Posted on 01/05/2006 5:31:39 PM PST by GeneD
NEW YORK - Bode Miller knows he puts his life at risk when he skis drunk, but the outspoken Olympic favorite admits he may try the dangerous activity again.
"Talk about a hard challenge right there. ... If you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy," Miller told "60 Minutes" for a segment that will air Sunday. "Try and ski a slalom when ... you hit a gate less than every one second, so it's risky. You're putting your life at risk. ... It's like driving drunk, only there are no rules about it in ski racing."
Asked if the risk meant he would never ski drunk again, Miller replied "No, I'm not saying that."
In the interview, the 28-year-old Miller acknowledged that his partying has affected his performance in the past.
"There have been times when I've been in really tough shape at the top of the course," he said.
Miller, the defending World Cup overall champion and a two-time silver medalist at the Salt Lake City Olympics, was also blase about the possibility of winning gold in Turin.
"Whether somebody wants me to get five gold medals or whatever it is, I sort of feel like they are all other people's concerns and issues, not really mine. ... I don't really care what everybody else says," he said.
Miller has drawn attention — and criticism — for his outspokenness before. He has called drug rules in skiing that he deems too strict "a joke" and was fined last month for refusing to take a boot test after a World Cup slalom race.
?
boot > blood?
What a talent. It's a shame to read this.
I dunno...I thought it sounded a little "Brokeback" though :-)
As a matter of fact, I was just looking at the Atomic catalog for this year, and there's a little Bode drawn character all over it saying how Atomic equipment meets his strenuous demands.
Keep op the attitude, Miller, and you'll be losing those sponsorships before you can say "Alcoholics Anonymous"....
There was a tradition at some ski resorts (like Taos) to have Martini trees...essentially cocktails in bota bags hung in trees along runs on special days in the spring. You found them, they were yours. Not a safe day on the slopes that.
Sometimes when I ski, I may LOOK drunk, though.
: ^ )
My past contributions to the U.S. Olympic ski team helped make it possible for you you ignorant jerk! Maybe if you didn't have corp. sponsorship and U.S. ski team sponsorship you just might have a different attitude.
With the exception of the Mahre brothers, there is a reason why the Europeans consistently dominate world cup skiing: national pride and hard work!
FWIW, my all time favorite was Marc Girardelli. Born in Austria but said screw the Austrian ski team and raced on his own under the Luxembourg flag and was coached by his dad. Pride, hard work and dedication, something that Bode Miller will never understand......
I sure have but never any more......alcohol and altitude do not make for a fun day of skiing. There is plenty of time at the bottom of the slopes at the end of the day for drinking.....
They're crazy.
A boot test "checks whether the height of the base of the boot is permissible", according to this:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ski/news?slug=ap-millerfined&prov=ap&type=lgns
Don't know what difference it would make, though...
Thanks. Sounds like checking his boots should be way down on the priority list.
I never said it was a waste.
I know he's doing well. It's still a shame to read about his drinking, which doesn't sound like an occasional cocktail with dinner.
February 10 - 26.
I'll be watching, too
We had a daily thread in 2002
Well, the higher up you can get, the more leverage you can put on the ski in turns. The skier / binding / ski system is a lever-arm system, and in such systems the longer the lever arm, the greater the force multiplier.
It is the same reason why racing ski bindings are so tall - there are FIS limits on those as well.
-Yossarian
(Who is driving up to Tahoe today to do some GS and Slalom racing....)
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