A little Michael Phelps goes a long way

I am suffering from Michael Phelps overload.

Over the course of the last week, I've gone from detesting him to admiring him to fancying him to just being an all around fan. I was actually rooting for France to win that gold medal in the 4x100m relay on Sunday only to turn around and cheer for him like a deranged animal during his last race on Sunday, the 4x100 individual medley. Why you'd ask have I gone from dry to high ever so quickly?

I always thought he was such a stuck up doofus. Based on little tidbits I've read here and there and the fact that he set such a high goal for himself just seemed like a conceited cocky sportsman to me. Why would you proclaim to beat other people at a sports event where you are competing against the best in the world? Do you have any consideration for how hard others been working as well? But then, I saw his mother in the crowd and she just looked so... normal. Like an everyday "soccer" mom only this time, a "swimmer's" mom. And I thought, he cannot be all that bad, his mom and his sisters flew all the way to support him and his lofty dream, so he must be doing something right. And any guy who is the only male in a family of women instantly gets my vote, because there's always a certain level of humility with being surrounded by women, you understand and appreciate women more; you are more attentive and sensitive to certain things. This is my theory and it's been tried and tested as foolproof. So, that just took care of the doofus category for me. He can't be a doofus, he is surrounded by women, there's no room for "doffusery" when women are involved.

But it takes a lot to come out in life and say, "This is what I want, This is what I want to achieve," and to speak that so much that even your teammates have a hand in helping you to achieve that, it takes a lot of admiration and respect from both sides. So my love went from low to high and all this happened within a week. Plus I listened to some of his interviews and he seemed well grounded. What finally hit the nail on the head was right after his last medal ceremony, during his march, he stopped and made his way through the dozens of photographers and reporters, to his family sitting in the stands. Something about that just struck a nerve, like these are the most important people to me and I have to thank them for being here. He didn't take any interviews nothing, he just wanted to say Hi and thank you. I just thought that was... sweet!