On Monday the Olympic flame came to town on day 95 of the longest single-country torch relay in the history of the Olympics, and the Games themselves are now just nine days away.

This was the second time that I saw the Olympic flame come to a community to spread the Olympic spirit to members of the community, the first being in Skidegate and Queen Charlotte back in November, and, despite the numerous things that they do that I perceive as ridiculous and over board, VANOC is to be commended for their efforts to spread the excitement of the Olympics across the

country.

But make no mistake about it, during the week of February 14 to 20 the Vancouver 2010 Olympics are really an afterthought in the mind of yours truly.

Sure, as the games progress I’ll be watching the occasional sport, cheering on Canadian athletes as they go for the gold and checking results online as time permits. But for that week I’ll be taking in more action at the Russell Gamble Gymnasium and the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre Arena than I will be taking in on the TV as the All Native Basketball Tournament comes to town.

To be quite frank, I’m pretty sure I’d be down there even if I weren’t covering the tournament for the paper.

And that’s saying something, given that I’m not a particularly big basketball fan and, with the exception of Michael Jordon’s 55-point performance against the New York Knicks during his 1995 comeback, I’ve never sat and watched a basketball game on TV in my life.

But it’s not really the basketball that draws me to the Civic Centre, it’s the atmosphere. It’s the throngs of people, the chanting and cheering of the amateur athletes, the fried bread and the cultural and historical aspect of the tournament, like the opening ceremony and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

It also has something to do with seeing people play for the love of the game and the competition, not for the millions of dollars the pros are being paid. It’s the same reason I’ll always choose to watch a CIHL game over an NHL

game.

And when it comes to economic impact for Prince Rupert, I don’t think the Olympics will be able to hold a candle (or a torch in this case) to the ANT.