Your thoughts on Bode, now that the games are over - Page 3

Strangely, you actually seem to be supporting what I said: Bode doesn't respect his country. Thanks for enlightening me as to the possible reasons WHY he doesn't. As a 'European', I assume our passions towards our motherland (including any goose-stepping) must run far deeper.

And don't be shy, I'm sure you understand the Queen's English when I say respect your country.

Oh, and as a foreign infidel, I 'don't give a monkey's' whether Bode is disrespectful to YOUR country and damaged YOUR peoples pride, so my comments are not due to some hurt pride.

The problem here is that whilst Bode has a right to not care less about the good old US of A, he then shouldn't pull on a ski suit with the letters USA on.

Sorry Volant, I wanted to quote Rick.

Rick, did you ever stop to think that Bode may be giving his best in life and not just in his sport or the olimpics? A life that I'm sure feels somewhat out of his control at times. Who are any of us to pass judgment on him like this. I find it really sad that we, the media, and the public are so quick to discard him. He hasn't behaved like many wanted him too, and it is really too bad that the media believed their own hype. Right now I'm very disapointed, but my disapointment is not in Bode.

Bode will probably grow and wise up over the years and have many regrets, just like the rest of us. whether he will regret his olympic performance time will only tell. I'm sure he won't be the only one. Later, RicB.

Ummm... ok there Genious. Why don't you try using words you can understand. Like I said, go crawl back in your hole ya yeti.

"He to stupid", maybe you should recharge your sarcasm meter batteries. It was intended the way Bode would say it. Let me guess you left your meter back in your cave with the rest of your neanderthal kin?

You can't protect a fool, from his destiny--SIC TRANSIT BODE

I am just sick of listening to this self -destructive individual any longer. He , no one else Blew it plain and simple and i refer to his professionalism and lack of mature behavior .

He is a well paid pro and a 28 YR OLD MAN not a KID . He will have consequences from this debacle and perhaps that will add to his own development

Arriverdecci Bode

www.drudgereport.com

nice Bode... nice.

Perhaps Bode is

just tired of being in a position of needing to live the expectations of others.

I know I would be. fans, sponsors, nations. jeesh!

How he shows that weariness, well, he could be less blunt,but .....

I don't need a hero. I certainly have no expectations from Mr. Miller.

Regards

CalG

Definitely a guy who's trying to be a role model for 10-year-old boys ...

To that point...
I wonder if his character was unprepared to deal with the attention that his natural talent brought to him.

To another point...
We've always seen reports on Bode's lack of commitment to training. Maybe because he has so much talent, he figured he'd get by without honing his talent to it's full potential.

But then....I'm not in his head, so I don't know anything.
Comes down to this.....he skied, he didn't medal, he's going home, He acted blase' about his experience in Torino(I'm not convinced it isn't an act) and he'll likely lose a lot of sponsor dollars because of it, and none of it effects my day to day life.

I like the fact that even though he didn't win, he doesn't look at it and say that his career ended like other people do (or want you to do). He knows it's his race and though he could have done better, he did what he was able to do that day, that hour, those minutes. He has a ton more racing in his future than those handful he did there.
I don't understand how people can dedicate their entire life to things like (changing the season a little) the long jump or the 50 meter dash. Can you imagine that you only have a chance or two in your life to prove how good you are. I'm talking a matter of 2-5 minutes of your life. But you spent 10 or so years to get that far by altering your school/work, love life, social life.
He has plenty more in him to show for than the 6(?) races he did in the olympics.

Bode is a conundrum. He says he hates the media pressure that is applied to him but doesn't care what people or the media thinks. But clearly it aggravates him and if I had to guess, it probably does get to him. Witness his skiing. If he were relaxed and under no pressure, then it would make sense that he would perform better. To me, Bode is a hypocrite. He bitches about the media and not wanting to be a star but then he submits to all these interviews, etc. If he didn't want the stardom, he'd shut his mouth and ski. Kinda like Benni Raich already does. But me thinks Benni is going to get a little bit more face time with the media now that he's kicking ass and taking names sans attitude.

What a scumbag he is. He looks like a piece of white trash!

Now Volantaddict (Yeti), come jump to his defense with your big words that you don't understand. Oh, and don't forget to tell us how our pride is hurt because of our imagined association with the loser named Bode Miller not living up to our expectations. He needs to come live in your cave!

COP OUT!

ONLY IN THE US WOULD SOMEBODY VIEW A WC SKI RACER AS AN ENTERTAINER.

BODE'S GENERAL MODE OF OPERATION, HAS BEEN PROVEN "NOT' TO BE THE WAY TO DO THINGS IN SO MANY FACETS OF LIFE. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WHO KEEP TRYING TO RATIONALIZE AWAY HIS RIDICULOUS IMMATURE BEHAVIOR!

