04/24/24
March 12, 2005
Best in the world. : With a 2nd place finish in today's World Cup giant slalom final, the US Ski Team's Bode Miller clinched this year's overall World Cup title. The last time the World Cup was won by an American was 22 years ago, when it was won by the USA's Phil Mahre.
And you heard it here first.
posted by lil_brown_bat to other at 07:44 PM - 10 comments
Congrats to Bode, and to l_b_b, who gets the "I-Told-You-So Of The Month" award.
posted by chicobangs at 11:24 PM on March 12, 2005
I Love SpoFI Reason Number 17: I immediately thought of lil_brown_bat when I read of this before heading here to read her post on it. Thanks, l_b_b for giving me cred in even casual conversations.
posted by geekyguy at 12:17 AM on March 13, 2005
Me too. I think lbb has made the best called shot in SportsFilter's history. Shouldn't Miller be getting a little more Lance Armstrong-like love for this accomplishment? American sports fans don't have a lot of appreciation for sports that take place in that vast athletic wasteland known as Non-America, but we do appreciate a winner.
posted by rcade at 08:24 AM on March 13, 2005
If anyone finds good non-US coverage (apart from the BBC) could you post a link? Austrian articles translated into English would be perfect... (not that I want to, y'know, gloat)
posted by lbergstr at 02:29 PM on March 13, 2005
Well, rcade, don't you think he should win one or two more season titles before getting Armstrong'ed? This is great, makes me feel wonderfully patriotic, and mad props to LBB for the pick but let's not get out the shiny capes just yet.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:58 PM on March 13, 2005
Also, Armstrong has the Cancer angle (not to mention the famous current girlfriend angle, which in terms of cultural awareness isn't to be sneezed at). If Bode wins it all again next year, you can expect some of that love to swing his way, especially with Armstrong's career starting to wind down.
posted by chicobangs at 07:54 PM on March 13, 2005
If Bode wins it all again next year, you can expect some of that love to swing his way, especially with Armstrong's career starting to wind down. I'm going to make another prediction...well, not exactly a prediction, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to me if Bode packed it in after this year. I think it likely that he'll stay around for next year's Olympics, but he might just not -- and in either event, he's not going to be one of these fifteen-year Cup veterans. He won't stay more than another year or two, is my guess. He won't do anything like Armstrong's run of Tour wins. He could -- but he won't. Why? My read is that he has other priorities that are ultimately more important to him -- odd as that may sound when speaking of a guy who's number one in the world at his sport. I honestly believe that he could walk away from it all in a heartbeat, and without a second's regret. He may well be one of the most enigmatic sports champions of all time. "I have to find the motivation. If it's to become more famous than I am, I have no interest in that. If it's to earn more money, i have no interest in that. If it's the pure atmosphere, I have in interest in that. I have some experience [two Olympics], I have Olympic medals. I'm questioning where the motivation is going to come from... If it's to prove I'm the best ski racer, I think I've proved that this year..." (from a post-race interview)
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:36 PM on March 13, 2005
If it's to prove I'm the best ski racer, I think I've proved that this year I disagree. Don't get me wrong, Bode is awesome, but I question his mental toughness/readiness on the more technical races, where he often DNF'd.
posted by garfield at 10:32 AM on March 14, 2005
Don't get me wrong, Bode is awesome, but I question his mental toughness/readiness on the more technical races, where he often DNF'd. Apples and oranges, I think. Bode was the only competitor who raced in every WC race; he had another challenge that the others didn't have. You can put his lack of slalom results down to lack of "mental toughness/readiness", or you can look to a less ephemeral and more practical explanation, like the fact that he had much less time to train than his competitors. Compared to Bode, Raich had a much easier season.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:22 PM on March 14, 2005
"This might be a springboard to something," Miller said. "I don't know where I'd spring to. Maybe just away." Great line.