In my opinion, there are better uses for the existing fairgrounds property, and I hope the city moves in a direction that will fulfill one or more of them. I think a public park, a mixed-use development, a corporate relocation campus or a film production site would all be better uses of that land. It’s past time for the fairgrounds and the speedway to go.

If Nashville’s motorsports legacy is so celebrated, why did the city let the Winston Cup walk away in the 1980s when it could have easily kept NASCAR in town? That was the moment when the clock started ticking on the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, not when Mayor Dean and the fair board officially pulled the plug.

I imagine that few, if any, of the tent city residents chose to call it home out of preference, but rather out of necessity. It may be a harsh and unsafe way to live, but it may have been the best option for staying alive for many residents at the time they moved in. I’m glad to see the emergence of a more compassionate approach to this problem than what was suggested earlier this month.

Kerry Collins has made his share of mistakes during the team’s dreadful performance so far this season, but he isn’t to blame for the wheels coming off. If Young is ever going to be a factor in the Titans’ success down the line, he needs to show them something starting Sunday.

“Even if I am unhappy, you don’t make changes in the middle of the season. You don’t know what you might end up with,” Adams said of the coaching staff. “We’ll just have to see what happens the rest of the way. I’ll have to make my decision after the season is up.”

Adams is forgetting that making changes in midseason is exactly what he did the last time he hired a new head coach. Jeff Fisher took over on an interim basis after Adams fired Jack Pardee in 1994, and he’s had the reins ever since.

I haven’t made up my mind yet whether I think it’s time for Fisher to go, but things certainly don’t look good at this point. Adams’ remarks were likely intended to buy time, but it shouldn’t matter whether there are games left to play if the time is right to make a change.

“The chances we’re giving up are breakaways or point-blank chances,” Predators defenseman Shea Weber said. “We need to be a hard team to play against, especially in our own zone.”

After riding strong goaltending to a 2-0 start, the Preds lost a tough one to Buffalo. Then, the wheels started coming off against Edmonton and Dallas this week. In two games, Nashville has allowed 12 goals and scored only one.

That the offense is having trouble putting the puck in the net isn’t a surprise, but that end of the ice won’t make a difference if the Preds keep allowing six scores a night. It’s one thing to try to eke out 3-2 wins, but it’s another thing entirely for an offensively challenged squad to start allowing goals left and right. If this keeps up, and chances are that it might with Chicago coming to town this evening, it could be a long season. Someone needs to right the ship, and fast.

One-third (33 percent) of those surveyed want Republicans in charge of the General Assembly, another third (31 percent) want the Democrats calling the shots, and the remainder (35 percent) aren’t sure. The poll registered similar opinions about who should succeed Phil Bredesen as governor, with 25 percent favoring a Democrat, 22 percent preferring a Republican and a majority (51 percent) undecided more than a year before voters will go to the polls to replace him.

In other words, beyond opposing guns in bars, restaurants and parks, Tennesseans aren’t sure what they want.

Tennesseans overwhelmingly do not want guns in bars, and they also don’t want them in restaurants and parks. Eighty percent of respondents opposed allowing guns in bars, even though the legislature passed a law permitting them this past spring. Smaller majorities (60 percent and 54 percent, respectively) didn’t want guns in restaurants and parks.

It may be wishful thinking, but I sure hope legislators will take these numbers to heart when the next session opens in January. (They won’t.)

It may already be too late, but someone needs to reach out to this troubled young man and help him stop self destructing. Even if Jermaine never plays another down of football, the last thing the Doster family needs is another brother to mourn.

“I figured if they harass me, why can’t I harass them? I figured they’re calling me 3 or 4 times a day, I can call them 100 times a day.”

Is retaliation the only solution for telemarketing? Personally I use the do-not-call list, and it works well most of the time, but to each his own. Randy Faulker certainly got his point across, even if it did require police intervention.

Maury County sheriff’s detectives searched the MySpace page belonging to 28-year-old Amy Scott. On the page, police said there are actually photos of people modeling the stolen jewelry.

Then again, maybe you aren’t that smart in the first place if you are still actively using your MySpace page.

As I’ve mentioned before, I think Garrigan is a thorough journalist and a persuasive writer. This is good news for anyone who reads the Scene, the City Paper and NashvillePost.com during what is shaping up to be a big transition in Nashville’s local media environment.