Headed to Vancouver

The first leg our journey to Vancouver-Whistler is complete.

I landed in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport about 45 minutes ago and already there have been two sightings of New Orleans Saints' hats. That didn't take long. It seems strange, the Saints treading on sacred Bears' territory. One guy said he was from Louisiana and was on his way to San Diego - Drew Brees' previous city - from Washington, D.C.

Speaking of Washington, D.C., our trip got off to an interesting start this morning. On the way to BWI, my sister's minivan got stuck in the snow. In a cul-de-sac. The van didn't look stuck but we were spinning our wheels after making a left turn up a small hill. These Mid-Atlantic region drivers are not very hearty.

They will be tested again today. I hear the power just went out.

This my second visit to O'Hare and I have yet to see the city of Chicago. Chicago's sites will have to wait.

It's onto Vancouver.

Delaney: Good ice for the Americans

U.S. Olympic singles lugers Julia Clukey, Erin Hamlin and Megan Sweeney all drew 'A' seeds for the upcoming Winter Olympics outside of Vancouver, British Columbia.

By finishing in the Top 12 after races in Germany and Italy, the three Americans assured themselves of best ice conditions once they get onto the fast track in Whistler.

Delaney: Big win for Dolgeville girls....basketball

The Dolgeville girls basketball team defeated previously unbeaten Little Falls 49-43 in overtime Wednesday. The result of the game is an upset, certainly. Using that word, though, might be doing a disservice to Dolgeville's effort.

They weren't lucky. They were smart.

Dolgeville played a full-court man-to-man press with some double teams thrown in to wear down Little Falls. The Mounties, who came into the game ranked No. xx in the state in Class C, have a short bench. Seven varsity players suit up for the defending Section III Class C-1 champions and coach Pam Munger knew they were vulnerable.

"That's what I'd play against us," Munger told me earlier in the year.

Olivia Tooley scored 20 points for Little Falls, Jordan Mitchell added 12 but Dolgeville's defense held 6-foot sophomore center Jenna Becker to six points in the Blue Devils' fifth-straight win and biggest in coach Lee Quackenbush's seven seasons.

"After the game the girls were so elated," said Quackenbush, a man of few words. "They worked so hard for this. This group (seniors) started in sixth grade. The seniors, we went into the game and we knew we had a shot."

The win moves Dolgeville to 5-5 in the league and 9-7 overall and is, for now, the signature moment of a lengthy rebuilding project. Instead of an end to the season, the Blue Devils basketball team joins its perennially talented volleyball team in the sectional playoffs.

In 2007-2008, Dolgeville didn't win a league game and only three overall. The team won just one league game last year but improved to seven wins. Dolgeville won a state girls basketball title in 1981 and the school dropped the sport the next year for nearly a decade.

"Because we're starting to win, I think people are starting to notice," Quackenbush said. "They talk more about basketball."

When Quackenbush came on board, he started an elementary school program with 16 to 20 kids. Seniors Sarah Reardon, Corinne Alling, Kassie Gonyea, Mary Deveny and Shelby Sutton were products of the program now with approximately 40 players in grades 3-6.

"This senior class is the first class out of that and you see a tremendous difference," Quackenbush said. "The fundamentals are there."

Delaney: SI predicts bronze for Hamlin

Sports Illustrated, in its Olympic preview issue, picks Remsen's Erin Hamlin to earn a bronze in women's luge.

On page 95 of the Feb. 8 issue, Hamlin, the reigning women's World Champion, is third behind German sliders Tatjana Huefner and Natalie Geisenberger. There is a picture of Hamlin on page 76 accompanied by a short block of text.

If the magazine's pick comes true, the medal would be Hamlin's fourth and biggest bronze of the season. She finished third behind the German athletes in three World Cup races. No U.S. woman has won an Olympic luge medal.

Delaney: Former lugers remember

An actor, an astronaut, an attorney and three businessmen.

Competing in luge apparently prepares a person for a variety of career choices. Erin Hamlin has something to look forward to after her sliding days are done.

Five USA Luge Honorary Olympic Team Captains spoke on a USA Luge conference call Wednesday afternoon and all will be at the Olympics next week.

"It's going to be U.S. (medal) sweep," joked Scott Parazynski, M.D., an emergency medicine trained astronaut who is the only person to have walked in space and climbed Mount Everest.

Actor Eric Mabius, currently playing Daniel Meade on the ABC TV series Ugly Betty, and attorney Ray Ocampo, who was the one-man Filipino Olympic luge team coached by Parazynski in 1988, were also on the call.

"It's more complicated and difficult than I thought it was," said Ocampo, who had dreams of being a U.S. Olympic marathon runner before an Achilles tendon injury. "You have to be strong enough to relax on the sled and relax as your zooming along."

Parazynski did not make the U.S. Olympic luge team in 1988 and then devoted himself to medicine. He has been on five Space Shuttle missions and seven space walks.

Mabius, whose show was recently canceled by ABC, was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team for three years before switching to acting.

"It's very hard to describe because it is so subtle and requires such finesse," Mabius said. "You're not going to see someone tighten a muscle group to steer at 96 miles per hour."

Delaney: Hollywood, where everyone wins

Ten movies now get Academy Award nominations for Best Picture?

When did the Academy Awards get to be like youth and scholastic sports where everyone is recognized?

Delaney: No meaning in Pro Bowl

What is the point of the NFL Pro Bowl?

Two of my colleagues glanced at the game Sunday evening. A glance is overkill. Why bother? The nature of the game makes the risk of injury too high for an end-of-year-exhibition. The players get bonuses for being selected. They don't need to play.

How about a change? Keep the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl. The winning conference's Super Bowl representative then gets to host the game the following week. Of course it would be a logistical nightmare for the league and host city to put on a game in seven days.

Nothing is going to make this game interesting. Give the players their checks and call it a day.