Like everyone else in Chicago and around the U.S., we here at Slack Barshinger are on pins and needles as we await the International Olympic Committee’s selection this coming Friday morning of the host city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We are one of hundreds of firms that have proudly provided material assistance to the 2016 bid effort.

• Going back to December 2007, we helped Chicago 2016 produce the mid-January 2008 bid book for the U.S. Olympic Committee (when Chicago was still one of several candidate U.S. cities).

• More recently, this past spring we helped Chicago 2016 with certain aspects of the final bid book and the packaging of the delivery of that book (by Jesse Owens’ grandson) to the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Whatever happens on Friday, I agree wholeheartedly with savvy outside observers like Gordon Kane and NBC’s Alan Abrahamson that Chicago’s bid is outstanding and one of the best ever.

The back story likely will be told in great detail some day, but the job that Mayor Daley, the City, Patrick Ryan and the leadership of Chicago 2016 have done to craft Chicago’s bid and build trust with the IOC is of Olympian quality.

So many individuals deserve credit—and hopefully will receive it in time—but I would single out Mark Mitten and John Murray, two former McKinsey & Co. consultants who diverted their professional lives a few years ago to help Chicago and all Chicaoans pursue this amazing and hopefully close-to-being realized dream.

It is interesting and heartening to note that the Chicago Tribune, after some surprisingly ambivalent treatment of the prospect of the Olympics coming to Chicago, finally but still somewhat lukewarmly came out in their favor in today’s lead editorial. Not as much as many of us would have hoped for, but, still, about time…and well-timed.

Too bad Crain’s Chicago Business couldn’t see fit to do the same on the eve of the IOC decision. The most editorial enthusiasm for the subject they could muster was a cheeky reminder to Mayor Daley not to forget about his day job.

The afore-mentioned Alan Abrahamson, an NBC Universal commentator and blogger who closely follows the Olympics, has, in my opinion, outdistanced and outshone the entire Chicago news media (except for the Trib’s Kathy Bergen) with just these two recent posts alone:

• “Chicago Will Win—10 Reasons Why”

• “Chicago Will Lose—10 Reasons Why”

For my money, the points Alan makes in his “Win” blog post far more than than counter-balance the points in his “Lose” blog post. Although he never offers up a final prediction, my read is he thinks Chicago likely will win.

Although I’m confident Chicago 2016 has done and is doing everything it can think of to preclude the need for luck, Olympics-venue-selection history shows that some luck is needed, so I will still say it: Good luck to all of us on Friday!