Night one is in the books. The Meterparels and the Ciaccios arrived in Nashville at around 12:30 yesterday.  We are at the Gaylord Opryland resort.  The place is like Disney, country style, everything you need is under one big window (literally–the ceiling is made of windows so you can see outside).  They have everything from restaurants to coffee shops to a joint where I can buy a cowboy hat and boots, and I am looking forward to going to the Bass Pro Shop at some point.  We walked around this huge complex for a couple hours, hit the gym then headed out to line dance and hear some local country music.

We go to hail a cab and I run into a limo driver, he tells me that he just had a cancellation and that he would take us downtown for the same rate as a cab (50 bucks round-trip).  So, no disrespect to cabbies, we jumped at the chance.  This guy was a wealth of knowledge when it came to downtown Nashville.  He gave us a quick tour of downtown and recommended a good BBQ joint.  I mean come on, we’re in Nashville, you didn’t think we were going to eat Italian, did you?  We walk into the local bar Rippy’s, belly up to the bar and all heads turn to us, the misfits, the Yankees who don’t quite fit in.  We sit at the bar and the band starts playing the banjo boy song from deliverance, I kid you not, and I thought Meter was gonna be the next Ned Beatty!  He got a real pretty mouth ain’t he?  I ordered the local brew, a Fat Tire, a heavy ale with a kick, had a good taste but one of those beers that you can only have one or two if you plan on eating.  I get the bbq pork loin on Texas toast, great eats and good local feel.  We finish up there and head over to “Tooties” according to our limo guy Mike, Tooties is connected to a concert hall where all the famous acts would sneak over between sets and drink a few beers.  This bar reminded me of Copperfields in Boston, small stage right when you walk in on your right, great local talent again!  This bar was to small for us, it was packed so we moved on to an Iggy recommended spot, the Stage.  Huge bar, again I am going to sound like the DJ from Fred Clause saying the same thing, but great local talent, as far as country music goes.  There were a few local drunks on the dance floor, started out with this woman, had to be about 55 or so, had way to many White Zins, she got the whole crowd dancin’ as she stumbled to the floor and was doing what Billy Idol told us all to do back in the 80′s.  We ended the night with the Meterparels at around midnight, they headed in and the Ciaccio’s headed back out, this time to the Jack Daniels bar here in the hotel for a night cap.

Now that I have bored you with what I was doing night one in Nashville, I am headed to LP Field,  home of the Titans, to set up some equipment for tomorrow’s broadcast, and find where Kerry Collins hides the Vodka, heard on weei at 3pm pregame 330 kickoff, then off to the Country Music Hall of fame and maybe the Predators pro shop, hey gotta get my nephew something for taking care of my dog!  I’ll check in tomorrow before the game to give a review of the CMHoF.  Thanks for reading and send along some emails, I want to do a mailbag like my man Curt!  sciaccio@weei.com

Yes I said Holiday, Gerry — deal with it!!!

Dwight says Merry X-Mas

1. A Patriots win in the playoffs. I don’t want to just make the playoffs, I want Matt Cassel to win at least one game.

2. Manny signs with an AL team. It is going to be the toughest ticket in town when Manny makes his return to Boston and for the first time in 8 years gets booed at Fenway.

3. D-Lowe in Boston. He never should have left, he belongs here. He is one of us. He loves this city and this team. Yeah he liked to party in his day, but that is behind him — Theo, make it happen, bring D-Lowe back home…And lets get him a weekly spot in the Dennis and Callahan Show.

4. A Blowout on Christmas. I want to watch all the Laker fans with their number 8 jerseys and $500 sun glasses go home knowing who the best team in the NBA is. I want Paul Pierce to drop 40 and Rondo to run them off the floor.

5. 10 Great Bowl Games. There are 34 Bowl Games and I will watch them all — I want 10 of them to be great, compelling games with last second finishes. But I want South Carolina to blow out Iowa — I can’t take a close game.

6. College basketball to grip me. I haven’t been able to get fired up for college basketball in a few years. I need a special player to take over the sport or a team to go on a magical run — or else I won’t watch much hoop until March.

7. Obama gets a chance. All the Obama bashers out there need to give this guy a chance. We gave G.W. 4 years, now its time you give President Obama at least 2 before you decide to judge him. It is fair to blame this past administration for the mess we are in, so we need to give Obama a fair shake to fix it. I can hear Gerry on January 21st bitching that the economy is not getting better and Obama is to blame.

8. Jack comes back better then ever. 24 makes its return in January and I need Jack to be back. I need the show to not become The Soprano’s from the final season. I need Jack to kill everyone and Chloe to play a huge role in saving the world.

9. Sitcoms continue to be strong. How I Met Your Mother, The Office and Worst Week are must watch sitcoms every week. For the first time ever I have 3 shows I can’t wait to watch on my DVR when I get home from work. Barney Stinson might be the best character on television and Dwight Schrute isn’t too far behind.

10. Keep reading the blog. I think I speak for Chach when I thank everyone for reading the blog over the last 6 months. It’s been a lot of fun and we appreciate every comment – even the ones that tell me to go f myself. Happy Holidays and next year is going to be even better.

I wanted to post a couple videos that are better seen than heard on the radio.  One was a tip off from, a d and c favorite website, sportsbybrooks.  After the ‘Cuse dropped their game to the high powered Cleveland State, and us non Syracuse grads love this because our office is filled with Orange grads, Jim Boeheim took out his frustration on a microphone!

Also being in the Christmas spirit I saw another video, youtube is the best, that I thought you all might get a laugh.  I did.  Whether you drive a hybrid like Iggy or a gas guzzler like Gerry, this is funny!  You don’t have to believe strongly either way.  Just watch and let me know what you think!

