victory parade for the 2011 NFFA champs, the East Nashville Black Dogs.
By R.E. Porter
Associated Web Press
EAST NASTY—Thousands of East Nashvillians turned out earlier today for a victory parade to celebrate the Black Dogs' 2011 NFFA championship. The parade, complete with floats and giant, helium-filled balloons, concluded with a raucous pep rally at a parking lot one block from the Five Points intersection.
The parade was originally planned for Wednesday, but was rescheduled at the request of the Fidalgo Island franchise, which wished to show respect for the last rites of Kim Jong Il, an old friend of Sea Hogs owner Tirik Obobber.
Black Dogs fans lined the sun-filled street to get a glimpse of the parade that began at 5th and Main and proceeded up Main Street to the parking lot at the corner of 10th and Main, across from Marche Artisan Foods. A number of East Side organizations entered floats in the hastily arranged parade, including the East Nasty running club, whose float featured a giant running shoe stepping on a bug labeled ATL, and Eastwood Neighbors, whose "Mighty, Mighty East Side"-themed float was the best of several entries by East Nashville neighborhood organizations.
There were a number of giant balloons interspersed with the floats, including three depicting the original black dogs for whom the team is named, as well as a balloon for Miss Beasley, aka the party starter, who was one of the dogs involved in the mauling of Sea Hogs fans several years ago— but the best was the Buddy Ryan balloon, a helium-filled homage to the team's GM, that ironically made him look slimmer.
When the last float carrying Ryan, head coach Jim McMahon and the Black Dogs players reached the corner of 10th and Main, they joined a number of dignitaries on a makeshift stage, including Nashville mayor Karl Dean, NFFA director of security Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero and first lady Michelle Obama, a friend of McMahon's from his days in Chicago. Commissioner William D. Money was nowhere to be seen, which was odd, considering he founded the East Nashville franchise and it is still owned by the William D. Money Trust.
Dean presented the team with a key to the city and proclaimed the franchise a "dynasty" after winning its third championship in seven years. Bonpensiero presented the team the 2011 Dead Lombardi championship trophy "on behalf of Commissioner Money, who was tied up and unable to attend." Mrs. Obama gave McMahon a big hug before taking the podium and reading an official invitation from her husband for the team to visit the White House.
Black Dogs GM Buddy Ryan was the next speaker and after thanking the fans for their "tremendous support," he launched into a 10-minute disquisition about the hiring of McMahon as head coach seven years ago and its impact on the franchise. He ticked off the team's accomplishments under the man formerly known as Jizzle McMizzle: "When I hired Jim, I had one goal in mind — to win championships. And it has worked out pretty well.
"Over the past seven years, Jim has led us to four title games and three NFFA championships including a perfect 16-0 season in 2008, six Jorge division titles, a 65-33 regular-season record and zero losing seasons," Ryan continued. Then taking a shot at Cambridge's Dave the Animal, he added, "I don't know if Jim's a coaching genius or not, but I do know he's the most successful coach in NFFA history." At that point, he called McMahon to the podium.
The Black Dogs coach went to the rostrum, held up his right hand with the middle finger extended, and said,"Ring number three, I guess that's one for the middle finger." McMahon laughed, and the fans laughed along with him.
"I received a tweet from [12th Avenue Bakers owner] QCurl [Sharif] offering his congratulations and saying he was glad the championship cup was back where it belongs in the Jorge division," McMahon said. "I also received word from [West Nashville GM] Jorge [Linardo] expressing similar sentiments. No direct word from DTA, but I understand he's in Oregon to attend the opening of the one-thousandth Cracky Ds, so no telling when we'll hear from him. He did send a message, however, through Rob Gronkowski that if the mayor gave us a key to the city, he would give us two keys," he added and laughed.
"But, seriously, winning our third NFFA championship is a great accomplishment for this franchise, but that just pulls us even with the Atlanta Smack Daddies franchise," he said. "And being able to win our third title against the only team to already have three rings makes it extra special for all of us. I received a gracious, congratulatory phone call from [Smack Daddies owner] Lex [Dominica] and I thank him for that.
"I also want to thank my team for all their hard work which enabled us to win this beautiful trophy," he continued. "And I especially want to thank our general manager, Buddy Ryan, for giving me such a great team. There is no question in my mind the two blockbuster trades Buddy pulled off the day of the trade deadline to bring Matthew Stafford, David Akers and Jason Pierre-Paul to the team are what got us over the top.
He added, "Now, we need to break the curse of the champion and win one for the pinky next year," to which the crowd of fans roared their approval.
Then in characteristic fashion, McMahon ended his comments with a Latin phase, "Canes nigri, ad gloriam."
The head coach was followed to the podium by several of the players, including linebacker Brian Urlacher, the only player to have been on all three championship teams. Holding the Dead Lombardi trophy over his head, he said, "Hell, yeah, this is why we play fantasy football," then let out a big whoop before passing the trophy over to wide receiver Steve Smith, who along with wideout Greg Jennings and linebacker Patrick Willis, has been a member of two of the Dogs' championship squads.
"I want to thank Buddy and Jim for believing in me when most teams thought my best days were behind me," a tearful Smith, who was a member of the 2005 title team, said. Jennings and Willis, both of whom were injured late in the season and missed the playoff run, thanked their teammates for bringing home the Lombardi cup. They also were members of the undefeated 2008 championship team.
