The Bode Show

The woman from Maxim wore a bikini to their interview, but she really didn't need to: Bode Miller is a great interview, no matter what you're wearing. He's one of the rare athletes who treats an interview like a conversation, as opposed to an opportunity to dictate the usual sports cliches, so he almost always says interesting stuff. It was disappointing to see "60 Minutes" hyping his comments about skiing hungover as if it were "news," when anybody who's followed Bode knows that it was just him spouting off, a throwaway line. And besides, drinking and skiing are hardly strangers, for better or for worse. (Think St. Bernard.) If he stays sober for the slalom, he'll win three medals in the Olympics, and his teammates, like Daron Rahlves, will win three more.

A couple years back, I spent some time with Miller in his native New Hampshire, and then two weeks in New Zealand with Bode and his teammates, for this 2004 piece in Outside magazine; you can read my take on his current imbroglio here, in Slate. (Short version: Is anybody surprised? And is it really such a big deal? Except of course to his sponsors, who might like him to finish a slalom once in a while...)