August 17, 2008 – Dr. Dime
What can you say about Michael Phelps and last night his clinching 8 gold medals in one Olympic Games? How about ‘wow’? Hell, that just doesn’t seem to cover it. There are no words that can do justice to his Olympic accomplishment. Some people are calling him Superman or Aquaman, or whatever other superhero comes to mind to try and describe what the world has just witnessed in Beijing. Coming into these Olympic games that started on (coincidentally) 08-08-08, Phelps and his team had talked about his goal of winning 8 gold medals in one Olympic games, this to break the previous standing record for any Olympian set by swimmer Mark Spitz who won 7.
Nah….that’s not possible in the modern era of sports and athletics….or is it? Well it looks like it’s in the books. Michael Phelps now has a total of 14 gold medals spanning two Olympic Games (new all-time record) and 8 golds in one shot (new all-time record) at these Beijing Games.
I watched the final medley race live (thanks NBC), then following the race I watched the post-race interviews intently like virtually everyone else in the world. I couldn’t help but giggle wildly when Phelps teammates spoke with NBC correspondents about seeing Lebron James and Kobe Bryant in the stands, and how they swam like hell because they didn’t want to let those USA basketball superstars down. All I could think was “hey shouldn’t you have been more concerned with letting your teammate Michael Phelps down, as he was trying to re-write the history books for your great sport?”
Ah well, I realize it was just all in good fun, but it did get me thinking about the link between this amazing athletic accomplishment in swimming and another history setting accomplishment in basketball (more about that in a sec). For the past several days I’ve heard nothing but “if Phelps can win 8 golds in one games, it will be the greatest Olympic accomplishment ever, and maybe even the greatest accomplishment ever in the history of any sport!” What Phelps has done at these games was undoubtedly the greatest Olympic performance of all time. But hold on there little Nellie….wait one second son. Greatest accomplishment in the history of sport? Hardly. I may be extremely biased given my passion for basketball and other team sports, but I can’t help but scoff at the thought of Phelps being considered some level above the great athletic accomplishments of a Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Bill Russell etc. etc.
And as these great sport heroes of mine went racing through my head as I listened to NBC repeatedly call Phelps accomplishment the greatest thing to ever happen in sports, I kept coming back to the last hero I mentioned. Bill Russell. Why? Because of the number 8.
Bill Russell has the NBA record for the most NBA championships with 11. He won those 11 NBA championships in only 13 years in the league, and in one of the years he didn’t get the title he was slowed by an injury. Essentially he was an unstoppable force on the hardwood. But Phelps accomplishment was all about a streak right? A streak of 8 gold medals in one Olympic games. Well in arguably the greatest NBA accomplishment of all-time, Bill Russell led his team to 8 straight NBA titles from 1959-1966. How about that for a streak? Eight straight NBA titles is so hard to fathom for anyone that follows the NBA with even the lightest of interest. Heck, the greatest NBA player of all-time, Michael Jordan, ever only had streaks of 3 (twice).
Bill Russell did just about everything imaginable on the basketball floor. And he did so without ever trying to attract the spotlight or fire up 100 points in a single game a-la-Wilt Chamberlain. Russell only cared about one thing, winning. The man averaged 22.5 rebounds per game over the length of his career. As a basketball player, when you think of the hard work, banging, and grind it takes to pull down that many boards in just one game, let alone average that over the length of a 13 year career, you can be nothing short of astounded. Russell had many league MVPs, All-star selections, and other individual achievements but I like to focus on his rebounding as it is the perfect example of the hard work and team first attitude that defined his career in the NBA. This one always throws me back a little: He once had 51 boards in a single game, 49 in two others, and a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. How do you like them apples Dennis Rodman?
This is only one man’s opinion (and a fairly skewed one given my basketball junkie status), but who do you guys feel had the greater accomplishment in the history of sport, Michael Phelps 8 golds in a single Olympic Games, or Bill Russell’s 8 straight NBA titles?
