Michael Phelps is BACK. Take that Milorad Cavic, you Serbian piece of shit! You said you wanted payback. Fuhgeddaboutit!
---
In spite of his efforts against AC Milan and F.C, Barcelona, I would love to see David Beckham leave the Galaxy. He chose not to start for the first part of the season, and while I frown on the actions the bloke of my friends from the Los Angeles Riot Squad, Beckham's infidelity to his club has elicited my vote of no confidence.
Landon Donovan is still one of my favorite footballers. He will always be. He would do what Beckham is doing. I don't think it would even register.
---
Rest in peace, Cory Aquino. What you did-no, what everyone in the People Power movement did-will go down as the most important event in the history of this country. I was only two years old when this happened, and I remember this well.
And so I will salute you by wearing yellow tomorrow at church. Rest in peace. When I return to the Philippines, I plan to pay a visit at Heritage Park. You will go down as the Greatest Filipina That Ever Lived.
Showing posts with label michael phelps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label michael phelps. Show all posts
Looking back on 2008: Michael Phelps
From The Hindu:
Extraordinary Phelps proves well-equipped for return to normality
Making his exploits seem commonplace is the latest achievement of the world’s most successful Olympian. By Donald McRae.
AP
“I was pretty terrible,” Michael Phelps says with a low laugh as he relives the moment when he slipped back into the pool for the first time since winning his eighth gold medal at the Beijing Olympics almost four months ago. “I went out quietly, on my own, and I swam a couple of miles. I didn’t quite know what to expect because this is the longest time I’ve ever been out in the pool — but I was not very good.”
Phelps, typically, manages to sound less like the greatest Olympian of all time than just a normal human being lamenting the state of his body after a long and indulgent break. He may have produced the most extraordinary sporting feat of this year, or any other, by winning 17 consecutive Olympic races in nine days but Phelps remains so refreshingly low-key that it becomes easy to understand why he is well-equipped to deal with the surreal aftermath of his epic achievement.
This is what you notice most when talking to Phelps: his apparent ordinariness is more compelling than all the gold medals or even the fact that his arms, when he spreads them wide, span a staggering six feet seven inches. He may be currently consumed by a whirlwind of American stardom and nationwide appearances, but Phelps is more interesting when he looks ahead to his strangely chaotic return to training at home in Baltimore.
“I spent most of my time training for Beijing at the University of Michigan because that’s where (his coach) Bob Bowman was based. At Michigan I trained alongside swimmers on the university team. But I’m more excited about me and Bob returning for good to our old pool at Meadowbrook in Baltimore. You get a whole range of people there. It’s quite likely that, once I’m back training, in one lane next to me you might have a baby in swimmer-diapers and in the adjoining lane you’ll have a little old lady taking her daily exercise.”
The very idea of the “superhuman” Phelps churning through the water while a nappy-wearing baby and a pensioner bob about in his mighty wake, gives a new slant to the concept of elite training. Phelps earned a $1m (about £674,000) Beijing bonus from Speedo for breaking Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals — and he and Bowman will use the money to transform Meadowbrook into a “world-class” facility. But, for the moment, he seems happy to be training alongside such unlikely swimming partners.
“It’s a special environment and people in Baltimore are very down to earth. These last months have been nuts and that’s why I’m looking forward to things calming down so, back home, I might reflect on the Olympics.”
Phelps reveals a grittier edge when considering how he might continue to motivate himself after the glittering fulfilment of Beijing. When he began swimming with Bowman at the age of 11, he was driven by anger, as he thrashed through the water seething over the break-up of his parents’ marriage. He also used swimming to transform himself from a geeky kid who was bullied and on Ritalin to control his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. By the time he was an Olympic champion he had found new ways to inspire himself. “In my locker for a while before Beijing I had a photo of Ian Crocker (the last swimmer to defeat Phelps when he beat him in the 100m butterfly in July 2005). And then I stuck up an article where (the great Australian swimmer) Ian Thorpe said eight golds were impossible. I saw that every morning before training and that made me work harder.”
