Phelps

He's the face of the sport. He's master of his domain. He's the king of the pool. He's actually likable. Move over Jordan, there's a new Michael in town.

Phelps has cast his shadow over the sport of swimming, much like Jordan did to basketball. Phelps is the best swimmer in the history of the world. I would consider that to be a pretty big deal. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian in any sport. He has six world records (counting relays). If you need any more evidence, try and name three other male Olympic swimmers from any country.

Why is he so good? Two reasons.

Phelps is nearly perfectly shaped to be a swimmer. He is 6 foot 4 with a 6 foot 7 arm span and huge hands. He has comparatively small legs (less leg mass, less drag) with size 14 feet. Plus he has double jointed knees and incredibly flexible ankles. Few people in the world are more physically engineered to swim.

He works harder than any other swimmer. In peak training phases, Phelps will swim at least 80,000 meters a week, nearly 50 miles. That includes two practices a day, sometimes three when he's training at altitude. (USA Today) He eats 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day. That's 20 Big Macs a day and look at the guy.
Seriously, look at the guy! He's a beast!

Despite being a beast, he's also one of the most charismatic athletes around. He hosted SNL, that's all I really need to say. He did a pretty good job too, if I do say so myself. Just because I can say more, I will. He's been described as "unbelievably kind hearted" for the way he interacts with children at the pool. He's always swam as a way to cope with his parents divorce when he was nine years old. He's a tough guy not to like...

Unless you're really against marijuana. Shortly after his amazing performance in Beijing, pictures of him smoking pot emerged. OHHHH NOOOOOOO!!! America's sweetheart is found incriminated.

*looking at the picture*

Okay well maybe not America's sweetheart... How about America's secret weapon in World War III.

At any rate, a three month suspension from the sport soon followed. Not too much of a big deal of Phelperz. No important meets were on the horizon. However the marketing fall out must have been a huge deal for a man who makes the majority of his money through advertisements. The decision the companies had to make must have been gut wrenching. On one hand you've got thousands of angry moms cursing the man for being the worst role model in the history of the world. The other hand has the fastest swimmer ever, and he has a sense of humor! The moms won... Temporarily. Many companies dropped him immediately, but now we're starting to see him reemerge in the commercial world.

The question remains, should we forgive him for smoking dope? The answer is very simple. YES! Look at him! I'm not going to question him. He could eat me in a day and still have 1,000 calories left for desert. More importantly, he is one of the hardest working athletes on the planet and he's doing it in The Home of the Brave. Love him or leave him, you must respect him. He's too amazing to turn your back on. Plus he's a pretty cool guy. George W. Bush smoked pot. We made him president. Twice. We can cheer for Phelps. It's hard to blame the guy for celebrating after he won 8 gold medals in the Olympics. He's just unlucky some dick with a camera wanted to make some cash.

Thank you Wikipedia for helping me with this blog :)

I can't wait to see what this guy does next.