My Michael Phelps rant...

[toys2cool]

Michael Phelps is to "greatest athlete" what Keanu Reeves is to "greatest actor". Swimmers are swimmers, not athletes. Find me a swimmer who could compete in the decathlon events or hell, even the steeplechase. I'd be hard pressed to believe Bruce Jenner, Dave Johnson, or Dan O'Brien couldn't swim 50 meters.

-Chris

Not athletes? come on bro..to say he's not the best Olympian ever is one thing but swimmers not athletes? i'd love to see anyone on here do what they do...It takes years and years of training for that

[RickD]

To say he is not an athlete is disrespecting the man's obvious talents.

The beautiful thing is that records are made to be broken. Might take years, but someone will come along and potentially break this record phelps has made.

Until then, give the man respect for earning his medals and representing the United States. I know personally I couldn't do what he did and nobody here either.

[madmarva]

Hector,

I've covered track and field for 20 years on the college level. Just because decathletes compete in a competition that tests a wide array of skills doesn't mean they are the best athletes. Generally a person becomes a decathlete because they are very good at an event but not among the best. A coach will steer an athlete into the decathlon because he's not quite good enough to be great in an individual discipline. If you took the best pole vaulters, jumpers and sprinters and trained them for the decathlon instead of their event, they would likely turn the decathlon scoring upside down. I'm not trying to diminish the athletic ability, skill or mental toughness of decathletes, but it's kind of like being a jack of all trades and master of none.

[Hector]

Yes...I know they are jack of all trades...and masters of none...but that's a straight up all around baddass...

[megomania]

Damian, there's a reason why the guys in high school sign up to swim..and only swim...well the rest all sign up to play all of the athletic sports - football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and T&F..you have swimmers, and then you have 5-sport athletes...

-Chris

[toys2cool]

Damian, there's a reason why the guys in high school sign up to swim..and only swim...well the rest all sign up to play all of the athletic sports - football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and T&F..you have swimmers, and then you have 5-sport athletes...

-Chris

lol it's different here bro, the Swimmers down here are pretty good athletes and most are in other sports as well

[toys2cool]

To say he is not an athlete is disrespecting the man's obvious talents.

The beautiful thing is that records are made to be broken. Might take years, but someone will come along and potentially break this record phelps has made.

Until then, give the man respect for earning his medals and representing the United States. I know personally I couldn't do what he did and nobody here either.

Great post

[Hector]

It's funny, because to be in the discussion for greatest Olympians ever you pretty much have to be American.

Russian Aleksandr Karelin didn't lose a single match in 16 years of Greco Roman en route to 3 golds and a silver...and yet is never even in the discussion...especially in American media...



Olympic Games:

Gold 1988 Seoul

Gold 1992 Barcelona

Gold 1996 Atlanta

Silver 2000 Sydney


If that's not baddazz...I don't know what is.

[jacsfc]

[QUOTE=Hector;945145]It's funny, because to be in the discussion for greatest Olympians ever you pretty much have to be American.

That statement is not true. Nadia Comaneci is arguably the best female gymnast of all time. Americans still use her as the measuring stick for greatness. There is a differnece between being a "baddazz" as you say and a great olympian. Playing down the accomplishment of 22 olympic medals 18 which are gold in any event is ridiculous. Saying swimmers are not athletes is bs as well. I challenge anyone her to swim a 400 im. I bet 99% of the people on this forum could not even finish the event, let alone do it at a fast pace.

[toys2cool]

he now retires with 22 medals including an additional 2 more golds since this thread started Pure greatness, don't take this for granted guys, it'll never happen again in our life times

[jwyblejr]

Mark Spitz was during our life time. So was Phelps.

[Hector]

It's funny, because to be in the discussion for greatest Olympians ever you pretty much have to be American.

That statement is not true. Nadia Comaneci is arguably the best female gymnast of all time. Americans still use her as the measuring stick for greatness. There is a differnece between being a "baddazz" as you say and a great olympian. Playing down the accomplishment of 22 olympic medals 18 which are gold in any event is ridiculous. Saying swimmers are not athletes is bs as well. I challenge anyone her to swim a 400 im. I bet 99% of the people on this forum could not even finish the event, let alone do it at a fast pace.

And I can smoke Phelps in a cheeseburger eating and beer drinking contest. So what's your point?

What does that have to do with any of us on a personal level for these ongoing arguments?

None of us here have said that we could remotely do the things he does...so that's irrelevant, moot point...and kinda of a personal jab at some who happened to disagree with you. So that was quite ridiculous on your part as well.

I didn't say anything about him not being an athlete, that was someone else...so please address that quote to whomever said it...I sure didn't.

This is nothing personal on my part...I'm not criticizing you or your family...just some dude who you and I...have never even met in person...let alone hang out with the dude. Phelps is not Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, George Washington, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, the Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, William Shakespeare, Pablo Picasso, or even Charlie Chaplin...to me...he's just a very wealthy swimmer who does lame Subway commercials, lol.


P.S. Don't take my rant as anti-American, far from it...as I think Jesse Owens is the greatest Olympian ever...the enormous pressure he was under...and to stuff it to Hitler like that...in his own backyard...now that...was beyond mere Gold medals...that was truly LEGENDARY.

[Hector]

he now retires with 22 medals including an additional 2 more golds since this thread started Pure greatness, don't take this for granted guys, it'll never happen again in our life times

Wow...I was born to experience this...now my life is truly complete...

[toys2cool]

Wow...I was born to experience this...now my life is truly complete...

ok now that you've acknowledged that we can move on

[Hector]