The Drive: I’ve been asked about my greatest winter Olympic moment, memory. This isn’t even close—-I was leaving a school dance, yeah, a school dance of some kind back in 1980, when my buddy comes running up to me—-The US beat the Russians!!  We were estatic—young guys who just got swept up in the dream that was the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. ABC replayed the entire game the next day, and of course the buildup to the gold medal game was beyond belief. It was at a time in this country that we needed something to hang our hat on—at an international level. And call me biased, but Al Michaels is the best of the best. I was just thrilled to hear his call, and have the utmost respect for the guy as the top national broadcaster of our time. He doesn’t try to “become” the event, like a few other key national voices.  I got to visit a few years later, when my high school buddies and I went to backpack the peaks there. One of my buddies uncles was actually on the US Bobsled team that won a medal in the 1956 games and lived there. We got a look at the training centers, the runs, and the hills. It’s a special place.

  The Fairway: The Hokies and Cavaliers will have at it again Saturday night at Cassell. The first time around a young but talented Cavs squad had a lead but relinquished it, and the Hokies proved the had the right stuff in pulling out the win in Charlottesville. Now..with both squads hanging just behind Duke in the ACC standings, the winner will have a springboard into the crucial conference stretch run. The Hokies have Wake Forest and Duke looming, but they don’t dare look ahead. A team that now has more weapons and scoring options, they need to wear down a Virginia team that has young talent but not the depth needed to handle Virginia Tech if they press the issue—especially not in the paint.

  The Green: The Olympics are upon us, and the video of the death of an Olympic luger for the Republic of Georgia was enough to stop your heart. We obviously made the decision not to show the violent death, but rather some still shots of who he was. I’m left with the understanding that what these athletes do is very special, and in some cases—very dangerous. Skiing is no less scary at Olympic downhill speeds. And the Olympic ski jumping—downright nuts, you have to be downright nuts. But good for them if they can possess and express such a skill.

  The Jar: The Daytona 500 winner? Not Jimmie, Jeff , Mark or Dale Jr. Although the Hendrick cars are pretty awesome. It’s Tony Stewart—-if Juan Pablo doesn’t wreck him.