McKee's McThoughts: U.S. exploits worth following

What, you mean he treated everybody like this?
    McThoughts had no stronger a fan than Paul Robbins. Apparently that makes us about as special as the milk he commonly drank at meals. He was a fan of people.
    I will not go into the many virtues of our prematurely departed friend here. For one I don’t have the space, and certainly don’t have the time. He would appreciate that. For a U.S. ski journalist these are the days we dream about. American alpine skiers already have captured two World Cup titles. Americans lead the chases for the overall globes as well. Bill Demong is making U.S. history in nordic combined.
    This is close to unprecedented U.S. success in the sport of international ski racing. When records start falling, and they have, it’s good. It is especially easy to savor if — like Paul — you’ve devoted your life to recording the exploits of U.S. ski racers.
 
WHAT, YOU MEAN he treated everybody like this?
    McThoughts had no stronger a fan than Paul Robbins. Apparently that makes us about as special as the milk he commonly drank at meals. He was a fan of people.
    I will not go into the many virtues of our prematurely departed friend here. For one I don’t have the space, and certainly don’t have the time. He would appreciate that. For a U.S. ski journalist these are the days we dream about. American alpine skiers already have captured two World Cup titles. Americans lead the chases for the overall globes as well. Bill Demong is making U.S. history in nordic combined.
    This is close to unprecedented U.S. success in the sport of international ski racing. When records start falling, and they have, it’s good. It is especially easy to savor if — like Paul — you’ve devoted your life to recording the exploits of U.S. ski racers.
    This generation of racers, both here in the States and everywhere around the globe, are extraordinary athletes. They are a joy to watch. The line between victory and disaster has always been thin, but it seems so fine as to be undetectable these days. It is great stuff.
    I urge every reader to make one attempt this week to turn somebody new on to what’s happening in ski racing. Pick your poison, there’s lots of it.
    Many folks have heard about Bode Miller, for instance. I’m afraid many of those people are unaware how talented he really is. The man is a wonder, and for the first time since he was a JI-II East slalom champ in 1994 there is a sense that he is skiing smart. It’s as if he understands the financial rewards of a champion just might be sufficient to support the multitude of people required to give that champion a chance to do what he does best.
    He will have to be at his best over the last three weeks of the World Cup tour to pull it off. The competition is savvy. All things equal I like Miller’s chances, but this is ski racing and a passing cloud can change a race outcome. That’s pretty cool, too. See if you can’t get someone you know who has never cared about ski racing to take a look at what Miller’s doing over these last three weeks. Tell them he’s sober. Tell them he’s got his own chef. Tell them he’s making history and they don’t want to miss the opportunity to watch him with you. He could win the downhill title, he could also win the overall. He has already won a downhill at Bormio this season and the finale will be on the same course. It should be easy to sell.
    If Miller is not your cup of tea, then go with Ted “Shred” Ligety. His story could wind up being the most exciting of the season. This past weekend Ligety moved into second place in the GS standings. The U.S. hasn’t had a really good GS skier since Tamara McKinney (well, Bode did claim that title in 2004, but who remembers?) Ligety has only won one World Cup race, and that was back in 2006 — just after he got the Olympic gold in combined. There are two GS’s left and should he win either rest assured it will be in dramatic fashion. Present this right and you might even get a two-fer; two titles decided in one race: Ligety and Miller.
    Or, you can sell them Lindsey Vonn and you will never regret that. She already has won the downhill title, as you may have read. She is a remarkable young lady who understands what a positive role model can mean to a young girl. It’s a fabulous story. Grew up in the Midwest, meets Picabo, moves to Vail, gets good at speed. Married over the summer and now, at 23, is the dominant woman ski racer in the world. Come on, who could not be interested in that? Throw in the triplet siblings if you need to stir up interest.
    And should you have any success selling any of these high profile stories, see if you can get somebody interested in Bill Demong, currently ranked second in the world in Nordic Combined, arguably the oldest skiing competition of any significance.
    Selling these stories is what Paul Robbins did everyday. This season he had some of his best material to work with. Maybe we can carry that through to the end of the season.
    A year or so ago Robbins said to McThoughts, “When Marja-Liisa Haemaelaeinen married Harri Kirvesniemi and became Marja-Liisa Haemaelaeinen-Kirvesniemi, that was a name worthy of the McThoughts All-Name Team.”
    So be it.
    Take the rest of the day off.