This year was supposed to be the year of "the best American Olypic Team", but the team as a whole has fallen short of greatness. Bode Miller in particular has disappointed the nation with his lackluster performance on the slopes. With sponsors such as VISA and Nike, he was one of the most popular athletes in this years olympics. The controversy started about a month before the olympics when Bode Miller stated that he drank before his competitions and he did not think that it affected his performance. During the olympics, the skiers are allowed up to an hour to do practice runs on the slopes to work out any kinks in their runs. Bode Miller decided he only needed 20 minutes of that hour to work out his kinks, and was later disqualified in the run for missing a gate. Is this the type of athlete we want representing our country? A person that is born with the gift of athleticism, only to squander it to laziness and arrogance. Other countries view us as lazy Americans, maybe they are right in thinking that.
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I work for a non-profit organization that does fundraising for other non-profit organizations. One of those is the US Ski Team. I have had dozens and dozens of people who denied supporting the US Ski Team because of Bode Miller and whoever the gal who wore a princess crown when she did her event, but mostly 95% Bode Miller.
I was talking to a friend of mine about Bode, and she was saying, "Oh Liz, he wasn't supposed to win."
But that isn't the point of the Olympics. The point is to do your individual best in representing your country the right way -- and I feel the Bode Miller wasn't doing that and did himself and our country a disservice.
So in short, I agree with you on the point that Bode Miller is squandering his potential in favor of laziness and drunkenness.