The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Now that the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have passed, many have discussed if the final torchbearer, Wayne Gretzky, was the proper choice out of 33 million Canadians to light the flame in Vancouver.

My first thought right out of the gate was, "What's the debate?"

The first name that came to mind when the guessing started as to who would get that honour, was Wayne Gretzky. Some might say that he really didn't do that much in the Olympics, in the sense that when he was a participant in 1998, Canada placed fourth, and while he was the GM in 2002 that led Canada to gold, he was on the sidelines in a suit. And of course, he's a former pro athlete, paid millions of dollars to do something that most of the participants would only dream of getting, many living off of the government subsidies of their respective countries or limited private sponsorships if they were turned away. Not exactly a true representation of amateur sport.

But seeing as Canada was on the world's center stage (a reported 2 billion people tuned in to watch the opening ceremonies), I felt we needed to pull out all the stops: Let's show the world the best Canada has to offer. Probably the first thought that comes to mind for citizens outside Canada, when they discuss our country, is ice hockey. And Gretzky is the most well known, best athlete this country has ever produced in that sport (or any sport for that matter). So much so that when he retired, even European newspapers picked up the story and wrote long articles about it. Ali is to boxing like Gretzky is to hockey. He is a household name worldwide.

While I'm sure there are lots of deserving people out there, the last thing I wanted to see was someone trot out in the stadium with the torch and a big, collective "Who?" would be expressed by the world when the flame was lit. "This is the best Canada has, an unknown?" might have been the thought.

No, there is no time for that for something as big as the Olympics. I'm glad Gretzky was our man, and I have a feeling most of Canada does, to.