time that I kind ofthought to myself, like, and this
doesn't feel like the Colisseum days fromjust a few a few years ago,
(22:14):
and ever since then, with allthe growth, it's become such a popular
travel destination for other fan bases becauseit's usually a cheaper trip to get out
to Nashville. It's a fun city. You can go out on Broadway,
the perfect three night town where ifyou want to fly in Friday night and
get drunk on Broadway and get drunkall day Saturday and go to the game
(22:36):
on Sunday, you can do it. And I'm I'm just curious as Nashville
kind of seems to lean into itsown decadence and how they're going to build
up this stadium. Not saying there'sanything wrong with that, by the way,
but they're just, you know,like they're they're sticking with what works
for sure from a branding standpoint.Do you think it's okay for the Titans
(22:56):
for that to happen or is therea timeline where Nashville kind of becomes like
Miami, Florida, where the generalidea is there's so much to do down
there that you don't get a lotof diehard fans at the games because there's
so many people there that are thatare traveling, there's so many things to
(23:18):
do in town. It just kindof seems like the football team can become
an afterthought at times, and definitelylike with the baseball team, even and
when the heat weren't good, theyweren't filling those arenas. Do you see
a scenario where Nashville kind of becomeslike that because of how much they're leaning
into the entertainment industry or is thereis there a scenario where you know,
(23:42):
there can there can be a goodhome field advantage in this stadium. Yeah,
I think that's a very frustrating scenario. Another one that comes to mind
wash when Matthew Stafford's wife was talkingabout how when the Rams were playing in
Los Angeles, it like it feltlike nothing but away games. Yeah,
And I think that lately the Titanshave felt that same way that you know,
(24:04):
they they don't really cater to thathome audience and they're you know,
open, and this all sounds verynegative towards tourism. I understand the tourism
drives the you know market downtown,but also like you know, there are
people here in Nashville that love Nashvilleand live here year round that don't just
(24:25):
come to you know, trash Broadwayfor a weekend and then go back to
their lives that their lives are basedhere. So uh yeah, I would
I would hopefully like to see I'mnot sure what that would look like,
but something to where you know,uh, you know, the Nashville home
audience is appreciated. You know whatI think, Man, I think,
(24:48):
I think if I were to guess, this is just me recklessly speculating,
which we do from time to timeon this show. I kind of feel
like that's part of why Amy AdamsStrunk made the coaching switch, to try
and get the get the gears turning, so to speak, and rebuilding this
(25:11):
franchise on the field, understanding thatthe quickest way to get that home field
advantage is to get a good competitivefootball team, and you start building.
Now by the time you know,again, this is all assuming you've made
the right choice at general manager,you've made the right choice at head coach,
(25:33):
you've made the right choice at quarterback. If those things pan out,
and the vision for what this Titansteam can become under this regime, if
they execute upon that and they growinto that, by the time the stadium
opens, maybe the belief is thatthat place is going to be rocking,
like Titans fans are going to bechomping at the bit to get to that
(25:53):
place. And rep their team,and I think that might be part of
the goal here, and I wouldn'tbe that you what do you think about
beyond the field building and vision projectingtowards home field advantage and getting the fans
back so to speak. Yeah,I mean, I agree, winning obviously
(26:15):
makes everything better, but you know, we're not too far out removed from
twenty twenty and twenty twenty ONEFC championDAMC South champions. I'm sorry, and
we still kind of felt that,like, you know, just lack of
identity when it came to Nissan Stadium. So I'm not sure. I do
think that's a great start, butI'm not sure what that fully entails to
(26:41):
bring Nashville back to Nissan. Ican't we can't talk about Nissan Stadium without
talking about the dollhouses because A really, I don't know, man, you
look around the league at other stadiums, and I don't know the story behind
the dollhouses. Maybe maybe we canget a reporter out there to kind of
(27:03):
dig it up, but it kindof stuck out across NFL stadiums that the
Titans just had these dollhouses and bothend zones. What did you what did
you make of them? Were youwere you for them or against them?
Well? I actually do know thestory of the dollhouses and the end zones.
So that was kind of a lateraddition into Nissan Stadium. Uh,
(27:26):
it was back when it was LPField, So the lp uh where it
was a building contractor company. Sothey made the end zone uh you know,
concession stands and everything looked like housesbasically. How about that? I
never knew though the year. Yeah. So yeah, it's kind of an
(27:48):
interesting thing. It's a it's aunique look to it. It's a fun
thing to like. You know,when the new Madden comes out every year,
you try to see how detailed itis. So I think it's a
cool thing that stands out. It'sa it's an interesting part of its history.
I know. Uh, the changeto LP Field was wildly unpopular amongst
local you know fan base. Uhjust didn't like it. You know,
(28:11):
it was always the Coliseum or AdelphiaColiseum and just LP Fields fell so flat
and boring. I like Nissan Stadiumbetter than LP Field, but it wouldn't
take much to beat that name outanyways. But yeah, just the story
of the dollhouses, how much ofthat was just because nobody knew what the
fuck LP was. Honestly, LPdoesn't bother me as much as Field does.
(28:38):
It's so boring. Yeah, ifyou call it LP Coliseum, I'd
do better with it. I justremember thinking at the time, like,
who who is LP? Why arethey naming the stadium like and having to
google, like what is this company? And what do they do? How
did they get the money to rights? I also don't know what a delpie.
(29:00):
Well that's fair too, but nobodycalled it Adelphia Colisseum. They just
called it the Colosseum. But youcouldn't just call it the field when it
was LP Field. I don't know, right, No, I don't feel
like the sponsor was as top ofmind when it was the Adelphia Colisseum.
I still couldn't tell you what Adelphiadoes is was I don't know if they're
(29:22):
still around, I don't know.I don't know. I just the one
thing I think we can agree onis that they just need to bring the
Colisseum name back out here at theColiseum watching the Titans. Yeah, I
did not realize there were so manypeople that were so angry about the dollhouses.
But every year they would they wouldcall for them to be removed.
(29:45):
And a few years ago when NissanStadium underwent, like all these millions of
dollars worth of renovations, I rememberthat being a big thing. People were
saying, like, tear the fuckingdollhouses down. We don't want them,
we don't want them. I willsay, I think the food choices have
improved quite a bit throughout the yearsfrom from Logan's Roadhouse. Listen, I'm
(30:10):
not throwing shade at Logan's Roadhouse,but if you ask me, I'm gonna
pick Slimmer Huskies over Logan's Roadhouse everyday of the week. So I like
that Slimmer Huskies is in the buildingright now. What are some Nashville restaurants
that if we can, if wecan play booker so to speak, to
borrow a term from the wrestling world, we're playing booker here. Who are
(30:30):
some some Nashville What are some Nashvillerestaurants that you would hope make it to
the new Nissan Stadium and you'd liketo see in that building for game day?
