There's an interesting, if slightly impolite question that will be on the minds of many Nashville sports fans this week, as the Predators prepare for their home opener on Thursday night against Colorado. It comes in light of the NFL's Tennessee Titans and their surprising 0-4 start, the latest loss coming today against woeful Jacksonville.

It's a question that will persist in the background, as legions of fans bombard sports radio with calls for Vince Young to take over as quarterback, or question whether the time has finally come for Jeff Fisher to leave as head coach. In light of the rough economy, and the headwind that all professional sports teams face to sell tickets and maintain revenue, it's an especially critical question for our local hockey team:

Are the failures of the Tennessee Titans good for the Nashville Predators?

Follow after the jump for the arguments for and against...

Titan troubles spell opportunity for the Preds

On the one side of this question, one could say that given the incredibly high likelihood that the Titans will miss the playoffs, that leaves money on the table from Nashville sports fans who would have bought playoff tickets and assorted memorabilia, to instead move some of that demand over to hockey once the NFL regular season concludes. Sponsorship opportunities might also open up for the Predators, as corporations that would normally hitch their brand to a playoff-bound football team instead look for another way to reach consumers.

Sports are a team game, and when one team loses in a city, they all do

The alternative way of looking at it is that as the barometer of the sports market here in Nashville, a gloomy Titans season might cause the general sports fan to tune out altogether. The fact that the Detroit Lions have a better record than the Titans might well cause NFL fans to find a different form of escape. Book club, anyone?

So what do you think? Are the Titans' problems going to help the Preds?

And by the way, for any of you Titans fans that want to see a winning team, come down to the Predators' home opener on Thursday, October 8 against the Colorado Avalanche and their sensational rookie Matt Duchene. Some tickets are still available, and I've got a discount to offer as well if you act now.