Breaking News: ESPN's Titletown Is Valdosta, Georgia.....Wait What?

Monday, July 28, 2008


I thought it was a lock that Boston was going to win this nonsense, but I apparently I was wrong....very wrong. Valdosta, Georgia will be your brand new, or first rather, Titletown when ESPN announces the winner during tonight's Sports Center....

For years, it’s been called Winnersville. Now, the south Georgia town of Valdosta has another name: TitleTown USA, thanks to ESPN.

The cable sports network is coming to Valdosta today to declare Valdosta the winner of its summer promotion that earlier this month featured the city as one of its 20 finalists for the national award.

The 20 finalists were visited by film crews and highlighted on ESPN, and the winner was determined by online voting July 23-27.

The trophy ceremony will be filmed at Valdosta High School’s Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, where fans and citizens are encouraged to arrive by 2 p.m. Valdosta will be announced the winner on Monday’s 6 p.m. “SportsCenter.”
I don't really even know what to say. You spent two months of the summer driving this segment down our throats and then give it to a city that has zero pro teams and zero D-1 schools. Good work ESPN....you should be proud of what you've put together here.

ESPN names Valdosta TitleTown USA (AJC)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 2:05 PM

37 Comments:

Well it's good to know that the choice was such a failure that everyone will still call Green Bay "Titletown" since very few people are going to take this seriously.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 3:27:00 PM  

Agreed. The whole idea was so idiotic that the only suitable end would be one this, well, idiotic. Green Bay is Titletown, has been forever, and even if other places have more titles, it will be forever. It's the Lombardi trophy for a reason, tWWL...

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 3:36:00 PM  

The real reason for this selection is evident to anyone living away from the east coast: it 'proves' that ESPN doesn't have a massive, massive erection for all things NY and Boston.

Did anyone watch this crap? This is second in terrible ideas only to that playoff bracket they ran, trying to compare athletes from different sports to one another. Both terrible, terrible ideas.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 3:53:00 PM  

It's not all about the pro teams. You need to realize that. Valdosta is very deserving of being called Titletown.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 3:53:00 PM  

Actually, Valdosta may have more of a claim to be "TitleTown" than Green Bay anyway. Defensive Packer fans will disagree but everyone else knows that they are about the tenth most important franchise in NFL history.

Just because you gave yourselves that "sweet" nickname decades ago, doesn't make it a reality.

GMoney said...
Jul 28, 2008, 3:53:00 PM  

Just because a lame ass cable news station gave you a "sweet" nickname this week during its never-ending quest for ratings at the expense at all things holy, doesn't make it a reality.

"Actually, Valdosta may have more of a claim to be "TitleTown" than Green Bay anyway." I'm not going to even sink to comment on that one, cuz the real problem here is that ESPN thinks they are able to re appropriate nicknames whenever they so desire.

Jul 28, 2008, 4:11:00 PM  

As a Packer fan all I want to ask is when to we get to vote on who deserves the title of Worldwide Leader?

kjell1979 said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:17:00 PM  

I don't know where Titletown is, but it isn't in Wisconsin anymore, and it isn't Valdosta, GA.

And since I don't care where Titletown happens to be now, I'll leave it at that.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:22:00 PM  

What are you guys blaming ESPN for? It was a fan vote, not an ESPN selection. If anyone is to blame it's the fans for not supporting their team and give cedit to the people of Valdosta for actually giving a sh!t and voting....

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:22:00 PM  

haha thats great a D-2 school and a high school, that no doubt would get smoked by schools in miami, wins titletown great job espn

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:26:00 PM  

They shouldn't have called it 'TitleTown USA.' They should have called it 'PlaceWithPrettyTreesAndFlowersUSA'

Chris said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:29:00 PM  

I'm saying ESPN is ridiculous for holding such a "contest" in the first place. I could not give a shit about people voting or who actually "won."

Jul 28, 2008, 4:34:00 PM  

Ah...such bitterness! Well, as a grad of Valdosta State; I'll tell ya' plain son----that place IS all about champions...it completely saturates the attitude down there. The nation saw the stats, the NATION voted! So, chew on your sour grapes; whine and complain and rationalize (behavioral traits of losers)---but at the end of the day, it's VALDOSTA hoisting the trophy, not your town! That ain't braggin'; that's a fact.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:34:00 PM  

worst. idea. ever.

it makes sense that valdosta would win though...any real sports fan knew this was so irrelevant to anything sports didnt vote...obviosuly the town of valdosta got together to win their 5 minutes...ill be surprised if anyone remembers this next year.

but this probably was the only place that qualified as a town not a city of the 20 finalists, so for that...great job espn!!

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:37:00 PM  

It's not about voting, it's about ESPN using its influence to take away something that the Packers founded themselves. That should be a naming liberty, not something that should be decided by the public and propagated by the biggest sports media organizations. It's like if they decided to assign America's Team to a team other than the Cowboys and if they don't get it back, you blame their fanbase for not being large enough? Even though I don't like the Cowboys, I wouldn't wish that upon them in the slightest.