Final plug for Jeff Pearlman’s book Boys will Be Boys.  I am only through half of it and I can’t put it down!  The most disturbing chapter to me, so far, is the Charles Haley (chapter 9).  The most interesting thing that I have learned is that Jimmy Johnson was a big booze hound, and he traded Steve DeOssie.  I am still working the DeOssie angle to find out what really happened that got him traded!

I have talked for the last year why I think Tim Tebow is the best player in College Football and one of the best in history…..I received an e-mail from my friend who is one of the greatest QB’s to ever play at Holy Cross.  Here is why Tim Tebow needs to win the Heisman Trophy…

This is pro sports town. There is nothing wrong with that, but it’s unfortunate that people here don’t pay more attention to college football. I love going to Fenway Park on a summer night, and Patriots Fans

Tim Tebow should be holding this

deserve to be commended for the commitment level they show by going to games in sub zero weather to support their team, but there is something special about college football. The game has a pageantry and, to sound corny, a magic about it.

You can’t understand what I am talking about until you have spent a Fall Saturday in Gainesville, Athens(not Greece), Austin or (to make Iggy happy) even Columbia(not South America). There is something special about watching kids play a game they love. I understand that college football is big business, but it still has a purity that the pros can’t match. If you aren’t a college football fan, start watching. If you are a college football fan consider yourself lucky, lucky because you have been given the opportunity to watch a rare special athlete who deserves to win his second straight Heisman Trophy.

Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy are tremendous football players having phenomenal seasons. If you don’t watch the games and simply look at stats you would probably say that Tim Tebow is having a sub par season compared to the Big 12 QBs. This award isn’t about statistics. If it was, Timmy Chang would have won one, maybe two.

The Heisman Trophy is about being the Most Outstanding College Football player in the country. Tim

WWTTD? What Would Tim Tebow Do?

Tebow, simply put, is outstanding. His numbers are good. He has thrown 28 Touchdowns to an unheard of 2 interceptions. That is a better ratio then Bradford’s 48 to 6. He has run for another 12 tds, but his impact goes deeper then that. The defense worries about him on every play. The three speedsters on Florida’s team are constantly breaking long runs in large part because the linebackers hesitate just a split second to see if Tebow is going to keep the ball. He doesn’t make mistakes, he is accurate and he is a leader. The players on his team look to him at all times. He makes plays when he is needed.

Saturday in the SEC Championship game Florida was missing explosive playmaker, Percy Harvin. What did Tebow do? He led his team to victory over the Number 1 team in the country by throwing 3 touchdown’s to 3 different receivers, he lead two 4th quarter touchdown drives and he was the team’s leading rusher to earn a birth in the National Championship game.

After the Gators lost to Ole Miss, Tebow didn’t promise victories. What he did promise was that no team would outwork the University of Florida. He delivered on that promise.

Florida Offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen, put it best when he said that if we were to have a college football draft, every coach in the country would kill to get the first pick so that they could draft Tebow.

If you are lucky enough to have a Hesiman vote you should cast it for Tebow. If you are like the rest of us, just be thankful you are fortunate enough to watch him play.

 Well said…..well said…..

Final Thoughts on the Eagles.

I for one am sick of all the talk of those who say, “same old BC, choke in the big games.”  Now lets break it down a little bit more.  Jags summed it up nicely by saying this was the best TEAM he has ever been around. Last year you had a Heisman candidate on your team who you could lean on, who would take pressure off everyone around him.  This team leaned on its defensive unit as a whole and, as we all watched, the injury bug hit them, and hit them hard, the biggest name being Brian Toal.  Chris Crane, as one famous coach says, is what he is.  It took him a while to grasp the fact that Matt Ryan was no longer there, and it took Meter time as well, and that he was the man to steer this ship, and he had to learn how to earn the teams “trust.” They had/have a very young offense, Montel Harris, who nobody had on their radar, a true freshman, Josh Haden, true freshman a bit intimidating going from High School to ACC starter.  A lot of people don’t realize that BC tends to lose that blue chip prospect the other power houses in the SEC and ACC.  Lets be honest it is academics first athletics second at BC, and it should be, where at other schools it seems to be the opposite.    Trust me when I tell you, when you walk into Death Valley and there are 80,000 crazed Tiger fans on game day, there 5 hours before a game and 3 after, plus the fact that you are a god down there, it makes it a bit difficult to sell the Heights.  The Eagles coaches deserve a ton of credit for putting this team in a position to have played in the championship game this past Saturday.  Isn’t there one name that deserves some head coaching consideration, try Frank Spaziani.  One of the best coordinators in college football.  With all the injuries the defense had this past season, Spaziani still had the Eagles defense tops in some categories in the ACC.  First in Yards given up per game (273.4), total rushing yards (1198), interceptions (26), INTs for td’s(5), so the question remains, why isn’t Spaz in the talks for any of these job openings?

Yesterday’s Pats game via the TV.

Isn’t there some young, up and coming broadcaster out there that CBS can hire?  I am looking for the CBS’s version of  eJo Buck.  Dick Enberg was awful yesterday.  Calling Ben Watson, Randy Moss, on Watson’s TD catch.  I mean come on, you are working for CBS not the Local Access channel.  You should know who is who, and if you don’t wait until your spotter id’s him for you, and since the BC season is over I am looking for another gig.  Also, I like Randy Cross, but buddy lets lose the Boogie Nights porn mustache!  And while I am venting on announcers how about Brad Nessler at the ACC luncheon on Friday.  He didn’t know how pronounce Mark Hezlich’s name, he said Mark Zerzlick, what preparation.

Now that football is over, I’ll try to hit the blog a couple times a week, excluding Christmas and New Years.  As always, and this means that one guy that blasts me and curses me out, send questions and comments to sciaccio@weei.com.  Thanks, Chach.