Michael Phelps is 19 years old.

He will be voting in his first presidential election this fall,
if he chooses to do so. He will not be able to legally buy a drink
for almost two years. Think about it–he is younger than most of
the people at this University.

I’ve even heard girls my age (only 21, I’m not that old) say
he’s just “cute” in silent fear of being labeled as a Demi Moore
should they actually think him “hot.” He’s young, even compared to
the other swimmers on the United States team who are an average age
of 23.

He has four Olympic medals and counting.

Still, around the sporting world, some sense of disappointment
surrounds Phelps’ achievements.

He was poised to challenge Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold
medals in the ’72 Munich games. He threw down the gauntlet to
Australian Ian Thorpe, star of the Sydney games, a swimmer two
years his senior plus a few gold medals of added poise.

Within the first weekend of competition, it became clear Phelps
would not meet his lofty goal. When he took bronze in two events,
the headlines pointed out the fact that he would not win all of the
gold he set out for–the fact that he medaled was only subhead
notable. In some articles, the word failure even crept into the
mix.

This is hardly a fair critique when considering alternatives,
such as the Men’s Basketball team.

They fell to Puerto Rico 92-73 in their first contest, marking
only the third loss ever for U.S. Men’s Basketball in Olympic play.
The defeat came with a wave of disappointment–but there were also
excuses.

“This team’s game is not suited for international play.” “They
don’t mesh well together.”

Odd, this has not been a problem since NBA players started in
the games.

Did the team in Barcelona ever let a game get to within 20?
Shaq, not exactly the most selfless player in the world, and his
Sydney team didn’t break much of a sweat grabbing the gold in
2000.

Translation for the excuses: This team is lazy and
selfish–trademarks of the new style of NBA players. There are no
good defenses for their slip. Collectively, this team makes around
$100 million a year to play basketball for a living. The Olympics
don’t offer any cash; but when did it become only worthy of
charity-caliber play?

They can easily bounce back–they may still win the gold.
Regardless of what happens, even if they come back with the sickest
ice Athens has to offer, few will forget the opening loss,
especially the residents of San Juan.

Does anyone out there know Carlos Arroyo?

He led the Puerto Ricans in scoring with 24 points. Does he have
as many Bentleys as Allen Iverson? Probably not, but he had four
more assists that night.

Unlike his basketball counterparts, Michael Phelps never took a
race lying down.

When Ian Thorpe had half a length ahead of him the next lane
over, Phelps never had the opportunity to think, if I lose, I still
have a shoe deal with Nike and a video game with my mug on the
cover.

It, somehow, is always only the basketball team to be
characterized by a lack of effort.

Expectations are sometimes placed too heavily on the wrong
individuals.

Because he was on the cover of Time, because Spitz said he
thought Phelps could break his mark, because he already is a
world-record holder, everyone prepared themselves to marvel at the
next Greek god of American athletics, the playboy of the Athens
games.

There is no reason Phelps still shouldn’t be all of those
things. He is, after all, a 19-year-old who may return to the
States with eight or more Olympic medals.

They may not all end up being gold, as he set out for–but he
didn’t take the route of aiming for lower expectations.

Few care that he won’t win eight golds, or even seven. Give
Phelps a Wheaties box.

Lord knows I won’t buy any featuring Stephon Marbury or Lamar
Odom.