In the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials this week, three young men dominated the headlines.
Michael Phelps turned 15 on June 30. On Saturday he became the youngest male to make the U.S. Olympic swimming team since 1932 when he finished second in the 200-meter butterfly. Phelps, 6'3" and 165 pounds, has grown an amazing 8 inches this year and has size 14 feet.
17-year-old Ian Crocker from Portland, Maine broke Matt Biondi's 12-year-old record in the 100-meter
butterfly at 52.82 seconds. Crocker, who usually trains in a pool half the length of an Olympic-sized pool, is the first person to qualify for the Olympic swim team from Maine - and, until a couple months ago, wasn't even going to try out.
Finally, seemingly a senior citizen compared to the others, 25-year-old Gary Hall Jr. broke a decade old record in the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 21.76-the second fastest time in history. Amazing considering Hall has been battling diabetes.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
A BIZARRE ENDING
It's only exhibition, but the ending of Friday's Giants-Jaguars NFL game was as bizarre as you'll ever see.
The Giants led, 13-10, with seconds to go when defensive back Fred Lewis intercepted a Jonathan Quinn pass at the goal line. Game over. But wait ... Lewis stepped into the end zone and teammate Jack Golden grabbed him to stop the play. But Golden jarred the ball loose and the Jags' Brandon Christenson fell on the ball for the game-winning TD.
Lewis was a bonehead for not falling down once he had the interception. Why he ran backwards is a mystery. And Golden, despite his good intentions, is faulted for blindsiding his teammate. Golden was a media celebrity all week and seemed to take it in good spirits.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
DOES WATCHING
SPORTS MAKE YOU HORNY?
Want to feel less depressed and lonely and feel better about your sex appeal? Then start rooting for a sports team.
These were among the surprising conclusions in an Aug. 11 New York Times article that examined research into why people are sports fans and what positives or negatives may result.
The negatives researchers have discovered are obvious to anyone who has seen his team lose a big game: You feel like someone just cut off your arm.
But the benefits, the Times article found, may outweigh being in a funk when ``your'' kicker blows a chip-shot field goal to win a game, especially if your team wins:
--``A study at the University of Kansas suggests ... that sports fans suffer fewer bouts of depression and alienation than do people uninterested in sports.'' This was linked to a ``tribal'' sense of belonging that goes back to when primitive man watched two
Neanderthals duke it out with clubs in the first boxing match.
As Daniel Wann, a psychologist at Murray State University in Kentucky said: ``So many of the traditional institutions are beginning to break down religion and family. The human psyche is the same and something has to take the place of that. Sports fills an important void.''
But the findings about sex were most revealing:
--James Dabbs, a psychologist at Georgia State University, ``took saliva samples from 21 Italian and Brazilian men in Atlanta before and after Brazil's victory over Italy in soccer's 1994 World Cup. The Brazilians' testosterone rose an average of 28% while the Italians' levels dropped 27%."
--``Men and women who were die-hard fans were much more optimistic about their sex appeal after a victory.''
--``Charles Hillman, a psychologist now at the University of Illinois found that ardent football fans at the University of Florida experienced extreme physiological arousal when they viewed pictures of Gator football stars making game-winning plays, but responded indifferently to pictures of other athletes and teams.''
--Hillman also found ``the level of arousal--measured by heart rate, brain waves and perspiration--was comparable to what fans registered when shown erotic photos or pictures of animal attacks.''
NEW FITNESS MAG:
NO GAYS
A new fitness magazine has accused rival fitness monthlies of catering to "the gay voyeur," the New York Post's ``Page Six'' column says.
Robert Kennedy, publisher of the upcoming American Health & Fitness, wrote in a letter to potential advertisers: "You've probably noticed that many so-called men's fitness magazines are directly geared to the gay voyeur, rather than concentration on giving scientific fitness training-nutrition advice,'' Page Six said.
"Whereas we do not want to ostracize the significant gay market, American Health & Fitness will not be choosing subjects and models principally for their ‘gay appeal.' ''
Kennedy told the newspaper that nearly every men's fitness magazine is targeted to gays to boost newsstand sales.
"You see traces of it in all these magazines," Kennedy said. "They go for the look in a man's eye. If a guy looks like he can be seduced, he goes on the cover. That's what sells a lot of these magazines. They put these debauched, wet-lipped men on the cover. That's something I will not do."
Scott Seomin, a spokesman for Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation wrote back to Kennedy, the newspaper said:
``Your implied message is that all gay men fit a stereotype as sexual voyeurs and advertisers should avoid appealing to our community. We believe this sets up gay men for discrimination and tells the advertising community that we are somehow second-class, below a demographically targeted heterosexual community."
Seomin also takes issue with Kennedy's claim that mainstream muscle and fitness titles pander to gay men, the Post said. "In a lot of these magazines, like Men's Health or Men's Fitness, the articles are about how to work out with your wife," he said. "It's not about how to deal with a spat with your workout buddy, or anything."
The editor of Men's Fitness told the Post: "Men's Fitness is targeted to enriching to the life of any man who is interested in fitness and health. To Men's Fitness, it doesn't matter whether they're black or white, rich or poor, or gay or straight."
SOCCER
Manchester United star David Beckham is considering an offer from Playboy to do a nude layout with his wife, Posh Spice Victoria Adams. The offer is reported to be $350,000 and, according to friends, they are taking the offer very seriously. We certainly hope so!
WNBA
Just as her team finished off the Sacramento Monarchs in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, Houston Comets superstar Sheryl Swoopes was collecting her first ever WNBA defensive player of the year award. She'll add that to her WNBA scoring championship, which she also garnered this season for the first time.
Tari Phillips of the New York Liberty was named the Most Improved Player. Minnesota Lynx guard Betty Lennox was named Rookie Of The Year.