ESPN's SportsCenter Unveils Five More “TitleTown USA” Finalists

Announcement of 20 Finalists Continues Through Friday, June 27; Profile of all 20 Cities July 4 – 23

June 17, 2008 -- SportsCenter’s interactive search for America’s top championship city continued last week with the announcement of five new finalists on the ESPN flagship news and information program Tuesday, June 10, to Monday, June 16. The five cities announced include Los Angeles, Columbus, Ohio, Chapel Hill, N.C., Ann Arbor, Mich., and San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area.

To date, 11 of the 20 finalists in the running to be chosen “TitleTown USA” by fans have been announced including, Green Bay, Wisc., Louisville, Ky., Gainesville, Fla., Detroit, Williamsport, Pa. and Boston. The remaining nine finalists will be announced each weekday on the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter today, Tuesday, June 17, through Friday, June 27.

The 20 cities were determined by a combination of 2,000 fan-generated nominations, a ESPN production content research team, and a blue-ribbon panel consisting of 19 non-ESPN journalists and 12 SportsCenter anchors. Ultimately, fans will pick the winner via online voting on ESPN.com.

The series will feature two daily SportsCenter segments highlighting the championship pedigrees of each finalist (one per day), starting with Green Bay Friday, July 4, through Wednesday, July 23. Upon completion of the series, online polling will re-open Thursday, July 24 – Saturday, July 26. The winner will be announced Sunday, July 27.

Highlights of the new five finalists announced last week:

Los Angeles

* Professional sports team titles: Lakers – 9; Dodgers – 5; L.A. Raiders – 1; L.A. Rams – 1; L.A. Galaxy – 2; and L.A. Sparks – 2
* College team titles: UCLA – 122; USC – 107, plus seven Heisman Trophy winners
* Olympic sports: USC – 112 gold medals, 64 silver and 58 bronze; UCLA – 105 gold, 53 silver, and 54 bronze
* Great athletes and coaches: Jackie Robinson (lettered in four sports at UCLA), Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, James Worthy, Jerrry West, Kobie Bryant, John Wooden, Bill Walton, Pat Riley, Tiger Woods, et al

Columbus

* Ohio State football program has won seven national titles and over 30 Big Ten titles and feature more than 100 All-Americans
* Ohio State’s seven Heisman Trophy winners are tied with USC for most by any school
* Legendary former football coach Woody Hayes was the leader in creating a college football coaching tradition that remains relevant today
* Dubbed “The Program” by Sports Illustrated

Chapel Hill

* University of North Carolina has won 33 NCAA team National championships in six different sports (ninth all-time) and 51 individual National Championships
* Women’s soccer program has won 18 National Championships since 1982 and the men’s program won in 2001
* Women’s basketball team won national title in 1994 and the men’s team in 1924, 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005
* Men’s lacrosse team won national titles in 1981, ’82, ’86 and 1991
* Women’s field hockey team won National Championships in 1985, ’95, ’96, ’97 and 2007
* Legendary Hall-of-Fame coach Dean Smith and his coaching protégés (Larry Brown, Roy Williams, et al) have become synonymous with fundamental basketball

Ann Arbor

* University of Michigan has won 52 national titles in 12 different sports
* Michigan football program leads the Big Ten with 42 championships
* University of Michigan hockey team has won 10 NCAA titles
* 178 Michigan athletes and coaches have participated in the Olympics and have won medals in every Summer Olympics except 1896 (won gold medals in all but four Olympiads)
* Legendary coach Bo Schembechler led Michigan to 13 Big Ten titles and made 10 Rose Bowl appearances

San Francisco/Bay Area

* San Francisco 49ers have won five Super Bowls
* Oakland Raiders have won nine AFC Championships, three AFC Championships and two Super Bowl Championships
* Home of one of sport’s greatest cheering sections in ‘The Black Hole’ (Oakland Raiders)
* Oakland A’s have won 14 American League West titles, six American League pennants and four World Series
* San Jose SaberCats have won three ArenaBowls

Source: ESPN

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •