New York, Rome … how did the progenitors of Florida 2012 ever think Florida could compete for the Olympics against such major cities? Perhaps now that it’s certain Florida is out of the 2012 Olympic bid the state will learn how much further it has to grow before it can play in the big leagues of world events.The fact that Ed Turanchik, president and chief executive officer for Florida 2012, even thought Florida had a chance to win the bid against U.S. cities such as San Francisco and New York is laughable. The proposed I-4 Corridor Olympic bid was outrageous as it proposed moving athletes from Tampa to St. Petersburg to Orlando. Moving between the three cities would have been a mass cause of frustration once traffic congestion, lack of hotels and other problems set in.

None of these cities has an adequate mass transit system or enough room to house the athletes, visitors and news media that would have descended upon Florida.

The rejection of Florida’s bid only helps Florida realize what a budding state it is. Tampa is neither the cultural icon nor the metropolis New York is. To further attempt to compete on an international level with cities such as Rome and Moscow is absurd. The United States itself is a young country and Tampa is, too. Tampa has grown a lot in the past decades, but still has much to learn about being a full-fledged city. Florida should take this opportunity to grow in several ways. Better housing and improvements would attract more businesses, along with the proposed mass transit light rail system. These improvements on

Tampa will help future bids.

The Olympics shouldn’t span more than one major city, either. Linking the I-4 Corridor cities only further proved that Florida didn’t even have one city ready to host the Olympics, how could it be expected to prepare three?