AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > February > 25 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMiller takes doesn’t-get-it to new level
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Sestriere, Italy — It’s one thing to abhor the spotlight and shy away from fame. It’s another to squeeze the world for dollars and publicity, set the lips to turbo for national publications and news shows, then show yourself to be a petulant 6-year-old trapped in a 28-year-old man’s shot glass.
This could have been Bode Miller’s Olympics.
Unfortunately, Bode Miller will tell you this was his Olympics.
“I just did it my way,” he told The Associated Press Saturday. “I’m not a martyr, and I’m not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here.”
Fifth.
Disqualified.
Did not finish.
Sixth.
Did not finish.
Oh yeah. He rocked.
“Me, it’s been an awesome two weeks,” Miller said. “I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level.”
The Austrian Alpine ski team won a record 14 medals. Sure. But did they party at an Olympic level? I don’t think so.
Bode Miller grew up in the woods. Bode Miller belongs in the woods. Look, I am as anti-establishment as the next guy. Dude, you can’t anti-establish me. I grew up in California. I went to a George McGovern rally. Jerry Brown, my governor. Now, he rocked. He dated Linda Ronstadt.
Bode Miller isn’t anti-establishment. He is certainly anti-lucid. He is borderline anti-American. He came to these Olympics representing the United States. The Olympics, Bode. Look at the flags. Look at your warm-up suit. Remember who you’re representing. This isn’t some ski-and-booze weekend with your buddies in the Berkshires. It’s OK to go fifth-DQ-DNF-sixth-DNF. Just do it with some class. Some dignity. Some effort. Remember effort, Bode?
“Look at what happened to [Daron] Rahlves,” Miller said. “He was holed up in his RV, he’s probably the fittest guy out here and he made a point of talking about how important the Olympics were to him. And then look — a little bad luck and he’s got nothing to show for the whole thing.”
That’s it. Dump on your teammate for professionalism.
Bode Miller doesn’t get it. He takes doesn’t-get-it to a new level.
He won two silver medals in Salt Lake City. He skied into these Winter Olympics as its potential biggest star, flaws notwithstanding. He skis out as a confirmed coward, the flaws even greater than we imagined.
No athlete in the history of Olympic competition — given talent, exposure, marketing, expectations, theater and the stage of Alpine skiing — has ever been a bigger or more embarrassing bust.
Saturday was a microcosm of Miller’s Olympics. Just a few seconds into his first run in the men’s slalom, he straddled a gate. But as teammate Ted Ligety said Saturday, “Straddling for Bode is a normal thing.”
What isn’t normal, or shouldn’t be normal, came afterward. When a TV camera focused on him, he raised his arms in mock excitement. As if, “Yeah, my Olympics are over.” Are you satisfied, Nike? Is this when we’re all supposed to join Bode? Miller then skied off the slalom course on a trail that runs along the side of a mountain to avoid coming to the bottom, where he would have had to encounter the media. He eventually conceded to the AP interview.
This is pretty much the way things have gone the entire Olympics. Miller skis poorly, then takes refuge in his RV, which is parked at the base of a mountain, then he parties. “You guys have probably had as many opportunities to talk to him as I have,” said Ligety, who won the gold medal in the combined as the U.S. men’s only Alpine medalist. “He’s in his motor home most of the time.”
To Miller, the Italian Alps represented the Delta House. He was spotted in Sestriere bars drinking beer and tequila shots. His actions and declining performances, presumably connected, have not sat well with skiing officials. U.S. Skiing and Snowboard Association president Bill Marolt said he would speak to Miller after the World Cup season.
“Within certain boundaries, we want the kids to be individuals,” Marolt said. “We need to make sure we stay focused on the targets and we have a certain level of discipline.”
Miller said, “I had an awesome Olympics.” Whoever knew that “awesome” could be such a subjective term. He didn’t win any medals. That’s fine. He fit right in with most of the U.S. team. Other than the golds by Ligety in the combined and Julia Mancuso in the women’s giant slalom, the Alpine ski team was a bust. (Ligety was running third in his first run Saturday until it was ruled he too had straddled a gate, leading to a disqualification.)
