We still need the change that was a centerpiece of the 2008 election, and it should come in the form of a softening of ideology and a focus on practicality. It probably won’t.

Update: Bridgestone is committing to five years in the naming rights deal. That’s more than Sommet Group (three years) and Gaylord Entertainment (five years, though it originally committed to 20). I was hoping for a decade, but I’ll take half of one.

The 1980 victory over the Soviet Union, which ranks among the greatest surprises in all of sports, was a David versus Goliath matchup. This time around, a squad of young American NHL players knocked off a roster of Canadian NHL hall of famers. Unlike the victory in Lake Placid, the game wasn’t in the medal round, so Canada and the U.S. are both still eligible to win the Olympic tournament. If Canada goes on to win the gold medal that many pundits thought it would going into the Olympics, last night’s setback will be only a footnote.

While the 1980 upset parallels the Bible’s story of a young boy defeating a giant, yesterday’s win was like a younger brother triumphing over his older sibling. And the older brother in this scenario, Canada, may well get a rematch.

Jokinen, who was rumored to be headed to Nashville a few times as the trade deadline loomed in past seasons, was traded yesterday to the New York Rangers. Nothing about Jokinen’s time in Alberta makes me think the Preds missed out when he didn’t end up on their roster. The same can be said for longtime rumor-mill suspect Chris Gratton.

When it comes to performance on the ice, though, Nashville has embraced one value above all else: stability. For a franchise that has had more than its share of relocation crises, it’s remarkable that general manager David Poile and head coach Barry Trotz are the only people who have ever held those positions for the team. Trotz is second only to Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff for the longest tenure in the entire league. Neither Poile nor Trotz would ever be mistaken for being flashy, and the team they have built matches the mild-mannered disposition and lunch-pail work ethic that both men espouse.

That may mean that Nashville’s squad is often lacking in the goal-scoring department (although that hasn’t been a problem of late), but it also means that the Preds have had the most playoff appearances (four) among the NHL’s most recent expansion teams.

Incidentally, the Minnesota Wild have had three postseason appearances (and an appearance in the conference finals) while only having two head coaches throughout their history. Atlanta and Columbus, on the other hand, have had a total of nine coaches and only two playoff appearances (one per team).

One of the most hateful thoughts in human history is the notion that one group of people has more inherent worth than another. Centuries have been wasted perpetuating that thought. If we’re going to face all of the differences that divide us, we need to start spending time together with people who are different from us, even people with whom we disagree. That’s the only way we’ll ever learn that we’re not that different after all.

I think all of us who are sports fans can use a wake-up call every now and then, though this certainly wouldn’t have been the one I recommended. My thoughts go out to everyone affected by last night’s earthquake in Haiti.

Owens is the only inmate in Tennessee prison history to face execution after accepting a prosecutor’s offer to plead guilty with a life sentence.

Though there is little doubt that Owens was severely abused by her husband, the jurors who decided her fate never knew about it. Owens never testified and hasn’t sought publicity for her plight, out of respect for her children. She even declined to appear on Oprah when approached by the program. Owens is remorseful for her crime and from the outset pled guilty. She signed a plea agreement to serve a life sentence, which the prosecution refused to accept when her co-defendant rejected the same offer.

In my opinion, this isn’t someone who deserves to die for her crimes, but my point of view isn’t the one that matters at this point. Governor Bredesen, please do the just and equitable thing and let Owens live.

Since The Zone is preempting ESPN programming when its local shows are on the air, the net gain in sports programming is zero. I’m all for keeping local shows around, but I still miss having national ESPN broadcasting as an option whenever the Zone resorts to outdoors or auto racing shows. I’m happy that George Plaster and company won the sportscaster slugfest at WWTN-FM years ago, but that victory came at a cost.

Whether or not the rumors that she was frequently out of town and often unresponsive were true, the issues that led to Murray’s defeat began long before the recall. When 1,200 people in a few neighborhoods are willing to sign a petition to remove you from office, something is wrong.

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.