There is a Michael Phelps you don’t see.

Many people do not know that Phelps will typically go out of his way for the media.  He will always stop to answer questions or give a quick quote.  Yes, there are times that his schedule prevents this, but it is rare for him not to take the time if he has it.

This side of Phelps rang true today during his press conference, as he showed a graciousness that we could only wish upon every other athlete out there.

With just two questions remaining and time running out, a local reporter posed a question.  It was a long one – perhaps a minute in length. It was also one that Phelps found some humor in – as did every other journalist in attendance.

The humor? It was due to the fact that the translated audio was not working to Phelps’ earpiece, and try as he might to comprehend, the language barrier did not give him the ability to.

Another local journalist attempted to remedy the situation and quickly translate, but it went woefully wrong.  After a brief few moments, the moderator simply chose to move on to the next question.

But there was Phelps, stopping the moderator dead in his tracks, in an effort to have someone translate the question so that he could answer it. Graciousness. Poise. Maturity.

The question?  Something about mathematics.

The answer? “I am terrible at math. Math was always my worst subject in school.”

In the grand scheme it was a question that would not have been missed. But to that reporter, it meant something.  Phelps respected that, and in the process earned an added respect from all in attendance.

We’ve all seen the commercials. The ones by Citibank where you are watching some sort of nondescript video of an overweight man lying on the couch, while listening to a cheeky voice-over of a 16-year-old girl talking about what she just purchased using “her” credit card.

Funny but serious issue that identity theft thing.

But what happens when it involves two swimmers?

With Federica Pellegrini’s world record effort yesterday in the 200m Freestyle, she effectively removed Laure Manaudou from the record books by snatching another record from the Frenchwoman’s grasp.  What is interesting is that records are not the only thing that link the two.

Earlier this year Pellegrini began dating Luca Marin – Manaudou’s ex-boyfriend.

It gets better.

Manaudou’s ex-coach Philippe Lucas now coaches Pellegrini.

I am guessing that that might be all Pellegrini may want to “take” from Manaudou with those photos out there and all.

People love swimming

As of 4pm yesterday (East Coast time) there have been 1.1 million streams of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay served on demand from the NBCOlympics.com website, and now takes the credit as the most watched video in the site’s history.

You can quote me on that

“I think he’ll be swimming the 100m free.  That’s been our plan for a while.” – Bob Bowman on whether Michael Phelps will take up the event in the future.

What we watched this morning was perhaps the greatest race of all time.  Wait, scratch that.  It was the greatest race of all time, and I think that it is safe to say that you’ll all agree with that opinion.

But with a collective sigh we can take a deep breath and say “thank goodness for the 32-year-old from Irvine, California.” It is quite safe to say that NBC’s Dick Ebersol was among those to do just that at the moment that Jason Lezak’s hand touched the wall.

Lezak saved sports as we know it.  As sporting fans, we all want to believe in something magical – to witness something otherworldly. We want something we can tell our children we witnessed.  We want something untainted in today’s world filled with drug-induced records. Michael Phelps presents us with that opportunity. For a moment some stopped believing. But in 46.06 seconds, Lezak was able to breathe life back into that dream by snatching life – and a gold medal – from the French.

Casual sports fans at home don’t care about the who’s and the what’s.  What they watched tonight was about “saving” Michael Phelps’ eight gold medals.  We can delude ourselves, as swimming fans, with the belief that sports fans care about that relay because of what it was – the greatest race of all time – but I am much more skeptical. While I will be the first person to congratulate each of the men on that relay personally when the opportunity presents itself, I believe that the casual fan is more fickle.

Jason Lezak has five Olympic medals – three gold – but this one is the most important of them all.  To Jason, it is about redemption after two prior unsuccessful attempts in this event at the Olympic Games.  To everyone else? It saved the Olympics as we know it, and gave everyone a reason to continue watching. Thank you Jason for your performance this morning, you are my hero.

Michael Phelps is a football fan.  Everybody knows that. But somewhere along the way, Phelps became a basketball fan.

Or a LeBron James fan.

Or a Kobe Bryant fan.

“Got a text after my swim last night,” Michael said. “It said LeBron James was pretty pumped up about it.”

That would make anyone say “cool.”

