SportsCenter Unveils Six “TitleTown USA” Finalists
Daily Announcement of 20 Cities Underway; Each Profiled July 4 – 23
ESPN SportsCenter has announced six of the 20 finalists in the running to be named “TitleTown USA” by sports fans through an interactive and multimedia effort this summer to determine which city, town or municipality is America’s top championship city this summer. The six announced cities were Louisville, Ky., Green Bay, Wisc., Gainesville, Fla., Detroit, Williamsport, Pa., and Boston.
Among the six finalists revealed, Green Bay is a finalist based on its self-proclaimed nickname America’s unofficial ‘title town,’ while Louisville won a vote amongst four cities in the “play-in” round. The remaining cities were determined by a panel of 31 journalists after being nominated by the fans.
Continuing today, Tuesday, June 10, through Friday, June 27, the remaining finalists will be named each weekday on the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.
The “TitleTown USA” series on SportsCenter combines fan-generated nominations on ESPN.com, a panel of judges who pared down the nominations to 50, and online voting by fans to unveil the nation’s top sports town. As part of “TitleTown USA,” SportsCenter will embark on a 20-city tour beginning in Green Bay, Wisc., Friday, July 4, through Wed., July 23, with daily 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.
Highlights of the six finalists announced last week on SportsCenter:
Green Bay
- Has self-proclaimed moniker as ‘Title Town’
- 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
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