What can he do now to rekindle that brutal competitiveness? “I can go online and see what my competitors have been saying about me. When someone doubts me that really fires me up.”
It seems curious that Phelps should still care what his rivals might say about him. “I’ve always done it. I go online with the specific intention of finding motivation for myself. I’m sure I’ll find some comments which will intensify my desire to compete.”
Will his disdain for losing remain just as searing? “Definitely. That’s not going to change over the next four years.”
When they started working together, Phelps used to scrawl his aims for a new year on a scruffy sheet of paper he handed to Bowman. Does he now feel ready to email his latest new year goals to his old coach? “I have some ideas but it’s only when I get properly back in the water that I’ll really be sure of these new goals. But it’s likely I will swim some different events that I haven’t done much of at international level. That diversity will keep it interesting.”
The four-yearly peak of the Olympics, however, remains paramount. When I last interviewed Phelps, before the 2004 Games, where he won six gold and two bronze medals, he told me how he had stitched the letters A-T-H-E-N-S into his swimming cap, which he left on his bedside table at night so it was the first thing he saw when the alarm went off at 5.30 a.m. for training.
Did he stitch “Beijing” into his cap? “We didn’t do that in Michigan but now that we’re back in Baltimore we already have ‘London’ stitched into the cap. It reminds me how excited I am about 2012.”
Will he again try to win eight gold medals? “I definitely won’t go for eight,” Phelps stresses. “I won’t repeat that kind of schedule. It will be a little calmer and more relaxed in London.” But, presumably, he will chase six or even seven golds in 2012? “We have no idea at this stage. But I won’t rule that out.”
Phelps sounds as sincere as he is diplomatic when praising British swimmers like Rebecca Adlington, who won two gold medals in Beijing and ruined the Olympic dream of his Baltimore colleague Katie Hoff. “(Adlington) did amazingly well. I definitely noticed that the British team were getting faster and faster. They’re one of the teams we’re going to be watching these next few years.”
Phelps visited London for the first time immediately after Beijing. “It was great. We walked around and did some shopping. And we also got to play tennis at Wimbledon — which was very cool.”
In the Olympic village in Beijing Phelps insists that “I was thrilled to see guys like Nadal and Federer in close-up. I loved seeing those great athletes. It also meant the world to me, as an NBA fan, when great (basketball) players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James told me they were pulling for me. That was exciting because I’m the sort of guy who switches on (ESPN’s) Sports Center as soon as I wake up so I can see what Kobe and LeBron, or Nadal and Federer, did the night before.”
Phelps presumably also revelled in dining out with Rio and Anton Ferdinand. “I met the Ferdinand brothers through a friend of mine, a real soccer guy, and we hung out together one night in London. Since then, so I’ve read, Anton got traded. How’s that going?”
I wish I had the time to explain the younger Ferdinand’s “trade” to Sunderland, and the mysteries of Roy Keane’s mind. But even discussing Keane’s beard would probably set Phelps off again on the wonders of facial hair — for he has extolled the “excellent Fu Manchu moustache” he likes to grow when out of the public eye.
But we’re soon caught up in a different anecdote which symbolises his strange new life outside the pool. “Oh man,” he exclaims, “the Lindsay Lohan thing summed up the craziness. There were all these stories she was bombarding me with texts but I never talked to her. I never even got a text from her. It’s weird how these stories get invented and then blown up.”
Other more tangible celebrity encounters have meant much to Phelps. As a large chunk of our past interview had been spent with him telling me how he was consumed by hip-hop, and how he spent his daily five hours in the pool humming various gangsta rap ditties to himself, it’s inevitable that Phelps should be most proud of the fact that ‘Lil’ Wayne now numbers among his millions of fans. The rapper hunted down Phelps at the MTV awards and, amid the bedlam, "Lil’ Wayne presented me with this iPod which contained 40 unreleased songs he had recorded — and one was called ‘Michael Phelps’.