Man, that is such a greatquestion, So Tony, I don't
know, has there ever been likea loveless booth like could you imagine going
to the Titans. You know,we're usually a noon team. So imagine
(30:52):
going to Nissan Stadium. You gothere, Loveless is offering brunch, you
have a dice, you watch theTitans game. I like that quite a
bit. Man. I want likeput a Dino's in Nissan Stadium. Put
a dino maybe a Browns Diner,and just go get like a greasy diner
(31:15):
cheeseburger and some fries, go geta cold beer. And I'm good with
that. I don't know. See, here's the thing, Like, i
love Nashville hot chicken, but I'vegot to be able to just like sit
and relax for a little bit.I don't see how people eat hot chicken.
Maybe when it's like cold outside,it hits right. But we were
(31:37):
at the Patriots preseason game last August, where it's like the hottest game ever
played at Nissan Stadium or whatever,and I saw a dude housing hot chicken
and just sweating profusely, and Ithought, like, this dude's heart's about
to explode out of his chest.So I'm I'm going the burger route.
I think the burger route. Maybesome Daddy's dog Daddy's dogs in there too
(32:01):
would be pretty good. They're regularlya Titan sponsor, are they? I
could remember if they were in thestadium now or not. They are,
yeah, because I remember seeing themat that Patriots game and thinking like,
I'm full because we ate at thedistillery before the game. I'm hot,
I'm dehydrated. There's a chance ifI eat this hot dog, I'm gonna
(32:22):
die. So I don't need todo it, but man, it's really
cool to know that these are there. So yeah, the Nashville Institution,
Daddy's Dogs, Daddy's Dogs, andDino's Man, and I'm I'm set right
there. So let's talk about someof our our favorite memories at Nissan Stadium.
As we kind of wrap this conversationup a little bit, I jotted
(32:44):
down a few of the games thatI that I've been to. I mentioned
that Chargers overtime game maybe, uh, probably the best game that I've been
to in person. Really good game. You hated to see it kind of
go the way that it did withLadanian Tomlinson, one of the all time
greats. Super stoked that I gotto see him play in person. But
(33:06):
then he you know, goes offin overtime on a touchdown run that sends
the Titans into the el column.But that was a cool game to see
him play, and it was kindof like seeing Lebron James play for the
first time in person because you justkind of notice, I don't think it
comes across on TV, just howhow much better they are than the people
(33:29):
around him. Like Lebron James justseemed to move at a different speed than
everybody else on the court. Andthat was a lot like watching Ladanian Tomlinson
in that game. It was justlike he moved at a different speed than
everybody else on the field, andit was it was really cool to see
that. What what games have youbeen to Owen? What what comes to
(33:49):
the top of your mind when thinkingabout your your memories of your your game
days at Nissan Stadium. Man,I gotta go with the first game I
ever went to. Uh. Iwant to say this is August two thousand
and two. It was a RaidersTitans preseason games. We had lower Bowls,
(34:10):
you know, ticket It was meand my dad. I remember like
going out there and being like,oh man, there aren't yellow highlighters on
the field to mark the first down. Like that first in person experienced of
just being at a football game andseeing how actually big it is in person
(34:31):
compared to just watching it on TV. So I got to say that's probably
my most memorable and one of myfavorites. I've been to a lot of
preseason games as well. I wasat the preseason Bears game back in I
guess it was twenty seventeen or whatever. That was the game that Ryan and
I went to, and we gotfaced at Joe's Crabshack before we went over.
(34:52):
I think we probably we probably eachhad a gallon of beer and ate
a ton of Old Bay Wings,and then we walked over to the stadium
and that was where we started makingthe jokes about Dennis Kelly. And we
were talking about, like, man, let's like run a competition where the
(35:12):
winner of this contest gets to takea shower with Dennis Kelly. And we
were saying just all this stupid offthe wall shit, and all the people
around us were looking at us,like, who the fuck let these guys
into the stadium. And so thenI go home and I write all of
this stuff up in an article,a quote unquote article. I write the
whole day up, and the nextthing I know, like Dennis Kelly is
(35:37):
sharing the articles like this is awesomeman, and then I still hear from
Dennis from time to time to thisday, all these all these years later,
this this friendship struck up all becausewe were drunk and trying to run
a contest for somebody to take ashower with the guy. So that was
a memorable game. Couldn't tell youwhat happened on the field, just that
(35:59):
that joke was born, born outof that game, and the bit has
been running all these years since.I was at the Mark Marianni game when
he broke his leg, And youknow, like that's one thing that I
think I never really realized until Isaw something like that in person. You're
watching the TV broadcast, they're gonnacut the camera away and show the announcers
(36:22):
talking for a little bit, butwhen you're in the stadium, it's just
right there, like there's nothing theycan do. And I can remember,
like before they got the towel overhim, I was with my now wife
and it was, you know,nice, nice date night, nice date
night at Nissan Stadium, and allof a sudden, I'm trying to fight
back vomit because I can see adude's bone sticking out of his leg.
(36:45):
That was that was. That wasa pretty rough one. And then,
like I mentioned before, the Patriotspreseason game last August, Brandon, our
resident film critic, and I wentto see that and uh, it was
it was. It was fucking hot. I mean I wore gym shortz and
(37:07):
a sleeveless T shirt to try andstay as cool as possible. And we
went to I don't even remember thename of the place. We went to
the Stillery for dinner, and thenwe went to have drinks at some some
bar that didn't have air conditioning atthe time on Second Avenue. We're just
miserable. We're roasting in this place. We walk over to Nissan Stadium dripping
(37:29):
wet with sweat, and you know, we're just kind of like, man,
if we can make it to halftime, and just you know, at
a certain point you have the tickets, you want to go, and it
is kind of cool to say,oh, I was at the hottest game
ever at Nissan Stadium. And thenwe're we're roaming around the stadium. We
run into our buddy Brett and we'restanding at the end zone just uh,
(37:51):
just chit chatting, catching up alittle bit and the next thing I know,
I see Lance Smith, who isthe Titans game day host I think
I think is his position title.I'm not sure, but we're mutuals on
Twitter and he's looking for somebody toanswer the trivia questions to win a prize
or something like that, and sowe just happened to be standing next to
(38:13):
him and he walks over to ourbuddy Brett and he's like, Hey,
would you like to do this triviathing? And then he looks at me.
He's like, what's your name?And I said I'm Stony and he's
like, oh, you're Stony,like the Stony on Twitter. And I'm
like, yeah, that's me.That's me Lance. Nice to meet you.
And then we hung out with himfor like twenty minutes and did this
trivia thing they put us up there. I'm getting like my phone's blowing up,
(38:35):
like what, how the fuck didyou? Why are you on the
h the jumbo tron right now?What are you doing? And it was
a really cool, really cool experience. Lance was awesome for that, and
I think I went to a coupleof Primetime games. I mentioned the Thursday
night Jags game. Really happy thatI got to go to one of those,
like the most iconic games in Titanshistory, Thursday night against the Jags,
(38:59):
and my wife and I went toa Monday night game against the Colts,
which was which was freaking awesome.I don't remember if they even won
the game or not, but thatwas a pretty rowdy environment, probably the
rowdiest game that I've ever been toat Nissan Stadium. What about you,
Owen, did you ever make itto any primetime games? You know,
(39:20):
not that I could think of?Those Jags tickets on Thursday Night were always
cheap the day of because nobody gavea shit. Nobody gave a shit.
