Just Simply Holly

OK, I’m probably the only person in the US that hasn’t watched a single second of the Olympics, I didn’t even watch the opening events. Sorry, sports just aren’t my thing, and life has been very busy and stressful for the past 5 days!

I have, however, kept up with some of the Olympics news online, mostly the news about Michael Phelps and his drive to break the 1972 record of 7 gold medals won by Mark Spitz. Mark Spitz was an AMAZING athlete and has every right to be proud of what he accomplished 36 summers ago! However, when I just read this story on Yahoo News about Spitz being upset that he wasn’t personally invited/taken to the Olympics, I don’t know how to feel!

In the article Spitz talks about how he’s offended because he wasn’t “brought” to the 2008 Olympics:

Spitz said the International Olympic Committee, a US television network or FINA — the international body that governs world swimming — should have brought him to the Games this year, with Phelps making a go at his record.

He also goes on to say

“I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That’s almost demeaning to me. It is not almost — it is.”

While I can only pretend to know how it would feel if someone were to break a world record that I had set almost 4 decades ago, I can’t help but feel that Spitz is acting like a toddler throwing a fit because he can’t have a piece of candy from the grocery store!

Mr. Spitz, GET OVER YOURSELF and grow up! Rather than coming off as a spoiled child get your ass on a plane and fly over there to support a young man who will be a MUCH better athlete than you ever were! Not because he might break your record, but because he’s NOT arrogant! Your time in the spotlight was over DECADES ago, rather than cry over it, get over there and be prepared to be a true man and congratulate this young man if he does indeed break your record. No one needs to invite you, and I can almost guarantee the reason they didn’t is because you are a pompous ASS! If you’d have shown any indication that you weren’t crying over your record being broken, they’d have “brought” you over to Beijing without a moments hesitation!