What would we do without Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps? Other than watch less golf and swimming, that is.
Two of the most familiar names in sports we otherwise ignore were at it again over the weekend, although the stakes were slightly higher for the guy who was damp by the time he finished (and we're not talking about Steve Williams, Tiger's caddy). Phelps wrapped up his world championships with another win and another world record as part of the 400-meter medley relay team.
Forget for a minute that there have been bobbleheads at Pirates games in shorter supply than world records were in Rome; Phelps' dominance effectively pushes our memories of those amusing photos and that less amusing Saturday Night Live appearance aside.
That wasn't initially the case when he returned to competition this spring and SportsNation collectively yawned, but we do love kicking the rest of the world's posteriors. In June, voters said Woods was more dominant on the links than Phelps was in the pool. But even after Woods bounced back from British Open failure by winning the Buick Open, the tables have completely turned.
But before we launch that all-swimming channel, it's worth remembering just how driven all of this is by Phelps. Despite a perfect foil in Milorad Cavic, the trash-talking American-born Serbian, a swimming rivalry just doesn't cut it.
- Rankings: Is Phelps the best individual athlete? And are you telling Brock Lesnar?
- Vote on the best rivalries in individual sports and a "duel in the pool."
- 51 percent: More records mean attention; Nebraska: Real men don't wear bodysuits.
“Cavic is just a media hound. Dear Cavic, get over it, you're not as good as Phelps. Two high profile match-ups & Cavic is 0-2. All he does is run his mouth, talk crap, and then he can't back it up. He needs to stop holding press conferences & doing interviews, and use that valuable time to go train more. .
” -- jcamp165
“When is this guy gonna learn to shut his mouth and realize he will never be #1 as long as Phelps is around??? Even if he beats him once he still has to beat him a bunch more times to match what Phelps has done and winning a proposed side duel means nothing
” -- richdog88
“I'm not a swimming fan at all, but all this talk between Cavic to Phelps is just awesome for this sport! I'm totally engaged in a Cavic-Phelps duel.
” -- greenyROCK22
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