They never picked the Titans Jags whenthey were both good. There's like one
of the teams was gonna go toand fourteen that season. They were that
(39:42):
bad. I think my favorite gamethat I went to, though, was
really really awesome. My father inlaw, my wife's from Jersey, grew
up in Jersey. Father in lawhuge Giants fan. He flew down a
couple of years ago. We wereat the game where Fat Randy misses the
field goal that would have won thegame for the Titans and kind of sent
(40:06):
the entire season off on the wrongfoot. And a downward spiral that the
Titans ultimately couldn't couldn't get themselves outof. But it was cool to kind
of share that experience. It washis first time at Nissan Stadium, his
first time at a Titans game.You know, we made the trip for
Mount Juliet. We stopped at TenfoldBrewing for some beers and some food before
(40:28):
the game, and then we hada parking pass, so we actually parked
at the lot. We mosied aroundsome tailgates a little bit, go into
the stadium and to share that experiencewith him was pretty awesome. I hate
that the Titans lost that game theway that they did, but it was
still a thrilling contest, a nailbier to the end, and really cool
to get to share that moment withmy wife and my father in law.
(40:51):
What would you say some of yourother greatest hits from Nissan Stadium before we
wrap things up to day? Ohman, I think back. This was
twenty sixteen. I got hit upby a couple of friends to go to
the game. So it was me, Jeremiah Plunkett, hey friend of the
(41:13):
brand, buzzed up and Doug Markhamand we got to go to the game
Sunday and we got We talked Douginto getting the Titans logo spray painted on
the ball of his head. Sothat was pretty day. That's awesome.
That's awesome, love to hear it. What about what about other events not
Titans related, that you've been toat Nissan Stadium, Man, SummerSlam was
(41:39):
so cool to go to Seed onthat big platform. The Era's tour for
Taylor Swift was awesome. There's beenI've seen Taylor twice at Nissan Stadium and
both times were just phenomenal experiences,high production value. But yeah, those
two definitely stick out to me.I think the SummerSlam twenty twenty two was
(42:04):
the best thing I've done in thatstadium not Titans related, like that was
just and maybe Titans rate it relatedincluded too, Like it was. It
was awesome. We had a wholetroop with us. We went out to
the Bearded Iris tap room beforehand fora party there drinking beers, hitting the
hitting the stadium, drinking some morebeers, watching brock Lesnar bring out a
(42:30):
tractor and turn over the ring andall that. Like it was. It
was an awesome nightman. I wouldsay at My lowest point at Nissan Stadium
was being inside Nissan Stadium for thefiasco at the Garth Brooks concert back in
I think that was twenty twenty one. That was a nightmare that I have
a full diary of up on sobrosnetworkdot com if you go there and just
(42:52):
search Garth Brooks. But that wasthat was a nightmare. Like a thunderstorm
breaks out, severe thunder storm breaksout, We're all stuck in the concourse.
We're all still freaked out because we'renot too far removed from the COVID
lockdown, so your shoulder to shouldercrammed in like sardines. There's people passing
out in the concourse because it's sohot. And then they finally tell us
(43:15):
that the show's being postponed and theyjust turn us loose. And my wife
and I had called an uber toget to the stadium, so we had
to walk back. We had tomake the trek from Nissan Stadium back across
the pedestrian bridge just to find aspot to get a lift back to our
car. Oh man, it was. It was awful. So hopefully,
(43:37):
hopefully less of that. Hopefully therewill be room for us to shelter in
place at the new stadium. Butthat's all I got. Man, that's
the end of end of my noteshere. Do you have any parting thoughts
on old Nissan Stadium before we sendher home today? No? I mean,
I'm just thankful to have it.While I had it was great.
(44:00):
A lot of core memories made there, and I'm excited for some new ones
to be made at the new Nison. It does feel really cool that Titans
fans have those memories to look backon, and I think it'll be one
of those things that the old headsbond over later in life. You know,
you remember the Adelphia Coliseum days,you remember the LP Field days,
(44:21):
you remember the dollhouses, that sortof stuff. I think it's it's cool,
and I also think it's cool.It's a sign of longevity for this
team that it's stuck around long enoughto get a new stadium, And it's
kind of a reminder of where thisthis franchise is at in its history in
Tennessee, that, you know what, we were starting to develop a rich
(44:45):
history and maybe it's not all great, but we're a few we're a few
generations into this now, so prettycool reminder of that all right, Owen,
we're gonna get on out of heretoday. Thank you guys listening.
Who knows what's coming next on offseasonContinent, you just you never know.
Got a couple of cool things inthe pipeline. Catch up on this season's
(45:07):
recent episodes. I kind of highlightedthem at the top of the show.
But we've got some good stuff alreadypublished. We've got some good stuff coming
before we shift gears and focus onthe twenty twenty four season in July.
This has been a fun one,Owen. I appreciate your time. He
is outspoken, Owen reed, andI am big natural Stony Keeley. Until
(45:28):
next time, you stay classy,Titans fans.
From so Bros HQ in Nashville,Tennessee to wherever you're cheering on your Tennessee
Titans. The Sobros Network prients theUnofficial Titans Podcast. Welcome back for another
(00:36):
episode of the Unofficial Titans Podcast righthere on so Bros Network. Mind's right
asses Tight as offseason Content twenty twentyfour rolls on today, We're gonna be
paying homage to the great Nissan Stadium. They're tearing up the parking lots.
You ain't gonna be able to tailgatethis season. They're already starting the construction
(00:58):
on the new stadium that's gonna bein Nashville here in a few years time,
and Owen and I thought it wouldbe nice to take a trip down
memory lane and relive some of ourNissan Stadium experiences. This is the latest
in a series of off season episodesthat have been pretty good so far this
season. I'd say Owen and Ilooked at the Titans Jags rivalry at the
(01:23):
season premiere. We got to knowa to z Sports Film Rooms James Foster
a little bit. Zach and Idove into the career of Lindell White a
couple of weeks ago you never knowwhere this thing's gonna take you. Of
course, if you don't know already, I am your host for the show
The EIC at Sobros. Network,Big Natural, Stony Keeley. You can
(01:46):
catch all my Tennessee Titans coverage atStackingtheinbox dot Com. Got some good film
studies up there. Not too longago, Zach and I did an end
depth breakdown of the Bill Callahan runscheme at the Cleveland Browns and how we
think that might project to his tenurewith the Titans, as well a lot
of in depth stuff there. NFLdraft coverage five bucks a month, cup
(02:07):
of coffee a month, and youget access to all that stuff. But
of course I couldn't do it alone. I wouldn't want to do this episode
alone. And I've got my guywith me, my co host for the
Unofficial Titans Podcast. He is CinderellaMan. One take Oh, coming to
us from the freshly repaired Dad Zone, Outspoken, Owen Reid, Owen,
(02:30):
how you doing today? My man? Hey everybody, Hey, Stony,
It's true. We've gone from theSad Zone back to the Dad Zone.
