Earlier this year, ESPN ran a poll asking its viewers to select “Titletown, USA.” Many cities were nominated, and viewers set out to find the ultimate town that embodied winning and sports greatness. Valdosta, Georgia, ended up the victor, claiming the name “Titletown” with its rich history of high school and college athletic greatness. Towns like Green Bay, Boston and New York were all other high finalists. Well, now, a town in Northeast Indiana would like to throw its name into the discussion. Not just any town, but MY town.

Obviously, its mainly for town pride and such, but Fort Wayne, Indiana, has erected signs and banners around town to claim itself as a Title Town. How can Fort Wayne, Indiana, claim to be a title town, you may ask? Well, Fort Wayne is home to the Komets of the International Hockey League. The IHL is a “minor league” hockey organization that only has one team affiliated with an NHL club (Quad City). The Komets are the most successful team in the IHL, with the highest annual attendance. That’s not the only mark of success, as the Komets have won the last two Turner Cups, which marks the league’s champion. In all, in more than one hockey league, the Komets have won 7 championships since their inception in 1952. Certainly worthy of praise.

What really clinched the choice of nickname, was what happened this past summer. The Fort Wayne TinCaps, formerly the Wizards, are Fort Wayne’s Class A baseball affiliate of MLB’s San Diego Padres. This year, the team opened a brand new ballpark with a new name. It was a special season, but became more special when the TinCaps posted the best record in all of minor league regular season baseball and won the Midwest League championship. So Fort Wayne had won the IHL and Midwest League titles in the same year. Hooray~!

Then, this year, Fort Wayne was named an “All American City” by the National Civic League. From the NCL website… “The All-America City Awards program, which since 1949 has recognized the efforts of extraordinary communities, is perhaps the best known NCL program. Each year the National Civic League honors ten communities for effectively addressing their most critical challenges.” Fort Wayne has been named an All Americat City three times (1982, 1998, 2009).

Three distinct honors in one year. So… Fort Wayne is now Title Town, USA.

LINKS
WANE: Fort Wayne now a title town
Fort Wayne, Indiana – Wikipedia