Final Olympic Spoiler ***giggle***

[LynneSin]

0-5

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[SoCalDem]

1. Bode??

who? :shrug:

[LynneSin]

2. Yep

Now what is Nike going to do with their big campaign ad they had built around him? He doesn't even have a Bronze medal to give them

[SoCalDem]

3. I guess they will reposess his shoes & warm-ups

:)

[In_The_Wind]

4. I'm glad you keep me up to date on everything!

[LynneSin]

5. Check out this article: Best thing about the Olympics - the Bar Scene

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060225/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_ski_miller_interview_tr1

Unrepentant Bode: 'Man, I Rocked Here'

By JIM LITKE, AP Sports Columnist
28 minutes ago

SESTRIERE, Italy - Unbent, unbowed and ultimately unsuccessful, Bode Miller said in an interview Saturday he is skiing away from these Olympics on his own terms — content without any medals and impressed by the local nightlife.

<<<<snip>>>>

"My quality of life is the priority. I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room," he said. "People said, 'Why can't you stay in for the two weeks, three weeks? You've got the rest of your life to experience the games the way everybody else does.' But I like the whole package. I always have."

He compared his Olympic experience to fellow American Daron Rahlves, who was a favorite in the downhill and a contender in the super-G but didn't come close to the podium.

"Look at what happened to Rahlves. He was holed up in his RV, he's probably the fittest guy out here and he made a point of talking about how important the Olympics were to him," Miller said. "And then look — a little bad luck and he's got nothing to show for the whole thing.

"Me, it's been an awesome two weeks," Miller said. "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

[LostinVA]

8. Here's another article

Ugly Americans
USOC official: We'll take steps to curb bad behavior


TURIN, Italy (AP) -- With the whole world watching, Bode Miller earned more notice for his Olympic partying than his performance. Teammates Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick skated and squabbled. Jeret Peterson finished off a boozy night in the mountains with a street scuffle.

While the U.S. Olympians are near the top of the medal table, their behavior beyond the events was not quite golden. U.S. officials, promising "significant adjustments" in their handling of athletes, hope to curb such churlish behavior before the 2008 Games in Beijing.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/olympics/2006/02/25/american.antics.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

[jakefrep]

10. Apparently, The USOC won't rest...

until turn every athlete into a soulless, tee-totaling celibate who only speaks in carefully crafted platitudes about God, country, Mom, apple pie, and the corporate sponsor du jour. In other words, a bunch of NASCAR racers.

[LostinVA]

12. I think that if they are representing the team, they should show

some respect. I played sports in high school, and have played team sports as an adult in leagues, and you should always should respect for your teammates. Bad behavior at at the after-game drinking spree would have resulted on being kicked off the team. They didn't. Their teammates are every person on the USA team, Curlers, Lugers, skating and skiing superstars.

This has nothing to do with sponsors, God, or patriotism. It's about the TEAM, and team unity. Their stupid behavior shows disrespect to the team. If they want to be mavericks, then don't try out for the Olympics.

[jakefrep]

13. It has EVERYTHING to do with sponsors

Maybe not so much God and/or country or even "respect". Heaven forbid an athlete has a personality or utter anything remotely controversial, lest they offend the sponsors.

The USOC (and the Olypmics) take themselves FAR too seriously.

[LostinVA]

14. I don't agree at all

But, whatever.

[LynneSin]

16. Sorry, you're wrong there

Consider this:

A typical athlete who gets into amateur competitive sports will spend thousands of dollars just to train in hopes of making the top tier events like The Olympics. Partying is fun, hell I enjoy doing it myself. But these people are at the top premium event in the world and the least they can do is curb their partying ways until after their events are completed. The fact that Bode Miller took a spot on the ski team when someone else who might have partied less and took the event a little bit more was left home.

One only needs to look at speedskater Joey Cheek to know that it's not all about corporate sponsers, Mom, Apple Pie & God. When the guy won his Gold medal he gets a reward check from the US Olympic Committee. He donated that money to a very worthy cause and challenged other US competitors to do the same.

[Darth_Kitten]

19. Our curling skip cried and called his Mom....

I thought that was sweet. :)

Anyhooooo..... most athletes like to concentrate before a big competition. :shrug: :D

[WolverineDG]

20. I don't mind if the athletes have some fun

but I DO mind if they get hammered, act like assholes & make complete fools of themselves in events they are "supposed" to win while they are representing the US.

dg

[petronius]

31. Don't forget the tear-jerking story of overcoming some

horrid personal adversity. Athletes without their own stories will be issued loaner stories at training camp...

[SoCalDem]

15. The Olympics "died" in 1972..in Munich

and the USOC and the IOC has been primping up the body for decades..