Here we go. I've got that, I've got that Friday feeling. Tgif
we're finally here, I'm doing good. How about you, buddy. It's
a beautiful day in Nashville. I'mjust you know what, I got rice
(02:51):
cooking in the microwave. It's agreat day to be alive. Brother.
Absolutely so Nissan Stadium. Your likeinitial reaction, just is it time for
Nashville to get this new stadium,this new home for the Tennessee Titans.
Yeah. I mean as many goodmemories as I have with Dson Stadium,
(03:14):
it's definitely dated and you could justtell every time you go to it that
you know, the NFL is ontobigger and better now. And if you
ever, you know, take atrip down to like Mercedes Benz or one
of these newer stadiums, there's justthe quality there is just so much higher.
The experience is better. So Ilove Dyson Stadium, but yeah,
(03:38):
it's time for an upgrade. Soif you didn't already notice, if you
didn't already know this, I can'teven read my own notes. Like I
said, they're gonna start tearing upthe parking lots. I don't remember when
I know that. Basically by thetime the season starts, I have no
clue where fans are going to gatherbefore the game, and it's kind of
(04:00):
the first domino to fall, right, Like, so far we've we've just
talked about the new stadium and allthat stuff, but now like, oh
shit, it's here, We're notgoing to be able to tailgate. Did
you were you a big tailgater?Owen? Do you have any any memories
of tailgating out in that parking lot? You know, I will say,
and this is not to detract fromany of the Titans tailgaters. There's a
(04:24):
lot of time honored tradition that goeson there. But I think the unique
thing about Nissan Stadium is that it'ssituated within walking distance of Broadway. Yep.
So you know, not that Iyou know, I'm okay with losing
out on traditional tailgating, but Ifeel like the natural move for most Titans
(04:46):
games or events at Nissan Stadium isthat you go downtown, you know,
you kind of you get the pregameexperience there and then walk over to Nisson.
So I think that's still an effect. It does suck to see,
like all the the tight knit Titanscommunities kind of lose a spot when it
comes to tailgating. Actually in NissanStadium, But you know, I don't
(05:11):
have I've never been a tailgater thereand I don't have any memories associated with
it. Yeah, I've done ita couple of times, and it is
it is pretty fun. I didit once. And the reason I don't
do it it's not like I don'thave anything against tailgating. I think tailgating
is really fun. I just neverhave a parking pass to park at the
stadium. So like, if I'vegot a park at the garage and I'm
(05:36):
I'm not lugging a cooler from thefucking courthouse across the river down into the
stadium parking lot. I don't evenknow if you can do that. I
feel like somebody might stop you ifyou're trying to do that. But you
know, I'm gonna go somewhere whereI can just sit and have a few
drinks and then make my walk overand not have to worry about all that
stuff. So I'm kind of withyou. Like, man, when Buffalo
(05:58):
Billiards was open, oh god,we'd go in there and just get completely
tore up and then stumble across thepedestrian bridge over in Bernissan Stadium. But
there were a couple of times thatI got to do it. I got
to do it on a one ofthe Thursday night Jags games where it's just
like beautiful night, and I wantto say it was like October beautiful night
(06:20):
in Nashville, where it's that timeof year where it's still kind of warm
outside but kind of cooling off atnight. A little bit, had a
beautiful golden hour stroll across the pedestrianbridge, and then we met up with
my hookup, the guy that gotus the tickets. He had a buddy
that was parked over there, andwe got to go do the whole thing,
(06:41):
like tossing a football around in theparking lot, eating some barbecue,
some brisket, and just kind ofhanging out, crushing some Diet Miller's before
the game. And I do rememberthinking like, I'm not a big game
guy to begin with. I goto maybe one game a year, and
much less like tailgate guy. I'vejust never been tailgate guy. It's fun.
(07:04):
But I did go that night andthink like, oh man, I
get it. I get why thisis so special for so many people.
And you're bonding over the guy thathas the season parking pass next to you,
and you get to know these people, you create friends. I think
it's a really important way to createcommunity. And I'm kind of with you,
(07:25):
man, like I hope that theTitans fans that do that kind of
stuff have figured out a way tokeep that tradition going, because I do
think it's it's important in football ingeneral in a larger sense. What about
you, how do you feel aboutgoing to the games? Like? Are
you a big game day guy?Or are you like me and I'd just
(07:46):
rather like sit at home and watchit on the couch. Yeah, I'm
with you. I try to goto one game of season. I don't
think I hit one last year,though, But I either I'd much prefer
either to watch it at my placeor you know, maybe make the walk
over to Alley Pub and watch itthere. I'm just not a big in
(08:09):
person Nissan Stadium experienced guy, justbecause you know, there's the hassle of
getting downtown. There's all kinds ofpeople at Nissan Stadium, some of which
are just there to have terrible timesand ruin your time. You know,
(08:30):
there's just a whole lot that goesinto it. Yeah, I'm with you
when I do go and this drivesmy wife nuts, but I can't see
for shit. And we get likethese seats down near the ground, near
near field level, and if theygo to the other side of the field,
you can't even see what's happening.So when we do go, I
(08:52):
actually like to get the nosebleed seatsup top because I tell my wife,
I'm like, this is like watchingAll twenty two in real life, Like
I can see, I can seethe entire field what's going on from up
here. But I'm with you.I try to make it to at least
a game a year. And nowpeople are rolling their eyes like these two
(09:15):
dudes that never go to Nissan Stadiumare trying to to pay tribute to the
glory days of Nissan Stadium. Butyou know what, that's what we do
here on the Unofficial Titans Podcast.Now, I will say, you know,
in defend I regularly go to NissanStadium, maybe not on game days,
(09:35):
but the Titans are actually really goodabout hosting a lot of fun events
for Titans fans. Oh yeah,yeah at Nissan Stadium. So I'm quick
to sign up for that if youcould get me, you know, to
a Titans event where it's going tobe Titans fans and people that love the
Titans. I'm there for it.Game days a little different though, And
that's kind of couples into the Broadwayexperience that you get a lot of the
(09:58):
tourists and maybe people that don't loveNashville like we love Nashville. Uh.
And I think that creates kind ofa you know, it's a unique opportunity
for them, but can also createproblems. I'm glad you said that,
man, because like you've been toa couple of the draft parties that they've
had over there, haven't you.What what are those like? Man?
(10:18):
Those are just the highest vibes.It's it's always a fun time. Uh.
I've gone I think the past,I don't know, maybe four out
of five drafts Uh, okay,and just every year it's you know,
they do the locker room tours,tons of giveaways, a lot of fun
(10:39):
events you can do meet and greetswith uh, you know, old Titans,
current Titans. Uh. It's justa ton of fun. Uh.
