Sid scored in overtime; the sun came out. Blue Rodeo played. And Whistler looked beautiful. Isn’t life wonderful?!

No, I have not become an Olympics’ convert. I continue to hold the view that the Olympics is not a movement. It is a sports extravaganza put on by the IOC, itself a very well-run, privately organized cash cow operated for the benefit of its shareholders. The IOC bamboozles country after country into investing millions and now billions of tax dollars into staging its event. Seeing Ben Heppner sing the Olympics anthem at the closing ceremonies while standing in front of the best-known logo in the world had an Orwellian feel to it. You will believe; you will forego all critical thinking.

That said, the last 2 ½ weeks in Whistler, Vancouver and across the country were exciting, exhausting and just a lot of fun (with the exception of the tragedy on the first day, of course). Here are some observations about the Whistler experience:

Watching the alpine events on the hill was terrific. Apparently we have Doug Forseth to thank for that. VANOC wasn’t keen on the idea, but Doug insisted. It was a great opportunity for local families to catch the action simply by using their ski passes.

Seeing the contingent of local athletes compete was cool, whether they won medals or not. Many of us have memories of them growing up which made watching them crossing the finish lines even more poignant.

Thank you Gary McDonnell for keeping the heat on B.C. Transit until they agreed to run the shuttle from the Main St. Exchange to the Gondola Exchange. An obvious oversight in transit planning corrected by B.C. Transit, just in time. And why did VANOC need all the day skier parking lots anyway — they sat empty most of the time.

What about the gaggle of gendarmes, the clutch of cops, the posse of police officers. By my estimate, 2,700 of the 2,800 of them here weren’t needed. Seeing cops on skis, revolvers at the ready, was disconcerting. When one of them was asked whether they were looking for vacationing terrorists, the reply was “you never know.”

While there may have been some businesses that made money during the Olympics, I expect that most small businesses in Whistler lost revenue. Many simply shut down. They still had to meet their overhead, so the Games period was a cash drain.

For those who tried to keep working, it was reminiscent of university days. You remember: Everyone else was finished but you had an exam at the end of April. You knew you had to study but you wanted to have fun too, so you put in the time but were completely distracted. It felt like that.

So in the end, was it worth it? Yes and no. It was a great excuse to host friends and family and show off our town. It felt good to be Canadian but is that really a positive thing — wouldn’t it be better to feel warm and fuzzy for being a citizen of the world? The First Nations, at least the Four Host First Nations, have deservedly benefited from the Games and that alone is a positive result.

We need to have a meaningful discussion in this country about the value of public funding of athletes, as opposed to the funding of massive sporting events, and public funding of artists, too, for that matter.

And to the extent we can warn other countries that the Games in their present form are too big and too expensive, we should.

One thing is certain — it is now a new era for this town. The party is over and it’s time to move on, figure out where the road we’re on is leading and how we’re going to pay for it.