Tag: michael phelps

  • My Olympic Rant

    Beijing Olympics

    So the Olympics are over. A little over 2 weeks ago the world watched the fabulous spectacle that was the opening ceremonies. Then for 16 days the nation was captivated while new stars were born and China sold itself to the world as the new mecca.

    At the same time there was a large group of people uncomfortable with the Olympic spectacle. For me, these thoughts ran rampant through my mind as I tried to watch the closing ceremonies:

    – China is not a free nation. No freedom of speech, freedom of press, or freedom of movement. 

    – China is among the worst human rights violators. There is no doubt that thousands of people were rounded up and imprisoned for the games. I don’t think I heard NBC talking about China’s one child policy, did you? False imprisonment? The fact that the United States #1 religion is illegal in China. Did you hear that?

    – China has a labor problem. I couldn’t watch the opening/closing ceremonies without thinking about child labor, slave labor, and human trafficking. 

    – China is not a nation of middle class. There are extreme rich and extreme poor. Watching them drop $40 billion on the games… an injustice.

    NBC OlympicAnd I was disappointed to see NBC be a party to all of this. The story in China is not Michael Phelps or the basketball team, volleyball team, gymnastics success or relay team failure. To see NBC Sports play along and not mention it shows that they are more interested in corporate profits than covering the story. It’s pathetic to me that now, once the games are over, they are talking about how they were censored and how they observed things. 

    The American people needed a chance to see for themselves what is happening. And instead of C-SPAN we got The Disney Channel. 

  • Michael Phelps & John Edwards

    The last two news cycles have documented two men in quest of their respective dreams. One man failed while the other conquered. Let’s face it though, both were nearly insurmountable dreams. One man wanted to be the president of the United States while the other wants to change his sport forever. In my mind, there are some interesting parallels worth thinking about.

    John Edwards is sexyJohn Edwards. I felt Edwards could have beat George W. Bush in 2004. But for some reason the DNC orchestrated the ticket of Kerry/Edwards instead of Edwards/Kerry. In my eyes only two details really matter about John Edwards failure.

    #1 John Edwards has owned his mistake. He didn’t try to pretend that it was an accident, and despite some initial hopes that the story would never become public… once it was public he dealt with it quickly. He manned up and I can respect that.

    #2 John Edwards was an idiot. Really. He broke one of the simplest rules of any man in leadership… don’t put yourself in a situation to fail. I didn’t catch all of the details, but it was clear that Edwards began traveling with his web videographer and not his wife. I don’t care who you are, no one is immune to temptation. If King David can fall so can you. At some point in the planning someone in John’s life should have said, “Hey John, I think you should take an accountability partner (like one of his kids) to Africa with you.” 

    Michael Phelps, not sexy but fastMichael Phelps. Since we’ve been moving I’ve missed most of the Olympics. But I’ve caught enough to know that Phelps has electrified the sporting world by winning 8 Olympic Gold Medals. Let’s see a couple opposite parallels between Phelps and Edwards. 

    #1 Michael Phelps made his own goal. I don’t know exactly what he means by it, but Michael Phelps desires to change the face of swimming. Winning 8 Gold Medals in a single Olympics is a crazy goal… but he made the goal and he took the steps to make it happen. Sure, he’s been blessed with a swimmers body. Sure, he’s had the best training. Sure, he’s had the best equipment. But that can be assumed of almost every swimmer in that pool. For some reason Phelps was able to take that body, that training, and that equipment to a place never dreamed of before. Think of all the millions of decisions Phelps has made over the last decade… all aimed at accomplishing his goal.

    #2 Michael Phelps is brilliant. I know I am into marketing so I notice these things. But lets just say there has never been a more wealthy swimmer. He could retire now, never swim competitively again, and just live off of the cash he’s made in commercials. Instead, Phelps knew that if he accomplished his goal, surrounded himself with the right people, that he could change the sport and his world forever. My guess is that Phelps will be the richest junior at the University of Michigan this fall. Because while this was one amazing goal, the next goal is on the horizon for him.