A lot of a lot of diehardTitans fans there. And I would highly
recommend any time that the Titans hostthat draft party to go. So what
do you think we've we've gotten alittle bit of the concer art that has
(11:01):
been published by the Titans. Whatdo you think of just like the look
of the new Nissan Stadium that we'regoing to be having here in a few
years. Well, from the outside, it looks like a PlayStation, so
that's kind of cool. It doeskind of look like a spaceship of sorts.
But from the inside, it lookslike it's going to be a top
tier, you know experience. Youknow, they they've really been talking about
(11:24):
emphasizing how it's not necessarily you know, just cramming as many people as possible
in there, that they really wantedto be a special, luxurious experience.
So I think that's cool. It'sgonna, you know, limit opportunities for
tickets even more so now than before, but I think if you're able to
(11:46):
get in there, that it'll beone worth having. It kind of feels
like a smart move though, becauseI think for a long time the focus
was primarily on how many seats canwe fit in this thing? But man,
like the times are changing. Youand I are both examples of that.
(12:07):
Like, it's a better viewing experienceto just sit on your couch and
watch it home, and I thinkthe last couple of times that I've been
to Nissan Stadium for a game,there have been plenty of open seats available.
So I think you're starting to seeI think you'll start to see this
trend continue where cities are focusing onsmaller stadiums, better experience to get people
(12:30):
back out to them. You thinkthat's the right call, if that's the
natural progression of things. Yeah,absolutely, I think, not even just
within the realm of football, butI think everything started to cater to you
know, what kind of big experiencethey can give somebody. You know,
Yeah, you have the sphere inLas Vegas that's just like this massive production
(12:54):
every year you see, you know, WrestleMania is getting bigger, the Super
Bowls getting big and not biggers insize, but bigger is in just the
show that's put on. So Ithink that following that trend will benefit Titan.
I kind of see this as aas a sort of marker of Nashville's
growth, that we're going to geta stadium like this. It almost feels
(13:18):
like the culmination of all of thebuilding up of Broadway and downtown and all
the hotels and the fancy new restaurantsand bars, and all of this growth
kind of seems to be culminating towardsthis East Bank project, where it's not
just the stadium. It's going tobe over there, but they're building restaurants
and hotel space and living space,and it kind of feels like this whole
(13:43):
part of town is going to changeover the course of the next couple of
years. What do you think itsays about Nashville as a city, Like,
is this the payoff for the lastdecade's worth of growth or do you
see this as more of just themachine getting bigger and bigger and almost out
(14:05):
of control. Yeah, I don'tknow how I want to take that necessarily.
That's an interesting question because the cynicin me says that Nashville's kind of
growing at a rate that it's justexpanding without necessarily having direction. Yeah,
you know, maybe maybe the thouStadium could be a focal point to build
(14:26):
around, but I'm not sure.I don't know. How do you feel
about it? Yeah, I'm kindof at a at a point where I
felt like this level of growth overthe last specifically the last couple of years,
kind of feels unsustainable. And Ihave been that cynic recently, saying
(14:46):
like, man, there's like ata certain point the bubble's going to burst,
and the bubble just never really seemsto burst. So to me,
it kind of feels like that nextstep as a city where yeah, Nissan
Stadium is great and they do cmafestthere every year and there's a ton of
people that flock to it, butit's not really a place that we're getting
(15:09):
those premium events, and as anentertainment city, as a sports city,
this kind of feels it kind ofdoes feel like the icing on the cake,
where we get this stadium, weare going to start seeing a lot
bigger events come to town, likethe super Bowl, like maybe in National
(15:31):
Championship Final four, that kind ofstuff. And that's not even getting into
the entertainment stuff like cmafes that I'msure will continue there and who knows what
else they can cook up and thebig concerts and events and all that stuff.
So I'm kind of looking inward likeStony, maybe you just were overthinking
(15:54):
this thing and this really is justgoing to take Nashville to another level.
But I do still have that voicein the back of my head that just
kind of feels like, man,this is kind of excessive for what has
been a small town for a longtime and still has the infrastructure of a
small town. It just seems likeit's gonna make things harder. So I
(16:15):
don't know. That's why I wascurious to ask you, because I kind
of feel conflicted about it too.No, I'm with you one hundred percent.
I think one of the big thingsthat always sticks at with me when
they're talking about the expansion of Nashvilleand how it's gonna go getting these big
events is transportation. Honestly, becausethere is no public transportation, and in
(16:38):
order to have you know, theSuper Bowls and the you know football,
you know, NCAA Championship, anythinglike that final fours, I think you
need some sort of public transportation.So I think that's one thing that Nashville's
made possibly neglecting, not possibly,is neglecting active believe that would have to
(17:00):
be addressed before that could happen.I think the World Cup was potentially going
to happen, uh, And whenit came down, they were like,
you know, top four in transportationwas the big issue that was cited as
to why they weren't picked. Yeah, so getting there I guess one one
(17:22):
would hope anyway getting there, thegrowing growing pains of a of an it
city trying to emerge as a bigcity. So I'm gonna ask the basic
question. At least, I'm abasic bitch when it comes to this,
events that you want to see onceNashville gets this new stadium, It's easy
for me. I'd say the superBowl. I'd say a national championship in
(17:45):
college football. I would also sayWrestleMania, which we know we're going to
get at some point, But whatare what are some events that you'd like
to see once this, once thisbad boy opens up. Yeah, WrestleMania's
you know, the top for meobviously. Uh, you know, I've
never been always wanted to go,and it would be pretty cool for the
(18:07):
first time for it to happen inNashville. Yeah, a super Bowl would
be wild. I'm trying to thinkwhat else, just you know, I
feel like seeing these big tours comethrough, and I think having you know,
a premium spot like that, youknow, maybe another tailor tour there
we go. Yeah, why notlet's talk about the old days a little
(18:29):
bit and remembering when I don't know, I would say I would say the
old Coliseum days, Steve and Eddie, the home field advantage that those early
year Titans had as far as likehome field advantage, crowd environment goes,
I would say that was probably peakNissan Stadium, which back then I think
(18:52):
it was just the Adelphia Colisseum.But we need to bring the Colosseum name
back, by the way, we'refucking tight. Absolutely, Titans do their
bidding, do their battles, whateverin colisseums. So anyway, do you
think it's fair to say that thatwas kind of the height of the home
field advantage that that stadium had.Yeah. Absolutely, I'm one hundred percent
(19:15):
with you on calling it. Itcould be Nissan Colisseum. It's not that
hard. There's no reason for itjust to be a stadium, yep.