After the speeches, entertainment was provided by Elmo Buzz and the East Side Bulldogs, who performed a number of their hits to the delight of the gathered fans, including "Chicks, Cars and Partying Hard" and "37206," their anthem to the primary East Nashville zip code with it's inside-joke lyric, "I got the T-shirt and the bumper sticker."
The parade was originally planned for Wednesday, but was rescheduled at the request of the Fidalgo Island franchise, which wished to show respect for the last rites of Kim Jong Il, an old friend of Sea Hogs owner Tirik Obobber.
Black Dogs fans lined the sun-filled street to get a glimpse of the parade that began at 5th and Main and proceeded up Main Street to the parking lot at the corner of 10th and Main, across from Marche Artisan Foods. A number of East Side organizations entered floats in the hastily arranged parade, including the East Nasty running club, whose float featured a giant running shoe stepping on a bug labeled ATL, and Eastwood Neighbors, whose "Mighty, Mighty East Side"-themed float was the best of several entries by East Nashville neighborhood organizations.
There were a number of giant balloons interspersed with the floats, including three depicting the original black dogs for whom the team is named, as well as a balloon for Miss Beasley, aka the party starter, who was one of the dogs involved in the mauling of Sea Hogs fans several years ago— but the best was the Buddy Ryan balloon, a helium-filled homage to the team's GM, that ironically made him look slimmer.
When the last float carrying Ryan, head coach Jim McMahon and the Black Dogs players reached the corner of 10th and Main, they joined a number of dignitaries on a makeshift stage, including Nashville mayor Karl Dean, NFFA director of security Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero and first lady Michelle Obama, a friend of McMahon's from his days in Chicago. Commissioner William D. Money was nowhere to be seen, which was odd, considering he founded the East Nashville franchise and it is still owned by the William D. Money Trust.
Dean presented the team with a key to the city and proclaimed the franchise a "dynasty" after winning its third championship in seven years. Bonpensiero presented the team the 2011 Dead Lombardi championship trophy "on behalf of Commissioner Money, who was tied up and unable to attend." Mrs. Obama gave McMahon a big hug before taking the podium and reading an official invitation from her husband for the team to visit the White House.
Black Dogs GM Buddy Ryan was the next speaker and after thanking the fans for their "tremendous support," he launched into a 10-minute disquisition about the hiring of McMahon as head coach seven years ago and its impact on the franchise. He ticked off the team's accomplishments under the man formerly known as Jizzle McMizzle: "When I hired Jim, I had one goal in mind — to win championships. And it has worked out pretty well.
"Over the past seven years, Jim has led us to four title games and three NFFA championships including a perfect 16-0 season in 2008, six Jorge division titles, a 65-33 regular-season record and zero losing seasons," Ryan continued. Then taking a shot at Cambridge's Dave the Animal, he added, "I don't know if Jim's a coaching genius or not, but I do know he's the most successful coach in NFFA history." At that point, he called McMahon to the podium.
The Black Dogs coach went to the rostrum, held up his right hand with the middle finger extended, and said,"Ring number three, I guess that's one for the middle finger." McMahon laughed, and the fans laughed along with him.
"I received a tweet from [12th Avenue Bakers owner] QCurl [Sharif] offering his congratulations and saying he was glad the championship cup was back where it belongs in the Jorge division," McMahon said. "I also received word from [West Nashville GM] Jorge [Linardo] expressing similar sentiments. No direct word from DTA, but I understand he's in Oregon to attend the opening of the one-thousandth Cracky Ds, so no telling when we'll hear from him. He did send a message, however, through Rob Gronkowski that if the mayor gave us a key to the city, he would give us two keys," he added and laughed.
"But, seriously, winning our third NFFA championship is a great accomplishment for this franchise, but that just pulls us even with the Atlanta Smack Daddies franchise," he said. "And being able to win our third title against the only team to already have three rings makes it extra special for all of us. I received a gracious, congratulatory phone call from [Smack Daddies owner] Lex [Dominica] and I thank him for that.
"I also want to thank my team for all their hard work which enabled us to win this beautiful trophy," he continued. "And I especially want to thank our general manager, Buddy Ryan, for giving me such a great team. There is no question in my mind the two blockbuster trades Buddy pulled off the day of the trade deadline to bring Matthew Stafford, David Akers and Jason Pierre-Paul to the team are what got us over the top.
He added, "Now, we need to break the curse of the champion and win one for the pinky next year," to which the crowd of fans roared their approval.
Then in characteristic fashion, McMahon ended his comments with a Latin phase, "Canes nigri, ad gloriam."
The head coach was followed to the podium by several of the players, including linebacker Brian Urlacher, the only player to have been on all three championship teams. Holding the Dead Lombardi trophy over his head, he said, "Hell, yeah, this is why we play fantasy football," then let out a big whoop before passing the trophy over to wide receiver Steve Smith, who along with wideout Greg Jennings and linebacker Patrick Willis, has been a member of two of the Dogs' championship squads.
"I want to thank Buddy and Jim for believing in me when most teams thought my best days were behind me," a tearful Smith, who was a member of the 2005 title team, said. Jennings and Willis, both of whom were injured late in the season and missed the playoff run, thanked their teammates for bringing home the Lombardi cup. They also were members of the undefeated 2008 championship team.
After the speeches, entertainment was provided by Elmo Buzz and the East Side Bulldogs, who performed a number of their hits to the delight of the gathered fans, including "Chicks, Cars and Partying Hard" and "37206," their anthem to the primary East Nashville zip code with it's inside-joke lyric, "I got the T-shirt and the bumper sticker."
