Valdosta named TitleTown

By Bryan Fazio

July 30, 2008 09:02 pm

— VALDOSTA — When Jessie Tuggle clutched the three-foot tall trophy Monday and turned toward the thousands in the home stands of Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, the place erupted in cheers.
Valdosta officially became TitleTown.
ESPN returned to the Valdosta High School football stadium for a 2 p.m. taping Monday, which aired later in the day, declaring Valdosta as TitleTown USA.
“I think it’s great for the community,” Valdosta State football coach David Dean said. “It says a lot for all those who set the precedent early in high school football, and every sport which takes place in Valdosta. It’s exciting to be part of TitleTown.”
The news hit the area early Monday morning and spread around noon, when people began showing up at the stadium.
ESPN then let the world know during the 6 p.m. showing of “SportsCenter.”
Not only were fans, athletes and coaches of Valdosta State, Valdosta, Lowndes, Valwood, Open Bible and Georgia Christian in attendance, but also there were Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta), Valdosta Mayor John Fretti, City Manager Larry Hansen, the Georgia Bridgemen, the Valdosta Marchin’ Cats and others.
“We’re obviously ecstatic about the TitleTown USA designation,” Mayor Fretti said. “And we’re going to make the nation proud of Valdosta carrying this title.”
Valdosta received 29.2 percent of the votes on an Internet vote held Wednesday through Sunday.
Out of the 20 finalists, just the top six were mentioned during the “SportsCenter” presentation of TitleTown USA. Parkersburg, W.Va. finished second, with 24.4 percent of the votes, followed by Green Bay, Wis. (11.2 percent), Massillon, Ohio (6.7 percent), Boston (5.8 percent) and Gainesville, Fla. (5.2 percent.)
Valdosta hit the voting en masse and picked up support from throughout the country. That included Donna Nix, the mother of ESPN reporter Wendi Nix, who voted around 100 times for Valdosta after her daughter visited the city for the TitleTown USA taping on July 9. Donna Nix was so impressed with the showing of Valdosta back on July 16 she tried to find out if the town was the winner before it was allowed to become public Monday afternoon.
“She called me and wanted to know where I was, and I said TitleTown USA, I can’t tell you where, but I’m in TitleTown,” Wendi said. “She asked, ‘Is it Valdosta, is it Valdosta?’”
Indeed, it was Valdosta, and although word got out Monday morning, ESPN broadcast it to the world that evening.
“We were able to really showcase Valdosta to the entire nation,” Cagle said. “This victory really solidifies in my mind the true national champion that Valdosta is.”
Cagle has been on a week-long tour to various media outlets throughout Atlanta and the state of Georgia trying to urge the state to vote for the South Georgia city. The campaigning and relentless voting from Valdosta paid off as the city picked up nearly 30 percent of an estimated one million votes.
“You cannot buy national attention like this,” new Valdosta State University President Patrick Schloss said. “It comes out of the community, the athletes and the university community coming together.
“It was my first day here, and it was bigger than anything I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of big things. I know what it takes to make things like this happen, and I have my deepest admiration to everyone in the community.”
Indeed, the feel around Bazemore-Hyder and the various outlets which showed the “SportsCenter” broadcast was that this was one of the biggest things to ever hit Valdosta.
The city thinks so, too. Road signs are being made marking Valdosta as TitleTown USA, including one which was quickly fabricated for the broadcast on Monday.
“TitleTown USA is about being the best sports town in the nation, and all that it has to offer,” Cagle said. “The enthusiasm ingrained in the tradition here, I think, that’s what football and that’s what sports is all about.”

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