Opinion of Michael Phelps from :( to :)

[StormyDay]

[QUOTE=ynl063w;8793411]
Maybe you are new to the internet, so I will politely let you know that an entire paragraph of writing with one word in all capital letters does not equal “yelling”.

Additionally, it’s not such a great idea to accuse someone who has posted one response to you as going “overboard”, when you have written multiple posts on the thread repeating a single opinion in response to multiple posters who agree with the person you accused of “yelling”. In other words, you might want to consider the fact that you are the one who is going overboard on this subject.

The Olympics has always been about which individual is the best at each sport (substitute “team” for “individual” where applicable). It has never been a contest of who works the hardest, and nobody cares how many hours any given athlete puts in as preparation for the Olympics. That is exactly how it should be.[/QUOTE]

When you take one comment of my post, and then twist it into what you posted, yes that is going overboard. No reason to get angry over any of this! It’s a conversation. I have my opinions and you have yours. And that is 100% ok. We are allowed to disagree!

[spotnnotfarm]

I don’t know…I might act like a fool myself if I ever win a gold medal. Congratulations to him! He broke a 2000 year old record! Nobody in sports can top that one!

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=StormyDay;8793371]
I think you guys have misunderstood the point of this whole thread. It is for us to sit around an gossip like bored catty housewives! :lol: If you don’t want to gossip with us you don’t have to![/QUOTE]

No, it’s not. This stuff is online for anyone, including the subjects of the conversation, to read. I don’t think that ANYONE on this forum is well acquainted enough with any of the athletes to make a valid assessment of what kind of person they are. You see tidbits of behavior that make it into social media and circle the world a million times. And people use those tidbits to make generalizations about “what kind of person” that athlete is.

These are not politicians who are trying to cultivate a vote, they are kids and young adults who have a passion for a sport who have spent, in some cases, decades of long hard practices to excel. And you have to be somewhat of an outlier to make it to the level of the Olympics.

SHAME ON EVERYONE PARTICIPATING IN THIS BULLYING BEHAVIOR.

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=kmwines01;8793202]
Not sure why everyone expects athletic talent to automatically come with being a better person than everyone else. Those with fame do need to realize they’ll be scrutinized but talent does mean you wont make mistakes others make.

Ryan lochte was known as a huge party boy in Gainesville. Nobody seems to care too much about that compared to Phelps doing what’s now legal in more than 1 state.[/QUOTE]

Well, just look at Lochte.
unashamedmomcrush

[Wonders12]

I can’t decide if I’m more surprised or saddened by this thread.

Throughout the games, I’ve only noticed what appears to be very gracious and sportsmanlike conduct. Sure, he’s competitive and “I’m the zone” before racing, but don’t you have to be to be the best in the world?

After every race he shakes hands with his competitors. He even took the time to do that last night when he only had 30 minutes between races! On camera he seems polite and sincere, and I’ve seen many many social media pictures of him posing with other athletes from different sports.

Sure, he made some mistakes, but he owns up to them and appears to have gotten himself together. Would you want to be forever judged for the worst thing you’ve ever done? Or had pictures of young you at a private part spread across headlines? I certainly wouldn’t!

I do wish they would show less swimming though. I don’t have cable so only get to watch the main NBC channel. I REALLY don’t need to see every single qualifying heat. I quick “earlier today” recap would be sufficient while focusing on the finals and some semi-final races. It would give more time to show a variety of sports in prime time.

[DMK]

[QUOTE=StormyDay;8792780]
It’s not the infrequency. It’s the fact that he put his sport on the back burner, treated it like it didn’t matter to him any more, and then went to the Olympics knowing he wasn’t at his best. The point of the olympics is the best of the best competing against each other. He wasn’t at his best in 2012. And yet he still went. I think that wasn’t the right thing to do. Now is he, or the US Olympic committee to blame for that? I’m not sure. But I do think it is pretty disappointing.
Oh and he trains like 6 days? A week now. You will be able to see!
I really suggest watching his latest interview. He talks about his struggles and 2012.[/QUOTE]

OK, so he was the best of the best, went to 3 Olympics and won a shit ton of medals, then as he got older after a lifetime (20 out of 27 years!) of single minded dedication to ONE all consuming sport, he probably reached a point where he wondered what the hell he was doing with the rest of his life and if this is really what he wanted to do 24/7/365… and as a result of that, probably didn’t train like he did in the 2 olympics prior to that…

And yet he qualified as the best we had to send.

And he won 4 more gold medals (and lost some races).

SLACKER!

Then at some point in the last 4 years he either found is on the way to finding some life/sport balance, continued on the much delayed journey of growing up and came back to the sport like gangbusters and you take issue with this??

Damn, your pedestals are very high and precarious. Remember, they are only supporting human beings, not creatures of your imagination. You might want to step away, they will probably crush you when they inevitably come crashing down.

[wireweiners]

After watching him, I’ve decided he’s either Aquaman’s alter ego or his mom had a hookup with Poseidon. :lol:

[ynl063w]

[QUOTE=DMK;8794014]
OK, so he was the best of the best, went to 3 Olympics and won a shit ton of medals, then as he got older after a lifetime (20 out of 27 years!) of single minded dedication to ONE all consuming sport, he probably reached a point where he wondered what the hell he was doing with the rest of his life and if this is really what he wanted to do 24/7/365… and as a result of that, probably didn’t train like he did in the 2 olympics prior to that…

And yet he qualified as the best we had to send.

And he won 4 more gold medals (and lost some races).

