Bode Miller's new goal? Make history

HINTERSTODER, Austria — Last season, Bode Miller posted just two World Cup victories. He failed to medal at the Olympics and seemed unable to tame his tongue.
    Now, in a post-Olympic year with the stage lights turned down for American ski racers, Miller seems to have recovered the magic touch that led to his stardom.
    As the tour enters the holiday break with worries about snowcover just beginning to recede, the 29-year-old loose cannon has already amassed three wins and a whole lot of respect.
    ''Things are starting to come together for me,'' Miller said.
    Miller is aiming to collect more World Cup wins in a season than anybody before, and he also wants to become the first skier to win world championships titles in all five events. He's already earned four.

HINTERSTODER, Austria — Last season, Bode Miller posted just two World Cup victories. He failed to medal at the Olympics and seemed unable to tame his tongue.
    Now, in a post-Olympic year with the stage lights turned down for American ski racers, Miller seems to have recovered the magic touch that led to his stardom.
    As the tour enters the holiday break with worries about snowcover just beginning to recede, the 29-year-old loose cannon has already amassed three wins and a whole lot of respect.
    ''Things are starting to come together for me,'' Miller said.
    The 2004-05 champion won a World Cup super G on Wednesday to climb back atop the overall standings for the first time in a year.
    Though he surrendered the lead 24 hours later to giant slalom winner Aksel Lund Svindal, Miller proved he's once again a real menace for the sport's most coveted prize.
    ''Self-confidence is important for the way that Bode Miller skis,'' said four-time overall champion Hermann Maier of Austria. ''And he seems to have plenty of that right now.''
    That may be, but Miller is unwilling to contemplate the overall race.
    ''I don't think about it,'' he said. ''But my skiing is definitely there in three events, and I think slalom is there, but I need more training, and I hope that'll come in January and February.''
    Though he finished fourth in Thursday's giant slalom, Miller demonstrated he's rediscovered his footing in the first discipline he mastered. The 2004 giant slalom champion also placed second in Alta Badia, Italy, last weekend.
    Now, he needs only to rediscover his winning formula for the slalom, in which he has failed to post a result in 11 months.
    Miller earned the label as alpine skiing's bad boy after a turbulent season in which he declared in a TV interview that he skied ''wasted,'' calling for liberalized anti-doping rules and showed a marked lack of interest in the Olympics — where he entered as a favorite in every event but left without a single medal.
    But Miller appears more focused, more mature, this season, and has made a distinctly greater effort to be tactful.
    Asked why he didn't call the U.S. women more often to ask how they were skiing , Miller answered with a somewhat sheepish smile: ''We watch them on TV. I'm good friends with a lot of the girls. But maybe I'm less attentive than some of the other guys.''
    Still, when it was suggested that new team policies might be responsible for his improved results, Miller was unable to entirely quash his cheekiness.
    ''I could say something sarcastic like the new team policies are paying off,'' he said before puffing in laughter. ''All the changes they made are insane.
    ''But there's a way to adapt to everything,'' he added with a shrug.
    New U.S. team crackdowns include a strict alcohol policy and require that athletes stay at official team lodging at competitions, meaning they cannot sleep in RVs or converted buses as some had in the past, including Miller, the retired Daron Rahlves, and Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso.
    Known for his late-night habits, Miller seems to have curbed those, too.
    ''Last year, every time I went out at night I saw Bode and he was going home after me,'' Austrian men's head coach Toni Giger told The Associated Press. ''This year I haven't seen him too often when I go out. I think he's more focused on his skiing and less on going out and drinking and having fun.''
    Though Miller credits his ski company for a lot of his newfound success, he also underwent crucial knee surgery in the offseason and is armed with a new training program, too.
    All this, he hopes, will lead allow him to attain some lofty new goals.
    Miller is aiming to collect more World Cup wins in a season than anybody before. Maier and Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark hold the record of 13 wins in a season.
    He also wants to become the first skier to win World Championships titles in all five events. So far he has downhill, super G, giant slalom and combined gold medals, but still needs one in slalom, which he is targeting at the worlds in Are, Sweden, in February.
    Though Miller has been miles more moderate in his statements lately, it hasn't prevented the rumor mill from swirling around the provocative skier.
    European newspapers recently latched on to rumors Miller might have worn the slalom skis of a rival brand disguised as his own in recent races, a serious breach of contract.
    ''I have the best skis. Why would I want to race with worse ones?'' said Miller, who switched from Atomic to Head skis in the off-season.
    Swiss and Austrian papers suggested he used either Nordica or Blizzard skis, but failed to disclose who had made the accusations, saying only that ''insiders'' believe Miller didn't use Head skis in the latest technical events.
    The men are off until a double-downhill scheduled for Dec. 28-29 at Bormio, Italy.