In that song he just keeps rapping ‘Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, swimming through the water ...’ I like all the songs he gave me but obviously that means the most.”
Phelps seems to have transfixed the world, from George Bush to Lil’ Wayne to the Ferdinand brothers, with his Olympic exploits.
But, personally, I most like the image of him returning to work in Baltimore early next year. I can see the greatest of all swimmers tearing up and down a crowded pool as, alongside a little old lady and a bemused baby watching him in adjacent lanes, he hums Lil’ Wayne’s rap to himself — “Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, swimming through the water ...”
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008
Coffee. It makes us fans of the Second Amendment.
And Constantina Tomescu Dita of Romania is the oldest, at age 39, to win the women's marathon in Beijing. Here's hoping she didn't boost her blood to do it.
===
Damn you, Brita Steffan! The upstart Deutsch bitch one-ups Dara Torres (and everyone else) in the women's 50m freestyle. I started to have a gut feeling, "Awww, fuck. This isn't good. We gotta figure things out, or the Aussies are gonna upstage us too in the 4 x 100m medley relay."
===
NBC called the men's 1500m freestyle "The Super Bowl of Sport" in Australia. Are sure it's that and not the AFL Grand Final? Apparently he hasn't been following the footy.
===
Grant Hackett hacked his effort to win the 1500m. He procrastined in the pool and ruined it for himself. Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, who also trains and lives in the States, gived the country their first swimming gold. He is the next small country hero of note. In Tunis, it is a party down there, for Mellouli is now a hero.
But Hackett got only silver, with Ryan Cochrane of Canada getting the bronze. Mellouli is to Tunisia and Kirsty COventry is to Zimbabwe. Babies will be named in his honor down there. Should Oussama return to Tunisia, he will get a hero's welcome.
===
Ugh. Dara Torres again finishes with a silver. I just had a bad feeling that it was going to happen. And Phelps is swimming only the butterfly leg. I may have to do a Top 5 Reason You Can't Blame very soon. To add to insult, the Chinese get another medal, and another bronze.
---
Meanwhile at the shooting gallery, Matthew Emmons is busy in the Men's 50-meter Rifle 3 Positions Qualification.
---
Michael Phelps got gold number 8, passing Mark Spitz.
I yelled at the heavens, "He did it! HE did it! Oh my fucking God, he did it!" Unfortunately, BongaMom was not very pleased that I screamed in the streets in celebration. She even so far as to wish that she could stab me with a knife to shut me up.
Well, well, well. People have vivid imaginations about killing people. We have our choice of weapons, too. For her it's a knife; for me it's a gun. And it runs in our family because we're coffee drinkers. She could have done better by not making it such a deal of it. But that's not her, and I knew that the Bedlam Cycle restarted.
It's not secret, really, BongaDad told me, "You're crazy." "Crazy in a celebratory way," I replied. "That makes millions of us around this country supporting the team. Like Mom, you shouldn't be making a big deal of it."
Obviously, both of them don't understand, let alone embrace the historical impact of this win for the 4 x 100m medley team. Or rather, they CHOOSE not to. Their loss.
===
Damn you, Brita Steffan! The upstart Deutsch bitch one-ups Dara Torres (and everyone else) in the women's 50m freestyle. I started to have a gut feeling, "Awww, fuck. This isn't good. We gotta figure things out, or the Aussies are gonna upstage us too in the 4 x 100m medley relay."
===
NBC called the men's 1500m freestyle "The Super Bowl of Sport" in Australia. Are sure it's that and not the AFL Grand Final? Apparently he hasn't been following the footy.
===
Grant Hackett hacked his effort to win the 1500m. He procrastined in the pool and ruined it for himself. Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, who also trains and lives in the States, gived the country their first swimming gold. He is the next small country hero of note. In Tunis, it is a party down there, for Mellouli is now a hero.
