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Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, is one year away from being put under the microscope once again at the 2012 Olympics in London. After his historic performance in 2008, will he possibly be able to match the hype that will surround him next year?

It's been a long, strange journey for Phelps since the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He has been caught with drugs, lost sponsorship deals and has had to try and rebuild his tarnished public image after one of the greatest athletic achievements that anyone has ever seen.

Now, Phelps is dealing with another problem as he moves closer to next year's Olympics: Motivation. It's not that hard to figure out why he would suffer from a lack of motivation after doing what he did three years ago. What's really left to accomplish for him?

From Sports Illustrated:

Since pulling off the unthinkable in Beijing, Phelps has struggled to stay motivated. He missed large chunks of training time in 2009 and 2010, compromising the fitness that has been the foundation of his dominance...The aura of invincibility he once brought to his other events has also developed cracks. At last summer's nationals, rival Ryan Lochte beat him in the 200 IM for the first time. During this spring's Grand Prix season, Phelps lost three straight times in his signature event, the 200 butterfly, ending an unbeaten streak of 60 races that stretched back to 2002.

Any time that you hear about an athlete suffering from a lack of motivation, you know that something is wrong. This is his job, this is how me makes money, and he isn't able to do what it takes to keep himself in prime physical shape.

There is still a lot of time for Phelps to get back into peak physical shape, and he has said that he won't work the schedule this time around that he did in 2008, but what does it say about his character that he is struggling to get motivated on the biggest stage that sports has to offer?

What Phelps did three years ago was unreal, but the things that he says and things that he does continue to make you scratch your head.

If he doesn't care enough to stay in top physical condition to break all the records that he set in Beijing, stay home. I want to see the best athletes in the world competing in the Olympics that want to be there. I don't want someone there who just feels obligated to attend, compete and maybe win a few medals, which is what Phelps is saying right now.

If you can't get motivated for the Olympics, I don't care how many times you have been there or how many medals you have won, then stay away from the Games and give your spot to someone who really wants to be there.

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The Denver Broncos have said that they are going to be shopping quarterback Kyle Orton now that the NFL Lockout is over, and there are at least three teams that have an interest in the starting quarterback. But of all the teams that have an interest in him, the Miami Dolphins need to do whatever it takes to bring him to South Beach.

The Dolphins finished the 2010 season with a record of 7-9, but they finished 6-2 on the road and 1-7 at home. If you do the math, the Dolphins only had to play .500 ball at home in order to finish the season with 10 wins.

Chad Henne has been given every opportunity to prove his worth as a starting quarterback for this team over the last two years, but he has failed to take advantage of it. The team even traded for Brandon Marshall, Orton's former teammate, to give Henne a weapon to throw to and still couldn't get the job done.

The Dolphins are not that far from contention, though the fact that they were minus-60 in point differential does suggest that there is some regression coming next season, unless the offense can improve.

Orton, meanwhile, had a very good season for a terrible Broncos team last year. He threw for 3,653 yards and 20 touchdowns in just 13 games last season before he was benched for the final three games of the season in favor of Tim Tebow.

His accuracy, which has never been a strength, needs to get better - he has only completed over 60 percent of his passes once in his five year career. But if he is able to put up the kind of numbers for the Dolphins that he did for the Broncos, and there's no reason to think that he can't, this team can compete for a playoff spot next year.

Orton already has some rapport on the field with Marshall and knows what to expect from the star wide receiver.

He is a HUGE upgrade over Henne and Tyler Thigpen. He will make the Dolphins instantly better, and even if he doesn't make them Super Bowl contenders, they can compete with teams like New England and New York in the division, which is something that they haven't done since 2008.

The Dolphins need to make a hard push to lure Orton away from Denver if they want to have any hopes of competing in the brutal AFC East in 2011.

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The end of Tuesday night's Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates game was a complete joke and even more proof that Major League Baseball needs to implement some form of instant replay into the game as soon as possible.

Last year, one of the biggest stories in baseball was the story of Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga and the case of the Im-perfect Game. As egregious as that call was, and it was a bad call, this call makes that one look like nothing.

In case you missed it, Scott Proctor hit a grounder to third base. Pedro Alvarez threw the ball home and Julio Logo was dead to rights, he was out by at least five feet, but umpire Jerry Meals, apparently blinded by the light reflecting off the field, decided to call him safe.

This call is on the same level as the Don Denkinger call in game six of the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, it was that bad. The stakes may not have been as high, but the error in judgment is just as baffling.

