Is it time to wrap Bode Miller in a Shroud at Turin?

Alert: this post is not golf related.

Is Bode Miller to these Olympics what Anna Kournikova is to women’s tennis? Since he has actually won in the past, perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but he is making a swift transition from pin-up boy of skiing to poster boy for underachievement.

Oh Bode, even the balls on your sweater look attractive on you.

He can underachieve all he wants in the rest of his career, but when he takes a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, he should treat it like the honor it is. How many other skiers would have killed for that spot? The “process” and approach to competitive skiing he claims to have is likely nothing more than a rationalization for not putting more effort into it (whether he knows that consciously or not). That’s all fine and good when he’s just a hot skier out on his own trying to win titles and make a living/mint. And his events may be individual events, but he’s on a team and if he’s not going to bother to try to win then he should let someone else have the chance. It’s not that he hasn’t won that bothers me, it’s his apparent attitude about the competition in general. We don’t need to bring the best of the country if they’re not going to give their best for the country.

Then again, maybe he's not to blame at all. At least he admitted his "motives were impure." Maybe it's the even greedier corporate buggers that pump all the hype into the hottest ticket. And maybe it's all of us suckers rooting for him, slurping up their hyper-hyped product.

He's got one more chance in his last event on Saturday and I just don't think I give a hoot. If I have to spend that time watching Bode Miller, it would probably be better spent one-handing it with my mouse perusing the many Bode fan-sites on the internet.

Next post.