Billy Ray Cyrus is Nashville's David Hasselhoff

So making fun of David Hasselhoff never gets old. He's one of those people who just invite the criticism. But for some reason, people in Europe, especially Germany, love David Hasselhoff.

I feel like with the recent fame of Billy Ray Cyrus, piggybacking off of his daughter Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray could be in the same boat as Hasselhoff.

Let's look at a comparison -

Billy Ray Cyrus had a one hit wonder in the 90s, he rocked a power mullet, he has a distinct name that nobody will ever forget and he disappeared for about 15 years while raising his daughter only to realize his ever growing popularity. For all we know, people in Europe (and Germany) might still be rocking out to Achy Breaky Heart.

David Hasselhoff also has a music career, although I know nothing about it, he has a distinct name, he was a star on TV for years but then disappeared for quite a while. Now David Hasselhoff has come back in full force as a judge on various talent shows.

Do people still make fun of both of them? Yes. But they do it in a loving manner of course. I wonder who the next Billy Ray or David Hasselhoff will be?

Be sure to watch Billy Ray Cyrus host Nashville Star on NBC tonight. If they get enough viewers, they'll keep it on air. Maybe we won't even need MTV's Real World to come to Nashville!

St. Louis Cardinals

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting St. Louis, Missouri. I spent close to 6 years in St. Louis going to school and working at an ad agency there. My first stop was to my favorite bar, McGurks. McGurks is located just south of the city in Soulard and it is a great time in the summer because of the huge back patio.

When I walked out there, I noticed a huge group of people hanging out around the back bar watching TV. Turns out, the group was watching the Cardinals, but, they were watching the Cardinals get beat 20-2.

Only in St. Louis would a group of people still rally behind their team during the 8th inning, knowing they were going to get beat so badly.

Although Nashville doesn't have that feeling for baseball, Nashvillians love to listen to live music around town and they love their SEC football. But never before have I seen such passion for the game as I witnessed on Friday night.

Ok. Was I the last person to find out about this? Apparently, professional basketball has come to Nashville. The Nashville Broncs will join the American Basketball Association this fall as an expansion team.

The team is made up mostly of graduates of colleges in Nashville - Lipscomb, Trevecca, Fisk, Austin Peay, Cumberland University and Columbia State, however, there is a summer league which includes open tryouts for the team.

The coach will be familiar to some of you. Former Vandy star and alum, Jan van Breda Kolff. During his time at Vanderbilt, Breda Kolff led the Commodores to a Sweet 16 appearance and was named SEC player of the year in 1974.

It looks like the games will be held at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, but I could be wrong on that. The team's website is pretty bad.

I'm sure this will be a family friendly atmosphere and give kids the chance to watch live basketball throughout the year, but I would assume that Vanderbilt, Belmont, Lipscomb, Trevecca and Austin Peay all offer more exciting options.

But why the Broncs? Does anyone know?

Marsha Blackburn's Loss - Your Gain

I don't even know what to say about this one. $100,000 was recently found in a couch sold at a yard sale. A few months ago, the couch belonged to U.S. Rep Marsha Blackburn (from Williamson County, TN) before she remodeled her office and gave the couch to a charity.

According to the Nashville Scene, Blackburn, the Republican who represents the 7^th Congressional District, has recently amended years of Federal Election Commission filings and admitted that her office failed to report more than $250,000 in campaign spending and just over $100,000 in donations.

I'm just kind of surprised that the people who sold the couch didn't find it first. They didn't turn over the cushions, ever?

The guys who found the money had their priorities straight. They went to the store and bought a few cases of beer before they invested it in mutual funds.

In a quote from Blackburn, while at a "Guns not Gays" picnic, she said “So that’s where that money went! We’ve just been tearing our hair out about it. Hundred-thousand here, hundred-thousand there—it’s just too easy for money to go astray.”

At least she's being nice and not requesting to have the money back!

Nashville's Official Music Website

Are you tired of wondering where and when to see your favorite band? Are you tired of searching the internet to find the exact music you are looking for? Well look no further Nashville!

www.visitmusiccity.com/music/

This is the Nashville Convention and Visitor Bureau's new music website. What a great idea! The site designed to give visitors an in-depth look at all the genres of music in Music City. It includes a new multi-media player with music and original videos. The site will also include NCVB's first blog on Nashville's music scene.

The best part is that the site gives visitors a live music map to find upcoming performances around the city.

Nashville Pollution

While growing up, I never thought of Nashville as a city that has a lot of pollution. I've visited other cities that actually have a "smog" report on their local newscast every morning to say where pollution is high. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, etc.

Well, with the help from our fine city, Tennessee ranks at the top for having the highest level of global warming emissions per capita. Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis all ranked among the top 25 cities for having some of the largest carbon footprints in the country. Nashville ranked number 6 on the list.

"Greenhouse gas pollution is high throughout the South, but Tennessee has the dubious distinction of having more metro areas with a larger carbon footprint than any other state" says Trip Pollard, director of SELC's Land & Community Program. "Southerners are extremely dependent on driving and we use a lot of dirty sources of electricity, so we end up with larger-than-average carbon footprints."

Do they know that Al Gore lives in our state and uses solar energy panels on his house? I guess not.

You can read more about the report here at the Nashville Business Journal's website. Why is this the first time I've heard about this? What is being done by the city government to fix this? How can Nashville rise again (you know, the south rises again) if we have some of the worst pollution in the country?