The Nashville Predators' first trip to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals has been something of a small-scale apocalypse to this point; the Western Conference champs were outscored 9-4 in two road losses to start the series.
No matter, the Preds will return home for Game 3 on Saturday night, and you can pretty much guarantee prominent members of the Tennessee Titans will be there to cheer them on. Titans players -- mostly offensive linemen but also quarterback Marcus Mariota -- have become a popular side attraction during Preds home games during the playoffs, hoisting fresh catfish (it's a hockey thing) and chugging beers for an adoring sellout crowd.
NBC brought some more exposure to this new tradition on Wednesday night when they aired some of the Titans' antics during the Western Conference Finals. Bro Party Rule No. 1: It ain't a bro party until a bro is shirtless.
TitansPro Bowl tackle Taylor Lewan is the mastermind behind the madness.
"We get there, I have my catfish and me and the boys are talking, and I'm like, 'I'm gonna crank a beer after,'" he explained to WTVF-TV in Nashville. "And I was like, 'No, no, no, why don't we all just drink a beer? Let's all crank a beer together.' ... So the plan was to hold the catfish up, wait for the crowd to enjoy it, slam the catfish down and then all of us cheers and just crank it. It was just good, old-fashioned fun."
The Predators are 2-0 when the Titans big men crank beers in unison. Based on the first two games of the series, the home team will need all the good juju it can get.
By the way, not all local institutions can pull this type of revelry off. We see you, "Sex On Fire" bro.
