Rivalry shelved for ESPN’s TitleTown
Sports network’s visit slated for FridayBy KERRY PATRICK, kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG - Bitter rivalries will be pushed to the backburner at least for one evening as ESPN visits Parkersburg for its TitleTown USA competition.
The pep rally scheduled for Friday at Stadium Field will showcase dance troupes and cheerleading squads from both Parkersburg High School and Parkersburg South. The bands from the two schools will join forces to perform a handful of tunes before ESPN begins taping its Titletown USA segment.
The ESPN crew arrives in Parkersburg Thursday.
"The girls are really excited to be a part of ESPN and just to be performing for all of Parkersburg," said Kristen Johnson, who coaches the Southern Belles from Parkersburg South. "It will be good for this town to maybe cut the ties of the cross-town rivalry. If everyone can come together for one common purpose, it should be really good for the community."
In June, Parkersburg was selected from a list of 2,000 nominations as a TitleTown USA finalist. During the first three weeks of July, ESPN is visiting each of the 20 finalists. Parkersburg's segment will be aired on SportsCenter July 22.
Online voting at espn.com runs from July 23-26. The winner will be announced on July 27.
Committee members met Tuesday at PHS to cement the itinerary leading up to Friday's 6 o'clock hour when ESPN is scheduled to interview PHS football coach Bernie Buttrey and former South football coach Mike Hayden. Buttrey led the Big Reds to back-to-back state titles during the past seasons, while Hayden guided the Patriots to their first playoff appearance.
"We're planning for something that we've never done before and we're trying to do it as best as we can," said PHS athletics director Richard Lance, who is coordinating ESPN's visit to the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Gates at Stadium Field open at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The pep rally follows at 4:55 p.m. with both bands performing the National Anthem. Ten minutes later, skydiver Ted Williams is scheduled to land on the football field carrying an 8 by 10 foot banner portraying the ESPN TitleTown logo and bearing the names of the three respective schools - PHS, South and Parkersburg Catholic.
With summer vacations interrupting schedules, South band director Luke Zyla and his PHS counterpart Dan White expect approximately 100 students to represent the two programs. They plan on performing as many as five tunes throughout the course of the pep rally, which will also feature giveways and 50-50 drawings.
"We are keeping it very simple because for some of my band members, this is the first time they have ever marched in their life," said Zyla. "The homecoming parade is generally our first performance in public. Of course, we are working on our competition shows, but this is way earlier than we are comfortable doing. "
The Southern Belles have choreographed a performance just especially for this event. Twelve members will dance to the song "What I Love About the South."
"We didn't want to do a football performance, so we've had a week to prepare for this dance," Johnson said.
South cheerleading advisor Maria Miller will combine the past with the present as former cheerleaders will join current members as part of a 12-person contingent.
"It is really special that we have a town that just based on high school titles, that we qualify for something like Titletown," Miller said.
