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Where Have All the Ski Stars Gone?

By Craig Altschul
March 31, 2006

Yes, there was a guy nobody ever heard of named Ted Ligety, and gold is gold. But, the combined? Can there be a dumber event? Well, perhaps biathlon.

Are you old enough to remember Jimmie Heuga? Billy Kidd? Phil and Steve Mahre? All worthy "stars" in their own right. Picabo Street? Even the forgettable Billy Johnson?

What do we get? A boor named Bode Miller. At least Babe Ruth hit the long ball after a night of partying. We don't need role models perhaps (thank you, Charles Barkley), but it would better serve a sport to at least have someone as its "superstar" who engaged his mind before running his mouth on something as widely watched and as well known a "gotcha" as Sixty Minutes.

No, this turned out to be the first time snowboarding took over the Olympics. Perhaps none too soon. The not-so-upstart-anymore sport pushed skiing into the flat light. Jake Burton Carpenter (he of "I started it all" fame) and Warren Miller (he of "don't force the Olympic structure on snowboarders" fame) have no more concerns.

That's where the stars have gone. Over to "the other side." The fun side. The exuberant side. It was relatively easy to accept the non-thinking mistake of Lindsey Jacobellis of showboating and losing snowboard gold because of it. We could simply chalk it up to youthful enthusiasm, and as she said, "Oh, well."

But, there was one "star" of these Olympics, at least in my unread book. You probably never saw the story obscurely buried in Vermont newspapers, read only by all 3,224 Vermonters. Hannah Teter, another snowboard gold medalist, came home from Torwhatsis to the little town of Belmont (in Okemo's armpit).

Hannah had carried a bottle of Vermont maple syrup with her to Italy and people kept asking her where they could buy the magic potion. She got back to Belmont and joined with her family to celebrate by working with a local maple syrup "brewer" who bottled the sweet stuff. Hannah's picture is on the jug, calling it Hannah's Gold. The sales proceeds will go to Hannah's choice charity, World Vision, an international relief organization helping children in Third World countries. She's building out a Web site (www.HannahsGold.com) to market the jugs of goo for a cause she cares about.

So, where did all the ski stars go? Now you know. They ride snowboards.

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Comments

Craig, Again you are right on. My kids 10, 8 and 5 picked up on this during the Olympics as they could not believe the reports of Bode out partying during the Olympics and failing as he did. During a ski day at that time one parent had referred to us letting our kids go to the dark side of snowboarding and they(our boys) retorted, the skiers proved at the Olympics they are the dark side and the snowboarders are the bright beacons of Olympic winter Sports and the future. They pointed out the difference in how the two groups handled theirselves and performed in the Olympics.

Posted by: John Siewierski | April 3, 2006 07:16 AM

Craig; I found your commentary on the 'stars' of winter snow sports interesting. I would be curious to read a much longer article from you on the same subject, as you did not even touch the tip of the iceberg in regards to sports 'stars' ("amateur"/Olympic or professional), their social responsibilities as role models, the amount they are recompensed, etc. If you look at athletics in general, every sport has its share of true stars and role models, plus their share of egoists, rule breakers and offensive individuals. Given your comment about Babe Ruth, I suppose you would have forgiven Bode Miller his loose tongue if he had 'delivered the goods' on race day and brought home the gold. Which only goes to show your attitude is as much a part of the problem as is Bode's and other professional athletes' behaviour. Like professional baseball, football and basketball, you appear to be willing to turn a blind eye to unsportsmanliike conduct, banned substance abuse, gross overpayment and poor role modeling just as long as the athletes involved 'deliver the goods'. Which brings up the topic of the Olympics and what they stand for. I am surmising from your commentary an attitude similar to the media's: only gold silver and bronze matter, but when it comes right down to it, only gold matters. Forget personal best performance or competing for the sheer sake of testing yourself against others regardless of the result, forget having attained the level of achievement that allows an athlete to compete at the Olympics, only focus on who wins the gold while throwing in a few slurs on all the other 'has been' and 'unworthy' athletes who did not finish first that day. Where does the Olympic creed/motto fit in with all of this? Is it an outdated ideal that needs updating and/or replacing? On another note, it appears skiing has finally followed all the 'ball' sports down the path of big money and big personalities. And now a few people are going to cry and wring their hands over Bode Miller and his conduct. My question to them is this; when did they stop watching and supporting pro (or college) baseball, basketball and football because of the player scandals? Or unconscionable contracts? When did the media ever hold those same athletes accountable for their actions? Sports in America have become very big business, and, as a result, have succumed to the problems facing both business and politics, mainly, a lack of ethical behaviour and decision making. It all boils down to the dollar and how many can be made. If bad behaviour increases sales (and I think an argument can be made it does), then bad behaviour will be condoned. Yes, with a certain amount of obligatory hand wringing and 'oh, this is wrong', but, nonetheless, ultimately the bad behaviour will go unpunished. As snowboarding catches the 'stars' and gains a foothold on the pedestal of sports, it, too, will ultimately deal with a black eye from a personality gone astray. Or, will we have the willpower to reverse the current trend of condoned unethical behaviour in all sports, thereby allowing snowboarding to possibly miss taking it on the chin? Respectfully, Paul Mahre Usk, WA

Posted by: Paul Mahre | April 4, 2006 11:23 AM