What's in A Name?

More years ago than I care to remember, I was working at the NBC tv station here directing the evening news, and one of the crew guys left to go to work for the new arena downtown, which wasn't even open yet. I don't remember his exact title, but he was over the in-house Audio Visual operations. Shortly thereafter, he raided the Channel 4 staff to come free-lance for the Nashville Kats Arena Football Games. In 1996 I went to work for the Nashville Arena.


I have a huge print on the wall behind me given to the game night staff on the Nashville Predators opening night that says it was October 10, 1998. My staff shirt said Nashville Arena, as did all the Predators inagural season jerseys. It was sometime in 1999 that the Predators signed a 20 year deal renaming the arena the Gaylord Entertainment Center. I have tons of ticket stubs, credentials, and even a "Part Time Employee of the Year" plaque from the GEC (pronounced "geck") where I worked everything from gymnastics to charity balls, and basketball games ranging from OVC tournaments to NBA exhibition games.


I worked for the Preds their first 5 seasons, including their first playoff run, missing probably no more than a dozen games total. In the summer of 2004, the NHL locked the doors on the players, and the resulting labor dispute cancelled the 2004-2005 season. My world changed from going into the arena 2 or 3 times a week, to once every couple of months. And I lost a quarter of my annual income.


It was 9 o'clock at night in a hotel room in NYC for the CMA Nominations Announcements when I got the phone call asking me to come back and direct hockey for the 2005-2006 season. By this time my job at XM had lead to me being gone for days on end, and when I was in town, I was at work more than I was at home. Tacking on 41 more nights that I couldn't have dinner with my family wasn't an option. I hung up the phone and cried and cried and cried. Going to a Preds game now - I've done it three times in the past 2 years - is like driving a stake through my heart.

Just over 2 years ago the Predators and Gaylord came to an agreement to dissolve their naming rights partnership - I believe because someone wasn't paying their bill. However, it wasn't until a couple of months ago that the Gaylord name was stripped from the front of the arena, and suddenly, every press release talked about events at "The Nashville Arena (formerly the Gaylord Entertainment Center)."

It's funny all the things I am discovering happened while I was in New Zealand. Yesterday I read a Fan Fair press release that promoted something happening in front of the Sommet Center in Nashville. The Sommet Center? Must be some fancy art place I've never been to. So
I Googled it.


The Nashville Arena... formerly known as the Gaylord Entertainment Center... which was formerly known as the Nashville Arena... is now the Sommet Center.


Not only did I not know what a "sommet" is, I had no idea how to even pronounce that. Was it "summit" or "psalm-it"? Turns out, it's neither. It's "som-MAY." French I guess. Can't wait to hear how badly us rednecks butcher that.

I have so many fond memories of the Nashville Arena. Even more of the Gaylord Entertainment Center. I've never even stepped foot in the Sommet Center - let alone worked there. Yet.