But I think I think that waspart of it that, you know,
give me that kind of uniqueness tothe team, that it was new to
Nashville and people were really excited toclaim it as their own. They made
(19:37):
Adelphia Colisseum and then the Coliseum kindof that that exciting experience. I'm curious
how you will weigh in on thisone, but what do you think the
secret sauce for that was. Doyou think it was just that it was
a city that at the time wasn'tas populated with tour like you had a
(20:00):
more local fan base that was justsuper excited to have the NFL in town
and so they got behind their team. Or do you think it was just
as simple as hey, the team'sgood, the team's good, and when
you're winning, your fans are goingto get behind you. I think it
was a good combination of both.You know, the Titans had a hot
(20:21):
start, but I also think thatNashville was kind of, you know,
a big city, not as bigas it blew up to be, but
still, you know, one ofthe bigger cities that kind of cramed football
because you know, before the Titansplayed here, you know, you had
the Vanderbilt Commodores, which is,you know, not football. So if
(20:45):
you wanted to go see a footballgame in a big stadium, you know,
you'd either have to go all theway to Knoxville or Memphis, you
know, maybe Atlanta to watch theFalcons something like that. But I think
that when the Titans came to Nashville, you know, really provided that opportunity
for fans to lock in and belike Okay, this is ours. We've
never had it before and we'd loveto have it. Yeah, I'm kind
(21:08):
of with you. It kind offeels like a convergence of of many factors
kind of contributing to that the teamstarted to stink. I don't know if
the shine wore off or what,but by the mid two thousands, I
can remember going to I was atthe Chargers ot game where Ladanian Tomlinson scores
(21:30):
the walk off touchdown in overtime andup in the nosebleeds, like we just
that was kind of the first timeI noticed and there's there's a lot of
Chargers fans up here and it waslp Field at the time. There were
signs everywhere that said lt Field AndI just got an error on Skype for
(21:53):
some reason. So I don't know, can you still hear me owen?
Yeah, I could hear you.Okay, cool, We're gonna keep it
going then, So remember signs therebeing like lt Field, And that was
the first time that I kind ofthought to myself, like, and this
doesn't feel like the Colisseum days fromjust a few a few years ago,
(22:14):
and ever since then, with allthe growth, it's become such a popular
travel destination for other fan bases becauseit's usually a cheaper trip to get out
to Nashville. It's a fun city. You can go out on Broadway,
the perfect three night town where ifyou want to fly in Friday night and
get drunk on Broadway and get drunkall day Saturday and go to the game
(22:36):
on Sunday, you can do it. And I'm I'm just curious as Nashville
kind of seems to lean into itsown decadence and how they're going to build
up this stadium. Not saying there'sanything wrong with that, by the way,
but they're just, you know,like they're they're sticking with what works
for sure from a branding standpoint.Do you think it's okay for the Titans
(22:56):
for that to happen or is therea timeline where Nashville kind of becomes like
Miami, Florida, where the generalidea is there's so much to do down
there that you don't get a lotof diehard fans at the games because there's
so many people there that are thatare traveling, there's so many things to
(23:18):
do in town. It just kindof seems like the football team can become
an afterthought at times, and definitelylike with the baseball team, even and
when the heat weren't good, theyweren't filling those arenas. Do you see
a scenario where Nashville kind of becomeslike that because of how much they're leaning
into the entertainment industry or is thereis there a scenario where you know,
(23:42):
there can there can be a goodhome field advantage in this stadium. Yeah,
I think that's a very frustrating scenario. Another one that comes to mind
wash when Matthew Stafford's wife was talkingabout how when the Rams were playing in
Los Angeles, it like it feltlike nothing but away games. Yeah,
And I think that lately the Titanshave felt that same way that you know,
(24:04):
they they don't really cater to thathome audience and they're you know,
open, and this all sounds verynegative towards tourism. I understand the tourism
drives the you know market downtown,but also like you know, there are
people here in Nashville that love Nashvilleand live here year round that don't just
(24:25):
come to you know, trash Broadwayfor a weekend and then go back to
their lives that their lives are basedhere. So uh yeah, I would
I would hopefully like to see I'mnot sure what that would look like,
but something to where you know,uh, you know, the Nashville home
audience is appreciated. You know whatI think, Man, I think,
(24:48):
I think if I were to guess, this is just me recklessly speculating,
which we do from time to timeon this show. I kind of feel
like that's part of why Amy AdamsStrunk made the coaching switch, to try
and get the get the gears turning, so to speak, and rebuilding this
(25:11):
franchise on the field, understanding thatthe quickest way to get that home field
advantage is to get a good competitivefootball team, and you start building.
Now by the time you know,again, this is all assuming you've made
the right choice at general manager,you've made the right choice at head coach,
(25:33):
you've made the right choice at quarterback. If those things pan out,
and the vision for what this Titansteam can become under this regime, if
they execute upon that and they growinto that, by the time the stadium
opens, maybe the belief is thatthat place is going to be rocking,
like Titans fans are going to bechomping at the bit to get to that
(25:53):
place. And rep their team,and I think that might be part of
the goal here, and I wouldn'tbe that you what do you think about
beyond the field building and vision projectingtowards home field advantage and getting the fans
back so to speak. Yeah,I mean, I agree, winning obviously
(26:15):
makes everything better, but you know, we're not too far out removed from
twenty twenty and twenty twenty ONEFC championDAMC South champions. I'm sorry, and
we still kind of felt that,like, you know, just lack of
identity when it came to Nissan Stadium. So I'm not sure. I do
think that's a great start, butI'm not sure what that fully entails to
(26:41):
bring Nashville back to Nissan. Ican't we can't talk about Nissan Stadium without
talking about the dollhouses because A really, I don't know, man, you
look around the league at other stadiums, and I don't know the story behind
the dollhouses. Maybe maybe we canget a reporter out there to kind of
(27:03):
dig it up, but it kindof stuck out across NFL stadiums that the
Titans just had these dollhouses and bothend zones. What did you what did
you make of them? Were youwere you for them or against them?
Well? I actually do know thestory of the dollhouses and the end zones.
So that was kind of a lateraddition into Nissan Stadium. Uh,
(27:26):
it was back when it was LPField, So the lp uh where it
was a building contractor company. Sothey made the end zone uh you know,
concession stands and everything looked like housesbasically. How about that? I
never knew though the year. Yeah. So yeah, it's kind of an
(27:48):
interesting thing. It's a it's aunique look to it. It's a fun
thing to like. You know,when the new Madden comes out every year,
you try to see how detailed itis. So I think it's a
cool thing that stands out. It'sa it's an interesting part of its history.
I know. Uh, the changeto LP Field was wildly unpopular amongst
local you know fan base. Uhjust didn't like it. You know,
(28:11):
it was always the Coliseum or AdelphiaColiseum and just LP Fields fell so flat
and boring. I like Nissan Stadiumbetter than LP Field, but it wouldn't
take much to beat that name outanyways. But yeah, just the story
of the dollhouses, how much ofthat was just because nobody knew what the
fuck LP was. Honestly, LPdoesn't bother me as much as Field does.
(28:38):
It's so boring. Yeah, ifyou call it LP Coliseum, I'd
do better with it. I justremember thinking at the time, like,
who who is LP? Why arethey naming the stadium like and having to
google, like what is this company? And what do they do? How
did they get the money to rights? I also don't know what a delpie.
