My View

Some random thoughts from a warped and fevered mind...

Nashville is a "non-traditional" hockey market. That means that we are not part of the original six or north of the 49th parallel to most hockey purists. Those of us who live here know that Nashville is a growing and vibrant hockey market that is putting down deep roots, and one of the areas that is outstanding in this market is the quality of the bloggers and writers that cover our hockey team. Nashville's blogging community takes a backseat to no one when it comes to insightful, informative and creative blogging. Buddy Oakes has put together a site that lists all the local bloggers as well as relevant information about our beloved Predators. Check out his site at: http://thepredatorsaggregator.blogspot.com/

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.

There are rumblings from different corners of the globe about continuing to use the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Middle Eastern oil producers are discussing using a basket of currencies for oil trading purposes instead of the dollar. Russia and China both have lobbied against the use of the dollar the world's reserve currency. And you may ask, "So what?" Just know this: we are the world's largest debtor nation, and we finance that debt by selling our treasury bills and notes to investors all over the globe. Our dollar's status as the world's reserve (read: most stable and secure) currency allows us to sell those bills and notes readily, and thus finance our debt, very cheaply. If the global marketplace were to use some other currency, or basket of currencies, as the de facto reserve currency, the impact on the dollar would be to lessen its value relative to other global currencies. This means the U.S. would have to stabilize the value of the dollar, and one of the ways they would do this is by raising interest rates. And that will have a significant impact on us on and our economy as we struggle to climb out of this recessionary hole.

My fan blows, my vacuum sucks, but my 'fridge is chillin'.

Props to the Predators marketing and technical wizards that put on the pre-game and in-game entertainment on the jumbotron and throughout the arena. I have been fortunate to see games in 12 other NHL arenas, and I can say that none compare to the energy and creativity that is reflected in the work of our folks. In talking to fans of other teams that have been to our barn, that is one of the comments that I often hear. We have an entertaining and exciting product, both on and off the ice. Oh, by the way, we have the only sports team in Nashville with a winning record. If you haven't taken in a Preds game, by all means, you need to enjoy the experience.

I tried using invisible ink once, but drew a blank.

And that, my friends, is my view.