I am really in an inflammatory mood and am going to say a couple of things on my mind.
First, regarding Speedo's sponsorship of Phelps three words come to mind that they might consider using in their next media blitz for selling suits to worshipers of the sport: Loser, poor sport and quitter.
Loser: in my mind, Phelps finished second in the 200 free but the average Joe sixpack will call that a loss. Hence, loser.
Poor Sport: it's been mentioned already in another thread that Phelps wouldn't even look at Biedermann after his loss. And we vilified Kitajima for his behavior? Hmmm.
Quitter: Bowman says he shouldn't swim until the suits are banned and Phelps says Bowman knows best. It's great to stick by your sponsor but shouldn't good ethical values trump your coaches view on occasion?
Second, regarding the 'great coaches' opinions: Schubert wants to place an asterisk by all records with the new suits. Bowman says it's all right to go back to 2007, before the LZR was introduced.
Doesn't that mean that all Phelps medals at Beijing are invalid? Or, at least, should have a star by the listing? How does Mark Spitz feel about that? What about Ian Thrope's comment that Phelps could never beat Spitz' record? Since Phelps is the Speedo poster boy for the LZR and, as noted elsewhere in the Forums, beat Crocker's record in a full body suit shouldn't he be ashamed?
My opinion of the whole lot has dropped tangibly. Personally, I'm ashamed to have cheered for Phelps during his career. He embarasses me...
At the end of the day, Speedo really dropped the ball. It is their fault for starting this mess, and now they're scrambling to play catch-up.
They got FINA to change the definition of allowable fabric to allow for these polyeurethyne suits during LZR development. One could argue that they timed this so that their LZR would be the only big thing at the Olympics while other companies scrambled to develop competitors to the LZR. These competitors came out in force post-Beijing, and came out with better products than Speedo.
What I want to know is why has Speedo neglected to develop and release a LZR 2.0 or equivalent? They had to know this arms race was coming after the uproar over the LZR's availability leading up to Beijing. With no answer to the B70, X-Glide and Jaked (anyone else notice how close to the phrase "jacked up" that company name is?), their athletes are stuck in the same way the Germans, et al. were stuck in Beijing.
Someone took their innovative idea and made it better. Capitalism at its best. Sorry, Speedo, but get your scientists out of hibernation and maybe one day soon, you'll again have the best suits in the pool.
At the end of the day, Speedo really dropped the ball. It is their fault for starting this mess, and now they're scrambling to play catch-up.
They got FINA to change the definition of allowable fabric to allow for these polyeurethyne suits during LZR development. One could argue that they timed this so that their LZR would be the only big thing at the Olympics while other companies scrambled to develop competitors to the LZR. These competitors came out in force post-Beijing, and came out with better products than Speedo.
What I want to know is why has Speedo neglected to develop and release a LZR 2.0 or equivalent? They had to know this arms race was coming after the uproar over the LZR's availability leading up to Beijing. With no answer to the B70, X-Glide and Jaked (anyone else notice how close to the phrase "jacked up" that company name is?), their athletes are stuck in the same way the Germans, et al. were stuck in Beijing.
Someone took their innovative idea and made it better. Capitalism at its best. Sorry, Speedo, but get your scientists out of hibernation and maybe one day soon, you'll again have the best suits in the pool.
