It’s been 20 years since the U.S. had had a skiing champion of the skill level of Bode Miller. In fact his “Championship Season” has eclipsed every season by every skier since Alberto Tomba burst on the scene during the Rome Olympics in 1984. But, even he was not dominate in so many events as Miller has been this season. So dominate is Miller’s performance (five World event wins in as many weeks) that it has catapulted him into a new league of exclusive athletes.
It is an unusual time in competitive sport as all the major sports seem dominated by one player who has put together an unexpected skein of victories. In golf it is for sure Tiger Woods, whose recent run up of 8 PGA wins still seems to precede what may yet be his top level of performance which, like Miller’s, we have probably not even seen yet. And at the same time on the LPGA Tour we now have Lorena Ochoa whose abilities promise many years of dominant play.
In tennis the dominate player has been Roger Federer who has led men’s tennis in a way that Pete Sampras did throughout the 90’s. All sports have their heroes, but rarely do we see such unusual talent in so many sports at the same time. All of this makes for great enjoyment and anticipation for sports enthusiasts. Expectations are always high anytime these excellent athletes perform. And that may be a problem in the long-term. When their time is passed, will there be a replacement of equal or better ability, or will their sports decline because the expectations cannot be met?
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