Posted by Cubicle QB
Remember ESPN’s SportsCenter “Who’s Now?” thing from last summer? This summer, they managed to find something even dumber than that to fill airtime: “TitleTown USA.”
People have been nominating cities on ESPN.com for the honor of being the best sports town in the nation. Six finalists have been revealed, with 14 still left to go between now and June 27. The remaining finalists will be named each weekday on the 6pm ET edition of SportsCenter.
As part of “TitleTown USA,” SportsCenter will embark on a 20-city tour beginning in Green Bay, Wisc., on July 4 and continue each day through July 23 with segments about each city. Following the tour, fans will be asked to vote for which city they feel best represents “TitleTown USA.” The winner will be announced Sunday, July 27.
But based on the six finalists they’ve chosen already, and their reasons for picking them, you can be thankful you haven’t paid the least bit of attention to this nonsense:
Green Bay
- Has self-proclaimed moniker as “TitleTown”
- Home of the three-time Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers (Super Bowl I, II and XXXI)
- Green Bay Packers won nine NFL Championships prior to the Super Bowl era
- Home of the “cheeseheads,” one of the most passionate fans of any team in the U.S.
Louisville
- Home of the Kentucky Derby
- Birthplace of Muhammad Ali, a three-time World Heavyweight Champion and winner of the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal in 1960
- Louisville Cardinals won NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in 1980 and 1986
- Trinity High School has won 18 high school state championships in football
Gainesville
- University of Florida has won 21 team sport National Championships (2006 BCS Champions and 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions); 174 SEC Championships in various sports and produced 203 Individual National Champions
- 76 student-athletes from the university have won medals in the Olympics (39 Gold-medal winners)
- Home of three Heisman Trophy winners (Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier)
Detroit
- Detroit Red Wings recently won their 11th Stanley Cup
- Detroit Pistons are three-time NBA Champions (1989, 1990, 2004)
- Detroit Tigers won the World Series in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984
- Home to boxing legends Thomas Hearns and Joe Louis
Williamsport
- Home of the Little League World Series for 61 years, where the top youth baseball players – 13 and under — from all over the world have come to chase and live their championship dreams
- 61 straight championships – two summer weeks each year, the small, rural town in Central Pennsylvania becomes a melting pot for baseball, offering a championship for one team to take home
Boston
- 16 NBA titles and 19 conference titles (Celtics)
- Though the Patriots’ chase for a perfect NFL season was derailed by their Super Bowl XLII loss to the Giants, six AFC championships and three Super Bowl victories in four years reflect a dynasty
- Seven World Series titles by the Red Sox, including two in the last four years
- Eight NCAA hockey titles