-I don't know if I can explain how beautiful the drive from Vancouver to Whistler, British Columbia. This area is lush, verdant, atmospheric, with spectacular views of the bay to your left and sheer rock mountains to your right.

-Lindsey Vonn crashed in her first run of the giant slalom. Teammate Julia Mancuso, randomly selected to ski right after Vonn, had begun her run when she was told by course officials that Vonn was down and she would have to start over.

Mancuso, who won the gold in giant slalom under similar, rainy conditions in Turin, complained on Twitter about the decision. When she realized that her complaint - which was too graphic to repeat in this space - appeared to be a complaint about Vonn, she tweeted that she was upset about the decision, not about Vonn.

But it's well-known that Vonn and Mancuso's rivalry isn't always friendly. They are quite different personalities who do not spend time together away from the slopes. My column for tomorrow's paper will delve into that subject.

-Congratulations to my buddy Jim Petersen, who has been re-hired as a Lynx assistant coach for the upcoming season. I promised to get out and do something on Jim last summer; this summer I'll actually follow through.

-Vancouver is beautiful, but I have to admit it feels strange to be in Canada when the Twins are starting one of their most intriguing and promising spring trainings in franchise history. I've been told by a lot of sportswriters up here who have covered Orlando Hudson that we're going to enjoy having him around.

-The US and Swiss are tied in their quarterfinal hockey game. It's scoreless and, to me, the US looks as tight in this game as Canada did against the US. I still think Canada is the favorite in this tournament. The Canadians did out-play the US, and now that Roberto Luongo is in the nets, Canada should still be the strongest team in the tournament.

The only team I would pick to beat Canada in an elimination game in this tournament is the team I picked to win it at the beginning - Russian, with its speed, looseness, and the incredibly driven Alex Ovechkin. I'm in the mountains today, but I'd kill to be at the Russia-Canada game.

-I'll have another Olympic update tomorrow morning at 8:05 on am-1500. On Sunday Sports Talk, we'll have Dick Day, Roy Smalley and perhaps a hockey guest, from 10-noon on am-1500.

I'm also on at 7:45 am on WJON in St. Cloud. With the am-1500 shakeup, I think my call-in times will be altered. I'll let you know when I know.

-You can follow me on Twitter at Souhanstrib.

Enjoy the hockey. In a strange way, Olympic hockey makes me more interested in the Wild.