Those 'Home of the ___ Champions' signs at city limits are getting lamer and lamer

The BBQ Pit
1

If you are from a small town or medium-sized city, you should know what I’m talking about.

As you enter a particular town, below the city limits sign there may be one saying something like, “Home of the 2001 Class A Boys Basketball State Champions.”

Growing up in my little burg, I always had “sign-envy,” for surrounding communities that were able to hang one of those. So I and others in my small town were happy when the cross-country running team won back-to-back state championships a few years back, and we finally got one!

In recent years, you’ll see these signs for things other than sports. Odyssey of the Mind, Choir, Cheerleading, Science Club, what have you. I have no real problem with that. If they are a champion, show your community pride, and let the world know, I say!

But a village near me now has one, touting its FOURTH-PLACE girls track team.

No. Uh-uh. Sorry.

Finishing fourth at state finals is definitely nothing to hang your head about. The girls, the school and the community should be proud.

It doesn’t deserve a sign at the city limits, though.

Keep this fuzzy-wuzzy, group-hug, new age crap away from sports. Please. Don’t lower the standards to be more “inclusive.”

Getting your city limits sign should be hard! It should take years, even decades! Keep trying!

2

Great post, MIlo.

I think there shold be signs to accomodate everyone in the US.

“Home of brain-dead white guys who huff and puff a lot about patriotism, but please don’t check our computers in search of porno concerning underage girls.” State Champs.

Just, “for instance.”

3

samclem’s post reminded me of:

“On the way to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, everyone passes through this town called Dyke, Michigan. They get their pictures taken at the city limits, they form pyramids on the town hall lawn. Apparently the citizens of Dyke don’t like this yearly pilgrimage… Just change the name of the town to Uptight Straight White Guy - we’ll stay away.”

  • Sabrina Matthews
4

Slightly different, but…

Driving through New Jersey this weekend, I noticed a large sign proclaiming “Embroidery Campital of the World since 1889!” I got a mean ol’ chuckle out of that one, finding funny the little things small towns are proud of.

About 10 miles down the road, I started laughing even harder as I pictured a tiny berg in Oaklahoma. Elderly citizens all sitting knitting and mumbling to themselves, “THIS is the year we get it back, goddammit!”

5

We have the high school champion signs – from 19-freakin’-79!!!

Living in the glory days much?

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Ahhh yes. I was so upset when I found out that the “Edmonton: City of Mushrooms” thing was just a UL.

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Speaking of glory days…

I had the occasion to drive through little Hebron, Illinois numerous times over the course of the last six months or so. They had re-painted the main water tower in town to look like a basketball to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hebron winning the 1952 Illinois State Basketball tournament.

When I first saw the water tower, I thought it was pretty lame (as the OP opines).

But I did a little checking and decided that they really did have something to be proud of. (this link shows a picture of the water tower if you scroll down a bit).

Back in 1952, the schools weren’t divided into size classes, and Hebron high school, with a total enrollment of 98 students, won the state basketball tournament. This little town’s story parallels the story of the Indiana school immortalized in the film Hoosiers.

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If you drive into my hometown, you see a nice big sign that says:

Welcome to the scenic hills of Martin County,
Home of the Biggest Catfish & the Best Gypsum"

So there. Bet YOUR hometown can’t brag about both catfish AND gypsum, huh?

(It’s not quite as bad as it once was, believe it or not. Suffice to say that it involved the word “Unto”, and even more gratuitou capitalization.)

9

Scarlett, I’ve got you beat. They just erected a nice, flashy sign at the city limit of my hometown celebrating our Mt. Sterling Trojans, who won the Kentucky Class A football state championship in 1969.

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The little one-horse half-ass Kentucky town that I grew up in is Home of the Woolly Worm Festival. There are signs proclaiming such as one comes into town, along with a woolly worm consisting of rolled hay bales with a goofy face on the front.

We have no Champions signs, because no one from Beattyville has won shit in recent memory. I did finish seventh in the Mathematics competition at the state Governor’s Cup in 1994; maybe I can lobby for a sign.

Dr. J

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I love this thread. Every town in Backwater, USA is looking for something to identify the town. Ever since Punxsutawney, PA came up with the weather predicting groundhog, every other town is playing catch up.

A bit off topic, but the product with the “Look at the Award We Won!!” Lame-o award goes to
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Drumroll

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, voted America’s Best in 1893! (having a little quality dry spell there, fellas?)