For The Love Of The Game
"’If I could set up the Birds of Prey on my own, run it all the time, I would ditch the World Cup in a second,’ Miller said."
Bode Miller reflecting on his Birds Of Prey World Cup victory
We know you’re making a ton of dough, but do you have to constantly remind us of it? And if for some reason you lose a few bucks do you have to whine?
Oh, I know, you hate Bode Miller. Because he didn’t play your game. Not only did he not win in Torino, he wasn’t contrite. So he was a loser. Then he comes back in Vancouver and has a spectacular Olympics, winning every flavor of medal, gold, silver and bronze, and the media shrugs as it lionizes whining Lindsey Vonn, America’s Sweetheart, who wins a gold while in pain.
They’re all in pain, Vonn is the best woman on the circuit, a phenomenal skier, but it’s Bode I prefer, for he loves the game, the sport, he talks about his run, not the victory.
When I listen to a record I don’t hear the money. I don’t visualize Benzes and yachts unless the act is specifically speaking about them, which, unfortunately, they too often do. And everyone’s complaining in music, you’d think money was outlawed and it was impossible to do anything but starve.
But everybody’s listening and many acts are profitable. They just want more. So they whore themselves out to corporations and won’t say or do anything that jeopardizes their relationship with them. You’ve got to go on a TV show, "American Idol", "X Factor" or "The Voice", conform to win and once you emerge victorious you’ve got to do it their way. Or else.
Actually, Bode ran into this same problem. He wanted to travel alone, eat his own food, and the coaches complained. But he kept on winning. It’s hard to complain when someone keeps on winning. That’s what being a rock star is, doing it your way.
Now we can talk about Bode coming back into the fold, I can recite his complete history, but throughout it all, Bode evidences this pure love of the sport. He talks about his runs the way you speak of that shot on the golf course. You’re never gonna play in the PGA but that doesn’t mean you don’t love the game. And if you’re playing more for the bet, the gambling, than the shot, shame on you, because hitting a prefect golf shot is one of the great joys of life, just like the crack of the bat when you hit a baseball perfectly. It’s the essence of life. That’s what we like best, that’s what we live for, these tiny little moments when everything aligns, when a normally imperfect life becomes opposite.
And we lionize the professionals. Because they get to do it all the time, because they’re better than us. They start as little kids, they endure hardship, the winnowing out process leaves few, and then they triumph. Both boys and girls know how hard it is to compete and win. And when someone does…
And skiing is one man against the clock. And the dirty little secret is the equipment. You can’t win with the worst and you oftentimes have to compete against those with the best. Bode talked about the Salomon guys’ skis running, but he did not complain about what he had, he just skied. Basked in the pure essence of a perfect run.
