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Life is bloomy for U.S. athlete
Delaying football career has boosted Bloom's ski career
By Amy Donaldson
Deseret News sports writer
Jeremy Bloom's father taught him to make a decision, work hard and never look back.
On a night last September, he did just that. Only, he didn't just make a decision; he took the kind of risk that requires courage some people never have.
He let go of the sure thing and grabbed on with both hands and his whole heart to the mere possibility of representing his country in the highest level of international competition. Bloom, 19, gave up a football scholarship with the eventual Big 12 champion University of Colorado for a chance at Olympic Gold in freestyle skiing.
His gamble is looking more and more like a good bet, as the native of Loveland, Colo., has gone from a development skier on the U.S. Ski Team to the top ranked mogul skier in the world after making a decision to do something he'd never done in his life — dedicate himself to just one sport.
"It's the first time in my life I'm focusing on one thing," he said.
Despite pressure from coaches all of his life, Bloom had refused to give up football or skiing. In fact, their lectures about dedicating himself, and his future, to a sole athletic endeavor only strengthened his commitment to participate in both.
"It drove me to work harder," he said. "I love being the underdog. I just never listened."
In high school, Bloom was something of an athletic phenom. He's just 5-9 and 165 pounds, but he's fast and agile. He runs the 40 in 4.3 and the 100 in 10.7. He managed to play football in the fall, ski in the U.S. Ski team's development program in the winter, and just for fun, he won two track championships in the spring.
Bloom was recruited by several Division I schools, but settled on a scholarship to CU because the coaches there agreed to work around skiing. He spent the summer training with the football team and was registered for school, when the U.S. Ski team coaches talked him into going to a training camp in Chile in early September.
The day before the skiers left, the coaches came to Bloom with an offer.
"They sat me down the night before and said, 'You're chances of making the Olympic team are really good,' " Bloom said. The only thing he had to do was give up football for a year.
"They said if I did, they'd give me the discretionary spot on the team for the World Cup tour," he said. That meant at least five chances to qualify for the U.S. Olympic freestyle team as the skiers are selected based on how well they finish in international competitions.
With this opportunity before him, Bloom decided to at least talk to his football coaches about the possibility of deferring his scholarship.
Bloom walked across Folsom Field early the next morning to talk to coach Gary Barnett with sweaty palms and a hopeful heart. He fully expected the coach to tell him not to ski. Instead, he found a coach who did what no other had done — encouraged him to pursue the other sport.
"It was really hard to decide what to do," Bloom said. "It ultimately came down to the coaches at CU. If they said, 'We need you, we've invested in you.' I'd be playing football right now. It was the morning before I was supposed to report. I was so nervous. CU is not a little football program. But the support from the coaches was huge."
In fact, when Bloom took third in Steamboat Springs, Colo., about six weeks ago, almost his entire football team showed up to cheer for him. He's even promised lessons to those daring enough to follow him from the turf to the snow.
"Coach Barnett supported me the most," he said. "I thought he was going to say, 'We made an investment in you.' That wouldn't have surprised me. But he told me to go for the gold."
Bloom took that advice and has taken the World Cup Tour by storm. He ended up winning the final qualifying event and taking third in two others. It's not just skiing full-time that he's struggled with this year. The witty and warm Bloom has had to learn to deal with the crush of media attention that accompanied his decision. He's often stopped as he tries to train by reporters, and the accommodating teen answers question after question.
He's been asked often if the success of the Buffaloes this season has been hard to watch from a ski slope.
"It's been hard, but it's also been a lot of fun to watch them," he said. "I talk to a lot of the freshman guys as much as I can. It's nice to still feel connected. It would probably be harder if I wasn't doing well."
When the Olympic mogul team was introduced in Salt Lake last Tuesday, he was again asked that question. Bloom smiled and said, "I just got fitted for an Olympic ring, so I guess that can take the place of a Big 12 championship ring."
One issue that hangs over Bloom as he prepares to ski for gold next Tuesday is his eligibility for college football if he wins an Olympic medal. The NCAA has repeatedly said if Bloom wins and accepts prize money or endorsements for skiing, he will not be allowed to play football. He and his agent are still appealing to the NCAA with several proposals, but so far, the answer is no.
So even though Bloom's toughest decision to date seems to be paying huge dividends, he may face an even bigger dilemma if he wins on Tuesday. Should he play football for an education, or get wealthy if he wins a gold medal?
He won't even consider those possibilities now. He said he's just focused on what one of his first and most influential coaches, Larry Bloom, taught him to do in sports and life.
"My dad taught me to just work hard and don't look back," Bloom said. "No matter what happens, I won't see this as a wasted year. I don't think I'll ever regret my decision."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com
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February 7, 2002
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