Miller's Time: HBO's "Real Sports" Profiles Controversial Skier

Miller Says He's "Not That Bummed About Not Winning Five Medals"

American skier Bode Miller was profiled on last night’s episode of HBO’s “Real Sports,” and the net’s Jon Frankel said, “Chances are you know only one thing about Bode Miller -- not that he’s the greatest skier in American history … (but that) he’s the biggest disappointment in American Olympic history.” Miller was predicted to win five medals at the ’06 Turin Games, but Miller said, “I put a huge amount of energy trying to tell people who I was and how I was and why I didn’t feel like I was going to win five medals and why I didn’t really care if I did win five medals or not. … I said, 'Hey, I’m not that bummed out about not winning five medals.'” Miller: “I just don’t feel like I have anything to prove in that area (of winning medals). I wouldn’t change what I did. Of course, does it suck to get criticized and be called the worst thing? Yeah, okay, it sucks, but you also have to accept that people don’t know.” Miller said of competing in the ’10 Vancouver Games, “Right now, I feel like it would be a terrible decision. … The least that I’ll deal with is the whole thing from ’06 again. You’re set up for misery. It’s just that there’s no point. What would be the point?” Frankel: “Would you do it because you’d like to win a Gold Medal?” Miller: “It seems like you haven’t heard a single thing I’ve been saying. No, a Gold Medal is going to mean nothing to me. Less than nothing, actually. It devalues so much that I’ve already done and adds nothing.”

Miller Cut Ties With U.S. National Ski Team When They Didn't Like His RV Lifestyle

PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS: Miller in May '07 began Team America after he cut ties to the U.S. national ski team. The U.S. team did not like “their rogue star’s idea” of traveling to events in an RV caravan, which he lives in during the ski season with his personal coaches and best friend. Miller noted the U.S. team told him he had to “reintegrate” himself back into the team, including not living in his RV. Miller: “I was like, ‘Okay, meeting’s over. Good luck guys. Have fun next year.’” However, Miller’s “independence comes at a steep cost: $500,000 … just to fund (Team America) each season.” Frankel noted of the U.S. team, “All team members are required to stay in the same hotels, obey the same coaches and eat the same food.” Miller: “They drive athletes out of the sport.” Frankel responded, “They drive athletes out of the sport?” Miller: “Oh my God, are you kidding me? … Skiing is an individual sport. It’s a free sport. When you’re skiing you’re free, you’re on your own, and they just steal that from athletes, they take it away, and they make it so that it’s like a job.”

DRINK IT UP: The comments Miller made in his infamous “60 Minutes” interview about drinking before a race and his penchant for partying were discussed, with Frankel saying succinctly, “He likes to drink.” The comments just prior to the Turin Games laid the “groundwork for brutal public criticism after he then flamed out on the slopes.” Frankel asked, “To a lot of people, anything they’ve read or heard is, ‘Bode likes to go fast’ and ‘Bode likes to drink.’” Miller: “The shortest answer is, I like balance. I like it all.” Frankel: “Miller has never denied he likes to party. He says there is a time and place for everything.”

RENAISSANCE MAN: Following the taped report, Frankel said of Miller, "He would tell you that there’s a lot out there in the world. He’s a very interesting guy who’s interested in a lot of things. He happens to have been an exceptional skier ... and that’s what he does right now, but I think he’s actually confused whether he’s still prepared to continue to be one of the best skiers in the world” (“Real Sports,” HBO, 3/17).