NOW:
There are the "Six Degrees of Separation" and the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" but what do you call the connection between the world's most famous Olympic athlete and Las Vegas?
How about "sister?"
Michael Phelps, the King Midas of the Beijing Games, has a sister named Whitney who swam the butterfly and individual medley at UNLV.
Whitney Phelps used to swim as fast as a marlin, too, ranking first in the U.S. and third in the world in the butterfly as a 16-year-old. But then she hurt her back and ultimately had to retire, although she did win the 200 fly in the 2000 Mountain West championships.
During the Athens games when Michael burst into the national spotlight, I remember asking Jim Reitz, the longtime UNLV coach who honored Whitney Phelps' scholarship by making her an assistant coach when she she couldn't swim anymore, if he had seen Whitney recently.
Yeah, he said. About 50 times. She was the one standing next to Michael's mom, jumping up and down on TV.
------ When Reitz was recruiting Whitney, he was introduced to her famous brother, a bunch of years before he became that. Michael Phelps was 12. "He was just a boy then and he wasn't a fanatical swimmer," Reitz said in a 2004 interview. "He was goofing around with other sports but that's probably what allowed him to maintain his purity and his strokes. You never know when a kid is 12 if he is even going to be in the sport. But ... we've had a few sister-brother combinations. So I would like to think that Michael would have given us a look if he hadn't turned pro."
----- When I clicked on Sean Kazmar's bio on Yahoo earlier today it said "No stats available." Not anymore. In his very first at-bat as a major leaguer, the former CSN and Las Vegas High star singled to left field -- off Milwaukee Brewers ace C.C. Sabathia, no less. Kazmar played shortstop and went 1-for-2 in his big league debut before being removed for a pinch hitter. The Brew-has won, 7-1.
THEN:
Today's Olympic thought: While I have never seen a deer in the headlights, I was watching on TV when Frank Shorter re-entered the Olympic Stadium leading the marathon, only to find an impostor running a half-lap in front. I imagine his expression would have been similar to Bambi's had he crossed paths with an SUV instead of Thumper.
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