Bode Miller is BACK!

Downhill racing's original bad boy is BACK! Bode Miller -- known more for disowning the USA Ski Team and for blowing any chance of a Gold Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics -- won the final super-combined event of the season last Sunday and took the discipline's World Cup title.

This is just what the sport needs! Not only is this Miller's third successive victory in a combined event (after his recent wins in Kitzbuehel and Chamonix), but this marks his 30th World Cup victory, allowing him to extend his lead in the overall standings.

According to skispace.com, Miller - who also came out on top in the Bormio and Wengen downhills this season, crushed all the opposition in the morning speed leg, mastering the demanding Face de Bellevarde to leave his closest rival, Swiss Didier Defago, 1.37 seconds behind.

Did someone 1.37 seconds? In the sport of skiing that's like a driver having a full lap lead in the Daytona 500.

Commented Miller on bodemiller.com, "...I did a couple of mistakes on the top part and I was a little surprised to clock such a fast time. But my new skis were fantastic in the turns, it's like skiing on a carpet...!"

Miller's 30th win on the World Cup circuit, and fifth this season, was enough to give him his third super-combined title with 410 points. He won the discipline in 2003 and 2004.

The win also increased Miller's lead in the overall World Cup standings. Miller has 1,067 points after 28 races. Benjamin Raich of Austria is second with 945, and downhill leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland is next with 882.

Miller's first big international success came at the 2002 Winter Olympics, as he won silver medals in the giant slalom and combined competitions with dramatic runs. During the 2002-03 season, Miller captured three gold medals at the U.S. Championships; won two gold medals at the World Championships, and won the World Cup combined title (the combined event adds together the times of one downhill race and two slalom races). The following year Miller won the combined crown again and added the giant slalom title. Miller petered out completely in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Bringing home no medals and a rash of criticism for admitting he partied and even competed under the influence of alcohol.

Ultimately, Miller walked away from Team USA. In fact, Team USA morphed into Team Miller. And Miller took to the slopes alone. And in that solitude he started winning again. And the world again began to take notice. Miller's longtime coach, Johno McBride, says it's not about grudges and it's not about keeping score, it's about developing one of the greatest skiers this country has ever seen. "...In a perfect world he would still be under the umbrella of the US Ski Team and they would have been more willing to find a way to satisfy his specify his needs..."

But we're nothing if not a society that loves its heroes and forgives the mistakes of its rebels. Bode Miller is both. He's STILL the downhill racer you just love to hate, but darn it, something about that roguish grin and that gleam in his eye and you know that we probably have a lot more in common with this guy than we care to admit.

Adds Coach Mcbride, "....He would probably still be willing to go back [to Team USA] if things changed. But they'd have to be very proactive and meet his specific needs. They would need to allow him to enjoy himself the way he needs to..."

In the meantime, Miller continues to ride atop the white powder in a relentless march towards his first World Cup overall title since 2005. With 13 races remaining Miller now has 1067 points, with Austria's Benjamin Raich, the 2006 overall champion on 945.

And in addition to setting new landmarks for American skiers, Miler recently overtook compatriot Phil Mahre's record of 27 World Cup wins. A record that has been unbeatable for the last 20 + years.

The next men's World Cup race is a slalom scheduled for Saturday at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.