by SonDog
If you don't want to know the results of the men's combined that will show on NBC later tonight, then don't read this post until tomorrow. Go away.
I'm waiting.
If you're still here, then here goes...
Bode Miller was disqualified from the men's combined today in Torino. Miller was disqualified from the Alpine combined Tuesday for straddling a gate in the first slalom run, just when he seemed to have built a commanding lead for his first Olympic gold medal.
I can give you my reaction here... HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!
Sorry, let me compose myself. I just think... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Miller, like it or not, is the face of the US Ski Team. The reason seems to be partly due to his enormous yapper, his "controversial ways," and for being a grade-A moron. I think this is a sad turn of events for the US Ski Team... not Miller being disqualified, but that he is the face of the team itself.
On the single-plank side of things, Shaun White if the face of the men's snowboarding team. White, from all accounts, is a good 19-year-old kid who appreciates everything from his own talent to representing the United States to being the face of men's snowboarding. He seems to understand what type of responsibility he has, and he has done nothing to disappoint.
Miller brags about partying until the wee hours of the morning (including the night before his first event in these games). White talks about investing his money wisely. He recently said, "I think it's better to buy real estate than say, a yellow and purple Corvette or an elephant that can speak sign language. My parents help me out a lot with that stuff. They don't want to see me when I'm 30, dead broke, selling bootleg tapes of my snowboard movies on the side of the freeway." Again, he's only 19-years-old.
I just think that there is more than a touch of irony in this. Snowboarders have always been portrayed as the pot-smoking, party animal bad boys of the winter sports that you never could take very seriously. It was an "extreme" sport that really didn't require the maturity and commitment of a sport like alpine skiing. Alpine skiers, on the other hand, have been the clean-cut, honorable athletes that represent their country in the right way. The tables, for these games, have turned.
The US Ski Team needs a new face. The reputation of the US Ski Team has taken a hit with Miller, while the reputation of the US Snowboarding Team is taking enormous steps forward. Shaun White is 19-years-old. Bode Miller is 28-years-old. The maturity gap is enormous between these two. However, it's the youngster that is far ahead of the elder.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Role Reversal of the Ironical
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9 comments:
White rules. Miller is a moron. I don't think you'll receive any arguments in this matter.
I don't know what Miller's financial plans are, nor do I know whether or not Shaun White drinks alcohol. I guarantee White has his warts even though Miller's are what we have focused on for a while. I think White's probably a better guy than Miller, but let's not pretend we possess the ability, based on what the media chooses to let us hear,to make an ultimate judgement on a person's character.
I don't think this one can be blamed on the media. I really don't. This one is all on Miller. The fact that he is the face of the US Ski Team. The face that freely admits and brags about partying until the wee hours of the morning... before the biggest race of (what was at that point) his Olympic career. Good guy. Good guy. I know what Miller's financial plans are... they're to stand on a street corner in four years haucking old copies of his ski videos. He's an idiot, and I, indeed, feel well qualified ot make an ultimate judgment on his character. I think he's the devil incarnate and a bad influence on all the little children who wish to become professional skiers.
White, on the other hand, has never in his life done anything wrong. Ever.
It's interesting that no one outside ski towns knew anything about Miller before his 60 minutes interview. Do they edit those things? Do you drink the day before you go to work? Maybe a little too late on the night before?
Nobody knows about any of the Olympic athletes, outside of ski towns, before the Olympics.
I indeed drink the night before I go to work, like last night, but I did not have to compete this morning in a "worldwide competition that takes place every four years."
Miller carried the burden of responsibility for being the face of the Ski Team, in part, because of the 60 Minutes interview that he agreed to do. (I would argue that he was more well-known than past US Ski Team members even before that interview) Then, after failing to medal in an event that he was expected to win gold, he talks about being out late the night before. Class act. He failed due in part to irrisponsible behavior.
Yep, I may get along with Miller, be like Miller nor have any problems with who he is or what he does. BUT, he is an idiot for saying what he did and should have kept his mouth shut. “Hey dumbfuck, you're supposed to go around the gates retard!! Ha, ha, is failure is my amusement!!
I wouldn't make the argument that he's classy or that he's not an idiot . I wouldn't make the argument that he's a good guy. I would make the argument that he's a great skier who hasn't performed. He blew it for himself. He didn't blow it for anyone else. He's the one who has to wake up in twenty years and wonder why he messed up his shot at gold for some action at a club. The idea that he bears a burden for the entire ski team is crazy. Ted Ligety didn't give a shit about Miller's burden when he won the gold yesterday.
Are you serious? Like it or not, he's the face of the ski team. You don't think that comes with a responsibility? Miller had a chance to win 5 medals, which is unheard of in recent years for an American skier. Ted Ligity didn't care, but Ted Ligity didn't have a chance to win 5 medals either. To say that he didn't let the team and his nation down by not taking it seriously... I believe Nike and his other sponsors would beg to differ. He let down more people than just himself.
That's the nature of sports. When the Giants lose, I'm bummed. I may bitch and moan about it, but at the end of the day, I'm not the one who grounded out with two out and two on in the ninth.
Miller doesn't owe anybody who didn't pay him anything. He blew it, and my life goes on unaffected. You don't live with the consequences of his actions, he does. Nike and his other sponsors had money invested in him. You did not. So why did he owe you anything?
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