That's why I wonder how ESPN would feel if someone decided to reassign the Worldwide Leader moniker. And if they don't get enough votes, tough. Their fanbase should have been larger.

kjell1979 said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:38:00 PM  

Hilarity, Anonymous 4:34. Let the rest of the NATION know which corporate sponsor is on the majestic "trophy" (probably Dick's; judging by your post, it would be fitting) and go away. Who cares.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:40:00 PM  

im voting for whatever network is currently employing boom goes the dynamite

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:41:00 PM  

Question: did anybody outside of Ga. (or Vadosta, to be more specific) actually vote on this craptastic promotion? My guess is that citizens of NY, Boston, LA, etc. just didn't a flying shit about this and saw it as what it was: just a made-for-tv award. Seriously, who gives a shit? This is one of the reasons why ESPN gets on my nerves at times.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:42:00 PM  

Do you think Atlanta is feeling resentment? Then again, they've only won one World Championship (Braves, 1995)

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:46:00 PM  

"As a Packer fan all I want to ask is when to we get to vote on who deserves the title of Worldwide Leader?"

Awesome :)

You know, at least this beats "Who's Now". I know ESPN can do anything and the populous will call it moronic, but this was so irrelevant that I couldn't care less. They try to fill up the summer with irrelevant stuff to talk about (i.e., excessive NFL news).

I did like their 50 states tour back in, 2003, was it? That was a neat segment.

Eric said...
Jul 28, 2008, 4:50:00 PM  

Give ESPN a tiny shred of credit. Their awful summer time filler is better than what FSN is gonna run out there. The Best Damn World Yo-Yo Contest? Really?

Jul 28, 2008, 5:02:00 PM  

this may all be a ploy by espn so they dont have to report the inevitable pete rose hof complaints this summer.

todd said...
Jul 28, 2008, 7:01:00 PM  

You know... It makes me sick to read stuff like this. If you had won you'd be bragging, yeah we had it in the bag the whole time, we rock. We knew it. Why not the underdog???? Among all those choices, why not an underdog?

I'm not going to shove the stats down your throat about the wins Valdosta has, that several pro players come from their High Schools and the College...
No I have to say its the feeling of friday night under the lights. That is a town that is ALL about football and its teams. The city locks down, the radios and TV only broadcast the games.
Go ahead and talk your smack... But it was the people that voted.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 7:28:00 PM  

I'm a bit surprised Valdosta was even a nominee in the first place. Was there some blog encouraging people to vote for Valdosta to embarrass ESPN, similar to "vote for the worst" on American Idol? Not to take anything away from Valdosta...

Morgan Wick said...
Jul 28, 2008, 7:53:00 PM  

To be fair, the Packers have 12 NFL titles, while Valdosta only has 8 national titles (high school and college combined).

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 8:22:00 PM  

"As a Packer fan all I want to ask is when to we get to vote on who deserves the title of Worldwide Leader?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I love it... what a terrible, terrible station.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 8:27:00 PM  

There are actually tools here defending this choice?

I'll quote the great John McEnroe 'You cannot be serious!'

No D-1 schools, just a bunch of high school and D2 titles...yet these clowns win 'titletown'?

Isn't winning a D2 title akin to being the world's tallest midget?

Unknown said...
Jul 28, 2008, 8:43:00 PM  

I live in Alabama. I've been to Valdosta, and I really don't give a damn about the entire contest. I thought it was just a time-filler lameass contest until something else comes along that's important.. like more Favre news. /sarcasm

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 9:18:00 PM  

Columbus, Ohio got hosed.

/College Football viewer who watches games until December 31

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 9:39:00 PM  

Valwhatsda? I think I've heard of it. Isn't that in the Ukraine or something?

Of all the places in the world, that's certainly one of them.

Anonymous said...
Jul 28, 2008, 11:56:00 PM  

The top two towns, Valdosta & Parkersburg, West Virginia, had approximately 55% of the votes cast. So every resident huddled around the computer at either to the local 'libarry' or Homer Glumpet's house and chose their towns for four straight days nonstop. That or no one else cared.

Anonymous said...
Jul 29, 2008, 1:49:00 AM  

Does anyone even remember who won "Who's Now?" last year? So who cares who won "Titletown."

Anonymous said...
Jul 29, 2008, 9:03:00 AM  

Anyone think most people voted for Valdosta & Parkersburg just to screw with ESPN.

Looking forward to picking a brand new "America's Team" next summer, my vote goes to the Raptors.

Anonymous said...
Jul 29, 2008, 1:45:00 PM  

It's says a lot (and when I say "a lot" I mean very little) about Voldosta, GA. that they would take such an ESPN summer promotion so seriously. They show just how "small town" and "podunk" they are by giving half a crap.

Here in Los Angeles we are too busy making the entertainment you all enjoy and getting through earthquakes to give two shits about a "Title-Town" competition.

...All though I did hear they rolled Lasorda out there for the bullocks.

Jul 29, 2008, 4:30:00 PM  

Whooooooo's NOW?

Anonymous said...
Jul 30, 2008, 12:24:00 AM  

Doesn't "caring about high school sports" pretty much make you a failure at life and/or waste of human flesh? Exception if you are currently a member (or immediately related to a member) of the team in question, of course. Part exception if you currently attend the school but aren't actually on the team, but don't overdo it. If you still care post-graduation, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

Anonymous said...
Jul 30, 2008, 2:50:00 PM  

To the idiot that said GB had 12 titles and Valdosta only had 8. you need a math lesson. In all sports Valdosta has 500 titles. Bring your Packers to Valdosta were are not scared we will play you ( with or without Favre) and to the person that said teams from Miami would kill us I-75 runs north hop on it drive a few hours and meet us under the lights but be warned that cities all of the country have spent alot of money to come to Valdosta and experience a loooong ride home.

Anonymous said...
Aug 5, 2008, 4:33:00 AM  

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