Standing watch from the #DNCinPHL convention floor to the Broad St Bullies locker room @NHLFlyers pic.twitter.com/1CtoAzOshc
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) July 25, 2016
The Democratic National Convention is at the Wells Fargo Center this week, and that makes for weird photo ops -- like this one, with a Secret Service agent standing guard outside of the Flyers locker room.
Watching an event like this in our home building is always really bizarre, whether it's the DNC this year or the RNC back in 2000. If you look closely, the building does still kinda look like home -- any time I look at the red seats I can almost feel my feet sticking to 20 years worth of beer on the concrete floor -- but for a political convention, they've removed basically anything that gives the building unique character.
The Flyers and Sixers banners in the rafters are gone and all the advertisements are covered. The WFC will not scream WELCOME TO COMCAST COUNTRY at you this week.
The transition is complete as the @DemConvention takes over @WellsFargoCtr #DemsInPhilly #DNCinPHL pic.twitter.com/DyxB1aKsBW
— Wells Fargo Center (@WellsFargoCtr) July 22, 2016
Away from the view of the cameras in the belly of the WFC, though, things are basically still normal. The Flyers locker room is the same, for example. And judging by the Secret Service presence outside of it, it's probably being used by one of the many dignitaries that speak at the convention.
Here's a similar picture of George W. Bush inside one of the locker rooms in the building back in 2000. It's hard to tell exactly which one this is, but I think it's the one that serves double duty today as the the Villanova home locker room and the NHL visiting locker room.
Despite the annoyances of hosting an event like this, it is kinda cool to see Philly on such a big stage, especially in a building that we're all so familiar with. Mostly though, it'll be nice when things get back to normal at the end of the week.
I mean, unless beer is cheaper at the CNN Grill ...