Friday, August 15, 2008

Over/Under Rated Friday - Special Olympic Twist

I haven't done an Over/Under in a while, but something this week prompted me to make sure I did this week's installment.

Overrated - Michael Phelps



Now I can hear the gasp of Lea from SC and others already, but back down, I don't mean him personally. I'm actually thinking of the impression I get from him ABOUT the whole shebang from his viewpoint.

Last Tuesday or so I caught a medal ceremony for one swim event or another. Michael Phelps (MP for short) had won gold and another US swimmer had won bronze. (sorry other US swimmer, I can't recollect your name) Anyway, after all the winners had been given their medals the flags were being raised and the US National Anthem was being played. The bronze winner was smiling as big as he could, you could see his lips moving as he sang along with the anthem with his hand placed firmly over his heart and you could just tell he was tickled pink to be there. MP, however, had his hand lazily across his chest like he was cupping a breast, he was looking left and right and the look on his face was even more lax than the picture above and kind of relayed a look like "if I picked my butt to get my speedo out of my crack right now, do you think they'd notice?"

He has said himself he doesn't like losing. He obviously likes winning and I truly am proud that he does! He's reppin' the homeland very well. But is he as excited with the win as he is with the chase TO win?

Look above, Mark Spitz might be on the verge of breaking his jaw he's smiling so hard at winning another gold medal. MP looks like he's smelled a fart from the medal presenter and is playing with his nipple.

So AGAIN, I'm not dogging MP. I'm happy for him and really want him to get all 8 possible golds. But I'm just curious; CAN you win so often that it's just another medal ceremony? Seen one, seen 'em all? I just wonder if, by the continuous look on his face, if winning yet another gold medal for MP is overrated.

6 comments:

cb said...

1- if your grill was as jacked up as Michael's, you wouldn't be smiling so very much.

2- I don't think he is so very comfortable with all the media and visibility

3- He may just be completely worn out from the absolutely scripted down to the second life of his olympics. He was probably thinking how immediately after the medal ceremony he had to do a warmdown, then talk with the press, then warm up for his next event, then ....

SUEB0B said...

I haven't seen the Olympics, but my mom claims "There's something not quite right with that boy's head, bless his heart."

Anonymous said...

I agree with cb - that mouth ain't the purtiest thing when it's beaming. He does seem a little...unaffected by it all, but I think he's not big on all the attention. When has the one time been that he lost his cool?? When his relay TEAM won gold last week.
Who cares anyway - as long as we can look at that hot bod, he can react any ol way he wants.

Max's Dad said...

Thank you for saying it, Chris. I thought I was the only one who is sick of this guy. When he was in Omaha at the trials, more than one person I know said he was less than gracious. I am openly rooting for him to lose. But then, I am an unpatriotic liberal puke.

Just Kevin... said...

OF course part of it is also the times we live in. In the 70s you could be cool and smile and be excited about a win when you knew you were expected to be (like in a ceremony) not just at the actual win took place. Now, to be cool, you need to look like you're bored, 'been there done that'! It isn't an affectation with kids his age, it is the way you do things. But I agree with my bro, I'm rooting for him to have a little humility forced upon him.

Bunny said...

I think there was a bit of "been there, done that" for Phelps on the way to the record 8 medals, but the last couple medals (7 and 8 this Olympics) he showed a lot more emotion and how much it meant to him. The expectations on him were so high, he must have felt a lot of pressure.

The one who I thought showed piss-poor sportsmanship was that Swedish wrestler, Ara Abrahamian, who threw his bronze in protest of the officiating. He said it didn't mean anything to him, since he didn't get gold. What a whiny brat! He totally deserved being stripped of the medal and his Olympic accreditation.