Olympics and Michael Phelps

While watching the olympics last night, the question was brought up, 

Is Michael Phelps one of the top 10 athletes of all-time?"

I say no. 

I'm not going to go into my diatribe about what is and isn't a sport. Here's the top 10 of a list made in 1999 about the top 100 athletes of the 20th century by ESPN.

1. Michael Jordan

2. Babe Ruth

3. Muhammad Ali

4. Jim Brown

5. Wayne Gretzky

6. Jesse Owens

7. Jim Thorpe

8. Willie Mays

9. Jack Nicklaus

10. Babe Didrikson

Mark Spitz, who holds the record that Phelps is chasing and will probably break, is listed at 33. A separate list has Spitz as 35. 

Now, what Phelps is doing is amazing. And given that he's swimming events with less than an hour in between, that's impressive as well. But top 10 of all time? I can't agree with that.

Which goes into the larger issue of hype. During the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Suns and Spurs, both considered finals contenders, met due to a particularly tight western conference and a fluke in the playoff seeding system. People instantly hyped it as the greatest playoff series ever, before they'd played a game. After the first game, which was very exciting and went to double OT, the articles increased, comparing it to the all-time greatest series, the celtics-lakers of the 80s, bulls-knicks, etc. The series went 5 games, with the Spurs trouncing the Suns in the remaining games save for a referee induced victory in game 3 for the Suns. 

The media nowadays tries to be the first outlet to set the new bar, to come out with the great highlight, to make their mark. Announcers speak in cheesy sound bytes designed more for the Sportscenter replays than the benefit of the viewer. People claim every great game is the greatest ever, with no allowance for the litmus test of time. Every announcer is trying to be immortalized with the next "Do you believe in miracles." Every writer is trying to claim each feat is the next great series, the next moment of greatness. Every athlete is trying to be the next Joe Namath with guarantees of victory. And I hear these things and see these things and think back to what my father used to say. "If you have to convince someone of something, it probably didn't happen." Moments of greatness can't be justified and argued into existence. They are experienced and recognized by everyone who has seen and witnessed the event and confirmed by those that are told. Lake Placid in 1980, Bobby Thompson in 1954, Red Sox in 2004. Everyone recognizes these moments as timeless and things to be treasured. We didn't have to be told they were great. We saw it and instantly knew.