Miller’s Arrival Is Golden

Early exit polling suggests that the world may get through the 2006 Olympics without a Bode Miller “incident.”

For starters, the sometimes angry young Alpine skier actually showed up here, which, if you’ve listened to Miller waffle for the last year, was never a guarantee.

He even sat through a news conference Tuesday, flanked by his speed-team teammates, at the Main Media Center.

Miller appeared bored at times, fidgeted while others were talking, chewed gum throughout and appeared to be the only U.S. skier without his Olympic-issue warmup jacket zipped.

He also was the only one who did not stick around to answer one-on-one questions.

But Miller was there.

Unless he wins a medal in the five Alpine events he will race, however, it may have been Miller’s first and final press briefing.

The defending World Cup overall champion and one of the most talked-about athletes in Turin has basically cut off media ties since recently making a series of heavily reported controversial statements.

The two biggies were Miller’s saying on “60 Minutes” that he had skied “wasted,” and insinuating in Rolling Stone magazine that Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong may be drug-testing cheaters.

He reiterated Tuesday what he had said weeks earlier -- that he was sorry for some of the things he has said.

Well, sort of sorry.

“It was a heartfelt apology, it was a real apology, but it was more an apology about having made other people deal with the repercussions of something I was dealing with myself,” Miller said. “I do feel it’s important for athletes to be, at least to some degree, honest. I think that’s getting a little bit punished these days. Athletes get punished for it.... “

Miller covered a lot of old ground at this session and as far as anyone could tell, said nothing that could get him kicked off the team before Sunday’s men’s downhill -- a signature Olympic event.

In no particular order, Miller, who won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, reaffirmed that he was basically against the idea of medal counts but understood that they had “a lot of upside, naturally, as a marketing tool.”

He said of possibly trying to start a ski tour that would compete with the World Cup: “The option is still out there.”

He complained that the Olympic village for athletes, with its small beds and such, probably was “not a healthy living environment.” Miller will be staying in the recreational vehicle he has used on the World Cup circuit.

He confessed to being a stubborn “expletive,” but added he’s not the royal pain many people think he is.

“Over the years, I think it’s been really blown out of proportion about how I clash with coaches and the team,” Miller said.

Although he revels in his go-it-alone rebel image, Miller actually thanked the U.S. ski team for allowing him to prosper in a system he has sometimes railed against.

“I appreciate all the stuff the team’s done for me,” he said. “They’ve given me the resources to get where I am today.”

Miller reacted somewhat sternly to a question about whether he wrestled with being a counterculture iconoclast who also reaps millions in sponsorship deals.

“Whether I’m a hypocrite or not because I grew up in a cabin without electricity or not, I think you’ll have to wait until you see how I raise my family,” said the 28-year-old Miller, who is single with no children.

Maybe the toughest question was about his skiing this season, which has tailed off since last season, when he became the first American in 22 years to win the World Cup overall title.

Miller is third in the World Cup standings but has only one victory, which some attribute to his off-the-snow issues.

“I came into this season with very different goals,” he said, without stating what they were. “For the most part, I think I met my goals.”

Phil McNichol, the U.S. men’s Alpine coach who has dealt with the Miller issues, said he wasn’t worried about his star skier and these Olympics.

He said Miller was that rare athlete who could turn distraction into distinction.

“He’s the last guy I worry about, in terms of being able to perform,” McNichol said. “He’s that good.”

How good?

You can tune in, starting Sunday.