First NFL coach-son pairing a possibility, but Shurmur just wants to play By Tom Wood xxx There’s a tantalizing bit of drama that could play out on the final day of the April 25-27 NFL Draft in downtown Nashville, one possible scenario that has captivated the imagination of football fans. And, also there’s a Music City connection. More specifically, a Vanderbilt connection. Typically, rounds four Continue reading →

Is a sports marketing exec who’s never run a college program just what Vanderbilt needs? By Tom Wood One precious mentor Malcolm Turner has known all of his life. Another was part of his life for an all-too-brief span. But there is no question both have been important role models in helping determine what Turner, 47, hopes to accomplish as Vanderbilt’s new athletics director. It Continue reading →

By Tom Wood Few people in Nashville know Vanderbilt athletics director Malcolm Turner as well as Donelson resident Tommy Smith. That will quickly change, and both Vanderbilt and Nashville will be better for it, says Smith, who was Turner’s right-hand man as vice president of operations at the NBA G League. “I think that Vanderbilt made a spectacular hire,” says Smith, who was an assistant Continue reading →

Enclave has long history of old favorites giving way to new By Tom Wood Charm and change. Those two words come up often when talking about Hillsboro Village, the ever-trendy, four-block Nashville shopping district which is quickly approaching its 100th anniversary. The charm has been there since Day One (so I’ve read; I’m not that old). And the change? Well, that term has probably been Continue reading →

By Tom Wood Sandra Shelton is about to put the old axiom “when one door closes, another opens” to the test. This past Sunday, Shelton closed the doors on Pangaea, her beloved Hillsboro Village store of 31 years. Over three decades, the clothing, jewelry and home décor shop has been described as everything from bohemian to eclectic, funky to venerable. And now it’s a memory, Continue reading →

By Tom Wood Diana Collins has a lot on the ball these days. The longtime Nashville resident is a regular league bowler at Donelson Plaza Strike & Spare and other lanes around Music City and serves as president of the Music City Senate of The National Bowling Association. Oh, and she’s the mother of baseball superstar Mookie Betts of the World Series champion Boston Red Continue reading →

By Tom Wood What’s old is soon to be new again. The year was 1958, and construction of Donelson Plaza was underway, a transformational project that would reshape a rural community less than 10 miles east of downtown Nashville. The Plaza opened its doors in 1961, ushering in an unprecedented wave of growth and boom times that made Donelson a thriving neighborhood destination. Thirty-something years Continue reading →

By Tom Wood Forget politics, religion, sports or movies. If you want to start an argument in Nashville these days, bring up “shared urban mobility devices” – aka scooters. Everyone has an opinion on their future in Music City and their role in Nashville’s burgeoning transportation problems. Fans love riding scooters, and foes hate dodging them, but we’re all dealing with them. The dockless, electric Continue reading →

By Tom Wood Charity Morgan has a lot on her plate. She is currently focused on feeding the huge appetite of very large men. But for 2019 and beyond, she is preparing a feast of dreams. A vegan, plant-based chef with a culinary arts degree, Charity cooks for her husband – Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Derrick Morgan – and more than a dozen of his Continue reading →

Sports Illustrated series on McNair murder gives air to charge that Metro botched the investigation It had all the elements of a Hollywood script or a best-selling whodunit, but the shocking 2009 Fourth of July murder of legendary Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was – horribly – all too real. The Nashville police department took just four days to close the case. At a July Continue reading →