But this isn’t all about results. Chip Knight, a 31-year-old, finished 15th in the slalom. The U.S. ski team considered him a borderline team member. They even told him that if he really wanted to stay on the team, he would have to foot $8,000 in training expenses. Fortunately, he found some supporters in his hometown of Stowe, Vt.
There was Knight after his first run, flashing a wide smile.
“It’s awesome. It’s the Olympics. It’s what we live for as athletes.”
There’s a concept. Knight actually thought competing in the Olympics was awesome.
Bode, meanwhile, seemed more focused on the “Irish Igloo,” a tavern that sits just across the street from the base of the slalom course. He defended the drinking by saying: “My quality of life is the priority. I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room. People said, ‘Why can’t you stay in for the two weeks, three weeks? You’ve got the rest of your life to experience the Games the way everybody else does.’ But I like the whole package. I always have.”
Let’s hear it for the red, white and booze.
Miller said he was “comfortable” with his accomplishments here. We’re not certain if he was talking about skiing or chugging contests.
Fifth place — that was his best finish. Appropriately, it came in something called the downhill, which looks to be the direction he’s heading.
Permalink | Comments (24) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Other
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By brewerfaninATL
February 25, 2006 08:42 PM | Link to this
Um, Mr. Schultz, I think this subject has been beaten to death already, don’t you think?
By HL Lawson
February 25, 2006 08:50 PM | Link to this
You can see based on the number of comments here just how much we care about Bode Miller. He’s just another example of the spoiled, tempermental high profile athlete about to hit bottom. Go suck an egg Bode!!
By HL Lawson
February 25, 2006 08:58 PM | Link to this
You can see based on the number of comments here that we just don’t care about Bode Miller. He is just another example of the spoiled, self absorbed, egotistical pampered athelete about to hit bottom. We don’t care Bode. Go suck an egg.
By Skip
February 25, 2006 09:13 PM | Link to this
Wow, what a popular topic in Atlanta! Well I live near New Hampshire where Bode is from and I’m not sure many more folks care up here either. Say bub-bye to those big endorsements Bode!
By Mr. Dawg
February 25, 2006 09:55 PM | Link to this
I only hope that he stays in Europe and never wears another item of USA apparell for the rest of his sorry life. What a piece of shiot. Rock on dude! Yeah!
Loser.
By Mr. Anti-Dawg
February 25, 2006 10:11 PM | Link to this
I wish I could’ve hung out with him at the bars. Sounds like he had one hell of a time! Sure beats the heck out of this dead-beat, worthless, bulldog-infested town of drinking novices. Party on!
By geechee
February 25, 2006 10:14 PM | Link to this
Bode Miller is the Ricky Williams of Skiing. One of the most incredible examples of talent in the history of his sport combined with a mind that never made out of adolescence. They have both however been awarded with millions of dollars so I guess they are great role models in today’s America.
By geechee
February 25, 2006 10:20 PM | Link to this
Sorry, I left out the word “it”.
By John Rocker
February 25, 2006 10:57 PM | Link to this
Kinda like my dumb southern a** huh?
By Alex
February 26, 2006 01:31 AM | Link to this
I’m so tired of hearing about Bode Miller. Shouldn’t the coverage by about athletes who care and want to compete and win medals? Jeff, why don’t you write an article about someone like Apolo, who is the example of what an Olympic athlete is all about? Why do you have to bring in the negative and wear out a subject beaten to death by the media?
This is the summary on Bode Miller. I don’t care how talanted he is, he should not be representing our country at the Olympics ever again. Isn’t there a way, for him to change citizenships and become a french citizen..fine, they don’t care about “winning” either he’ll fit right in.
By Alfred Tantillo
February 26, 2006 02:13 AM | Link to this
As a person who trained and dreamed of being olympic material for twelve years and not being good enough to represent my country, I look up to those that have the talent and can maintain their love of their sport over so many grueling years - only 3 out of every 18 or so ever medal, is the truth of it. To hear this character snivel it is obvious, please listen to me - it is so upfront that the reason he behaved as he did was simply fear of failure, inability to be one of many at the top, he was afraid of losing and did everything he could to propel himself backward into the perfidy of lifetime black badge of dishonor.
