Bill Plaschke: A Phelps smackdown
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BEIJING-- Michael Phelps is many people -– the new Mark Spitz, the swimming Michael Jordan -- but there are certain things he is not.
He is not Ray Lewis. He is not Allen Iverson. He is not the modern pro athlete who claims to thrive on opponents’ trash talking.
So could he please stop acting like it?
A day before Milorad Cavic had his duel with Phelps in Saturday’s 100-meter butterfly, the U.S.-born Serb claimed that a Phelps failure would be a good thing.
‘It would be good for the sport if he lost,’ Cavic said. ‘It would be good for the sport and good for him if he lost once, just once.’
A dumb statement, a throwaway line. Who cares, right?
Well, Phelps cared.
His coach Bob Bowman showed him the statement before Saturday’s race.
‘And I said ... ‘OK,’ ‘ said Phelps, shaking his head after his victory over Cavic by one-hundredth of a second. ‘People say things like that, it fires me up more than anything.’
Wait. So, going for your record-tying seventh gold medal, you needed words from another swimmer to fire you up?
Where exactly is the bulletin board in swimming? In the shower with the divers?
How can you have ‘bulletin board material’ with no bulletin board?
‘I always welcome comments,’ said Phelps, the dorky kid trying to act tough. ‘Anybody who wants to say anything, I always welcome it.’
OK, here’s a comment:
Phelps, stop acting like somebody you watch on ‘SportsCenter.’ Be yourself.
You’re the greatest swimmer in the history of the sport because, in part, you are also one of the most focused.
Don’t act like some poolside smack matters. Don’t even try.
-- Bill Plaschke