Rebel on the Edge

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For U.S. ski-team officials who have been the receivers of those thoughts, the 60 Minutes fiasco may have been a long-awaited opportunity to whack the puppy with the paper. "Talented people are a challenge, and what makes some people great is that they require a lot," says Bill Marolt, president of the USSA. (Translation: This guy drives me batty.) "Hopefully this has created something positive, not just with Bode but with the whole team." For years Miller has challenged USSA brass about coaching, training and conditioning methods, equipment and what he considers insufficient support for his ideas. "They are not totally compliant yet," he deadpans. Yet he is serious in his purpose. The coaches, he says, "are forcing athletes to train poorly for the sport. And I find that irritating." Head U.S. men's coach Phil McNichol says Miller has been given plenty of attention, "but he pushes all the boundaries. That's part of his personality. He's about pushing buttons and pushing boundaries."

It's more irritating this year because U.S. coaches think they can top the long-dominant Austrians in Torino. The USSA motto -- Best in the World -- may sound immodest, but the team heading to Italy may well be the most talented group of skiers the U.S. has ever assembled. Miller's teammate Daron Rahlves, in fact, was sensational in winning the Lauberhorn downhill at Wengen. John McBride, the men's speed coach and a Miller confidant, acknowledges that the dustup "had been a team issue." But it's not, he adds, "like Bode's turned into a bad guy. "

He isn't. On the World Cup circuit Miller is rock-star popular and travels like one. Rather than stay in hotels, he does the Alpine tour in a recreational vehicle driven by his boyhood friend Jake Sereno. His uncle, Mike Kenney, a former ski racer, acts as his personal adviser. From Camp Bode, he patrols the Internet (where he met his girlfriend Karen Sherri), writes an online journal for the Denver Post, conducts a radio show for Sirius and hangs out, often with the press and his fans camped outside. "For me, he's all the best things about America: a bit of a showman, sure, but also friendly and likeable, without that grim way that some of the European athletes have," says Björn Frick, a fan from Bern. As for the partying, "that's nonsense. If he drinks, he's hardly the first ski racer to do it." Says Miller's fellow racer Marco Büchel, of Liechtenstein: "The World Cup wouldn't be what it is without Bode. We couldn't do without him."