Boo on you, Bode, from the many thousands who would give half their lives to have your opportunuties. Too bad you didn’t fall on the basketball court, the excuses would have come so much easier from a hospital bed, right?
By simon
February 26, 2006 09:34 AM | Link to this
I know just how Bode feels. If things had gone differently for me, I could be sitting on Nobel prizes for peace, science and literature. A couple of missed gates here and there… All Bode needs is a new press agent to help him say the right things to convince viewers that the competition and representing your country mean something. Meanwhile, he can enjoy his free ride of skiing and partying. Rocking on really is a noble occupation…
By Jo
February 26, 2006 09:49 AM | Link to this
Hey Bode, can you say Alcholics Anonymous?
By Joe Roman
February 26, 2006 11:49 AM | Link to this
Contrary to some’s opinions, the subject of the lengths and depths of Bode Miller’s jerkdom cannot be stated enough. He is the clearest expression of the movement of sports hype taking precidence over actual performance. In a way, I enjoy seeing ESPN et al’s wet dream turn into their nightmare. I watch the Olympics to see great performances in sports I rarely if ever see any other time. The nationality of the competitors is of absolutely no consequence. Miller is a BORE. He’ll probably be dead of alcohol-related problems before he’s fifty. Wanna Bet?
By Alan
February 26, 2006 12:39 PM | Link to this
Hey Jeff, why not shut up before it becomes clear just how envious of everyone on the teams you are? It is sooooo american of you to whine about bad performance and Miller being beaten. Oh well, that’s why it skiing is a real sport, not NHL/NBA/NFL produced events for clowns like you to watch and analyze.
Why don’t you pick up skiing and make the team. Oh wait, you can’t. That’s why they say those who can do, those who can’t whine.
By Eli
February 26, 2006 01:16 PM | Link to this
Alan, what on earth are you babbling about? You think Jeff wrote this column out of jealousy? Read it again. He wrote it out of well justified disgust. Miller’s performance (or lack thereof) was disgraceful not because he didn’t finish well, but because he sabotaged any chance he had by partying too much and caring too little.
By Jay Abramson
February 26, 2006 01:20 PM | Link to this
This guy is the biggest jerk of all time. The worst individual performance of all time = biggest choke ever. Did I miss something or did he just quit. Pathetic example of our modern athlete.
By Chipper
February 26, 2006 01:23 PM | Link to this
Uh, where is the baseball blog?
By B in Tulsa
February 26, 2006 03:41 PM | Link to this
Our kids look at to Olympic athletes as models for them to follow. Bode knows that when he signs on for the major endorsements. Everyone has a bad day. Just stand up and do your best. Partying is not an aplogy, it is a disgraceful manifestation and abject disregard of his responsibilities. His performance was certainly disapppointing. His behaviour was disgraceful. My hope is that sponsors walk away and leave him to his partying. With no news media to cover his self serving ramblings, we will move on and look back and up in awe at the other competitors who gave of their very best and accomplished everything they could in the true spirit of the Olympics.
By steve
February 26, 2006 04:09 PM | Link to this
one word is all it takes to describe Miller - GOOBER!
By Hal Haddock
February 26, 2006 04:30 PM | Link to this
Bode Miller did not make up this behavior, he had others to study before his “act” showed up. Too many Olympians use or dime to be jerks or not give their best effort. The USOC had better clean up this mess before they come with their hands out for money. I nominate Bobby Knight to be head of the USOC, with the power to take names and kicks butts. Someone has to step up and say enough is enough.
By BP
February 26, 2006 05:25 PM | Link to this
I enjoyed the article and I would like to add, OVERHYPED & OVER RATED, God did this guy suc or what
By Dave
February 26, 2006 07:06 PM | Link to this
We will no longer describe an athletes failure as “He bombed” but instead as “He did a Bode”
By arktechfan
February 26, 2006 07:24 PM | Link to this
Hey Alan, sounds like you need a drink, which you probably do frequently. Does the word “excellence” mean anything to you? Apparently not. Thank goodness there are a lot of Appollos in this world and not many Bodes - and Alans.