Major League Baseball has, for whatever reason, resisted the urge to bring instant replay into the game because the powers that be like "the human element" of the game. The human element is fine to a point, but if you need help making a call, or screw something up as badly as this, then replay serves a clear purpose.

People think that with 162 games there are some that aren't important. But what happens if the Braves win the Wild Card by one game and/or the Pirates lose the division by one game?

The human element is a completely stupid argument, especially when there is technology readily available to these umpires to get the call right within 60 seconds.

This kind of play should spring Bud Selig into action even more so than the Jim Joyce call because this actually affected the outcome of the game. The Tigers still won the game last year, so the blown call at first base doesn't matter that much.

Jerry Meals should be disciplined and Selig needs to get all of the appropriate people into a room and demand that they come up with a plan for replay because the current system just isn't getting it done anymore.

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Lost in the shuffle of the NFL Lockout ending is the fact that the NBA Lockout is still going on and shows no real signs of being resolved before the end of the calendar year. Some big name players, like Deron WIlliams, have signed with European teams because they realize the gravity of the situation.

But one of the biggest names in the NBA, Kobe Bryant, doesn't need to follow suit. Part of the reason that the NBA is in this predicament is that the owners and players don't see eye-to-eye on anything and don't work together at all.

According to Yahoo Sports, Kobe's decision will have a domino effect that will likely determine the fate of basketball in this country one way or another.

If Kobe Bryant does sign in Turkey and then convinces teammates and other stars to follow him to Europe, the NBA players will generate interest in the European leagues on a scale commensurate with NBA games. NBA players could jump ship and play in Europe and they could also play a part in signing a television deal with the league.

If there is any hope for an NBA season at all this year, the players and owners have to get together and air out all of their issues. They have to have constant communication, otherwise there is no way that anything can get done.

It's easy to see why NBA players want to play overseas, because it gives them a guaranteed source of income and they get to play in some of the most beautiful cities in the world, but if they want to get this Lockout resolved soon, they need to be here to do it.

It's not fair to put all the onus on Bryant because there are over 350 players in the NBA, but if someone with his name and cache walks away, other players are going to stand up and take notice.

The best thing for the NBA and the Lockout will be Bryant turning down the offer to play in Europe to stay here and work with David Stern to fix this fractured relationship.

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The New York Jets took care of the biggest free agent that they had by signing Santonio Holmes to a big fat new contract that guarantees him $24 million over the next five years and can get as high as $50 million with incentives.

This was a very big move for the Jets and Holmes, but it's not a great move for the team. Holmes had to jump at the chance to sign a contract this big, but it really limits what the Jets can do the rest of the offseason.

The deal, which is the second-biggest guarantee ever for a wide receiver, will preclude the team from resigning Braylon Edwards, who was another impact player for the Jets last year, and they still need to find a guy who can play nose tackle.

Randy Moss is available on the free agent market, and he should come relatively cheap given the way that he played last year and how he is perceived around the NFL, so he could be an option for the Jets. But he is a pipe bomb waiting to burst at any second and could sabotage the chemistry on this team.

There is no reason that Holmes should be the second-highest paid wide receiver in football. I know that he has really good numbers, but is he really better than Andre Johnson or Reggie Wayne or Roddy White or Calvin Johnson? No.

Plus, you have to factor in his suspension at the start of last season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He has a history of being unreliable off the field, which could result in even more suspensions and missed time on the field.

This is a deal that has the potential to blow up in the face of Rex Ryan and everyone else in the New York Jets organization.

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The Washington Redskins are one of the most storied franchises in all of North American sports. The team has won three Super Bowls and is one of the most profitable franchises in the NFL. The fan base is desperate for a winner after years of poor performance after signing a number of big name free agents.

But the trade of Donovan McNabb to the Minnesota Vikings, while it isn't quite finalized, is the first positive move that the Redskins have made in years. He was exactly the kind of player that this team has acquired over the last 10 years under Dan Snyder, and it blew up right in their faces.

Granted, all of that wasn't McNabb's fault, as Mike Shanahan aired out all of the team's dirty laundry in public instead of behind the scenes, but it was obvious, nonetheless, that a change needed to be made.

This roster is devoid of impact talent, and any trades that they can make that will allow them to get rid of veterans and bring back draft picks and get some salary relief need to be made as soon as possible.

The next player that the team should try to move, though it's almost impossible to see anyone taking on his contract, is Albert Haynesworth. He doesn't get along with Shanahan, and doesn't seem interested in being a member of the Redskins organization anymore. If the team can get anything at all for him, they should take it,

The Redskins need to find skill position players who can make an impact, particularly on offense, because their current crop of receivers is the worst in football.

