By Jim Stanford on March 14, 2008
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=4gSwL-qhLZw]
Bode Miller has long reigned as the baddest ski racer on the slopes. Now he has regained his title as the best.
The 30-year-old maverick from Franconia, N.H., clinched the overall World Cup championship Thursday, his second title in four years.
Despite an anticlimactic finish, this one had to be more satisfying for Miller, after breaking with the U.S. team, competing on his own and being branded by the American media as a loser following his crash-and-burn at the 2006 Olympics.
This video shows the secrets to his success.
We are big fans of Bode Miller, and not just because we got to socialize and party at an Olympic level with him in Torino. No, we watched in the rain on Snow King Mountain in 1998 when Miller won the U.S. nationals giant slalom to chants of “Bo-de! Bo-de!” from family and friends, one of the first major victories of his career.
U.S. racer Lindsey Vonn (neé Kildow) soon may win the women’s overall World Cup crown, which would mark the first time Americans took both titles since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983.
This AP story about Miller’s championship (via SI.com) has another bit of news: He quit drinking before the season. Let’s throw back a shot of Jagermeister in his honor.
Posted under World Cup, bode miller, ski racing, skiing, sports
That video RULES. If only every world class athlete had a sense of humor.