(29:00):
Well that's fair too, but nobodycalled it Adelphia Colisseum. They just
called it the Colosseum. But youcouldn't just call it the field when it
was LP Field. I don't know, right, No, I don't feel
like the sponsor was as top ofmind when it was the Adelphia Colisseum.
I still couldn't tell you what Adelphiadoes is was I don't know if they're
(29:22):
still around, I don't know.I don't know. I just the one
thing I think we can agree onis that they just need to bring the
Colisseum name back out here at theColiseum watching the Titans. Yeah, I
did not realize there were so manypeople that were so angry about the dollhouses.
But every year they would they wouldcall for them to be removed.
(29:45):
And a few years ago when NissanStadium underwent, like all these millions of
dollars worth of renovations, I rememberthat being a big thing. People were
saying, like, tear the fuckingdollhouses down. We don't want them,
we don't want them. I willsay, I think the food choices have
improved quite a bit throughout the yearsfrom from Logan's Roadhouse. Listen, I'm
(30:10):
not throwing shade at Logan's Roadhouse,but if you ask me, I'm gonna
pick Slimmer Huskies over Logan's Roadhouse everyday of the week. So I like
that Slimmer Huskies is in the buildingright now. What are some Nashville restaurants
that if we can, if wecan play booker so to speak, to
borrow a term from the wrestling world, we're playing booker here. Who are
(30:30):
some some Nashville What are some Nashvillerestaurants that you would hope make it to
the new Nissan Stadium and you'd liketo see in that building for game day?
Man, that is such a greatquestion, So Tony, I don't
know, has there ever been likea loveless booth like could you imagine going
to the Titans. You know,we're usually a noon team. So imagine
(30:52):
going to Nissan Stadium. You gothere, Loveless is offering brunch, you
have a dice, you watch theTitans game. I like that quite a
bit. Man. I want likeput a Dino's in Nissan Stadium. Put
a dino maybe a Browns Diner,and just go get like a greasy diner
(31:15):
cheeseburger and some fries, go geta cold beer. And I'm good with
that. I don't know. See, here's the thing, Like, i
love Nashville hot chicken, but I'vegot to be able to just like sit
and relax for a little bit.I don't see how people eat hot chicken.
Maybe when it's like cold outside,it hits right. But we were
(31:37):
at the Patriots preseason game last August, where it's like the hottest game ever
played at Nissan Stadium or whatever,and I saw a dude housing hot chicken
and just sweating profusely, and Ithought, like, this dude's heart's about
to explode out of his chest.So I'm I'm going the burger route.
I think the burger route. Maybesome Daddy's dog Daddy's dogs in there too
(32:01):
would be pretty good. They're regularlya Titan sponsor, are they? I
could remember if they were in thestadium now or not. They are,
yeah, because I remember seeing themat that Patriots game and thinking like,
I'm full because we ate at thedistillery before the game. I'm hot,
I'm dehydrated. There's a chance ifI eat this hot dog, I'm gonna
(32:22):
die. So I don't need todo it, but man, it's really
cool to know that these are there. So yeah, the Nashville Institution,
Daddy's Dogs, Daddy's Dogs, andDino's Man, and I'm I'm set right
there. So let's talk about someof our our favorite memories at Nissan Stadium.
As we kind of wrap this conversationup a little bit, I jotted
(32:44):
down a few of the games thatI that I've been to. I mentioned
that Chargers overtime game maybe, uh, probably the best game that I've been
to in person. Really good game. You hated to see it kind of
go the way that it did withLadanian Tomlinson, one of the all time
greats. Super stoked that I gotto see him play in person. But
(33:06):
then he you know, goes offin overtime on a touchdown run that sends
the Titans into the el column.But that was a cool game to see
him play, and it was kindof like seeing Lebron James play for the
first time in person because you justkind of notice, I don't think it
comes across on TV, just howhow much better they are than the people
(33:29):
around him. Like Lebron James justseemed to move at a different speed than
everybody else on the court. Andthat was a lot like watching Ladanian Tomlinson
in that game. It was justlike he moved at a different speed than
everybody else on the field, andit was it was really cool to see
that. What what games have youbeen to Owen? What what comes to
(33:49):
the top of your mind when thinkingabout your your memories of your your game
days at Nissan Stadium. Man,I gotta go with the first game I
ever went to. Uh. Iwant to say this is August two thousand
and two. It was a RaidersTitans preseason games. We had lower Bowls,
(34:10):
you know, ticket It was meand my dad. I remember like
going out there and being like,oh man, there aren't yellow highlighters on
the field to mark the first down. Like that first in person experienced of
just being at a football game andseeing how actually big it is in person
(34:31):
compared to just watching it on TV. So I got to say that's probably
my most memorable and one of myfavorites. I've been to a lot of
preseason games as well. I wasat the preseason Bears game back in I
guess it was twenty seventeen or whatever. That was the game that Ryan and
I went to, and we gotfaced at Joe's Crabshack before we went over.
(34:52):
I think we probably we probably eachhad a gallon of beer and ate
a ton of Old Bay Wings,and then we walked over to the stadium
and that was where we started makingthe jokes about Dennis Kelly. And we
were talking about, like, man, let's like run a competition where the
(35:12):
winner of this contest gets to takea shower with Dennis Kelly. And we
were saying just all this stupid offthe wall shit, and all the people
around us were looking at us,like, who the fuck let these guys
into the stadium. And so thenI go home and I write all of
this stuff up in an article,a quote unquote article. I write the
whole day up, and the nextthing I know, like Dennis Kelly is
(35:37):
sharing the articles like this is awesomeman, and then I still hear from
Dennis from time to time to thisday, all these all these years later,
this this friendship struck up all becausewe were drunk and trying to run
a contest for somebody to take ashower with the guy. So that was
a memorable game. Couldn't tell youwhat happened on the field, just that
(35:59):
that joke was born, born outof that game, and the bit has
been running all these years since.I was at the Mark Marianni game when
he broke his leg, And youknow, like that's one thing that I
think I never really realized until Isaw something like that in person. You're
watching the TV broadcast, they're gonnacut the camera away and show the announcers
(36:22):
talking for a little bit, butwhen you're in the stadium, it's just
right there, like there's nothing theycan do. And I can remember,
like before they got the towel overhim, I was with my now wife
and it was, you know,nice, nice date night, nice date
night at Nissan Stadium, and allof a sudden, I'm trying to fight
back vomit because I can see adude's bone sticking out of his leg.
