I have a confession to make. I used to be a sportswriter. Yes, that’s not something to be altogether proud of. But it’s not the confession.

During my first 10 years in journalism, I covered all manner of sports: the ball sports popular in the U.S., a bit of hockey, and even the marginal stuff like sailing, lacrosse, weightlifting and karate. I even covered a bowling tournament and wrote a story about a successful Seattle-based curling club.

Later, when I began working as a weekly newspaper editor in Canmore, Alta., I also covered winter sports such as cross-country skiing and biathlon. But at the Canmore Leader, I was mostly a news guy. Someone else did most of the sports.

Here’s the confession: Until last week, I had interviewed and written about the trials of alpine skiers. But I no firsthand experience covering either alpine skiing, even though I’m the editor of a newspaper in North America’s No. 1 ski resort, or sliding sports. Again, someone else — currently the talented and hard-working Megan Grittani-Livingston — has provided 98 per cent of the sports coverage for The Question.

During the past two weeks, though, I’ve reached back into my past and worked primarily as a sportswriter.

It’s been a hoot, and especially so given the fact that the first live alpine ski race I ever covered was the Olympic men’s downhill, and that my first day of covering live sliding events included a heart-stoppingly dramatic skeleton event in which a Canadian won Olympic gold.

My challenge after watching the best of the best ply their trade at the highest level for two weeks is not to get spoiled.

Before the Games, I was apprehensive about the prospect of battling the Olympic media hordes. After all, two reporters and the mayor is a media “scrum” in Whistler — and, well, that’s one reason I like small-town journalism.

During one of the pre-Games downhill training days, a member of the Olympic News Service staff told me that they had 420 seats (i.e. places to plug in one’s computer) in the venue media centre but expected 700 journalists for the men’s downhill. So — having no idea what to expect — I resolved to arrive as soon as the venue opened to be sure I got a spot.

I awoke on Feb. 15 at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at 7:35 — five minutes after the gates opened — only to find about 415 of the 420 spots empty.

In some ways covering the Games has been like going on a whirlwind tour of Europe or Asia — it’s intensified living, with new and exciting experiences around every corner.

For example, during one two-hour period, I had a brief conversation aboard a shuttle bus with one of my heroines of Canadian sport, cross-country skier (and now IOC member) Beckie Scott; gave an interview to a reporter from Agence France Press about how Whistlerites felt about Intrawest’s shaky financial situation; and provided a news tip to a reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News that resulted in a headline in that newspaper that read, “From Philly kid to mayor of Whistler.”

(In reporter Sam Donnellon’s article, Mayor Ken Melamed revealed that he’s a big Phillies fan, adding, “I'm very proud that I come from the City of Brotherly Love.”

Wrote Donnellon:

“So, would he come back? After 34 years as a Canadian? After three decades of living in the mountains?

“He doesn’t love us that much.

"’We're happy to be living here,’ he (Melamed) said. ‘So close to nature.’”)

Whew! Let’s see: Mean streets of Philly or ski patrolling below the Seventh Heaven chair? Oh, and Mr. Mayor: I’m sure you’ve been busy. My apologies for having sent yet another reporter your way.

Being the editor of a small newspaper, while rewarding and interesting, can be challenging. At times it can even border on drudgery.

The Games, though, gave me a chance to change my biorhythms. I worked hard — 11 days in a row at one point — but my world ebbed and flowed with the competitions unfolding before me. Exhausting? Sure. Boring? Never.

At the Olympic Games, every story is compelling — whether it ends in triumph or disappointment. While there are other big competitions in every sport, nowhere but the Olympic Games can one find so many athletes for whom this is the pinnacle, who are striving to make this their (as Whitney Houston sang) one moment in time.

I’ve always enjoyed sharing those types of stories, and they do arise occasionally even in the normal flow of a community newspaper editor’s working life — and of course, every story is important to me.

But right now I feel privileged to have had the Olympic Games come to my community, giving me — and, I hope, readers — a front-row seat for day after day of some of the highest highs and lowest lows that the world of sport has to offer.