Mark Spitz is upset....

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:04:49 GMT

Spitz was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show and was very gracious: today.msnbc.msn.com/.../26195324 I'm guessing someone told him to not act like a diva on national television.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:48:51 GMT

Spitz was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show and was very gracious: today.msnbc.msn.com/.../26195324

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

elise526 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:58:01 GMT

Spitz was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show and was very gracious: today.msnbc.msn.com/.../26195324 Thanks, gull. Great interview.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:30:14 GMT

Article from the NY Times: www.nytimes.com/.../14spitz.html I had never heard this story before: After Spitz earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana, he had his big moments in Munich. He was 22, unbelievably flexible, gifted and ambitious. And unbelievably prone to controversy. In the 200-meter freestyle, the best in the field were Spitz and his teammate Steve Genter. Six days before the 200 heats, Genter sustained a partly collapsed lung. Doctors cut open his chest, drained the fluid and stitched him up. They told him to forget about swimming in the Olympics. Genter swam anyway, with his surgeon at poolside, just in case. Genter made it through his heat and semifinal, but in the final, after the first of the four laps, stitches broke. One lap later, there was blood in the pool. With all that, Genter was leading with 25 meters to go. But he was spent. Spitz raced past him and beat him by 6 feet. After the race, an angry Genter said Spitz had tried to talk him out of competing. Genter did not take it as advice from a caring teammate, just an old-fashioned psych job. “He said I might hurt myself again,” Genter told reporters at the time. “I just don’t believe in this guy at all. Nothing would have pleased me more than to beat him, but I just couldn’t do it.”

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:26:33 GMT

www.swimnetwork.com/.../dear_spitz__are_you_kidding_me_-1149.html :)

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:25:50 GMT

Article from the NY Times: www.nytimes.com/.../14spitz.html

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:22:37 GMT

mark spitz' 72 performance is the reason i took an interest in swimming. I lost interest in him as a 12? year old when I was at the Olympic Trials in Long Beach. Wouldn't sign any autographs until my father went up to him and said he was being ridiculous. That autograph only brought a bad taste in my mouth regarding Spitz to me. My youth coach swam against him (and won) in '68. Said Spitz was the sorest loser he'd ever met.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:20:46 GMT

Because I didn't do a good job explaining the first time I'll say again, the issue isn't if he is a jerk or not. That is as relevent as the color of his hair.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:14:57 GMT

Spitz seems to be quite a jerk, and perhaps he is, but do we know him to be any more or less of a jerk than anyone else? It is just conjecture to say that Phelps or Thorpe or anyone else is classier or nicer than SPitz. All that we know for certain is that Spitz is still the 2nd greatest swimmer ever, and it is his standard that Phelps is trying to eclipse. I would love to hear Spitz's take on Phelps. Heck, I think it would be great TV if Costas interviewed him and he was the surly jerk that we believe him to be. I suppose it would be better if he were a nice guy, but really the only intriguing thing about Mark Spitz is that he won 7 gold medals in th '72 Olympics. Of course I don't know Spitz. And as pointed out before he was a major factor to raise the profile of swimming in the US. But his ego and arrogance are well documented through most of his life. Read the new biography (I did) and with the full support of Spitz, the book essentially confirms what most people think of Spitz. The book adds a dimension I didn't know about - the anti-Semitism he was subjected to at varying points in his life. But make no mistake he was supremely confident in his ability and cold to his fellow swimmers. Spitz is interesting for more than 7 gold medals though. His dominance of freestyle and butterly was incredible. He set 33 WRs in his career (shorter than many today) - about 10 more than Phelps (so far). It is very disappointing Spitz is acting like baby now. His public statements about Phelps have been very positive overall so this recent tirade is silly and childish. I agree with others - no free passes for him just because other celebrities have big egos.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:00:35 GMT

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:55:12 GMT

No, no free pass. As Amy notes, being an Olympian does not entitle you to be a giant ass. It's rather pathetic, if, in his 50s, he still needs constant stroking of the ego and validation and adulation. I'm sure most Olympians and elite athletes have a fair dose of ego and confidence, but it doesn't need to be out of control. Can I get an AMEN?!

