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San Diego, California The 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino are long, long gone, relegated to the historians, set in glossy print for coffee table books. They're done. But what did we, the American Sport Fan, learn about international sports and ourselves? Isn't that what the Olympics are about? Betterment? The paradigm of sport fanaticism is both complicating and compelling. And the media have much to do with how we formulate our opinions. Heaven knows that all journalists with a Blackberry, a laminated credential and an opinion think they have it all figured out. They know why Americans failed to finish atop the patriotic medal haul in Torino. They know why Lindsey Jacobellis altered her snowboard's angle of attack. And they know Bode. So many of American sport journalists of late have become like water running downhill – taking the path of least resistance. To peel back the layers of a sport's evolving culture or the psycho-social intricacies of its stars is to step away from the paint-by-number narratives that are prescribed by the those who benefit from the reinforcement of such traditional American themes as patriotism, sacrifice, deferred gratification, the Protestant work ethic and above all else – victory. Besides, accessible and unthreatening story lines are as easy to dish out as they are to swallow. But as the media technosphere expands, so does its insatiable thirst for new and challenging content. And even as sports writers test their limits of investigation and confrontation, too often still, the truth is collateralized when the task or the hurdles are beyond the scope of a journalist's time and corporate boundaries.  Aside from winning the World Cup overall title this year, Miller wants to be the first to win World Championship titles in all five events. So, what happens when someone like Bode Miller comes along and, regardless of how his image is shape-shifted by those who profit off his refreshing candor, he just doesn't fit any preconceived mold? Going into the Winter Olympics most of the American press loved Bode for his, "I'll do it my way" approach. And even when he admitted to the heinous crime of skiing down a snow-covered mountain after a night of celebratory excess – something of which none of us has ever been found guilty – he was forgiven. His penance, as brought down by the American public and forged in stone by its mouthpiece sports journalist, was simply an Olympic medal for each finger, for each pint of debauchery he must've ingested. No doubt Miller came off (or was re-presented) as a media hound. But we could also see the honesty behind the quirky insight. American sport fans are many things. But most of all they are opportunist. Regardless if his agent and publicist secured the interviews and sponsors, he was living the dream that most of American youth have at some point in their life – of getting paid to play. His infallibilities reminded us of our own. And his athleticism inspired us to conquer them. Immediately after I won my first Ironman World Triathlon Championship in 1982, ABC's Jim Lampley pulled me into the camera's frame and asked what I'd done differently from the previous year when I'd lost chunks of time to my neophyte cycling skills. "I learned how to ride a bike," I quipped without consideration or motive. I was tired and had no need for Wide World of Sports. There was a job I would be at come Monday morning. Fame had no purchase on my comment or soul. I was telling the truth, succinctly and without pretense. But I sounded arrogant. The network cut to the women's race, and I was headed to editing room payback – on TV I looked cocky. My mom told me so. Months later when I looked at finding a sponsor to enable a full-time commitment to training and racing, I had companies tell me that I wasn't a "good fit." Translation: You're a risk we can't afford. Bode Miller told the world he wasn't that excited about Olympic medals; that he skied for his own personal edification, his own validation and his own simple, home-schooled joy. "Those are other's expectations," he said when asked about his chances for medals. And the public thought it was all some self-constructed psych job, a simple case of pre-Olympic posturing. Brilliant tactic, the journalists said, a great way to reduce the pressure. The kid is as smart as he appears to be. Until he was true to his word. Things that bode well did not end well. It appears that it was our own projected narrative, a beguiling disappointment. It was our own media-fueled aggrandizing that crept into our collective psyches and confounded the hell out of us. Bode didn't get the job done. For himself or for us. Was it lack of commitment, late night distractions or the vicissitudes of competitive skiing? How could a future Skiing Hall of Famer flop and not offer us a tangible explanation? Who among us would swallow the elemental, "shit happens?" Few, if any.
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