Michigan Alum Michael Phelps wins 19th gold medal
Thorpe is one of the greatest athletes of all time. It's hard to compare what he did in one Olympic Games with what Phelps has done in four (five if you want to count his first appearance).
Thing is, one of the reasons Thorpe deservedly holds such a good reputation is that he was good at so much besides his Olympic events (ironically, he was really only mediocre at baseball, the sport for which he was stripped of his medals).
An Olympian that accomplished more in one Olympics than anyone in the history of their sport would be considered one of the great Olympians of all time. An Olympian that produced more success over a longer career than anyone in the history of their sport would be considered one of the great Olympians of all time.
Phelps is both. He has comprehensively dominated his sport in a way no one has even approached and in a way few have ever accomplished in any sport.
Different eras. But it's hard to argue with this.
I think they'd be considered fairly equal in the drunk driving events.
August 7th, 2016 at 11:35 PM ^
"Phelps goes for his 19th gold medal (spoiler alert) tonight"
Still achieves the same purpose of this thread without ruining it for half the country.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 7th, 2016 at 11:46 PM ^
August 8th, 2016 at 12:08 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I don't really like surprises. Feel free to spoil away. Movies. Books. Sporting events. Nuclear attacks ...
August 7th, 2016 at 11:58 PM ^
But not a higher level than Jesse Owens.
Crap, am I about to step into a beehive here?
Hard to compare eras. Owens obviously only ran in one Olympics. His performance was a singular accomplishment in sports, a living repudiation of an evil force of humanity. What he accomplished on the field was itself spectacular, but it has been replicated; the metaphysical aspect of his accomplishment is unapproachable.
And that suggests that it is not fair to judge other Olympians on those standards. It is impossible for someone like Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps to replicate a performance in front of a genocidal dictator.
And it's not fair to Owens, either, who deserves a far greater level of honor for that than simply getting extra credit i a "who's the best" pundit contest.
On Owen's objective accomplishments alone (including his astonishing day at Ferry Field the year before) I would assume he must be considered one of the Mount Rushmore athletes in Track and Field. One could easily consider him better than guys like Lewis or Bolt in this basis. I don't know if you can compare his level of superiority in his sport to that of Phelps.
Not sure it matters. The situations are so different.
Spitz had to retire at 22 after Munich in order to cash in on his Olympic success. (He had times from '72 that would have won in Montreal!)
Owens lost his amateur status similarly: "I had four gold medals, but you can't eat gold medals." WWII wiped out the following two Olympics, so he wouldn't have added to his totals anyway.
Would Phelps still be mining for gold in his FIFTH games if Avery Brundage were in charge of his era? In the 21st Century, he can eat his medals. This matters.
Owens' legacy transcends the swimmers specifically because of his "metaphysical" performance in Berlin, "fair" or not. We're standing around a water cooler here -- all is fair.
But you never know. Maybe Phelps or Bolt in four years DO get their chance to perform before an angry genocial dictator. Trump's only behind by 9 points in the polls. Or up by 3 if you're a Fox guy.
aka Mr. "can you feel me???"
aka Playa Fo' Real
August 7th, 2016 at 11:14 PM ^
August 7th, 2016 at 11:22 PM ^
August 7th, 2016 at 11:23 PM ^
August 7th, 2016 at 11:32 PM ^
Dude is a machine
They're going to have to give him a #25 shirt when he comes back.
August 7th, 2016 at 11:33 PM ^
Part of it is my fault for not going full internet blackout I guess, but I think most of us left coasters would probably appreciate a spoiler warning at the very least.
Thanks and Go Blue!
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 7th, 2016 at 11:54 PM ^
And you're lucky I can't downvote yet.
:)
leave
I think we're all lucky that you can't down vote yet, I'll do my part to keep it that way.
Aw c'mon, I used a smiley.
ROUGH crowd.
August 7th, 2016 at 11:40 PM ^
August 7th, 2016 at 11:59 PM ^
August 8th, 2016 at 12:20 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 8th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^
BTW, the Dutch cyclist who had that horrific crash (Annemiek van Vleuten) has responded:
https://mobile.twitter.com/AvVleuten/status/762465519844732930?ref_src=…
Oh thank God. NBC didn't replay the crash at the time or cut back to her at all (which props to them for not trying to milk the tragedy), so I legitimately thought she might be dead. Falling head first while going 50mph is no joke.
NBC was restricted by the world feed, which was the same everywhere. News updates could have been better. Cycling fans were generally unhappy with the quality of the camera bikes and the inadequate tracking of time gaps throughout.
Matt Hinton tweeted that it was the most terrifying thing he's ever seen on television in live sports. And, yeah, it was pretty shocking (especially her subsequent lack of motion). I was gasping for air. Though that suggests that Hinton has never seen a potentially fatal auto racing crash live.
When the USA lady, in second place, went by it didn't look like the dutch lady was moving or had moved.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 8th, 2016 at 12:21 AM ^
19 GOLD medals. 23 total.
That's just a ridiculous number.
It's about to get sillier.
I don't think that Phelps is an "alum". Correct me if I am wrong.
Great swimmer for sure.
I was waiting and waiting for it so...
Should we even be commenting on Michael Phelps (a UofM ambassador) being the Olympic GOAT until Michigan beats OSU and MSU?????
Sheriff Brown said he was definitely a DUDE yesterday and is focking ridiculous!!!
August 8th, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
Let's also give a shout-out to Nathan Adrian, who swam the 4 x100 relay anchor in 46.97 --- 6 100s of a second off world-record time.
August 8th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^
It was a great swim, and the fastest relay split of anyone in the even, but you have to add at least half a second for a "real" time, because relay starts give you a head start. You might remember, Jason Lezak swam a completely ridiculous 46.06 to take the gold in this relay in Beijing, but that's not the world record because relay.