Michael Phelps: Greatest?

[jimmehx]

I think this whole Phelps thing is overblown. There are so many events due to the strokes, and different distances that are not so different that it is much much easier to rack up gold medals. At least Carl Lewis could do both sprints and long jump, which are pretty different. Also just because you have the most gold medals doesnt make you the greatest Olympian. But Phelps is amongs the best for sure.

You are obviously not a swimmer. You have NO IDEA how rare it is to find a swimmer that is a world-record-challenging competitor in as many events as Phelps is. In my 14 years of competitive swimming I knew very, very few swimmers who were competitive in more than about 2 events. Yes, there are a lot of distances per stroke but that does not mean that one will be competitive at each distance due to their aptitude for the stroke. As a general rule, swimmers who are top-class-competitive in freestyle and butterfly will be far less talented in breaststroke, however, Phelps showed today that not only is he a sound breastroke swimmer, he is infact extremely competent as he opened his lead in this leg.

He is an amazingly talented swimmer. "This whole phelps thing" is not at all overblown.

[Amonkey]

You are obviously not a swimmer. You have NO IDEA how rare it is to find a swimmer that is a world-record-challenging competitor in as many events as Phelps is. In my 14 years of competitive swimmers I knew very, very few swimmers who were competitive in more than about 2 events. Yes, there are a lot of distances per stroke but that does not mean that one will be competitive at each distance due to their aptitude for the stroke. As a general rule, swimmers who are top-class-competitive in freestyle and butterfly will be far less talented in breaststroke, however, Phelps showed today that not only is he a sound breastroke swimmer, he is infact extremely competent as he opened his lead in this leg.

He is an amazingly talented swimmer. "This whole phelps thing" is not at all overblown.

And do add to that, he's also racing 17 heats against the best of world.  Maybe in high school track you can race a couple of events and still be amongst the top even with a little fatigue, but this guy is going the absolutely BEST of the WORLD every single heat and he's still absolutely destroying him.  Last Olympics I thought he was THE most underated athlete.  This year, I think he is, hands down, the most dominant athlete.  Not even Tiger Wood, in his respective sport, can beat his opponents like he is doing.  Ladies and gentleman, we are watching history here.

PS. I am not even a swimming fan.

[MaxwellSmart]

Secretariat

[celticmaestro]

Michael Schumacher.

Rocky Marciano = the GOAT - not Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali).

Diego Maradona.

Roger Federer? Pete Sampras?

I like your selection.  Michael Schumacher was def dominant.  I wish Ayrton Senna was alive to see those two go head to head.  Schumacher didn't really have anybody to compete against him.  However, I would take Diego Maradona out just because he could've been so much better than he was.  I think Pele belongs to the greatest soccer player ever, and if Maradona didn't slow down due to his drug problems, I think he would've easily overtaken him.  However, the drugs really brought him down.  By the way, did you know that Diego Maradona's illegitimate son, Diego Maradona Jr., plays beach soccer for Italy.

Yeah Schumacher was a fairly obvious one, but the original poster doesn't even know who he is despite the fact behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan he's the richest sports person ever.

As for Maradona and Pele, I would never hesitate in putting Maradona at the top. For starters, I wouldn't even call Pele the greatest Brazilian of all time.

[ACF]

Michael Schumacher.

Rocky Marciano = the GOAT - not Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali).

Diego Maradona.

Roger Federer? Pete Sampras?

I like your selection.  Michael Schumacher was def dominant.  I wish Ayrton Senna was alive to see those two go head to head.  Schumacher didn't really have anybody to compete against him.  However, I would take Diego Maradona out just because he could've been so much better than he was.  I think Pele belongs to the greatest soccer player ever, and if Maradona didn't slow down due to his drug problems, I think he would've easily overtaken him.  However, the drugs really brought him down.  By the way, did you know that Diego Maradona's illegitimate son, Diego Maradona Jr., plays beach soccer for Italy.

Yeah Schumacher was a fairly obvious one, but the original poster doesn't even know who he is despite the fact behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan he's the richest sports person ever.

As for Maradona and Pele, I would never hesitate in putting Maradona at the top. For starters, I wouldn't even call Pele the greatest Brazilian of all time.

Watch it maestro.
The Brazilians are listening 

Gretzky must be the greatest.
Look at his numbers:
894 goals and 1963 assists
for 2857 points in 1487 games.
That is simply SICK...

Phelps is pretty close, though,
and he keeps impressing me.
He can compete at the Olympics
in London, too, and can surely
get many more medals, if he wants to.
He's only 23!

[Rondo2287]

There is not way hes the best, Chad Johnson says he can beat him in the pool. 

[Amonkey]

Yeah Schumacher was a fairly obvious one, but the original poster doesn't even know who he is despite the fact behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan he's the richest sports person ever.

As for Maradona and Pele, I would never hesitate in putting Maradona at the top. For starters, I wouldn't even call Pele the greatest Brazilian of all time.

The thing about Pele is that he stayed on top for a long time, compared to some of the newer guys that come and fade away.  Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario (great scorer, but not overall game), then you have Zinho, Tostinho...  Brazil has had some great players, but I think Pele revolutionized the game over a long period of time.