Phelps Fever

I am going to make a pretty bold statement, but its one that I believe many Americans can agree with. Michael Phelps is the greatest athlete of all-time. Period. Not only the greatest swimmer, not only the greatest Olympian, but the very best athlete the world has ever seen.

11,028 athletes traveled to Beijing to compete, but none of them faced the pressure Michael Phelps encountered. Phelps didn't just handle the pressure, he thrived in it. Phelps didn't just dominate, he captivated the entire country. After the 4x100 relay, amidst the high fives and the "U-S-A" chants, I realized how special Phelps's performance was.

The most impressive feat by Phelps was his extraordinary comeback to win the 100m butterfly by just .01 seconds. To me, a legend was born at the end of that race. That was one of several dramatic finishes, and Phelps owes a lot of credit to his teammates. Something that the humble Phelps will gladly do.

As Phelps captured his eighth gold of the Beijing games, I tried to brainstorm a list of the greatest athletes of all-time. To me, Phelps sits atop that list. Heres what I came up with, in no particular order:

Tiger Woods
Babe Ruth
Jim Brown
Jim Thorpe
Mark Spitz
Michael Jordan
Muhammad Ali
Wayne Gretzky
Lance Armstrong
Jerry Rice
Pele


You can make a case for any one of these athletes, but nobody (maybe with the exception of Spitz) displayed the type of dominance Phelps just did. Of course, we are comparing apples to oranges here, and it is quite possible that there is no 1 single "best athlete of all-time". However, all things considered, I'm sticking to my guns. Michael Phelps is the greatest ever.

Insomnia

I'm finding it hard to sleep after such a busy day in the sports world. Here's whats on my mind:

• My take on the Brett Favre trade: Everybody loses. I couldn't agree more with Mike. Favre certainly will make the Jets a better team, but are they a playoff caliber team? Not in the AFC...I see them going 8-8 or 9-7. I truly believe Brett loses too, because if reunited in Tampa with Jon Gruden, he would make the Bucs a legitimate super bowl contender. The only real winner here is Jets ownership from a business prospective. No doubt the Jets will profit from this move. Unfortunately we as fans really don't care.
• Ryan Ludwick is an absolute monster, homering in his 5th straight game tonight. Yet another "feel good story" in St. Louis, I really hope he isn't just a one year wonder. He is carrying my fantasy team.
• After trying out NCAA Football 09 today, my excitement for madden has grown exponentially. The gameplay looks outstanding.
• Did Jeff Karstens really come within 4 outs of a perfect game? Wow. The change of scenery is doing wonders to almost every single player moved before the deadline (Sabathia, Harden, Bay, Manny, Griffey, and even guys like Brandon Moss and Karstens).
• The Beijing Oylmpics are underway (sort of), and the US has already experienced its first defeat. I'm pretty surprised by the poor showing of the women's soccer team, but I'm sure the defending gold medalists will bounce back.
  
• I have mixed feelings about this upcoming fantasy football season. It seems like there are just so many boom or bust type players this year. I think I'm going to be a big time risk taker this year.
• Be on the lookout for me and Mikes inaugural fantasy football player rankings. We're anticipating sometime next week.

Thats really all I've got for tonight. I'm looking forward to turning on the T.V. sometime in the near future and not hearing the words "Brett" or "Favre". But as long as ESPN exists and Brett Favre is breathing, we all know this is impossible.