The cost of being the "best-ever": A cautionary tale for Michael Phelps.

By now we've all heard about the legendary Olympics by 23-year old Michael Phelps, with his record eight gold medals (it's not coincidental that both his record and the one he broke, Mark Spitz, were both in swimming) this month and seven world record performances. It's an Olympics for the ages. 

There are three questions that I would like to ask the man only a couple years my elder:

1. Now what?

2. Was it worth the sacrifice?

3. When you retire, can you?

Starting with question one: Now what?

You've accomplished everything you've ever dreamed of, and you are 23 years old. What does one do after reaching the pinnacle, especially in a sport when the pinnacle is probably in the first-third of one's life? Sure, you might win a few more gold medals in 2012 in London, but that will only be gravy on the sundae (or potatoes, or steak, whatever). Unfortunately, if you lose, it will be a bigger deal than any more wins you have, and as Louis Johnson mentioned about Usain Bolt after his 200 meter performance, the only thing that's allowed anymore is 1st place. It's almost a no-win position to be in, outside of the "best swimmer ever" side out of it.

Mark Spitz, has spent the last 35 years raking in on a good year, giving speeches about his own awesomeness and made a good living, but that's all he will ever be remembered for in the general public, and now that he's been overtaken, he'll be remembered even less now.

Question two: Was it worth the sacrifice?

Why this may seem like an obvious answer, dig a little bit deeper. Most highly successful or celebritized people tend to have to give a little, either on the professional side or the personal side. Perhaps Phelps is a bit immune to this since he is only 23, but whenever someone trains as hard and long as someone like Phelps has done, there's going to be a drop off in what he can do personally. Maybe he will be able to help recover that some now, but it can be difficult.

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all-time, has struggled some, and his off-court exploits, though pretty hush-hush (since he is Michael Jordan), are noteworthy and not too uncommon. More about him in question three. Lance Armstrong, a great champion and cancer survivor, divorced soon after retiring and became a celeb-type, being one of those linked with whatever celebs (along with hanging out with Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey) of the moment. And when the sacrifice pays off (like it did for Phelps and the aforementioned Jordan and Armstrong) it can be satisfying, but maybe could make them pretentious. You can argue whether they have the right to be or not.

Question three: When you retire, can you?

This can be taken both literally and figuratively. Brett Favre's comeback issue is long spent, explained, broken down, and overanalyzed. Still, Willie Mays continued with the Mets, MJ with the Wizards, the entire boxing industry (how many times has George Foreman retired?), etc. As mentioned earlier, if Phelps swims where he gets the crap kicked out of him, even if he's 31 or 35 at the time, it will diminish his stature a little. Michael Johnson's stature is secure since no one really ever saw him much again after '96 and he always pulled up lame when he was going to lose anyway. Michael Jordan, some will remember the Wizards, but some will block it out of their minds, and the next generation will forget him. Heck, I don't remember him that well and I lived in Chicago in '93 at his peak.

But what I'm really getting at is retiring in the mental aspect. Most of the great ones can't get out. Jordan is legendary in his competitive nature, but when that doesn't involve basketball, it's kind of a bad thing. What helped him have that extra edge also is what has hurt him, from his fights with teammates, gambling problems (even during the NBA Season he would go gamble on off days), and mistress issues (which led to a divorce, and possibly an illegitimate child). Tiger Woods has been known for his competitive nature, but has been better about it, he seems to handle it better, but he's incredibly negative in his in-game approach. I'm sure you've heard him swear a time, or two, or 10,000. Much better way to handle it than MJ though.

Kobe had the same problem, and became kind of a defiant, too good for his own good type, until recently, and he's now more beloved because of it (he's the biggest international star in the world, because they're more forgiving of rape accusations than America). LeBron may have a similar issue, as every move he's made in his career is based solely around making more money (he wants to be the first billionaire athlete), which is a different approach. Winning is important only because it can bring more wealth.

If you want to go more traditional, Ty Cobb was hated because he was so competitive (and talented) that he would do anything to win, whether it was cleating opponents, fighting groundskeepers or showing up opponents.

Phelps could have the same problem in his career if he can't separate his noticeably competitive nature (you have to have some desire and competitiveness if you think you can win among 7 different groups of athletes).

The key point in this essay of sorts is to what ends will one go to be the greatest ever, and once they get there, how do they deal with it? Phelps has a lot of recent history of other potential "greatest evers" to look at and decide how he wants to continue his life. Sure, he's going to be worth $100 million and he's set for life. Do something with it, don't be like Spitz (a great swimmer and who appears to be a decent guy) and only be remembered for being awesome at something in one decade of your life. There are great moments, don't let it be the only moments.