We Are the Champions

Bode Miller was sent home from Turin without any medals. And frankly, I'm glad.

Miller walked into the Winter Olympics after having bragged to 60 Minutes about skiing while drunk and having told Rolling Stone that Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds, two fellow athletes whom he's never met, are cheaters. After failing in every event, he disparaged his teammates and opponents and bragged about his apathy toward competition.

I'm a patriot, and American patriots love to see American champions; but those champions are worthless if we can't look to them with pride. If we have to be ashamed of our athletes' behavior, then I'd rather they didn't win.

Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote, "There are few things less worthy of respect than the athlete who pretends not to care about the outcome." I agree completely. I can live with Bode Miller's behavior being representative of Americans — just not the Americans that win.