Ball 5

Author: Justin Golenbock

The spirit of the 2006 Torino Games has left me pondering the discourse of my virgin column: the true meaning of greatness. As a fairly vocal opponent of the fairy tale of nationalism that the Olympic Games present, any objective argument on the aforementioned spirit should be viewed as, at best, suspect - just two weeks ago in this very column, I panned the Winter Olympics and promised not to watch.

So it was a surprise to me when I kicked up my feet with a 30 of Beast Ice close at hand to spend a Saturday night in, watching the Games. Not that the sub-frozen-over-hell walk to the Modulars did not tempt, but nachos were involved. Naturally, I don't remember what particular events I watched, but I do recall seeing by far my favorite Olympic athlete of all-time: Hermann "the Herminator" Meier, the Austrian über-skier, who is of course named after a famous WWII Luftwaffe pilot, fitting him perfectly within the "Hot Dog"/"Aspen Extreme" Hollywood tradition of evil Europeans ruling the slopes.

Meier has won 51 World Cup races (second all-time), but is perhaps most famous for the deliciously horrific fall he took in the Downhill during the Nagano Olympics in 1998. "I must be immortal," he said in his best Arnold after the fall, and went on to pump up on painkillers and win gold in both the Nagano Super G and Giant Slalom.

Understandably, Meier has set the bar high, and his swan-song in Torino coincided perfectly with the rise of an American ski team, led by Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves, presumably ready to challenge Austrian dominance. So far the team has let down (though the unheralded Ted Ligety won gold in the Men's Combined), with just one medal through four of five events.

So how do we evaluate this perceived "failure?" I would forget about the absurd hypocrisy of the Eastern Sports Publicity Network running a campaign around one athlete (check out JoinBode.com) while publishing bashing articles before his final event has been skied. That's just self-interest. Rahlves is a speed specialist who has finished sixth and fifth twice in World Cup standings the past three years. He was a favorite in the Downhill, and only his performance in that event should be considered disappointing.

Bode critics tend to ignore that he is the most accomplished Alpine skier in American history - last year he became the first American in 22 years to win the overall World Cup title. He has established a reputation as daring and technically brilliant, as well as frequently rebellious with the skiing establishment - the comments he made suggesting his carelessness towards these Olympics belie the fierce training regimen and fiery competitiveness that have marked his career. Indeed he trained for two more events in 2006 than he did for the 2002 Games, when he won two silvers. So keep an eye on the Slalom this week. It's the last Alpine event and along with the GS, his best. And then maybe we can continue this discourse on greatness.