AND I AM HARDLY ANGRY! WHAT BODE DOES OR DOES NOT HAS LITTLE OR NO EFFECT ON MY LIFE. EXCEPT I HAVE BEEN VERY INOLVED IN SKI RACING AND DON'T APPRECIATE THE BLATANT DISRESPECT FOT THE SPORT. BUT I AM JUST VOICING MY OPINION, IT'S A FREE COUNTRY

MAYBE I AM JUST ENTERTAINING YOU?

While I'm sure you feel quite clever calling me a yeti and my kin neanderthals, it really doesn't speak well to your intelligence. I would guess that if you were in Bode's place you would have out-oafed him considerably.

Atomic,

All professional atheletes are entertainers. Football players, Tennis players, etc. ALL of them. The only reason professional sports exist is to entertain people. They are no different than a Tom Cruise *shudder* or Jessica Simpson *SHUDDER!*

I'm sure Bode is glad the Olympics are done and the media will go away. It was obvious that he didn't like the media attention, especially when they attacked as soon as he got done skiing. In his DNFs, he never skied to the finish area, but would sneak back to his motorhome to chill and probably think about what he wanted to say when Tom Brokaw came knocking at his door.

He's probably just as happy to quit the WC when this season is over, lose the sponsors, and farm potatoes and race Master's for his adrenaline rush. He could probably have a good career after racing, by starring in ski movies and having someone else pay to fly him to Alaska and ski some big lines. I watched an old Warren Miller clip the other day (Bode's Rossi days) where they had him skiing some cool back country, and Bode hucked himself off a pretty big rock. Probably 30-40'. Yeah, he'll come out of all this just fine and find a way to enjoy his skiing without the media attention.

That is your opinion and you are certainly entitled to it! I don't look at ski racers or the Olympics in the same vein as actors. NBC's coverage was certainly far from entertainment! (I am sure this you will agree with)

And the "ONLY REASON" professional sports exists IMHO is not for entertainment. It maybe 1 reason but certainkly not the only reason!

Hi Ric, how's it going? Gotten pretty dull in the instructional forum lately hasn't it. We're left discussing the psychological and behavior aspects of racing. Oh well, that can be interesting too. For the fans who love to rally to one side or the other, and for others such as coaches like me who take a more functional look at his behavior.

Ric, I have no interest in evaluating how much Bode is giving outside of ski racing. I have no way of knowing, and frankly I don't really care. I'm not trying to decide if I like him as an overall human being, I'm just taking a hard and realistic look at his performance on the slopes, and the behavior off the slopes that contributes to it.

I'm sure Bode is feeling the pressure of stardom. All sports stars do, but I've never seen a ski racer (Herman, Stenmark, Killy, Tomba, yes even Tomba) who went through such a mental meltdown over it and let it have such a adverse affect on his competitive behavior. No one of such high contender status has ever gone to the Olympics and put in such a half hearted effort, or made such a general ass of themselves with their announced and demonstrated uncaring attitude. He appeared as nothing more than a clown there for the party, surrounded by serious athletes who had come there for the primary reason of competing to the best of their ability. His results came as no surprise to us who follow WC racing closely. The biggest surprise was how publicly blatant his was about his lack of desire, or in fact how extensive that lack was.

As a coach who has spent a lifetime helping kids pursue their dreams of athletic success, it's distasteful to see a guy who's made it to the level that every young racer carries dreams of, symbolically piss on those dreams, and display an approach that would never allow a kid to realise them. I have every right to judge his behavior, and I from now on will use that behavior as a supreme model of the antithesis of what it takes to achieve success, not only in sport, but in every life pursuit. For providing such a vivid example for my kids of the outcome of a lack of dedication, I thank him.

As far as the media's disappointment, or the fans who were caught off guard because they didn't know that Bode's focus and desire had been in the toilette and results had been therefor waning all year, that's their thing. Has nothing to do with how I look at this.

No, dog, I'm not. Read my statement again and get back to me if you still have questions.

I certainly do. NBC, however, may try to disagree with us :

Atomic - I'm not being argumentative here, but just curious... Why would a company pay atheletes to train and win if there was no income or promotional aspect to it (which comes from viewership - a.k.a, entertainment)? What other reasons can you think of?

To be honest, I can think of only one other possibility, which would be product research, but I don't think they would need to pay high priced atheletes to use their equipment to get the research.

John, I think you are confusing entertainment with commercial value, emulation of role models. They pay to sell their product. Not for them to race and pay only after they have acheived a certain level of success.

In other words, Bode is a great skier, i think he is cool, he wears Nike, i want to be like him (or not) so I will buy and wear Nike too. That is commercialism, not entertainment and they didn't do this until after he won the WC overall.

They did not pay him to race to entertain people. they pay him to endorse their product. completly different then Cruise or Ms. Simpson. they are not sponsored they are paid directly to perform their craft. yes they are expected to sell tickets, but I think the relationship between a studio and it's stars and a sponsor of an athelte are apples and oranges.

