There has been a tidal wave of stories in the MSM and blogosphere proclaiming the end of the local ownership bid to purchase the Nashville Predators in the face of political opposition, but Richard Lawson of the Nashville Post puts forth a detailed report this afternoon that gets right to the point:
"Is the situation dire? No. Don't be surprised if a deal is announced today or tomorrow. New Mayor Karl Dean and the investors have been going full steam behind closed doors for the past few days."
What happened earlier this week was that the mayor's office rejected the proposal that landed on their desk over the weekend from the Freeman group. As a newly elected official who only took office on September 21st, there was no way he was going to simply read that proposal and respond with a "this looks great! Where do I sign?" Politically, he has to go through the back-and-forth process and extract some value for the city of Nashville before reaching an agreement. On the opposite end, Freeman felt obligated to make a public statement that said this really is a do-or-die deal, underlining the seriousness of their stance. But as Lawson details in his article, there are plenty of minor portions of the lease that leave room for negotiation.
It's been a frustrating week watching these stories make the rounds, and I would have liked to comment directly within many of the blog pieces out there (Mirtle, Jes Golbez, Tom Benjamin, Chuqui, et al) but my workplace has a pretty strict web filter that prevents commenting on most blogs.
I just hope we get a positive declaration on all this prior to tomorrow night's opener at the Sommet Center. That would truly be something worth cheering about...
UPDATE: The Tennessean gets into some of the capital improvments that the Freeman group is asking for.
UPDATE: The Tennessean gets into some of the capital improvments that the Freeman group is asking for.