DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – Who does Michael Phelps look up to?
That bar has to be set pretty high for the all-time leader in Olympic
medals. And so, sitting with David Feherty during a special Ryder Cup
edition of Feherty Live, the Golf Channel's version of a late-night talk
show, Phelps talked about the man who inspires him most.
Michael Jordan.
Feherty's show had come to the grand old Tivoli Theater in suburban
Chicago, where it was only fitting that No. 23 would come up in
conversation. For it was only 20 miles to the east where Jordan
led the Bulls to six NBA championships. Feherty joked that his
low-budget show couldn't afford the real Michael Jordan, only a blowup
one, and with that out stepped the five-time MVP, drawing the capacity
crowd inside the Tivoli Theater to its feet and an adoring smile across
Phelps' face.
Of all the famous people Phelps has rubbed elbows with over the years, Jordan hasn't been one of them. Until Monday night.
Already shy whenever a camera is shoved in his face, Phelps could barely
muster a sentence sitting next to MJ. Feherty wondered why a kid from
Baltimore would grow up idolizing a guy playing in Chicago.
"He's the greatest," Phelps muttered as he stared at his shoes.
And then, in a moment as refreshing as an early-morning swim, Phelps let
everyone know just how he felt: "I'm at a loss for words."
Phelps said he has been in the pool since announcing his official
retirement following the London Olympics, but only for a little
exercise. He insisted on more than one occasion Monday night that he's
"not coming back." Golf, it appears, is where at least some of his focus
is now, though he says he's not very good at it. (His swing, which
Feherty broke down on video, showed otherwise.)
The dedication to swim seven days a week for at least the last 12 years
took its toll on Phelps, who called retirement "the best thing to ever
happen."