All eyes are officially on the Nashville Predators.  With an impressive start in the playoffs, the team and the city are once again in the spotlight.  But, I am not going to write any more about the games, this is for the fans, the city of Nashville, Davidson County and the rest of the surrounding area.

Last season, I lived in the Anaheim-area, working for MLB.com and covering the Angels. The Angels were at home a lot during the NHL post-season and were all-in for the Ducks. During batting practice, the games were on the Jumbotron and on all the televisions throughout the stadium. The players could be seen at the Ducks games and consistently cheering them on via Fox Sports West and social media.

My question is, where are the Titans? I know it’s not football season but wouldn’t it be nice to see Marcus Mariota and other faces of the team send a good luck tweet, video, something that lets their fans and the rest of the area know that they are on board? The team sent out this tweet Saturday afternoon, but buy-in is needed from the faces the fans know.

Next, I challenge Nashville to outdo Anaheim with support. The reason why I say this is because the Ducks have the slogan, “Paint it Orange” and they aren’t kidding. It’s not just the arena area that is branded orange; it’s the whole county. I lived just outside of Orange County and when I drove into work, every overpass on the freeway had signs hanging on it, legible for everyone to see that said something pro Ducks. I did heard George Plaster on 102.5 the Game mention seeing a sign on an overpass on 440 but one sign is not enough!

For example, the Ducks recently held a “Paint it Orange” playoff kickoff party at Newport Beach. That would be equivalent to the Predators hosting a pep rally of some kind in Hendersonville. The Ducks also announced that they would be placing signage throughout the Irvine Spectrum shopping center, and in comparison to that, it would be if Cool Springs was decorated with Predators signage.

Keep in mind, the Ducks are limited to how far they can travel. The Honda Center is exactly 30 miles from Staples Center. Where the Predators are the only NHL team in the state.

What is going to take for Nashville to expand the branding outside of downtown? The city of Nashville is larger than that. The Predators slogan of “Stand With Us” is more than just the city.

I challenge you, the fans. Fans, this is the time for you to be loud and proud. If you can’t go to the game, fill up the bars (Buffalo Wild Wings is staying open late for the games out west), tailgate, make it known that this team has the support of the state!

I want to see our electronic billboards have a Predators ad, the Sounds games to announce scores, TDOT’s highway message boards should say “Stand With Us” or “Let’s Go Predators” and then have a safe driving saying.

Trade in the two-tone blue and/or the Tennessee Orange (fortunately, Vanderbilt is gold) for Predators gold and wear it with pride. They might fly under the radar around the rest of the league but should be the front-runner here.

With that being said, go Predators and bring that Cup back to Smashville!