There is a lot of work that has to be done for this team to get back to the top of the NFL mountain, but moving McNabb is the first smart move that this team has made in a long, long time.

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The Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins are on the verge of a deal that will send Donovan McNabb to Minnesota for draft picks. This deal does not make the Vikings the favorites in the NFC North, but it is a perfect fit for what this team needs in 2011.

McNabb is not the player that he used to be, and at 34, he is on the downside of his career, but this team is not looking to contend this year, or at least they shouldn't be. Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin are the only dynamic threats that the team has on offense, and with Sidney Rice not coming back their contributions take on even more importance.

Defensively, they are still good but they are getting a little long in the tooth. Ray Edwards won't be back, so they will have to look elsewhere to replace his production from last season.

The team's first round draft pick, Christian Ponder, is going to need a lot of time to develop, and McNabb, for all of his faults and shortcomings as a player, is still a great teammate and can act as a mentor for Ponder while McNabb leads the offense this season.

On a one-year deal, this is going to be a great fit for the Vikings and McNabb. McNabb gets a chance to reinvent himself as a player and possibly earn one more multi-year contract from someone after the season.

For the Vikings, the chance to get an experienced quarterback who can tutor their rookie quarterback and make sure that he is ready to take over, either later this season or at the beginning of 2012, made this a move that they had to make.

No one is saying that McNabb is going to return to his Pro Bowl form, but he is better than Tarvaris Jackson, who left the team to join Seattle, and he gives the veterans on the team someone that has proven he can be successful in the NFL.

This isn't a difference making move for either McNabb or Minnesota, but it is the perfect move for all the parties involved.

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Tarvaris Jackson wasted no time in finding a new team once the NFL Lockout ended. He signed a two-year, $8 million dollar contract with the Seattle Seahawks to reunite with Darrell Bevell, who was his offensive coordinator in Minnesota. But is this really a new beginning for the quarterback or another move that will show his inability to lead an NFL team?

Seattle was a playoff team last year, but that was more indicative of how awful the division was than anything that the team did to instill confidence for what's to come. Pete Carroll has been working diligently the last two years to overhaul this roster and make them younger and more athletic.

Jackson has the skills that teams fall in love with, but the results on the field just haven't been there for him. He has decent size at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, a pretty good arm and good mobility, but he doesn't seem to have what it takes to run an NFL offense.

Some guys tend to fall in love with their own projects, and that seems to be what has happened with Bevell and his love of Jackson, because there is no logical reason that the Seahawks should have given up on Matt Hasselbeck.

While it's true that Hasselbeck had problems staying healthy, he was more than effective when he was able to play without any pain. Last year his numbers didn't look good - 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions - but he is a better fit for this team right now than Jackson.

This team is not going to win seven games again with Jackson at quarterback, they will be lucky if they get to six, though in this division that might be enough to make it back to the playoffs. His accuracy has always been a problem and there is no evidence that is getting any better.

Seattle felt that it had to make a change, but Jackson was far from the best option available, and it would have been wise to wait on someone like Donovan McNabb or even Marc Bulger. It's going to be a long, long winter in the Emerald City with Jackson taking the reins of this team.

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Donovan McNabb is one of the most polarizing players in all of sports. Some people love him because of his charm, personality and the way that he plays on the field. Others can't stand him because he comes across as phony and his numbers aren't as good as some people would have you believe. But regardless, it appears as if he is on his way to Minnesota.

The Vikings are in need of a stop-gap quarterback who can help mentor rookie Christian Ponder and lead this team, which is only one year removed from playing in the NFC Championship game, back to contention.

But just because McNabb has the name and the pedigree doesn't mean that he is the savior for this team right now. He is 34, hasn't played a full season since 2008 and his completion percentage has gone down every year since 2007.

The Vikings did need a veteran guy to teach Ponder the ropes, but that doesn't mean that this is a move that will help turn the team around for this season.

McNabb is a quarterback that needs a great receiving group to look good, and unless the Vikings bring back Sidney Rice, and it doesn't look like they will, that is a mediocre bunch that won't help him very much. Percy Harvin has talent, but he is not a No. 1 receiver.

The best thing for the Vikings is that they struggle early and have to get Ponder in for an extended look later on in the year, that way they can dump McNabb after this season and use the money they waste on him to bring in a good receiver or some younger defensive linemen.

Either way, Minnesota is not competing for a division championship this year regardless of who is playing quarterback.