It's been a great opportunity for the local sports community to welcome the Iranian national basketball team here during this past couple of weeks.

Utah might seem a strange choice to be the host for the visitors from the Middle East, but the NBA powers-that-be who made this decision are smarter than a lot of people think.

After all, who knows more about reaching across cultural and political barriers than Utahns? Just ask any one of the thousands of returned missionaries, mission presidents and LDS general authorities who reside here. Or, if you prefer, any of the 28,000 or so volunteers who staffed the 2002 Olympics.

Besides that, the fact that we have a great facility available at The Factory, a D-League team down one direction and the Rocky Mountain Review at just the right time going on over the hill didn't hurt.

The Iranians needed a place to practice, a chance to interact with ordinary Americans, and an opportunity to receive instruction and play some exhibition games at an appropriate level to get prepared for the Olympics in China next month.

Check, check and check. We were able to cover all of the above right here.

In Monday night's Revue game, the visitors exchanged gifts with the Jazz team before tipoff, following an international custom. There was a good-sized, raucous fan base which kept the crowd rocking all night.

The highlight of the evening came during halftime, however, when the Jazz president gave the brother and mother of Iran's best player a No. 8 Jazz jersey with his name on it. He was killed in a car accident last year.

The unexpected gesture brought the mother to tears and she remained emotional for the rest of the evening. The brother gave one of his team's trophies in return, and with his teammates, threw roses to the crowd after the game was over.

There are probably a few folks out there who were disturbed to have the Iranians here because of the current political climate between the two countries - but actually, that's a big part of the point.

These basketball players have no more to do with their country's foreign policy than the kids at their clinic have to do with Uncle Sam's decisions. Instead, this contact proved what any number of screaming newspaper headlines and broadcast sound bites never will - that regular Iranians are the same as any other people.

They eat, sleep and fall in love. They want education, jobs and a secure future. They want to be known, liked and respected for who they are rather than for what they do. Is there anyone you know who doesn't want these things?

That's one of the great opportunities in sports, and the Olympics in particular.

The Games have not been immune to national posturing and prejudice, of course, but for the most part, this greatest athletic spectacle on the planet has been able to transcend political and cultural barriers at the level where it really counts: person-to-person.

Any hope we have to live together in peace has to start right there.

• Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com.