I'm referring to "professional" atheletes. If people didn't watch him for entertainment value, then he would have no commercial value. Therefore, the primary role is entertainer. The only reason he is professional is because the corporations are willing to sponsor him (and events) for publicity where people come for entertainment. People watch Bode for entertainment, and they watch Jessica Simpson for entertainment.

If there was no enteratinment value in it, there would be no endorsement and prize money. If there was no endorsement and prize money, all atheletes would be amature atheletes and doing it solely for their own amusement and self satisfaction. Therefore, not professional.

So, again (I am interested in some feedback), why would "professional" athletes exist without some entertainment value? Who's going to pay them? (of course, the old Soviet Union paid them out of Gov't money for global bragging rights, but that's another topic entirely).

One has to separate the motives of the athletes from the motives of the sponsors and organizing bodies.

The competitive flame is what motivates the athletes to make the personal sacrifices necessary to develop their skills to the ultimate level, and test those skills against the best in the world. Governing bodies, the media, and advertisers to see the opportunity to profit from the spectacle of those competitions.

The athletes seize the chance to not have to live on oatmeal and sleep in their car while they do what they love. Even grow rich, if the opportunity exists. But as soon as their competitive flame fades, as it seems to have for Bode, the skills soon dwindle, and the results soon follow suit.

So, while the money and entertainment aspect seem to shine at the forefront, those who understand know that it's just sideshow glitz that have little to do with the heart of the competition. The foundation of the events, the mortar that holds it all together and produces the magnificent performances that draw audience admiration and make the resultant opportunity for profit even possible, is the competitive fire that resides in the bellies of the athletes. The contents of Bode's belly is a little different these days.

Bode's performance and attitude has been fine with me. Not everything coming out of his mouth the last few months has been well thought out but so what? Most anyone less than a politician casually grating against culturally acceptable attitudes and behavior that is interviewed by our American media will likely not fare well. All that pre Olympic diarhea from the media set up his attitude and they did their best to try and make him feel sorry about it. But they could not break him into publically feeling regret no matter what they said. Of course that obviously enraged many of the sportwriters and Bode-haters even more. Just like some of those posting on all these Bode this and that threads herein. Your seething disgust and anger is all too apparent. And all the while Bode just calmly quietly shrugs it off and is no doubt not losing any sleep on account of it.

Originally Posted by volantaddict
This is just too ridiculous for me to let it pass without comment. When you say respect our country, what do you refer to? To the landmass? To the government? To an ideal which you think ought to be everyone's impetus for behavior because it is yours?


Volantaddict, If you need to ask this question, you need to go back to the school of common sense.....not the Bill Clinton school of inane double speak.



Great post, Roy.

JohnH, So wrong. SO SO WRONG!

Professional athletes are not entertainers. Entertainers are entertainers, and athletes are athletes. If you are entertained by their athleticism, good for you. Who do you respect more? Andre Agassi (early years), wasting his talent to entertain us, the the later Agassi, who went out to win matches but was still entertaining. Or perhaps Monsour Bahrami, who was exceedingly entertaining. Pete Sampras entertained very few of us on his way to his 14 grand slam titles.

Professional sports don't exist to entertain us. Television coverage exists because we are entertained by these sports. But there are a alot of "professional" sports exist just so that those who participte in them can afford their dinner.

You have some backward logic there. Most athletes compete to be the best that they can be. Some are hoping to leave a mark in this world, to say they were the best at a particular time. Some just enjoy the competition. But when you get to the elite level, all are accustomed to winning at some level, and that's the point. If it's not to win, it's to give it everything you have to compete as well as you can. Most athletes don't go out iwth the intention of entertaining you. If you are entertained by what we do, great.

All professional athletes are entertainers? I don't think the xcountry skiers who are vomiting and have a foot long snot ball coming out of their noses consider themselves entertainers. Once again, if you are entertained by the vomit and snot, good for you.

I would not be in Bodes place even if I wanted to be. His talents far exceed mine as far as rideing two boards down a mountain. But if you flip that around I am willing to bet my life that his dumb uneducated ass would not be able to accomplish the education level I have, nor the job I have. He might have been able to get into a Ranger unit but with his atitude they RTB instructors would of chewed him up and spit his trash ass out of the military. He has no respect for anything, including himself. As far as calling you a yeti and neanderthal kin, that was sarcasm,(you didn't find the humor in that?) what did you forget to check the batteries on your sarcasm meter; as you said to me. I was trolling for a response out of you to prove a point. You have your opinion and I have mine. So dont criticize me for it and I won't you. Cause to be honest with you I am so glad god did not decide to make me Bode Miller. He is everything I hate!
But I think I am in love with you volantaddict LOL sarcasam, just checking to see if your meter is working yet? hahaha

Thank You!!!!

I knew i could count on you, Rick!!!! A breath of common sense as always!

Sorry john, can't agree! Entertainment value and commercial value are two distinctly different by products.

Who the hell cares if you agree. I am sure he don't so save your breath. You see tht is the great thing about America being a free country. He is entitled to his opinion and you are entitled to yours. So respect that!