Mark Spitz is miffed

It's not surprising that he was not invited, given the meda's love affair with Michael Phelps. Even the post-race coverage of the 4 x 100 was, at least on TV, more about Phelp's reaction than it was the team's. Phelps is a great swimmer; he's also a champion when it comes to usage of the first person singular.

Spitz should have been invited; after all, it's his record that Phelps is out to beat.

(Not to mention that Phelps is doing it in swim gear that makes his efforts in the water more effecient and effective.)

Despite the F-bombs, Garret Weber-Gale and the others showed more class in the post-victory interviews.
 
I think he is more than reasonable. He gives a lot of respect to Phelps and all he wanted was to be there to witness it. After all, if Phelps does it it will be the greatest achievement in Olympic history.

I disagree about Phelps not being about the team. He gave a short quick answer when asked about his quest and continually complimented his TEAM.
 
I think Spitz should have been invited and flown over as well.

But not only did Spitz break those records with a small poodle under his nose, he also was wearing a bear skin rug.

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I think the Olyumpic committee goofed big time by not inviting Spitz to be there and to present the medals. Perhaps they didn't want to offend him by saying, "We want you there when this guy takes you out of the record book," but shouldn't it be Spitz's decision to make about whether or not to be there? And since he is an Olympic record-holder, the Olympic committee SHOULD have had to pay his way and his hotel.

Also, I think Spitz paid appropriate respect to Phelps, and we mustn't forget that it's the MEDIA that is pimping Phelps at every opportunity, not Phelps himself. I thought Phelps handled the post-race interview well last night, giving props to his teammates.
 
i'm going to wait for this one to play out, i remember a radio interview a couple of months ago where he was asked if he was going to Beijing, he said he couldn't because of prior marketing appointments or something.
 
Maybe Team USA didn't want the pressure of Mark Spitz face being shown on every camera for each Phelps race. It's hard enough knowing you need to win gold in 8 of 8 races, often racing 2x per day but having Spitz standing there reminding you seems almost unfair.

Seriously, there is no reason for Spitz to be there. Let them both do the marketing tour following the Olympics.

Sour grapes.
 
Although Phelps is the favorite in all his events, it's by no means a given that he wins them all. Bringing Spitz over almost belittles the rest of the swimmers, especially since Phelps has to win 8 of 8.
 
They are both arrogant stooges!!!! Great Swimmers, no doubt, but arrogant and cocky, both of them!!!!

Spitz didn't want to pay his own way, he thought someone else should pay his way, they did in Athens, they chose other athletes in this Olympics. If you want to see it, pay your own way!!!!
 
Should the USOC sponsor Spitz' presence? Maybe, but I think the decision should be subject to a veto by Phelps, or the swim team coaches, if they don't want the distraction. They should be allowed to make such a decision quietly, and perhaps they did.

If they don't sponsor his presence at the games, as a private citizn he is certainly able to go there.
 
If it's true that they paid his way to Athens, and then he expected the same treatment this year, that's BS. I mean does he expect a free ride anytime anyone is attempting to beat his record? That'd be like if they had forced Hank Aaron to come to every game Barry Bonds ever played just incase he happened to break the record. So if Phelps doesn't break it, is Spitz going to whine next time in London when Phelps once again swims in 8 events?
 
It bugs me when people point to the pool or the suits for Phelps success. It's ridiculous since he's swimming against other people in the same pool and wearing the same suits.
 
My comments about the suits goes not to beating Mark Spitz's record; it was only to the apples and oranges concept of the records in general. When does the asterisk come into play here?
 
Spitz in the new suit and modern pool design would have kicked Phelps' *** back in the day.

Spitz does need to update his website

Career Highlights: "More gold medals (7) in a single Olympics than any athlete in Olympic history"
 
With the modern advances, swimming the same speed in 2008 as someone did in 1988 is actually much slower. The problem is that its impossible to say that if Spitz was 21 yrs old today, whether or not he could beat Phelps.

speaking of records, how in the world does Janet Evans still hold the 800 m freestyle record from 1989? I don't care what Phelps does, but I can guarantee that he won't set a record that will last 20 years. He's not that far above his competition.
 
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