It takes a lot of skill to be one of the top skiers in the world. And it takes the brain of a teenager to potentially blow a chance at the 2014 Olympics before the age of 21. 18-year-old Robert "Sandy" Vietze--one of the world's best skiers--has been officially kicked off the U.S. Ski Team after allegations of drunkenly urinating on a 11-year-old girl aboard a Jet Blue flight. The girl's family has issued statement the peeing was actually in the aisle next to their daughter, not on her.
Add legal problems to the mix: The skier has also been slapped with an indecency charge that could send the skiier to prison for up to a year.
He's also facing a $1,000 fine if convicted in Brooklyn federal court, but a grand is the least of problems for Robert Vietze who seems to be working on pissing away a dream of competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Ranked one of the top 75 best skiers in the United States, Robert Vietz had taken a red-eye flight after participating in a week-long training camp for the skiers.
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has announced Vietze's dismissal in August, after issuing statement the athlete's been found in violation of the USSA code of conduct and team agreement over the alcohol use inadvertently revealed on a Jet Blue plane.
The American team's governing body of the U.S.S.A. strictly forbids athletes from illegally using or possessing alcohol. The Federal court claims Robert Vietze was boozing it up before boarding Jet Blue Flight Number 166 in Portland, Oregon -- a middle-of-the-night flight bound for New York's JFK Airport. Reportedly Vietze admits he was at a bar, before the flight in mid-August, and had consumed close to a six-pack's worth of beer plus two rum-and-coke drinks that contained hard liquor. That's according to the Port Authority of the FBI-JFK Task Force anyway.
The law enforcement authority says the skier recalls boarding the Jet Blue flight and 'passing out' while on board. All hell apparently broke loose after Vietze says the alcohol 'hit' him while on the airplane. The claim is that Vietze's next recollection is of being yelled at by an 11-year-old girl's father after -- or while -- peeing on the girl. The court says it all happened at around 2:30 a.m. while on board Jet Blue, the 6' 4" skier accused of staggering from Seat 15-A and urinating on a sleeping pre-teen instead of in a bathroom toilet.
Unfortunately for the girl, dad was a little late on the scene and, ironically, may have inadvertently contributed to the scenario that took place: The girl's father was reportedly returning from accompanying an older daughter to an on-board restroom when he caught the skier peeing on his kid. It's unclear whether Robert Vietze had made it the bathroom -- or found it locked by another occupant, i.e.the girl's dad, or whether the sleeping girl just happened to be an unfortunate pit stop.
Vietze is calling his peeing incident on Jet blue an "accident". The urination scenario is definitely a collision with his current skiing career.
It was probably a rude awakening when the Jet Blue flight finally landed around 3 hours later at JFK Airport in New York, with Robert Vietze hauled into custody at around 5:30 a.m. when the flight landed. The skier was issued a federal summons for misdemeanor indecent exposure. Robert Vietze was reportedly still intoxicated when the Jet Blue flight touched down on NY soil.
Athletic Director Jere Brophy, from Green Mountain Valley School ski academy in Waitsfield, Vermont -- an expensive and well-known school where Vietze excelled in skiing -- calls the young athlete "a super nice kid." Robert Vietze may be super-nice, but he's unfortunately in super-big trouble over urinating in the wrong place: The competitive downhill skier was nominated to the U.S. Development Alpine Ski Team for the 2011-12 season, and had been actively training to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics slated for Russia.
After being kicked off the U.S. Ski Team, it's not exactly the downhill scenario Robert Vietze is used to navigating. But a serious -- and seriously sincere -- apology just might go a long distance.
The kid may have acted the fool and, though he's legally of adult age now, still basically a teen -- making some things forgivable. Jet Blue, on the other hand, needs to simmer down with its desire for making stupid announcements. A Jet blue spokesperson seriously issued the statement that it not only supports prosecution of Vietze but that the airline was "working with the family" of the little girl. It ranks among one the dumbest announcements made by a company. Perhaps Jet Blue would like to clarify how the airline is "working with the family" or what exactly that's supposed to mean. The world can rest assured that 'work' doesn't include the payment of therapy bills related to mental trauma on its airline. C'mon, Jet Blue. -- when you've nothing of value to say, consider skipping it.
Ironically, the teenage skier isn't the only one suffering from allegations of urinating in a wrong place on a plane: French actor Gerard Depardieu is reportedly mortified after being accused of urinating on Air France's City Jet plane in August. While Jet Blue may have virtually nothing of value to say in the Vietze incident, at least it hasn't taken the scenario one step further by sending tacky tweets like Air France's City Jet did in order to publicly embarrass a passenger as quickly as possible.
Depardieu is still battling the accusation of being drunk on the Air France-operated flight -- despite the fact police didn't issue that statement or press either legal or intoxication charges. Fellow friends and passengers say the actor who suffers from prostate cancer was trying to urinate in a bottle -- that may have overflowed -- after crew members on the delayed flight told him the bathroom wouldn't be available until after take-off.
As for Robert Vietze, he may just find himself lucky in at least the legal arena -- or someone cutting the kid a break: An attorney for the girl's family, lawyer Robert Harris, reportedly contacted the Associated Press with notification that the skier "did not urinate on their daughter, he urinated on the floor next to her seat." That may explain why the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has extended the idea that federal prosecutors may drop the indecent exposure charge against Robert Vietze.
The public announcement may also be a subtle response to the publicized rumor that Vietze had told cops or law enforcement, "I was drunk, and I did not realize I was pissing on her leg." Despite the fact that 'statement' by Vietze has been repeated throughout the media and online, there's been no court document reference clarifying whether it's true or accurate -- that the skier actually admitted to urinating on the young girl's leg -- or whether a false statement has simply been repeated.
One thing is for sure: The Port Authority or law enforcement has made sure to clarify that the those drinks consumed by Robert Vietze didn't come from an airport bar in Portland, Oregon. For those not paying attention, it's called 'we don't want responsibility for the airport serving a minor.' If that's truly the case, perhaps law enforcement would like to clarify what bar did possibly serve an 18-year-old roughly eight consecutive drinks.