Mikey Phelps, eight-for-eight. He is clearly the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, from a medals standpoint.
He seems like a good dude, when he's not driving around hopped up on Budweiser. I'll give him credit too, he kept it interesting for the most part, and I'm not talking about the drunk driving. There were a few blowouts. There were also some incredibly close races.
As far as the rest of the hyperbole and superlatives, I think it was summed up for me last night in one sentence how out of control this thing has gotten. Following Phelps final win I heard one of the announcers say this:
"It must be the most unbelievably satisfying moment any human being has ever experienced in the history of sport."
There you have it folks, in the history of sport. I'd say that goes back probably about a 1,000 years. Who needs historic perspective? I have a microphone.
Let me ask you this, which do you think would be "more satisfying"? Surviving a Roman gladiator duel while your opponent lay dead on the ground before you? Or swimming up and down a pool a few lengths more quickly then seven other dudes in caps and goggles?
I'll let you decide.
And speaking of NBC announcers, what in God's name was Bob Costas talking about last night? He's interviewing Phelps and talks about how many Facebook "friend requests" he's received in the last week? That's the best you can do Bobby?
I flip over to ESPN to try and get a two-minute break from Phelps but no such luck. There I've got Jeremy Schaap talking about endorsement money? I know that cash makes the world go 'round but why do people give a shit how much endorsement money Phelps is going to earn? I don't. So I guess that means you shouldn't either. Glad we settled that one.
One more comment on the Phelps hype.
Great athletes elevate their sport. I'm not taking anything away from what Phelps accomplished within the context of Olympic swimming. He's the best ever, without a doubt. I just don't think anyone is going to give a shit about swimming in two weeks when Ohio State is pounding Youngstown State. The next time you will hear about swimming or Michael Phelps is in four years in the lead-up to the London games.
And speaking of hype, I caught Favre in action last night with the Jets. I won't go into too much detail regarding his performance because ESPN is having an hour-long retrospective today entitled, "Brett Favre, the Preseason, and You: How Brett Favre will pull the nation out of recession by throwing a leather ball while wearing tight pants and a butt pad". Check your local listings.
I'll say this about Favre, that dude still has a cannon. I don't know if he can handle 16 games, but he can still sling it.
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