But especially Michael.  Don’t believe me?  I quote you this:

“I talked to LeBron a few times, it was pretty cool.” – Michael Phelps

But what would a game of one-on-one look like between Phelps and James?  Probably as one-sided and silly as it would be for LeBron to don a LZR Racer and hop in the pool.  Regardless, I’d like to see it.

You can quote me on that

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for.” – Alain Bernard on the 4x100m Free Relay

Surprisingly there are a number of empty seats here at the Cube.  While it has certainly filled out significantly since the start of finals this morning, it is still a shock to see empty seats after all the hullabaloo about tickets selling out so quickly.

One seat is definitely taken.  That is the seat of President George Bush who, waving his American flag, needed to catch a glimpse of the Phelps.  A glimpse he did catch, giving Phelps the thumbs up after his World record performance.

Final 400 IM for Phelps

“I told Bob [Bowman] that this would be my last 400 IM,” Phelps said.

Was that our National Anthem

Picture this.

You are standing on the awards podium, having reached the pinnacle of your sport.

Three things matter.

The medal.
The flag.
The National anthem.

You see the flag.  Check.

You have the medal draped around your neck. Check.

National anthem?  Well, sort of.

As happened four years ago in Athens, a snafu with the United States national anthem occurred.

The anthem seemed to repeat the first verse twice.  It also cut out well prior to the end during Phelps’ award ceremony, leaving most of us standing confused, and a large number of fans singing a capella.

You can quote me on that

“I woke up at six and ate McDonalds.” – Ryan Lochte

“I think I am older than her parents.” – Dara Torres referring to Cate Campbell

After much waiting, tonight swimming fans finally got what we have been waiting for since, well, the 2004 Athens Games.

The Water Cube, as it is affectionately known, is an interesting specimen.  It is a great venue, it accommodates a lot of people, and after this evening’s (almost said “this morning’s”) preliminaries, there is no denying that it is likely a fast pool.

But there is something missing.

Entering the pool area left me wanting an iPhone-like WOW factor, and it just didn’t do it.

The Water Cube is not Sydney, nor is it Athens.

The people I spoke with had the same initial reactions.

The Water Cube was built specifically for the purpose of hosting an Olympics, but so were great venues of the past.  I don’t care if it looks cool from the outside.  Give me a fast pool, a good view, and lots of seats and the building could be made out of mud and straw for all I care.

Many people are singing their praises of the venue.

Not I.

Quite possibly that song will come.

Maybe as the week goes on, the great performances that I will bear witness to will help swing my vote.

Right now though – I just can’t give it.

You can quote that

“It’s like we’re playing a big card game and all those guys are showing their hands. We got a lot of peacocks showing their feathers.” – Brendan Hansen

No smog

The haze that is seemingly present near the roof of the “Cube” is merely, in my estimation, an illusion created from a combination of the ambient lighting and the sunlight coming through the Cube’s permeable “membrane.”

Want a ticket

The Cube holds 11,000 plus spectators, but it could hold more.  The media side of the venue has a lot of wasted space, and honestly a pretty poor view of the pool.

I did not attend the opening ceremonies tonight. It was a conscious decision, not one of necessity despite the fact that had no choice regardless – I simply did not have a ticket.

I must admit though, I was being somewhat nostalgic. I have now attended three Olympic games – two as an athlete – and have not chosen to be a part of the pomp and circumstance.

It may partly be my disdain for watching things go in circles around a track – yes, NASCAR, I am talking to you – and partly due to the fact that I just do not understand the whole show aspect to the ceremonies.

I guess I could have attended just to say that I “had been there,” but that is just not me. Don’t get me wrong, the bits and pieces I saw on television looked interesting, but not compelling enough to keep my attention. In person. For four hours.

What I care about is the flame being lit and the competition getting underway (note to the IOC – maybe in London you could have a cliff notes version of the opening ceremonies – something 30 minutes long or so?).

But in Beijing, I just had this strange vibe that I may be alone in my feelings about the ceremonies.

This is Beijing’s Games, but more importantly it is the people of Beijing’s Games.

Walking Tall

I chose to walk back to the hotel tonight, and I truly believe that I was the only person walking away from the Olympic Stadium.

That fact drew some odd stares from the locals – something I was never completely comfortable with.