But Hackett got only silver, with Ryan Cochrane of Canada getting the bronze. Mellouli is to Tunisia and Kirsty COventry is to Zimbabwe. Babies will be named in his honor down there. Should Oussama return to Tunisia, he will get a hero's welcome.
===
Ugh. Dara Torres again finishes with a silver. I just had a bad feeling that it was going to happen. And Phelps is swimming only the butterfly leg. I may have to do a Top 5 Reason You Can't Blame very soon. To add to insult, the Chinese get another medal, and another bronze.
---
Meanwhile at the shooting gallery, Matthew Emmons is busy in the Men's 50-meter Rifle 3 Positions Qualification.
---
Michael Phelps got gold number 8, passing Mark Spitz.
I yelled at the heavens, "He did it! HE did it! Oh my fucking God, he did it!" Unfortunately, BongaMom was not very pleased that I screamed in the streets in celebration. She even so far as to wish that she could stab me with a knife to shut me up.
Well, well, well. People have vivid imaginations about killing people. We have our choice of weapons, too. For her it's a knife; for me it's a gun. And it runs in our family because we're coffee drinkers. She could have done better by not making it such a deal of it. But that's not her, and I knew that the Bedlam Cycle restarted.
It's not secret, really, BongaDad told me, "You're crazy." "Crazy in a celebratory way," I replied. "That makes millions of us around this country supporting the team. Like Mom, you shouldn't be making a big deal of it."
Obviously, both of them don't understand, let alone embrace the historical impact of this win for the 4 x 100m medley team. Or rather, they CHOOSE not to. Their loss.
Not so fast, you Serb.
And the aura of Kirsty COventry increases yet again, with what could essentially be Zimbabwe's only gold, and last medal at these Olympics. She outdoes Margaret Hoelzer in the 200-meter backstroke. Meanwhile, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers dump Martin Laciga and Jan Schnider in men's volleyball.
Not on my watch, Milorad Cavic. Not on my fucking watch will you spoil the party. Michael Phelps outdoes the American racing for Serbia in an Olympic record time. Andrew Lauterstein of Australia gets the bronze.
He's tied with Mark Spitz. Bring on tomorrow. That's for busting our water polo team, Milo.
I will say that this was not his best swim, but he got just enough to win. And that, everyone, is what matters.
NEXT!
Not on my watch, Milorad Cavic. Not on my fucking watch will you spoil the party. Michael Phelps outdoes the American racing for Serbia in an Olympic record time. Andrew Lauterstein of Australia gets the bronze.
He's tied with Mark Spitz. Bring on tomorrow. That's for busting our water polo team, Milo.
I will say that this was not his best swim, but he got just enough to win. And that, everyone, is what matters.
NEXT!
Not Lousy Day 7 for the USA.
Now it's Ryan Lochte, the skateboarding speedster, who has to race two finals. In the 200-m backstroke, he faces Aaron Peirsol. In the 200-meter individual medley, it's Michael Phelps. And in each of those races, he also faces six others who are just as competent.
Conventional wisdom (a logical female hound from hell) calls for a gold/silver in the backstroke, and a silver in the IM, for Lochte, with a 1-2 finish. Don't tell that to Ryan, though. There would be nothing better than for Lochte to stop his fellow countryman's gold-medal record hunt by taking it for himself.
===
At last, the track and field events are underway. We start with some heptathlon and shot-put, followed by some qualifying heats for speed.
Delicious.
===
Happy birthday, Kerri Walsh. Naturally, she celebrates her 30th year with Misty May as they polish off Belgium's Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet van Breedam, but it wasn't easy. They were struggling in the first set, winning 24-22, before coming backt oform in the second, 21-10.
===
Take that, Australia! Rebecca Soni of the USA sets a new world record in the women's 200-meter breastroke, defeating Leisel Jones. It's a 2:20:22 for Soni.