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:07:03 GMT

remember folks; mark spitz won his gold medals without cap and goggles. he also had a hamster glued to his face......and leroy neiman stalking him so give the guy a break already. Uh.....so what? No one else he raced wore a cap and goggles. It was his choice to have a mustache. He was awesome. But Phelps has much more attention to deal with. The internet. He is a professional with the pressure of sponsors. I think swimming is more competitive globally now. This doesn't reduce one bit the significance of Spitz. And it doesn't excuse his arrogance.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

mattson — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:53:10 GMT

I had read where Thorpe was fat and living in LA. He looked pretty good last night. Maybe sitting in the stands will prompt a comeback attempt. I think a Thorpe comeback will need him to be in the pool :drown: instead of sitting in the stands. :notworking: (I had to... that was too good of a setup.)

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:49:44 GMT

So…we're watching the swimming, Phelps just got another gold, yadda, yadda, yadda. They pan in the crowd just before the women's 100 ***, and show Ian Thorpe in the stands. So my question is, who invited him? Maybre he just likes to watch swimming. He said that Phelps can't do it to push him on.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Trichica — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:34:51 GMT

Here you go--if you go to this site and you can listen to the podcast of 7/22 where Spitz is interviewed by Mike Greenberg about Phelps and the Olympics. Spitz is asked if he is going to be there to see if Phleps breaks the record...and Spitz says--he is doing the opening ceremony; then going to HK and then coming back to the states to take care of some business and watch it on tv like everyone else.....no mention of not being invited to the games..... Intersting. sports.espn.go.com/.../archive assets.espn.go.com/.../button_play.gif assets.espn.go.com/.../button_download.gif Best of Mike and Mike: 7/22 Mark Spitz will take it as a compliment if Michael Phelps breaks his Olympic records. Brent Musburger offers historical perspective. And Jayson Stark still likes the Cubs.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

elise526 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:20:55 GMT

Kudos to Frank "Skip" Thompson for a very erudite backstory here. For what it's worth, I think that for all his alleged egomania, Spitz probably did more to popularize swimming in the US then just about any swimmer before or since. Looking at it purely from his point of view, imagine if you had been the greatest the world has ever seen in any particular endeavor, be it swimming, dog handling, or stamp collecting. Not just the greatest, but a quantum leap above what had existed before you came along. Then imagine that the bureaucracy that deals with whatever this activity is--FINA, the American Kennel Club, or the World Philatelist Society, for example--was populated by people that loved that activity but were not necessarily all that good at it themselves. And then, for whatever reason, real or imaginary, the bureacratic elements thought you were not being polite enough to them, that you somehow were obligated to stay on their good side, rather than vice versa. It would be like Mozart being on the outs with the American Association of High School Music Educators. Granted, it would be nice if Mozart, or Spitz, was world class in every aspect of their respective lives, including magnanimity. This rarely happens. I don't know about Mozart, but in Spitz's case, isn't it enough that he was just world class in swimming? Doesn't that buy him a free pass for life? It will be interesting to see if the Phelps legacy leads the same "pig in the python" demographic boom of great masters swimmers a couple decades from now that Spitz, I believe, triggered. Even the wicked get more than they deserve, somebody once said. Being a jerk in middle age, especially in defense of your life's greatest accomplishments that are fast receding into dimming history, seems to me something we should all forgive... I agree. Seems like the media threw a juicy bone to a pack of dogs. Funny how folks are willing to forgive the imperfections in other athletes. Depends on who you like and what you deem acceptable or unacceptable in life. In other words, it's all a value judgment.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:08:28 GMT

Spitz was incredible back then. I remember watching him just murder the competition in the 72 games. It was so much like Phelps today. If I remember correctly he was also very gracious with the media. It sent me and most of you here today to the pool. In my book he deserves a pass for those comments. I glad he is getting all this attention. He deserves it.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

The Fortress — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:56:16 GMT

It's pork rinds in the smallest guest room at Hotel Fortress for you, my friend. In your dotage, your spelling has seriously gone awry. It's Colonies Zones! Really, I think Muppet could have managed a later start on Sunday for your eminence. You could still be half asleep for the 100 free.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

jim thornton — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:39:04 GMT

Leslie, At the upcoming Colony Zones Long Course Masters Swimming Championships/Terrapin Cup, someone--don't know who, don't know when--might happen to raise the issue that I, James Thornton, FINA aged 56, was (am?) a Short Court Yards Zonesman, that is to say, the owner on not one, not two, well, actually, it is two, ALL Time Colony Zones masters records in the 55-59 age group. Mark Spitz himself may have set 33 world records, but to my knowledge, he is not a Zonesman like me. Am I arrogant? Am I a "jerk"? Am I affected by braggadocio? Do I truly understand the meaning of the word braggadocio, or, for that matter, its spelling? These questions are unanswerable. All I do know is that I expect a certain level of reverence from the Maryland, Northern Virginia, and District of Columbia-area swimming fan community, reverence which includes haute cuisine and hotter massagers. OH, and ONE MORE THING! I want, and, in fact, demand, the free pass to which my previous life accomplishments in the George Mason University swimming pool have entitled me and my descendants now and in perpetuity, a free pass that includes the right to evict any redcoats from the annex to the starter mansion in Fairfax like Rich.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:55:53 GMT

remember folks; mark spitz won his gold medals without cap and goggles. he also had a hamster glued to his face......and leroy neiman stalking him so give the guy a break already.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

ande — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:56:46 GMT

spitz = EGO in a Speedo it's too big to fit inside the cube

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

The Fortress — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:48:40 GMT

Granted, it would be nice if Mozart, or Spitz, was world class in every aspect of their respective lives, including magnanimity. This rarely happens. I don't know about Mozart, but in Spitz's case, isn't it enough that he was just world class in swimming? Doesn't that buy him a free pass for life? Being a jerk in middle age, especially in defense of your life's greatest accomplishments that are fast receding into dimming history, seems to me something we should all forgive... No, no free pass. As Amy notes, being an Olympian does not entitle you to be a giant ass. It's rather pathetic, if, in his 50s, he still needs constant stroking of the ego and validation and adulation. I'm sure most Olympians and elite athletes have a fair dose of ego and confidence, but it doesn't need to be out of control.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

Former Member — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:39:51 GMT

Do you guys remember when Spitz tried to make a "come back"? He raced Biondi and Jaeger in some made for TV 50 fly. It was hilarious.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

gobears — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:34:09 GMT

It will be interesting to see if the Phelps legacy leads the same "pig in the python" demographic boom of great masters swimmers a couple decades from now that Spitz, I believe, triggered. Even the wicked get more than they deserve, somebody once said. Being a jerk in middle age, especially in defense of your life's greatest accomplishments that are fast receding into dimming history, seems to me something we should all forgive... I don't see Phelps ever being this egomaniacal. It seems his mother has raised him better than that. There are quite a few swimmers who have helped put swimming on the sporting map who don't demand to be treated as gods. Spitz can be as big a crybaby as he wants. He doesn't care whether we "forgive" him or not.

RE: Mark Spitz is upset....

aquageek — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:20:39 GMT

Maybe the Australian Olympic Committee? Thorpe is one of the Aussie's all time bests (maybe the all time best) and they are a swim-crazed country. Skip I had read where Thorpe was fat and living in LA. He looked pretty good last night. Maybe sitting in the stands will prompt a comeback attempt. He still is one of the most awesome swimmers of all time.