Bode Miller Leaves USA Ski Team

By Robert H. Kelly

Former Olympic medalist and World Cup champion Bode Miller is leaving the U.S. National Sli Team.

The 29-year-old Miller won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, but was shut out at the 2006 Turin Games despite being a favorite in nearly every Alpine discipline. He was criticized for spending too much time in local clubs.

From a journalist's viewpoint, I can't say this was something I didn't expect.

This past summer, I was on assignment covering the World Scholar-Athlete Games in Rhode Island. Bode was invited to speak to the athletes competing at the Games.

When he did show up, late, in walked in wearing blue jeans and a orange Nile t-shirt.

He spoke for a a few minutes and opened up the floor for questions. Many of the athletes posed questions, and his responses were typical of a self-centered, egotistical athlete that had become.

He is a classic example of an athlete that is in it for himself, and could care less what others think.

He fits in with other athletes this publication has come to question in the past, such as Shane Davis, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clements.

Good riddance to Bode, He will be missed by almost no one.