The world has gone Michael Phelps crazy. Not only did the swimmer win eight gold medals last week at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, he also won the heart of most every living, breathing person in the world with a television set. Next to the USA hockey team winning the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, I can’t remember a more memorable moment in Olympic sports history. I yelled, I cheered and I admit, I even cried. From the one-hundredth- of-a-second victory to secure his seventh gold to the world-record turn in the 400-meter relay to win his eighth gold medal, moments like those are the reasons we watch sports. Does it get any better?
Nowadays, thanks to the internet and satellite television, Phelps fever isn’t confined to just the U.S. According to the Los Angeles Times, no other athlete in the history of the world has been watched in competition by more people on more consecutive days than Phelps. In fact, at the time of this article, Phelps’s official fan page on Facebook.com has reached over a half-million members while unofficial sites in every language imaginable have been created as well. If Google gets another search request for “Michael Phelps,” it might shut itself down. Phelps is a superstar unlike any other we’ve known.
Now I’m not going to make a joke about Michael’s ears but I’m sure he can hear the cash register sounds all the way across the Pacific. Move over Peyton Manning, the world has found a new celebrity endorser. Soon we’ll see Phelps’s mug on everything from buses to Wheaties boxes. According to experts, Phelps could command over $40 million in endorsements over the next four years (leading to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London). Last year, Peyton brought in nearly $12 million from advertising contracts. I wonder how soon we’ll see Phelps on Saturday Night Live?
No son has a bigger fan than his mother. (Sorry dads, you come in at a close second.) From my 20 years in coaching I’ve found that although in most cases the father knows more about the sport than the mother, the moms get more excited about their son’s success. There is no greater piece of evidence to support my claim than witnessing Debbie Phelps watch her son from the bleachers in Beijing. To see Michael climbing through the crowd to give his mom and sisters a kiss after he was awarded his eighth gold medal gave me goose bumps. So many times athletes try to hide their emotions. It was great to see Michael stop everything to make sure he acknowledged his family. Although the spotlight is always on the athlete, it’s hard to find any successful athlete that doesn’t have a strong family support system. It just doesn’t happen. Despite going through a divorce when he was just nine, Michael’s sisters and mom helped him overcome his ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and focus his energy on swimming. The kid who couldn’t sit still in class has become the man who couldn’t stop swimming. The result is Olympic history.
So thanks, Michael, for being a great athlete and a good son. We could use a lot more guys like you in the sports world.
But that’s just my opinion.
Dankosky can be reached at kdankosky@scoreatl.com.
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