As a sporting event, it might be ok, but the hype and drama and glitz & glam are too much, and people are tuning out more and more, EVERY Olympics..


The "games" used to be about young athletes getting together, no matter what was going on in their governments..meeting as equals, in friendly competition...

They cost too much to "host"..the security details turn the villages into armed detention camps, the coverage usually sucks, and the hide & seek game that gets played because of drugging, makes every medal somehow suspect..

Maybe Bode has the right idea.. Go there, party, and if you win..great..if not..well the trip was fun anyway..

[LostinVA]

6. Beat me to it! I was out running!!!

GIGGLEGIGGLEGIGGLE

[MissB]

7. Oh, that is so damned sad.

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

9. bwwwwaaaahhhhhhhh

[flamingyouth]

11. Yeah, that was money well spent for Nike, eh?

:rofl:

[LynneSin]

17. Maybe next Olympics Nike will wait til AFTER the Olympics

to select their corporate spokespersons. There are a few people I would love to see get a corporate sponsership who have proven to be great competitors like Joey Cheek. I also like Shauni Davis although that beef between him and Hendricks is getting on my nerves. But then again Hendricks was touted all throughout the pre-Olympics and beginning of the Olympics as being the 'Next Eric Heiden' to pull of five gold medals (that covers all events). He pretty much came out of a bust too with Cheeks and Davis winning gold. If anything, Hendricks came off as a spoiled sport because he was bested by Davis. Hendricks should have congratulated him, not snub him!

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

21. I agree about Cheek too :)

He has been chosen by his fellow US Olympic Teammates to carry the flag into the stadium during the Closing Ceremonies .

[flamingyouth]

23. And Joey Cheek turned out to be a great guy too

Interesting the way it all turns out in the end, eh? :)

[GalleryGod]

25. Doubt it. Nike Does what Nike wants.

'nuff said.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

18. What an ass Miller is!

He makes my whole state look like we condone his asinine behavior.

:grr:

[sandnsea]

22. Others are 0 for whatever too

He's right. Others holed up and didn't do anything except freak out about the expectation that they were supposed to win. He enjoyed the Olympic experience, the whole thing, his way. Fuck it, good for him. He's right, you can do everything exactly according to what's "right", and still have it go wrong. May as well enjoy life, it's the only one you got.

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. With an attitude like that...he should have stayed home and let someone

else go in his place. Someone who would do their best...Bode Miller is not an example of the spirit of the Olympics. I only wish they would have realized this before they let him on the team.

[LostinVA]

26. Citius, Altius, Fortius

THAT is what the athletes are supposed to be thinking about -- and many do. Just not the prima donnas who make excuses. I agree, MrsG -- there are alot of kids who would have loved the Olympic experience.

[sandnsea]

27. I just disagree

It's presumptuous to say he didn't try his best just because he didn't sit in a room freaking out for 2 weeks. He competed to earn his spot on the team, so he was obviously fit enough to do that. Others have said the same kinds of things, including Apolo Ohno. You race because of the passion for the sport, the respect for the games, not some arrogant attitude that you have to win gold and nothing else matters. Nobody can know what's in someone's mind or how much they want to win or anything else. The only person at those games who had a shitty attitude was Chad Hedrick, yet if you compare his mind set to Miller's, apparently alot of DUers would prefer Hedrick. I think that guy is the embarrassment and has no clue what the games are about at all.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

29. Thank you for posting this.

One thing I've learned over the years about watching the Olys is it's all about what you do on the day..

I don't have a problem with Bode's performances here. I don't think he's an asshat. That title is reserved for Chad Hedrick. He came across, at least to me, as a real ugly American. He seemed to think that he deserved to win gold in every race just because he showed up and wears USA on a speed skating suit.

That being said though, fair play to Joey Cheek. He did himself and his sport proud in Turin.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. "I just want to go out and rock..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/sports/olympics/26ski.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It had been Miller's stage before the Games began, as a magazine cover boy and medal contender in five events, and he withered in the spotlight from the start.

He finished fifth in the men's downhill, the first major event in all Winter Games. In his next three races, he was disqualified, did not finish and finished sixth. In between, he was spotted in various nightclubs late at night in the village of Sestriere. He occasionally granted short interviews in which, with spectacularly poor timing, he professed his general lack of interest in winning Olympic medals.

"I just did it my way," Miller told The Associated Press after Saturday's race. "I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here.

[bullwinkle428]

30. Miller's effort in that first slalom run (before the DQ) was disgraceful -

an intermediate recreational skier attemptimg a slalom course for the first time would have been more aggressive going through the gates. I know they were saying that the conditions were not ideal, but it was like he had given up before he even left the starting gate. It really left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing. I'm glad they waited to show the short track events towards the end...those were absolutely adrenaline-pumping and inspirational!