NBC’s teary Bode Miller interview after his Sochi medal win: That’s TV

SOCHI, Russia -- Well, of course I was the second to last to hear about Christin Cooper’s now controversial interview with Bode Miller after he tied for the super G bronze.

The worst place to catch Olympic action on NBC is at the Olympics, in real time, at the actual event. You’d have a better chance running naked through Russian security than breaching the barrier of NBC’s access zone.

I was in the mixed zone at Rosa Khotur when Miller realized he had won his sixth Olympic medal (bronze) and I saw from afar he was emotional. I even saw him bending over for what I now know was a reaction to Cooper’s question about the death of his brother, Chelone.

Was it out of line? I just saw a replay of the interview on the Internet and it seemed typical of what television reporters do for ratings.

You can never be sure how it will play, on TV, back in America, after producer packaging, 12 hours later.

Here’s what I do know: Miller was fully composed when he finally got to the U.S. press station in the mixed zone.

“To hang on to a medal today, I feel really lucky and fortunate,” Miller said.

It had been well chronicled that Miller lost his brother last April to a seizure.

Miller was more emotional than usual in the mixed zone and said “this was a hard year,” but he did not cry. No one really pushed Miller on the issue of his brother.

Miller, frankly, was not the lead story. Even he was more interested in talking about the amazing run by U.S. teammate Andrew Weibrecht, who stunningly won the silver medal.

Miller praised Weibrecht’s run. “He skied a very smart, tactically perfect race,” Bode said.

Later, in his formal post-race media interview, Miller did generally address his brother’s death and I quoted him: “Everything felt pretty raw and pretty connective. It was a lot for me.”

Am I surprised Cooper’s interview has created such a buzz? Well yes, and no, and clearly that was her purpose.

I do think the interview and subsequent reaction undermines the story of the day, which was Weibrecht’s unbelievable result.

But hey, that’s television.

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