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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
