Remembering Air McNair

It’s a pretty rare day when I post about sports. I’m not a sports fanatic, but if you live in Nashville and you’re a native Middle Tennessean like me, you couldn’t help but get caught up in NFL fever when we snagged our very own franchise in the late 90s.

My big brother has always had Titans PSLs and we’ve been fortunate to go to many games. We’ve even introduced Miss C to the glory of a professional football game and a little fan smack talk. Back in 1998 when the Titans were still the transitional Tennessee Oilers and playing some of their first games at Vanderbilt Stadium I got a few fairly close-up pictures of quarterback Steve McNair.

We had taken the girls swimming yesterday afternoon when the news broke that McNair and a 20-year-old woman had been shot downtown. I had left my iPhone at home and the hubby was taking a rare day off from his business and had also left his Blackberry behind, but the news quickly spread around the pool and driving home we listened to sports talk radio broadcaster George Plaster interview former Titans players Frank Wycheck and Kevin Dyson about the death of their friend and former teammate. Although McNair ended his career with the Baltimore Ravens, he obviously still had roots in Nashville as he had a restaurant downtown and had a home here in Nashville. He was one of the key players that shaped the formative years of the Tennessee Titans.

The circumstances are tragic for everyone involved. Thanks for the memories Steve.

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No Foolin’

OK time to update these and let ya’ll know which one of these was a hoax…it was No. 2! I’ve never broken a bone in my life and I’ve never ridden a mechanical bull. I’m sure I could have been talked into it in my 20s, but I’m not so sure now. I mean I chickened out of doing the zip line at Sandestin during our spring break trip. Oh where oh where has my fearless mojo gone?

I’m quickly closing in on my 3 1/2 year blogiversary and I thought I’d copy shamelessly steal this idea from Classy Chaos since I’ve got a little bit of writer’s block and I’ve never actually written one of those 100 Things About Me posts. (Because honestly? It might lull you to sleep.)

Here is a little trivia about me. One of these facts is an April Fool’s falsie. Can you guess which one?

I interned at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in college. TRUE! I worked there the summer after my sophomore year of college at Western Kentucky University. This was in 1989 and on slow days I would cut out labels for slides to be inserted in press kits. Yes photo SLIDES. This was back in the pre-digital photo era when we put together press kits with parchment paper (kidding) and we still used typewriters. I didn’t have an e-mail account and I’m not sure I yet had a cell phone.

I broke my collar bone riding a mechanical bull. FALSE!

I’ve danced on the bar at Bar Nashville after a winning Tennessee Titans game. TRUE! This was pre-kids and there were a ton of people at Bar Nashville celebrating. They’d given out giant foam swords at the Titans game and my girlfriend and I got on the bar while everyone was caught up in the win.

I’ve sat next to the Playgirl Man of the Year on a flight from Nashville to Houston. TRUE! I was working in the branding and media services department for a life insurance company that was bought out by AIG and was flying out to AIG (no kidding) in Houston to interview for a management position back here in Nashville, which I did not get. But I did get an autographed copy of Playgirl magazine.

I’ve had my picture taken with Bob Dole. TRUE! While working for the News and Public Affairs department at Vanderbilt University (I worked there from 1991 to 1998) I covered a press conference on campus for Bob Dole. As he walked through the audience he stopped to shake hands and a photographer from The Tennessean snapped my picture shaking his hand.

I’ve conducted a phone interview with the former CEO of Pepsi. TRUE! I work for a small niche business publishing company and interviewed Steve Reinemund over the phone about Pepsi’s diversity efforts.

I dropped out the second day of sorority rush in college. TRUE! I was in a high school sorority, but I dropped out of college rush. My sisters were Tri Delts but we didn’t have Tri Delts at WKU and I ended up making a ton of friends through my dorm and through writing for the college paper.

It took us one month of casually trying to get pregnant with Miss A. TRUE! To quote from one of my favorite movies, Raising Arizona, apparently I’m as fertile as the Tennessee Valley.

I have a weird phobia about opening cans of biscuits. TRUE! Just ask my husband. I’m weird. I also can’t open a bottle of champagne for the same reason.

I’ve never set foot in an Ikea, Trader Joe’s or Urban Outfitters. TRUE! I’m so non urban and hip. I do love me some TJ Maxx and Target, though. Trader Joe’s and Urban Outfitters recently opened in Nashville so maybe I’ll visit them. Some day.

I have a faux Vera Bradley-esque bag I bought at Dollar General. TRUE! It’s a tote bag, really, but it looks amazingly like the peacock blue/turquoise Vera Bradley bags.

My childhood nickname was Pooh Bear. TRUE! My sister recently outed me on this fact on my Facebook wall.

Have fun guessing!

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