Before his sports journalism career, Gave worked as a Russian linguist for the National Security Agency for six years.
His two careers put him in a unique position when Detroit Red Wings executive vice-president Jim Lites contacted him in July 1989, asking for his help in passing a secret message to two Soviet hockey players recently drafted by the Wings: Sergei Fedorov and Vladimir Konstantinov.
Gave succeeded former Major League pitcher Lary Sorensen, who was the original co-host of the show which began in July 1994.
[4] In 2001, Gave left sports writing to teach journalism and English at Kirtland Community College in Michigan.
The book included an account of his role in first contacting Fedorov and Konstantinov in 1989, and described in detail the overall story of how the Red Wings eventually brought the five Russians together, culminating in Detroit's first Stanley Cup since 1955.