The first 30 minutes were quiet – oddly quiet. As I strolled along the Beijing streets practically alone, I began to get the feeling that for a city of 17 million to be this empty – especially on the eve of the biggest event to ever be held within its borders – was strange.

Then I saw it. Just within my line of sight I saw the city that is in love with its Games. As I moved closer, it grew larger.

But it was held back. Detained, so to speak. Just beyond the tanks. Secure.

Think Times Square on New Years Eve, but occurring a mile or more from Times Square – and heavily fortified.

I have never witnessed an excitement quite like it.

It was a strange experience to witness thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people cheering, yelling, and screaming – utterly overwhelmed with enthusiasm – while not having a clue what was occurring just up the road inside the Olympic Stadium.

To bear witness to that excitement far outweighed any second I could have spent inside the stadium itself and for that I am grateful.

This is Beijing’s Games and they are just getting started.

Over the years the list of storylines have been long, and this year is no different.

The expected storylines have been drawn out a multitude of times in a multitude of ways.

Sport, like real life, will play itself out over the eight days of competition. In all likelihood, many of these storylines will play out as a fairy tale, but conversely there is bound to be disappointment.

Each of these storylines has assisted in the public’s ability to understand swimming and its athletes leading up to the next eight days.

Can and will Michael Phelps win eight gold medals? How about that 41 year old, Dara Torres, coming back from her second seven year retirement? Will Eric Shanteau – a role model for millions battling cancer – have his performance impacted by the diagnosis? Can Brendan Hansen do away with the individual event heartbreak from 2004? Can Ryan Lochte disrupt Phelps’ run at eight? Can Katie Hoff, the first woman since Shane Gould to race five individual events, win them all or can Australia’s Stephanie Rice take down Hoff in the IM events? How many Olympic records will fall due to the upgrades in swimsuit technology?

The fact remains that regardless of what storyline you are following, only one really matters now.

With less than 24 hours until the start of the first race here in Beijing and about 36 hours until swimming’s first medal is awarded, all the pre-games hype – all the talk and prognostication – can finally come to a close.

At that point we will get our first glimpse of what we can expect to play out over the next eight days.

For the journalists covering the sport, this is an exciting prospect.

By the time swimming is complete, a minimum of 96 medals will have been awarded.

Competition will bring new headlines and new expectations.

But most importantly, competition will bring the unexpected.

And with the unexpected will come a new set of storylines – likely the best of all.

My journey to Beijing began a little over 24 hours ago, and despite being in a hotel room with a bed and a bathroom, the journey is far from over. It is a journey that for me is not solely about reporting the facts. It is a journey of understanding and relating the experience and atmosphere of an Olympic games from my point of view.

The Beijing Olympics are my first as a non-swimmer – on the other side of the microphone, so to speak. It will be a different experience guaranteed, but one aspect remains the same whether you are an athlete or a coach, a member of the media or a volunteer, a dignitary or a spectator – as I was reminded today.

My tale is of two friends who made a pact nearly 25 years ago. A pact that they would, together, attend every Summer Olympic games. To this day, that pact remains intact seven times over. Every four years, since 1984 in Los Angeles, Burke and Frank have attended the Olympic games. Over the years their strategy has changed – take tickets for example. In the early days, they would purchase beforehand. Today though, they arrived in Beijing empty handed, knowing from past experience that opportunity would knock as the competition began and sellers would unload at 50% of face value.

Burke, an Omaha native, now lives in Los Angeles. Frank resides in Dallas. Burke and his wife are expecting a daughter in about two months time. Frank is living the single life.

I am not sure how often Burke and Frank converse between the games, or how often they see each other in person. Frankly asking either of those questions never crossed my mind. Watching the two men interact with giddy excitement, almost as if it were their first Olympics, told me the whole story.

Take out financial considerations, take out geographic location, take out political affiliations, take out family commitments, Burke and Frank are the best of friends. Their story, to me, is the epitome of what the Olympics stand for – a venue where athletes can fiercely compete and afterward share in the glory as one.

The Olympics are not just about competition. They are about friendly competition. A friendly competition schedule to “officially” begin tomorrow – 08/08/08.

Look how far we have come… just look at yesterday’s photo and you will see. Now, this one could be construed to be a lot of things, but whatever way you look at it… she is darn cute… ok, biased parental opinion… you got a problem with that?