(36:45):
That was that was. That wasa pretty rough one. And then,
like I mentioned before, the Patriotspreseason game last August, Brandon, our
resident film critic, and I wentto see that and uh, it was
it was. It was fucking hot. I mean I wore gym shortz and
(37:07):
a sleeveless T shirt to try andstay as cool as possible. And we
went to I don't even remember thename of the place. We went to
the Stillery for dinner, and thenwe went to have drinks at some some
bar that didn't have air conditioning atthe time on Second Avenue. We're just
miserable. We're roasting in this place. We walk over to Nissan Stadium dripping
(37:29):
wet with sweat, and you know, we're just kind of like, man,
if we can make it to halftime, and just you know, at
a certain point you have the tickets, you want to go, and it
is kind of cool to say,oh, I was at the hottest game
ever at Nissan Stadium. And thenwe're we're roaming around the stadium. We
run into our buddy Brett and we'restanding at the end zone just uh,
(37:51):
just chit chatting, catching up alittle bit and the next thing I know,
I see Lance Smith, who isthe Titans game day host I think
I think is his position title.I'm not sure, but we're mutuals on
Twitter and he's looking for somebody toanswer the trivia questions to win a prize
or something like that, and sowe just happened to be standing next to
(38:13):
him and he walks over to ourbuddy Brett and he's like, Hey,
would you like to do this triviathing? And then he looks at me.
He's like, what's your name?And I said I'm Stony and he's
like, oh, you're Stony,like the Stony on Twitter. And I'm
like, yeah, that's me.That's me Lance. Nice to meet you.
And then we hung out with himfor like twenty minutes and did this
trivia thing they put us up there. I'm getting like my phone's blowing up,
(38:35):
like what, how the fuck didyou? Why are you on the
h the jumbo tron right now?What are you doing? And it was
a really cool, really cool experience. Lance was awesome for that, and
I think I went to a coupleof Primetime games. I mentioned the Thursday
night Jags game. Really happy thatI got to go to one of those,
like the most iconic games in Titanshistory, Thursday night against the Jags,
(38:59):
and my wife and I went toa Monday night game against the Colts,
which was which was freaking awesome.I don't remember if they even won
the game or not, but thatwas a pretty rowdy environment, probably the
rowdiest game that I've ever been toat Nissan Stadium. What about you,
Owen, did you ever make itto any primetime games? You know,
(39:20):
not that I could think of?Those Jags tickets on Thursday Night were always
cheap the day of because nobody gavea shit. Nobody gave a shit.
They never picked the Titans Jags whenthey were both good. There's like one
of the teams was gonna go toand fourteen that season. They were that
(39:42):
bad. I think my favorite gamethat I went to, though, was
really really awesome. My father inlaw, my wife's from Jersey, grew
up in Jersey. Father in lawhuge Giants fan. He flew down a
couple of years ago. We wereat the game where Fat Randy misses the
field goal that would have won thegame for the Titans and kind of sent
(40:06):
the entire season off on the wrongfoot. And a downward spiral that the
Titans ultimately couldn't couldn't get themselves outof. But it was cool to kind
of share that experience. It washis first time at Nissan Stadium, his
first time at a Titans game.You know, we made the trip for
Mount Juliet. We stopped at TenfoldBrewing for some beers and some food before
(40:28):
the game, and then we hada parking pass, so we actually parked
at the lot. We mosied aroundsome tailgates a little bit, go into
the stadium and to share that experiencewith him was pretty awesome. I hate
that the Titans lost that game theway that they did, but it was
still a thrilling contest, a nailbier to the end, and really cool
to get to share that moment withmy wife and my father in law.
(40:51):
What would you say some of yourother greatest hits from Nissan Stadium before we
wrap things up to day? Ohman, I think back. This was
twenty sixteen. I got hit upby a couple of friends to go to
the game. So it was me, Jeremiah Plunkett, hey friend of the
(41:13):
brand, buzzed up and Doug Markhamand we got to go to the game
Sunday and we got We talked Douginto getting the Titans logo spray painted on
the ball of his head. Sothat was pretty day. That's awesome.
That's awesome, love to hear it. What about what about other events not
Titans related, that you've been toat Nissan Stadium, Man, SummerSlam was
(41:39):
so cool to go to Seed onthat big platform. The Era's tour for
Taylor Swift was awesome. There's beenI've seen Taylor twice at Nissan Stadium and
both times were just phenomenal experiences,high production value. But yeah, those
two definitely stick out to me.I think the SummerSlam twenty twenty two was
(42:04):
the best thing I've done in thatstadium not Titans related, like that was
just and maybe Titans rate it relatedincluded too, Like it was. It
was awesome. We had a wholetroop with us. We went out to
the Bearded Iris tap room beforehand fora party there drinking beers, hitting the
hitting the stadium, drinking some morebeers, watching brock Lesnar bring out a
(42:30):
tractor and turn over the ring andall that. Like it was. It
was an awesome nightman. I wouldsay at My lowest point at Nissan Stadium
was being inside Nissan Stadium for thefiasco at the Garth Brooks concert back in
I think that was twenty twenty one. That was a nightmare that I have
a full diary of up on sobrosnetworkdot com if you go there and just
(42:52):
search Garth Brooks. But that wasthat was a nightmare. Like a thunderstorm
breaks out, severe thunder storm breaksout, We're all stuck in the concourse.
We're all still freaked out because we'renot too far removed from the COVID
lockdown, so your shoulder to shouldercrammed in like sardines. There's people passing
out in the concourse because it's sohot. And then they finally tell us
(43:15):
that the show's being postponed and theyjust turn us loose. And my wife
and I had called an uber toget to the stadium, so we had
to walk back. We had tomake the trek from Nissan Stadium back across
the pedestrian bridge just to find aspot to get a lift back to our
car. Oh man, it was. It was awful. So hopefully,
(43:37):
hopefully less of that. Hopefully therewill be room for us to shelter in
place at the new stadium. Butthat's all I got. Man, that's
the end of end of my noteshere. Do you have any parting thoughts
on old Nissan Stadium before we sendher home today? No? I mean,
I'm just thankful to have it.While I had it was great.
(44:00):
A lot of core memories made there, and I'm excited for some new ones
to be made at the new Nison. It does feel really cool that Titans
fans have those memories to look backon, and I think it'll be one
of those things that the old headsbond over later in life. You know,
you remember the Adelphia Coliseum days,you remember the LP Field days,
(44:21):
you remember the dollhouses, that sortof stuff. I think it's it's cool,
and I also think it's cool.It's a sign of longevity for this
team that it's stuck around long enoughto get a new stadium, And it's
kind of a reminder of where thisthis franchise is at in its history in
Tennessee, that, you know what, we were starting to develop a rich
(44:45):
history and maybe it's not all great, but we're a few we're a few
generations into this now, so prettycool reminder of that all right, Owen,
we're gonna get on out of heretoday. Thank you guys listening.
Who knows what's coming next on offseasonContinent, you just you never know.
Got a couple of cool things inthe pipeline. Catch up on this season's
(45:07):
recent episodes. I kind of highlightedthem at the top of the show.
But we've got some good stuff alreadypublished. We've got some good stuff coming
before we shift gears and focus onthe twenty twenty four season in July.
This has been a fun one,Owen. I appreciate your time. He
is outspoken, Owen reed, andI am big natural Stony Keeley. Until
(45:28):
next time, you stay classy,Titans fans.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com