2008 Trials test our ability to think big.

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

Poor Robb Hankins.

The moving van had barely left the driveway of Eugene's bound-for-Ohio ex-cultural services director when word broke that "The World's Greatest City for the Arts and Outdoors" had landed the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

I'm sure Hankins had his reasons for leaving. Still, for a man who'd fanned the flames of Eugene's new slogan until it blazed into officialdom, the timing was like a sky-watching astronomer zipping inside for a potty break - just before Halley's Comet appears.

Has there ever been a better opportunity for Eugene to showcase its arts and the outdoors virtues to the world? For disparate parts of the community to come together with a common vision? For Eugene to get off its fuddy-duddy behind and actually think big?

"This is a great opportunity for all factions of the community to come together and do something we can really be proud of on a national - a global - basis," says Fred Crafts, the KVAL arts reporter and, of course, longtime head of Hayward Field's "basket crew" that shuttles runners' sweat suits from starting line to interview area.

Crafts' dual arts and track focus is symbolic. Because anyone who thinks this 10-day opportunity is only about what happens at Hayward Field is being shortsighted.

"I'm very excited about the potential here," says Royce Saltzman, executive director of the Oregon Bach Festival. "It's a unique opportunity to showcase what Eugene has to offer in the arts." And, well, in everything else: restaurants, music, outdoors. The works.

Saltzman could have been chagrined; after all, the two events begin on the same day, June 27. The Trials last 10 days; the festival 17.

But he understands what we all need to understand: In a time when some U.S. cities are being slammed with hurricanes, Eugene has been blessed with a gift. A chance to, in essence, say to the world: Here's who we are. Here's what we have to offer.

Thus does Saltzman see the Trials not as competing against the world-class music festival, but complementing it. "I'd hope there would be some collaboration between the two events," he says.

Nobody's suggesting that meet organizers are going to be interested in a Bach & Field partnership; USA Track & Field is here to select a team to represent the country in the Aug. 8-24, 2008, Olympics in Beijing.

But this isn't a national tractor pull; as columnist Ron Bellamy points out, it's the "greatest national meet in the world" - and will draw more than a few people who understand 1,500-meter splits and an extended cadenza. As Crafts says, "You can't watch track and field 24 hours a day."

The Trials might inject up to $20 million into the local economy. Beyond athletes, coaches and media members, crowds of 17,000 people a day are expected.

But to think this is only about money is, again, to think too small. It's about hosting an event that most cities can only dream of. About being in the media spotlight for months. About rediscovering a certain civic identity that, frankly, has languished, even as places such as Portland and Bend and Ashland have thrived.

Quick, what was the last "really big thing" to hit Eugene? The new library comes to mind, but I suggest it's been more than two decades - when the Hult Center for the Performing Arts debuted in 1982.

Before that, of course, the Olympic Trials in 1972, 1976 and 1980 thrust Eugene into the national limelight. But in the last quarter-century, Eugene has grown complacent. Frumpy. Too willing to not take a risk, an odd reluctance given its sense of a "progressive" mindset.

"Eugene," Crafts says, "seems like a place that's ready to `happen.' And the Trials might just be the catalyst." But only if we're willing to seize the moment - or 10 days.

"The committee obviously believes in Eugene," Crafts says.

The question is: Does Eugene believe in Eugene?

Bob Welch can be reached at 338-2354 or at [e-mail].