COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Blame it on the moguls.

Not the manicured bumps in the snow that Jeremy Bloom skis over so deftly on courses that would eat most people's knees for lunch.

The problem is with the big shots who make the rules.

Bloom is an accomplished two-sport athlete. While that's not rare, his combination of disciplines is unusual and, unfortunately for him, unworkable for now.

This 23-year-old Colorado native is the reigning World Cup champion in moguls freestyle skiing and is nearly a lock to make the United States Olympic team for the Turin Games in February.

He finished ninth in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, beginning that year on the C team.

It's his other sport that was yanked away from Bloom.

He showed promise in two seasons with the University of Colorado football team. He was a Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American in 2002, when he set a Buffaloes record with a 94-yard touchdown reception and scored on a 75-yard punt return.

Then, the NCAA rose its ugly head.

Once he realized his immense skiing potential, Bloom tried to sue the NCAA over its ban on endorsement money and eventually decided to defy the rule by taking on sponsors. It was either that or give up skiing.

Because Bloom accepted endorsements for skiing, the NCAA ruled him ineligible for college sports. Bloom and Colorado appealed, and he was careful to make sure his sponsors were not football-related and did not make any references to that sport, but the NCAA's final word came in August 2004.

Because Bloom was stuck between the NCAA's rules and those of the United States Olympic Committee, he missed the chance to play football as an upperclassman.

"That was the worst part," Bloom said this week at an Olympic media summit.

"I did all these things to prepare and I worked hard and the one thing I really wanted was to start at receiver. To look back and think that it wasn't my ability that kept me from doing that, it was an organization ... I thought that was really unfair."

Bloom was a guest on the Buffaloes' sideline for homecoming Saturday when they beat Texas A&M, 41-20, to break into the national polls. Ideally, he would have redshirted this year to concentrate on skiing, then played his senior season in 2006.

There is no good reason he shouldn't have been able to do that.

The USOC long ago had to give in and let athletes accept endorsement money because that's the only way it could afford to compete internationally. Now, even top pro athletes are eligible for the Games.

The NCAA's rules on endorsements are rooted in its athletes being amateurs. But let's be real.

Overlooking the fact that full-scholarship athletes get a big return on their performance in the form of tuition, room, board and sometimes celebrity and a shot at a pro career, the NCAA reeks of hypocrisy because it allows some dual-sport athletes to have pro careers, as with many college football players who have played pro baseball.

There is no justifiable difference between a college football player being allowed to accept pay for competing in one sport and his being allowed to accept endorsement money for competing in another.

When the Bloom situation came up, it would have been an ideal time for the NCAA to revisit its stance. Instead, it stubbornly stood behind an outmoded rule.

"The NCAA can't keep turning a cold shoulder on athletes," Bloom said.

To its credit, the USOC is attempting to get the NCAA to listen.

Bloom said Jim Scherr, CEO of USOC, is helping to write proposals to the NCAA that would assist future college-Olympic dual-sport athletes.

To be fair, Bloom's life hasn't been ruined by the NCAA. He has become something of a pinup man, winning the 2003 made-for-TV "SuperStars" competition (he donated his prize money to charity) and getting a spread in GQ magazine. He might have a future as a model or actor.

That's beside the point, though. His college football career didn't have to be cut short.

Bloom still pines for football. He has his eye on the NFL pre-draft combine workouts about a week after he hopes to earn an Olympic medal in Italy.

He has started interviewing with agents and hopes to choose one by next week. A front-runner is Leigh Steinberg, who represents Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Bloom said he hopes to talk to Roethlisberger soon for advice and that, someday, he dreams of catching a pass from someone like Roethlisberger.

His chances of that would be better if he had completed a successful college career, but that's not Bloom's fault.