Now THAT's more like it. Next!
===
It was Aaron Peirsol vs. Ryan Lochte vs. the rest of the competition in the men's 200-meter backstroke. Well, another record just had to tumble, right?
And that's exactly what happened. Phelps has to be thinking, "Awww damn." Or, "Okay, we got back a couple medals, next." It's a 1:53:94 for Lochte. And Peirsol finished second. For a few fleeting moments, we were up on China in total medals. Still 10 behind in the gold department.
===
I got a bad feeling about Meagen Nay of AUstralia. She has a great opportunity to upstage Kirsty Coventry, Liz Beisel and Margaret Hoelzer in the women's 200-meter backstroke final. Nay finished between Coventry and Hoelzer in her semifinal today.
===
Yang Yilin was the catalyst and culprit for China's victory. She's matched with Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson. Meanwhile, the likes of Anna Pavlova (not the ballerina, whose dessert is named in her honor) and Ksenia Semenova can only hope to redeem themselves for Russian decline in women's gymnastics.
===
And Michael Phelps cuts the total gold deficit to 8, with another world record slaughtered. I have to despise Lazslo Cseh of Hungary. Bloody spoiler halted a 1-2 finish for the USA. Nonetheless, in the total medal count, we are up by four on China. For now.
===
The spoiler at the pool today was Britta Steffen of Germany in the women's 100-meter freestyle. Lisbeth "Libby" Trickett should also thank China for false-starting in the semi. For now, we are 5 ahead in the medal count, but 8 behind in the gold count. Natalie Coughlin got the bronze. At least China was shut out at the pool, for once, today.
===
COuld the USA medal in the men's shot-put? All three entries-Christian Cantwell, Resse Hoffa and Adam Nelson-qualified by right.
===
I've also got a bad feeling about Milo Cavic of Serbia. His water polo brethren had our number. Could it happen again tomorrow? By the blood of Michael Phelps, I hope not!
===
I sometimes don't get the hypocriticism from the commentators in gymnastics. First they say they don't know why, and then they say, "There are [number] areas," thus saying, that they actually DO.
Be honest, Tim. Which is it, pretentious hypocrite commentator?
===
Hallelujah! Praise to God! We are gaining ground on the Chinese in the gold medal department (pending archery, badminton, judo, weightlifting and ther like). Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson make it a 1-2 for the USA in the women's all-around, while Yang Yilin gets the bronze. 43 medals so far: 14 gold, 12 silver, 17 bronze. And we will be chipping away at that deficit in the days to come.
Fancy being on a Wheaties box, both of you?
Conventional wisdom (a logical female hound from hell) calls for a gold/silver in the backstroke, and a silver in the IM, for Lochte, with a 1-2 finish. Don't tell that to Ryan, though. There would be nothing better than for Lochte to stop his fellow countryman's gold-medal record hunt by taking it for himself.
===
At last, the track and field events are underway. We start with some heptathlon and shot-put, followed by some qualifying heats for speed.
Delicious.
===
Happy birthday, Kerri Walsh. Naturally, she celebrates her 30th year with Misty May as they polish off Belgium's Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet van Breedam, but it wasn't easy. They were struggling in the first set, winning 24-22, before coming backt oform in the second, 21-10.
===
Take that, Australia! Rebecca Soni of the USA sets a new world record in the women's 200-meter breastroke, defeating Leisel Jones. It's a 2:20:22 for Soni.
Now THAT's more like it. Next!
===
It was Aaron Peirsol vs. Ryan Lochte vs. the rest of the competition in the men's 200-meter backstroke. Well, another record just had to tumble, right?
And that's exactly what happened. Phelps has to be thinking, "Awww damn." Or, "Okay, we got back a couple medals, next." It's a 1:53:94 for Lochte. And Peirsol finished second. For a few fleeting moments, we were up on China in total medals. Still 10 behind in the gold department.
