TPM Episode 268: Bill Marolt, Olympian, NCAA Champion, CEO US Ski Team
The Powell Movement
Mike Powell
4.9 • 860 Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2022
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bill Marolt is not only a ski visionary, but he's also a living legend known for his Olympic-level ski career, NCAA Championships, and US Ski and Snowboard Teams. When Bill proclaimed that the USA would be the best ski team in the world, the world thought he was crazy, but Bill achieved that goal and many more throughout his career. On the podcast, we talk about the 2022 Olympics, the other games he was a part of and an athlete, coach, and CEO, his NCAA Football Title at the University of Colorado, and much more. It's an hour with a Hall of Fame member who has had a huge impact on the sports we love
Bill Marolt Show Notes:
3:30: The 2022 Olympics, the IOC, FIS, China and Russia, the Mikaela story, and the lack of focus on Park and Pipe
15:30: Aspen in the '40s and '50's, skiing, HS racing on the national level, and was there sponsorship back then
21:30: Stanley: Get 30% off sitewide with the code drinkfast
Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: Over 60 years of getting you out there
10 Barrel Brewery: Buy their beers; they support action sports more than anyone
24:00: Billy Kid, Jimmie Heuga, and more, College racing at Colorado "The American Way," and the legendary US Team he was part of and who was the most famous
30:00: His Olympic experience, maintaining amateur status, and getting a job at the University of Colorado coaching the ski team at a young age
36:00: Winning eight consecutive NCAA Championships, what defines his leadership style, his 10-year philosophy, leaving Colorado to coach the US Ski Team, and Bill Johnson wins the Downhill
42:00: Alpine Vans: Upgrade your adventure, Upgrade your life
Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better
44:30: The politics of the team and how it impacts athletes, leaving the US Ski team for the Athletic Director job at the University of Colorado, and learning the business of sports
51:30: His famous contract extension for his losing football coach, the risk pays off with a national championship, and more on leadership
59:00: Leaving Colorado for the US Ski Team and its CEO position, having athletes like Daron Rahlves, Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso
64:00: Inappropriate Questions with Luke Bodensteiner
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have a seat on your porcelain throne. |
| 0:02.0 | It's time to talk some shit on the Powell Movement. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to the Powell Movement. |
| 0:17.0 | I'm your host Mike Powell, and now that the Olympics are over, it's time for me to reflect on them. |
| 0:22.6 | I thought the games were pretty entertaining, and I watched more than I have in a long time, |
| 0:27.6 | but it must have been only me watching, as the ratings were the lowest they've been in forever. |
| 0:32.6 | Why is that? |
| 0:33.6 | Well, between the streams, the Canadian coverage, the cable coverage, and the network coverage, |
| 0:38.3 | I'm guessing that the numbers are a little diluted. |
| 0:41.3 | But that's my guess. |
| 0:42.3 | Who knows, though? |
| 0:43.3 | Maybe some people didn't watch because the games were in China. |
| 0:46.3 | But really, when I think of the events, outside of some snow events, the games seem dated, in my opinion. |
| 0:52.3 | There are really some boring events at the Winter |
| 0:55.5 | Olympics. I mean, watching bobsled, curling, skeleton, they are so lame. And no matter what |
| 1:02.0 | stories the media creates, it's hard to make these things compelling or even interesting. |
| 1:07.0 | What really sucked to me was the judging of the snowboard events. That became the talk of the event, |
| 1:12.4 | which is a shame that bad judging overshadowed some of the incredible riding that went down. |
| 1:17.3 | Between knee grabs and miss scoring during the most important run in snowboard history, |
| 1:22.2 | the snowboarding judges became a joke in this country. And if you didn't hear Todd Richards |
| 1:26.8 | torched the judges in halfpipe, |
| 1:28.9 | that was one of the highlights of the games for me. Todd is already a legend, and that just |
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