EEEEEEPHUS
⚾️ A new baseball movie · Beaver attacks · Dismantling DOE · Rose for governor · Super Bowl in Nashville · Film rundown · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
It's not local, but a "beserk beaver" nearly killed a 73-year-old man in Massachusetts. "The attack continued for about five minutes as the man fought off the beaver and struggled to shore," writes MainStreet's Larry Woody on the incident. "Bleeding and exhausted, he said he couldn’t have survived much longer."
Beaver attacks are not as rare as you might think. And what’s worse, they’re on the rise. Two summers ago, a rabid beaver bit a girl in Georgia. Her father then beat the thing to death, describing the fifty pound furry animal as "the biggest beaver he's ever seen."
Across the pond, the hysteria has reached defcon two. On the heels of European nations banning or heavily restricting hunting of the bucktoothed rodents to prevent extinction, attacks have increased as the population has recovered.
In 2013, a beaver killed a man in Belarus after it punctured a major artery in his leg. “Beaver population is on the rise in Europe, sparking fears of more attacks” reads one headline from 2016. Just one more thing to be worried about if you’re out and about this nice Spring weekend.
Onward.
I’ve been waiting for my generation’s American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused for most of my adult life. Given millennials’ obsessive attention to nostalgia, the absence of the throwback smalltown teen hangout dramady with its youthful exuberance and sense of naive optimism is particularly odd. But 9/11, Katrina, and the Great Recession left nothing we could revisit because we never stopped grappling with their fallout.
For most of the decade, we’ve rested on our preschool laurels forged from the detritus of Hasbro and Spielberg VHS tapes—striving for a return to an Edenic childhood propped up by Reaganism and the Clintonian fiscal responsibility. Millennial filmmakers may be the first generation to avoid mining our adolescent past, but with his directorial debut, Eephus, Carson Lund has done something that even those storied classics have never dared: probe the moments when we can no longer use the past as a crutch while mourning the lives we must all leave behind.
Named after the old-school trick pitch when a pitcher lobs the ball to the plate to throw off the batter, Eephus spans a mid-autumnal Sunday at a public baseball field in Douglas, MA, as the largely over-the-hill members of rec league rivals The Riverdogs and Adler’s Paint meet for one final game.
Thanks to the grand wisdom of the town council, their beloved field is set for demolition to make way for a new school. Of course, no one asked these guys where they stood because they definitely reside outside the inner circle of the local yokel movers and shakers. They had dreams that just didn’t pan out. They’ve spent their entire lives within the parameters of this otherwise idyllic New England town. But, on the mound and in the batter’s box, they can become who they’ve always wanted to be for a fleeting moment. Now, that time is coming to an end as the sun fades from the diamond.
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🎓 Lee Backs Dismantling the DOE In an editorial published on Wednesday, Governor Lee doubled down on his support for the new administration’s plan to abolish the US Department of Education. “President Trump can end the federal government’s authority over education because the Constitution never granted it in the first place,” wrote Lee. “Cutting off the bureaucracy does not mean turning off the funding. States already handle 90 percent of K-12 funding; the federal 10 percent — about $1.8 billion for Tennessee — can be managed smarter at home.”
On the home front, Tennessee’s Department of Education continues to struggle with the federal government’s “red tape.” This morning, the department was flagged in the Comptroller’s Single Audit Report, which was conducted to find any noncompliance, weaknesses, or deficiencies in how state entities spent more than $21.7 billion in federal dollars. TDOE racked up the most blunders by not adhering to several grant contracts and failing to comply with certain reporting requirements.
🗳️ Rose, By A Different Job Title US Representative John Rose announced his bid for governor from the steps of the 4-H Building at the Wilson County Tennessee State Fairgrounds yesterday afternoon. During his speech, he outlined several priorities including providing accessible healthcare, enacting Constitutional Carry, and protecting unborn life.
Rose also plans to continue several of Governor Lee’s initiatives by expanding and improving Tennessee roadways, championing nuclear energy, and making adoption easier. That said, he did not hesitate to take a subtle poke at the current administration by promising to “appoint a Commissioner of Education who has Tennessee teaching experience.”
Axios reported that insiders found it notable when Senator Marsha Blackburn—one of Rose’s anticipated gubernatorial opponents—and Governor Lee walked down the Capitol steps together during Tuesday’s Ag Day on the Hill. The photo opportunity suggests that Blackburn could be courting Lee’s endorsement as his successor. That said, Rose’s team sent out a press release titled “Trump Conservative John Rose Announces Candidacy for Governor of Tennessee” following yesterday’s event, hinting that he may be pursuing support from a loftier office.
Back in August, Trump highlighted his influence in the Volunteer State by taking a jab at Lee. “I went 10 for 10 on endorsements tonight in the Great State of Tennessee, including Bobby Harshbarger, running against a strong, long-term incumbent supported by RINO Governor Bill Lee,” he posted on Truth Social.
🏈 Super Bowl in Music City Speaking of courtship, Governor Lee wrote an official letter of interest to the National Football League encouraging them to hold the Super Bowl in Nashville’s new Nissan Stadium in 2029.
Yesterday, Lee took a tour of the $2.1 billion stadium, which has been under construction for just over a year. The project is set to be finished in 2027, and Lee’s request for consideration was sent on the heels of city officials who submitted their own letter to the NFL last week.
While the Titan’s new stadium will be one of the most modern of its kind, it happens to have the smallest capacity in the NFL. According to Stadium Database, the arena will host around 60,000 spectators, “almost 10,000 fewer than the current stadium.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Porter Road Butcher Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (Scene)
- Pikeld Concepts plans 3 cocktail bars in hot neighborhoods (NBJ)
- Peabody Union outdoor component set for April opening (Post)
✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: March 21-27
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming title, check out of 2025 Film Guide.
Eephus (Dir. Carson Lund; Starring Cliff Blake) Facing demolition of their baseball field, members of two Sunday adult league teams in smalltown New Hampshire prepare for their final game in this mournful yet hilarious rumination on small-town life. Read our review and interview with Lund here. Now playing at the Belcourt.
Disney’s Snow White (Dir. Mark Webb; Starring Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler) Yeah, the live-action remake with Internet supervillain Zegler is going to be as big of a commercial disaster as it’s proving critically, but imagine the Monday Morning Elon and Trump shitposting. Now playing in theaters.
The Alto Nights Robert DeNiro proves himself no slouch during his golden years playing dual roles as real-life gangster Frank Costello AND his arch nemesis, Vito Genovese. If TDS finally broke the seasoned actor, at least Rain Man director Barry Levinson is at the helm–even if the reviews are pretty tepid. Now playing in theaters.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 The Hard Quartet @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 7p, $39.5, Info
🎸 Lonestar @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $76+, Info
🎸 Zach Bryson @ The Basement, 7p, $12.85, Info
🎸 Tyler Ramsey @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.88, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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