04/18/24
July 21, 2008
TigerTown could win ESPN'S search for TitleTown!: Could Massillon, Ohio be the winner in ESPN's quest for the one city to call Titletown? With submissions like these, and others as well, could Massillon top them all once again. Here is some more history of the Tigers, oops I mean T-I-G......E-R-S.
Thats true steelergirl, about the real tiger. Here is a pic of one of the Obie's of the past. They get a new one every year, then hold fund raisers to feed the thing. They also have a high school kid in a costume that dances around too. I just thought this would be an interesting post, for a look into a high school team trying to earn the "Titletown" honor for its city. I actually live in Massillon, and it is amazing what this city does for its high school football program. This is actually being constructed at this time! It is right on the High school campus and has a full 100 yard indoor practice field, it will also be used for some classes too. By the way, for those that have not seen Go Tigers, it is really a pretty good documentary about HS football. You may want to check it out.
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:13 PM on July 21, 2008
Not to take anything away from the proud Tigers of Massillon, but this whole "competition" is a disgrace. How can ESPN just take Green Bay's nickname and squire it around the country, much less "award" it to some other town?
posted by Venicemenace at 01:31 PM on July 21, 2008
What I want to know is which one of the Titletowns is more "now". Thanks ESPN. And while we're at it, can you stop interrupting the advertisements with all that sport? I don't like it.
posted by owlhouse at 04:49 PM on July 21, 2008
To be fair, by any reasonable measure either Boston or New York is the most probable Titletown. If you only take this decade/recent history, then it's unquestionably Boston over New York. Boston might still have the edge historically since they are more balanced across the four sports, along with more of a collegiate history, while NY I think has more total championships (although I'm not 100% sure on that). New York has the huge advantage of basically two to four (if you're looking at historical teams like the Giants and Dodgers) baseball teams, an NBA franchise, two NFL teams, and two NHL teams. If you lump in New Jersey- which probably isn't valid in a "Titletown" search- you can add additional football, hockey, and basketball teams. The greater L.A. area has a ton of teams as well, but isn't as winning as Boston and NY. I'd argue the Yankees and Celtics cancel each other out- the C's have won, I believe, a slightly higher percentage of their sports total championships (17 of 61 or 28% versus 26 of 103 or 25%)- after which the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and B.C./B.U./etc match up well with the Giants/Jets, Rangers/Islanders, and Knicks. But where LA fans are legendary in their passivity, and NY fans don't seem to have the desperate faithfulness of Sox, Cubs, or GB fans, I think Boston sports fans are as psychotically passionate as any in sports, yet across more teams. GB fans are more nuts about their team, but it's just the one team, which has won the same number of Superbowls- 3- as the Patriots and the Giants. Green Bay, or these other cities/towns that have one or two college teams, simply aren't realistic. Yes, as Venicemenace notes, GB anointed themselves with that term, but it's not like it's copyrighted. It's an ill-defined contest, but if the spirit is "Which is the city most deserving of being called 'Titletown', by dint of their perennial competitiveness and success in their sport(s) and the passion of the fans of those teams?", then Boston seems the best pick (and indisputably the Titletown of the 21st century, so far).
posted by hincandenza at 08:33 PM on July 21, 2008
What I want to know is which one of the Titletowns is more "now". Thanks ESPN. And while we're at it, can you stop interrupting the advertisements with all that sport? I don't like it. I find it knee-slappingly great that the comment that would most mirror my own came from an Aussie (no offense, owlhouse, I just don't know how ESPN runs down there). But good lord, ESPN gets to shit this time of year. During the day, they keep running the same trick-shot Billiards tourneys over and over and SportsCenter has become nothing better than a pale imitation of Entertainment Tonight that is tangentially sports-related. I'd say that the Olympics will help, but the NBC-panopoly will probably prevent that from even being remotely up to date. Best to wait for the NFL pre-season, mother mouse. Meanwhile, I'll dig into those novels that have been gathering dust on my bookshelf, thankyouverymuch.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:35 PM on July 21, 2008
Hal, obviously you have never been to Massillon, Ohio. That town lives and breathes football 24/7. It is a town that really supports its school in all way shapes and forms.
posted by steelergirl at 11:48 PM on July 21, 2008
If you want to see some pictures from the Titletown rally or the new D.R.E.A.M. indoor training facility (100 yard football field, indoors) Then check out this website's gallery I think Massillon is more than deserving of this award based on the description given of what ESPN is looking for.
posted by Spize at 03:49 PM on July 24, 2008
But good lord, ESPN gets to shit this time of year. Amen brother. I had it on in the background yesterday and heard Favre's name 6,549 times in two hours. Thank God for the internet. And this "Titletown" BS ... who the fuck cares? As Hal points out, it's either Boston or NYC, and I doubt anyone on either of those two cities give a damn what FAVRESPN thinks.
posted by smithnyiu at 10:26 AM on July 25, 2008
Far out, man! Massillon also is one of the few places that have a real tiger cub for a mascot. I don't think the Bengals do that. (by few places I mean a team that has a real mascot, not a person in a suit or on a horse etc. at the high school level) Between Massillon and Canton there is a lot of football history. And if Massillon doesn't get to be called Titletown, it should at least make the top five. The only places I can think of to give competion would be a few schools in Texas. And yes, they really do give newborn male babies footballs.