Michael Phelps - greatest ever?

[richkae]

@richkae - Hate the game, not the player. From the coverage I saw, the metric is medals. By that criteria, it's simply a mathematical exercise.

I don't hate the player. Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever. He is also the most decorated olympian ever. You can even call him the "greatest Olympic champion ever" because it probably means exactly the same as "most decorated olympian ever".
I just hate the Costas. Just because that talking head says something over and over and over doesn't make it true. Phelps is not "the greatest athlete ever".

 

[brianman]

I don't hate the player. Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever. He is also the most decorated olympian ever. You can even call him the "greatest Olympic champion ever" because it probably means exactly the same as "most decorated olympian ever".
I just hate the Costas. Just because that talking head says something over and over and over doesn't make it true. Phelps is not "the greatest athlete ever".

Perhaps I wasn't paying attention. I thought mostly they were saying the bold part. They probably just got carried away with "Olympics is what we're talking about right now, and covering, so all sports outside of Olympics don't really exist." A form of tunnel vision.

 

[richkae]

Perhaps I wasn't paying attention. I thought mostly they were saying the bold part. They probably just got carried away with "Olympics is what we're talking about right now, and covering, so all sports outside of Olympics don't really exist." A form of tunnel vision.

Yeah, but I am gonna backpedal and say I am not ready to call him "the greatest Olympic champion ever" either because I don't accept that it means exactly the same thing as "most decorated olympian ever".
I reserve the right to change my mind, otherwise this thread will get dull.

 

[doug]

I think we got your point already from the first post.

 

[NigelM]

This post coming to you live from London.....:biggrin:

Phelps has an incredible record. How does that compare with someone who won Gold Medals at 5 consecutive Olympics?

 

[Grendal]

Yeah, but I am gonna backpedal and say I am not ready to call him "the greatest Olympic champion ever" either because I don't accept that it means exactly the same thing as "most decorated olympian ever".
I reserve the right to change my mind, otherwise this thread will get dull.

I'm not even sure if you could call Phelps the greatest swimmer ever. I wouldn't have a problem calling him the greatest Olympic swimmer ever. But being the best swimmer ever means that he could go for long distances as well as the short sprints in the different styles of swimming. If Phelps were involved and had won this event then he'd definitely be the best all around swimmer ever: Haley Anderson Wins Silver In Olympic Swimming Marathon By 0.4 Seconds - Business Insider. He didn't, so there is plenty of room for debate.

 

[brianman]

I'm not even sure if you could call Phelps the greatest swimmer ever. I wouldn't have a problem calling him the greatest Olympic swimmer ever. But being the best swimmer ever means that he could go for long distances as well as the short sprints in the different styles of swimming. If Phelps were involved and had won this event then he'd definitely be the best all around swimmer ever: Haley Anderson Wins Silver In Olympic Swimming Marathon By 0.4 Seconds - Business Insider. He didn't, so there is plenty of room for debate.

Doesn't matter if he did or not. Someone would say he cheated using illegal water or something.

There's always room for debate, rational or not.

 

[TEG]

Bolt just dominated again with another sprinting gold. The announcers were going out of their way to call _him_ "The Greatest".
(Comparing him to Ali, not Phelps...)
I think a certain amount of "in your face" humor/charisma gets some noticed more than others.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Yeah, the hyperbole is annoying. I pretty much watch NBA and NFL games on mute at times to get away from all the superlatives that get tossed around too easily.

The raw, commentary-less feeds on the NBC Live Extra online streams (when they work!) have been refreshing; you get to hear the raw sounds of the sport and the athletes rather than the nonsense drone of the commentators (and Costas's distilled 'wisdom') on the TV version.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Bolt just dominated again with another sprinting gold. The announcers were going out of their way to call _him_ "The Greatest".
(Comparing him to Ali, not Phelps...)
I think a certain amount of "in your face" humor/charisma gets some noticed more than others.

It's not the braggadocio, it's how he wins. A close win might show nerve, but winning by tenths in a sport of hundredths shows special athleticism.* When Michael Johnson was at his peak you knew he was going to win. Bolt's the same and he's run the 200 0.13 faster into a slight headwind. Yohan Blake's close, but not that close.

* Yes, or special drug use.

 

[Brian H]

It would be really funny if another mod moved [all] bonnie's post to somewhere ... unusual ... for no good reason.

+1+
Karma thread?

Now I'm really curious about exchanges in a swimming relay...

Touch to jump-off timing is critical, and variations in it often are greater than the margins of victory. Especially when summed up across the entire team.

Actually, I think the Synchro Swimmers are the best, especially considering that each one is front-loaded with about 5 lbs of bright waterproof make-up!

:love: