Phelps is going down ....

It wasn't captured on TV but Phelps did shake Biedermann's hand as they exited the pool. My bad. But I guess I'm just trying to say is depending on the circumstances, I don't think a little ribbing is bad. And I actually in someways cannot blame Cavic for pointing out that Phelps could use the suits if he wanted to, because look at what happened when Biedermann beat Phelps. It became all about the suits. Not said directly by Phelps, but certainly by others. When I don't like smack is when it becomes extremely bad. For example I remember in another sport I watch gymnastics. Paul Hamm a year ago was saying some things about Yang Wei which went out of line. He literally said well Yang is going to be under more pressure than me, because who knows what the Chinese government will do to him, if he doesn't bring home the Gold. It was quite ridiculous comment actually because we'll Paul Hamm knew quite well that Yang and the entire Chinese bombed big time in Athens me and women. And well, they all lived to see the next day. Several of the bombing gymnasts were at the time Hamm spoke attending some of China's top universities. If you have moderate success as an athlete in Chin (like win a world cup title in bars for example, you get huge points off your admission test to China's top universities. I guess I'm saying is long as the smack talk is fair and not completely out of line. I don't see the big deal. Of course though with Phelps you might want to think about the dangers of getting him fired up and angry. Biedermann played Phelps a lot better than Cavic did.

This shaking hand thing does not mean anything. If you get beat then shake the guy's hand that beat you, what are you really saying under your breath.

When I don't like smack is when it becomes extremely bad. For example I remember in another sport I watch gymnastics. Paul Hamm a year ago was saying some things about Yang Wei which went out of line. I'm not a big fan of Paul Hamm ever since he won the all-around gold in 2004 due to a scoring error but still acted like he deserved to win.

Before the 100 Fly Phelps was incredibly intense and focused,I don't think he can just turn it off when his hand hit the wall.By the medals ceremony he was more gracious.

In the AP story of July 28, this is what we find: While Biedermann hung on the lane rope, thrusting his right hand in the air, Phelps stared at the scoreboard for a few seconds before heading off in the opposite direction, not even bothering to shake hands with the swimmer who had just handed him his first big individual loss since July 30, 2005. The article also quotes Phelps, after his loss and the topic of the tech suits in the air: "It's going to be fun next year," he said, "when swimming is back to swimming." (my emphasis) Huh? Now, Keith M. says that Phelps shook B's hand even though it wasn't on TV....nice to hear that but who saw it? Keith? And assuming Phelps did I wish they caught it on camera, for Phelps's sake. I don't want to be hard on Phelps. The guy proved in his race against Cavic that he is the most gifted and intense competitive swimmer we have seen in, well, in my life anyway. He is simply the best. But to say "next year when swimming is back to swimming" after he lost sounds like whining and it is ungenerous to Biedermann. When Phelps had the LZR with its polyurethane patches and was kicking ass in Beijing, did he consider that "swimming"? Of course. So, he said and did a couple of things that a more mature person would not do or say. Not such a big deal, but no point in our glossing over it because of his phenomenal ability as a swimmer. And why do I care? Good question. I think because at some fundamental level we idolize these guys because their athletic ability is both beautiful and stunning. I want them to be both athletic gods and paragons of virtue. It's unrealistic but I saw a good bit of that at Rome (e.g. Stephannie Rice towards Kukors who just smashed her world record). I think Phelps learned a hell of a lot at this meet and will grow from it. His coach....? Well, I don't know.

Sportsmanship in the pool does matter. These athletes are representing our country and it would be nice to see them conduct themselves accordingly. If they're going to trash talk or gloat, I would rather see that happen in a press conference ('Quit whining, ***. The clock doesn't lie'.) than roid rage in the pool. Once you enter the venue of competition, rules of sportsmanship should be honored. Of course this is just my spectator's opinion.

I'm not a big fan of Paul Hamm ever since he won the all-around gold in 2004 due to a scoring error but still acted like he deserved to win. Me either. I remember that, he acted like a real ***. I enjoyed watching him lose on Ninja Warrior. :D

Me either. I remember that, he acted like a real ***. I enjoyed watching him lose on Ninja Warrior. :D I'm not familiar with his stats, but most gymnasts are fairly short, right? Ninja Warrior is not a contest geared for short people since many of the challenges involve jumping and reaching for things to climb up/over. I didn't see that particular episode, but wonder if he went into it too sure of himself? I'd also be curious to see how some sprinters or middle distance swimmers would do at Ninja Warrior.

Short is actually not too awful on Ninja Warrior unless you're talking like 5'2" short because so many of the obstacles, especially on the third stage, have a lot to do with strength-weight ratio. The cross the ledge using only your fingertips obstacle that was a third stage staple for many tournaments put the bigger competitors at a significant disadvantage. I couldn't get heights on the Sasuke All-Stars, but Jordan Jovtchev is listed as 5'7" and he's one of the few guys ever to make it past the first three rounds. As for swimmers, I can remember a handful of Japanese ones showing up over the years with moderate success. In terms of US-based elite swimmers, so many of them are utter klutzes on land, but how about Erik Vendt? Not too talk, can probably be talked into any number of crazy things.