It's been a long hiatus, I know. But, what can I say? I've been busy. I've been busy preparing for trials, and watching swimming. The Olympics have been captivating for one reason, and one reason only: Michael Phelps. I have a little built-in bias here, because I am friends with Phelps' sister, but come on. This guy is amazing. He is, simply put, the best swimmer ever. And it's not close. Not even remotely close. Not only that, he's the best Olympian ever. And, no, that's not close either.
Look, you may make the argument that Phelps gets to compete in a sport that allows you to win a lot more medals than, say, a volleyball player. But, consider this. If it's so easy to win a bunch of medals in swimming, why isn't everyone doing it? The truth is, most swimmers specialize in one or two events. Aaron Piersol, for example, is considered on of the best swimmers in the world. But have you ever seen him swim anything other than backstroke. It's kind of like, Chris Paul is considered one of the best basketball players in the world. But when is the last time you saw him in the post taking on Tim Duncan?
Swimmers, like all other athletes, specialize. But Phelps is good at everything. And not only is he good at everything, he's potentially the best in the world at more than half of the events on the heat sheet. Imagine Chris Paul being the best point guard, small forward, and center. Imagine Tom Brady taking a play off at quarterback so that he could block on the line of scrimmage. Then, on the next play, he goes long as a wide receiver. Oh, and imagine he's the best in the world at doing that. That's what Phelps is doing. The Olympics have been going on longer than any other sporting event that any of us follows. And in all that time, the most gold medals ANYONE has ever won is nine. Nine, in a lifetime. Phelps has 13, going on 14, and he's only going to be 27 next time around. Brace yourself for 20 gold medals people. Will that make you agree with me?
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