===
I got a bad feeling about Meagen Nay of AUstralia. She has a great opportunity to upstage Kirsty Coventry, Liz Beisel and Margaret Hoelzer in the women's 200-meter backstroke final. Nay finished between Coventry and Hoelzer in her semifinal today.
===
Yang Yilin was the catalyst and culprit for China's victory. She's matched with Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson. Meanwhile, the likes of Anna Pavlova (not the ballerina, whose dessert is named in her honor) and Ksenia Semenova can only hope to redeem themselves for Russian decline in women's gymnastics.
===
And Michael Phelps cuts the total gold deficit to 8, with another world record slaughtered. I have to despise Lazslo Cseh of Hungary. Bloody spoiler halted a 1-2 finish for the USA. Nonetheless, in the total medal count, we are up by four on China. For now.
===
The spoiler at the pool today was Britta Steffen of Germany in the women's 100-meter freestyle. Lisbeth "Libby" Trickett should also thank China for false-starting in the semi. For now, we are 5 ahead in the medal count, but 8 behind in the gold count. Natalie Coughlin got the bronze. At least China was shut out at the pool, for once, today.
===
COuld the USA medal in the men's shot-put? All three entries-Christian Cantwell, Resse Hoffa and Adam Nelson-qualified by right.
===
I've also got a bad feeling about Milo Cavic of Serbia. His water polo brethren had our number. Could it happen again tomorrow? By the blood of Michael Phelps, I hope not!
===
I sometimes don't get the hypocriticism from the commentators in gymnastics. First they say they don't know why, and then they say, "There are [number] areas," thus saying, that they actually DO.
Be honest, Tim. Which is it, pretentious hypocrite commentator?
===
Hallelujah! Praise to God! We are gaining ground on the Chinese in the gold medal department (pending archery, badminton, judo, weightlifting and ther like). Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson make it a 1-2 for the USA in the women's all-around, while Yang Yilin gets the bronze. 43 medals so far: 14 gold, 12 silver, 17 bronze. And we will be chipping away at that deficit in the days to come.
Fancy being on a Wheaties box, both of you?
You Frenchies need to quit talking outta yer derrieres.
Olympic Quick Hits, Day 3
Pop quiz: Suppose you have a situation involving a Frenchwoman and her love affair with an Italian beau. Both of them are swimmers. And then, this guy flaunts his infidelity by sleeping with a fellow Italian woman, also a swimmer. The French girl's life is emotionally crushed. As luck would have it, both of them qualify for the 400m freestyle final in Beijing. What do you do?
Answer:
Get a couple of competent Brits in Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson, and sandwich them around American Katie Hoff. And that, my friends is what happened.
---
Rowdy Gaines, you are a bloody toof for exploting Hoff's orgasmic groans of disgust. You shagbag womanizer.
---
The French 4 x 100 M relay team is praying for divine intervention a la Tour de France 2000's era. They are praying to their personal Jesuses that the Americans doped.
Well, just like Beijing, God can't control everything. But if your prayers are somehow answered, none of you are welcomed into my Maison de BoBA. And zat, my friend, is de bottom line. Hon hon hon.
Archery is a sport where we clearly suck at. The USA lost to Taiwan in the men's team quarterfinals.
By 4 points. Mercy.
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Cuba seems to be our bogey team in women's volleyball. Out here in the states, we can only hope that our ladies bounce back, becuase I think our men will fare better than these poor MILFs. I can solace in the fact that their guys wouldn't stand a chance against David Lee and the gang.
Ugh. Horrid performance. They wouldn't stand a chance against Penn State's ladies. Venezuela's gonna be gulping right now.
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God bless Lauren Wenger. Her game winning shot with the women's water polo team a player up gave the USA a 12-11 victory. It was a sharp contrast to the 108-63 farce of a game against their respective basketball counterparts.
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Out of all the non-USA threads that the basketballing chicks wear, I like Australia's the best. I don't know; I just dig hot sheilas in tight fits like that.
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