SLACKER!

Then at some point in the last 4 years he either found is on the way to finding some life/sport balance, continued on the much delayed journey of growing up and came back to the sport like gangbusters and you take issue with this??

Damn, your pedestals are very high and precarious. Remember, they are only supporting human beings, not creatures of your imagination. You might want to step away, they will probably crush you when they inevitably come crashing down.[/QUOTE]

Stop yelling and going overboard DMK. StormyDay doesn’t like that.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=ynl063w;8791320]
Oh yes this is a great idea. Just like giving trophies and awards to every kid on every team, every kid who “graduates” from 6th grade, etc. Because hey, we’re ALL SPECIAL and we all deserve our 15 minutes of fame at the very least.

This is the Olympics. The emphasis should be on the winners. I’m sure the also-rans have gotten plenty of local coverage leading up to the Olympics, and you can likely find all the information you want on them with a simple Google search.[/QUOTE]

I read that post differently than you did.

I do not think they are asking for everyone to get medals. I think they are saying that it would be great to learn about some of the athletes in more obscure sports who are also doing well (or well compared to how the US normally does in that sport).
There are lots of sports where you can not win several medals at the same Olympics (like the horse sports for example). So those people can never boast the huge medal counts that Michael Phelps (just an example because the thread is about him) can. But they are still great athletes and it would be amazing to hear about them from time to time.

[DMK]

[QUOTE=ynl063w;8794050]
Stop yelling and going overboard DMK. StormyDay doesn’t like that.[/QUOTE]

Good point. And to be fair, I yelled.

[StormyDay]

[QUOTE=DMK;8794014]
OK, so he was the best of the best, went to 3 Olympics and won a shit ton of medals, then as he got older after a lifetime (20 out of 27 years!) of single minded dedication to ONE all consuming sport, he probably reached a point where he wondered what the hell he was doing with the rest of his life and if this is really what he wanted to do 24/7/365… and as a result of that, probably didn’t train like he did in the 2 olympics prior to that…

And yet he qualified as the best we had to send.

And he won 4 more gold medals (and lost some races).

SLACKER!

Then at some point in the last 4 years he either found is on the way to finding some life/sport balance, continued on the much delayed journey of growing up and came back to the sport like gangbusters and you take issue with this??

Damn, your pedestals are very high and precarious. Remember, they are only supporting human beings, not creatures of your imagination. You might want to step away, they will probably crush you when they inevitably come crashing down.[/QUOTE]

Again, I don’t think you know what you are talking about. He didn’t step away from the sport because he wasn’t sure what he was doing. He stepped away because he was having some serious problems.
And i have never taken issue with him competing at this game. I have never said that. I am disappointed in his 2012 performances and what led up to that. Actually, I commend him for his good sportsmanship this time around. It is refreshing.

[StormyDay]

[QUOTE=ynl063w;8794050]
Stop yelling and going overboard DMK. StormyDay doesn’t like that.[/QUOTE]

There is no reason for snarkiness. Sorry I hurt your feelings.

[StormyDay]

Double post

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=StormyDay;8794100]
Double post[/QUOTE]

Edit allows you to delete things. :winkgrin:

[SendenHorse]

I listened to his interview prior to Rio and a lot of other athletes in different sports- prior gold medalists. it was very interesting how he works completely out of his right brain and does not really have any thoughts/analysis of his sport. He works so far into the “natural” category and into the “zone”.

I find this all very thought provoking. He just does NOT have to think. He doesn’t get nervous.

So I think some of what we are seeing in his personality vs the other athletes could be just more of this unique view. He is so gifted he works on a different wavelength. He won’t act like others, he is very unique.

Yeah, he can be a bit of a jerk, but this could explain why he just doesn’t fit ANY molds. He doesn’t have to, and why would he? this is easy for him, and he is clearly doing something right.

Also this is like his 50th gold, I’m sure the novelty is wearing off. He is an old hat now, how we would react is not how he reacts. Again, different POV. I suppose now he’s allowed a little fun, no?

[StormyDay]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8794111]
Edit allows you to delete things. :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Didn’t know that

[Rackonteur]

[QUOTE=StormyDay;8794098]
There is no reason for snarkiness. Sorry I hurt your feelings.[/QUOTE]

I think that for the next 4 years COTHers should petition the IOC to get “debating” (snarking) qualified as an Olympic sport. Not every COTHer would qualify, but once at the Olympics everyone would have to remember that they would be subject to drug testing and that only an approved amount of boxed wine and popcorn would be permitted to show up in their panels.

It should get in; after all, four years on from the current presidential race the world would enjoy livestreaming Snarkiness at the 5-star level.

:lol: :lol:

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=DMK;8794014]
Damn, your pedestals are very high and precarious. Remember, they are only supporting human beings, not creatures of your imagination. You might want to step away, they will probably crush you when they inevitably come crashing down.[/QUOTE]

This bears repeating. We are talking about athletes, the best in the world, who have spent an incredible amount of time training for these competitions. They are NOT living “normal” lives.

[Foxtrot_s]

Sports psychologists are probably analyzing and studying Michael Phelps like
crazy.

I find him gracious and judging by his face when the anthem is played, it seems it never gets old with him.

He is a phenom and as such we should be celebrating him…he can’t last for ever.

And to all those who have a grudge against him, I say “SHUT UP”.

[Where_sMyWhite]

And frankly I am more way over Hope Solo than Mr Phelps and anything he’s done with her calling the Swedish team ‘cowards’ IMO, incredibly unsportmanship-like.