By the time you read this, the Closing Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics will be finished, the Athletes will have gone home, and the process of dismantling the venues will be well under way.

The Plazas of Whistler were a great place to meet people from all over the world. May I share a cross-section of people I met, often in the pre-dawn hours just before the noise and bustle of the day began.

First was the very sleepy Japanese television crew setting up for a live interview with a Japanese Celebrity Sports Broadcaster as soon as the light was bright enough at the Olympic Circles. Their English was not that good, but their manners impeccable, “But, please sir, we are very busy…”

There were police from all across Canada. Talking to a Metropolitan Toronto Police Officer, this was the first time in his police career that he had ever walked a beat. He was enjoying the people, and said walking a beat was something he wished he could do in real life.

Early one morning, there was a bit of a commotion at the Olympic Circles and I walked over to see what it was all about. There were some athletes from the Belarus National Team taking each others pictures in front of the Olympic Circles. Introducing myself to them as one who wrote a newspaper column, I asked them what I should

The Cardston High School varsity boys basketball teams failed to garner top spot in the 4A standings, dropping both JV and Senior games at home against arch-rival Raymond on Saturday night in front of a jam-packed basketball crowd.

The Senior squad dropped to 9-2 in the standings, following a 107-98 defeat to the rival Comets, who remain undefeated at 11-0. Top scorers for the game included Jimmy Ralph from the Comets, who scored 47 points. Jon McMurray netted 40 points while Travis Hartley and Dallin Low each had 12 points.

On the JV side, The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker in their game, allowing a turnover with 20 seconds remaining in the game, and giving the Comets a 73-71 victory.

The loss drops the Wildcats into a three-way tie with Medicine Hat and Catholic Central with 9-3 records, following the Wildcats 73-68 win over the Lethbridge Cougars on Tuesday night. The Comets retain top spot with a 10-1 mark.

On Tuesday night, they outdueled the Catholic Central Cougars 83-65. Jon McMurray had 20 points and Rylan Olsen had 17. The Wildcats won their match 73-68. Brady Olsen had 17 and Dylan Fergusen had 12 points.’