For most of the competitors at the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials, last weekend's events at the Wachovia Center were the culmination of years of preparation and hard work.
For the biggest participant there, though, the Trials were just a baby step toward a goal much more global and grandiose.
No, I'm not talking about Shawn Johnson or even Paul Hamm, though their journeys toward gold medals are certainly just beginning.
Think bigger. As in 135 square miles bigger. Think the city of Philadelphia. These Trials mark the serious beginning of the city's quest towards bringing the greatest sporting event in the world - the Summer Olympics - to the Birthplace of America.
Of course, this would not happen for a good twelve years at the very least. But every great epic has to begin somewhere. And after a successful Olympic Trials in one of the games' biggest sports, Philly can safely say that it is on its way.
If you think I'm forgetting to note the city's 2016 bid as its foot in the door, it's because I don't consider it legitimate. Going into a nomination process against the nation's second and third-largest cities is generally a bad idea. Doing it with only a U.S. Gymnastics Championship and a couple of X-Games on your resume is just dumb.
But, though the city may have been weeded out early on in that process, it's got to be on the US Olympic Committee's radar now. How else would it have would up as the only city to host two separate Olympic trials (table tennis being the other one)?
Now that Philly's found its way onto the radar, it's time to become the biggest blip on it. With big-name players like Boston and Detroit already in the mix, it won't be an easy job. But it's worth the fight because, quite frankly, it's the only surefire way to become "America's Next Great City."
Hopefully this weekend did its job. Hopefully the USOC members in attendance saw this city for what it truly is.
Hopefully they saw the total of 41,000 fans who attended the four days worth of trials as a group that is crazy about sports - great and small, basketball and badminton. Hopefully they saw a city ravenous for a winner and knowledgeable that nothing creates winners quite like the Olympics do.
And, hopefully, the Philadelphia Sports Congress will take note of the enthusiasm involved and step up their efforts as much as possible.
"We were planning on making another bid to host the Olympic Games before this," Joe Torsella, co-chairman of the Philadelphia Olympic and International Sports Project told The Philadelphia Inquirer after the Trials. "But this experience only heightens our excitement."
It heightened the whole city's excitement. And now, all of Philadelphia eagerly awaits the next major sporting event. Hopefully it will be some sort of trials for the 2010 Winter Olympics..
Twelve or sixteen years down the line -- if everything lines up just right - Philadelphia may just be preparing for the greatest sporting event of all. After all, what could be more wonderfully cliche than the Olympics in the City of Brotherly Love?
Neil Fanaroff is a junior Economics major and is Sports Editor of The Summer Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is neilif@dailypennsylvanian.com.
