Guest editorial by Chris DeSantis, originally published at SwimmingWorld.TV
ATLANTA, Georgia, September 16. I had been anticipating last night for weeks. When I first heard of the show "Shaq Vs", I dreamed of Shaquille O'Neal's potential matchup with a world-class swimmer. That dream quickly materialized. Shaq would swim against Michael Phelps, and it would be televised.
For those of you who may not know the premise of the program, it's pretty simple. Its a one hour show where Shaq takes on the best in the world at their own sport, with some handicaps to make it a bit fairer for the Diesel. Earlier this year, Shaq took on Misty May and Kerri Walsh, although I didn't watch because I have a deep resentment for Beach Volleyball. It always seems to take up way too much Olympic broadcast time while swimming should be on.
Initial excitement turned to paralyzing doubt, however. I worried that somehow the handicap would be so severe that Shaq might beat Phelps, leading people to conclude that Swimming was a third-rate sport. I also worried that the Swimming people might come off as really goofy and awkward next to the always affable Shaq. My gut-check review after watching last night? It was actually really good and could have been much much worse. Here's an embed of the show (which expires on Oct. 19, 2009), followed by my personal highlights:
Highlights:
1. Shaq paying respect - My fears about Shaq beating Phelps because of handicaps weren't calmed by the first race, which consisted of Shaq racing a 25 while Phelps did a 50 with a 5 second head start. Shaq won for two reasons:
a. Phelps had a bum ankle from the woman who plowed through a red light into his Escalade just days before filming
b. Phelps also clearly dogged it a little bit for dramatic effect. Anyway the best swimmer in the world, even on a bum ankle, can't go faster than 24 from a push? I say no. There was some disagreement as to whether the pool was set up for yards or meters. Can we get confirmation? If it was set up for meters then Phelps 1:54 200 medley was pretty insane considering the circumstances.
However, after the race Shaq seemed pretty impressed by how quickly Phelps could catch up to him.
2. Bob Bowman - I was a little worried when Bowman met Shaq. He looked nervous and I worried that he would come off stiff on the big stage. As it went on though, I thought Bowman did a respectable job. Watching him get genuinely excited about Shaq trimming his 25 time during their filmed workout was pretty fun. He took his job seriously and was himself.
3. Swimmers besides Phelps - It was pretty cool to see Ariana Kukors, Rebecca Soni and Dana Vollmer get involved. The underwater shots of them swimming were pretty awesome and really highlighted the world-class ability of the swimmers, especially juxtaposed with shots of Shaq swimming. Also, I loved Ariana explaining to Shaq what the medley was and the girls giving Shaq pacing tips for a 50.
4. Swimming Inside Jokes - I seriously did not expect this show to be as intelligent as it actually was. When Shaq dropped the "FINA says these are banned" in relation the bodysuits the two guys were wearing, I have to admit I was pretty shocked. However, it got better from there. My head nearly exploded when Phelps emerged victorious in a tight race and Shaq immediately deadpanned "I guess that makes me the black Michael Cavic.
All in all it was a pretty enjoyable program. Now can we settle this once and for all and get Lebron in the pool?
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
September 16, 2009 uhhh, the "Black" Michael Cavic? Really? Come on now. Submitted by: cyndee77
September 16, 2009 "Phelps emerged victorious in a tight race and Shaq immediately deadpanned "I guess that makes me the black Michael Cavic.""
That's what happened on the show. I was pretty surprised when Shaq pulled that one out at the end of the third set of swims. Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
September 16, 2009 I think you absolutely have to add this exchange, which was my personal favorite:
Shaq [trying to get into Phelps' head]: "I know everything there is to know about you."
Phelps: "Uh... what's my 100 fly time?"
Shaq: "Einstein once said that which you can easily retrieve you should not memorize."
All in all, totally loved the show. I was a little ribbed about the 25vs50 race, but the other two were very good and it was an entertaining show to watch. Submitted by: Sphere
September 16, 2009 I too was pleasantly surprised. I had expected the show to be incredibly lame, but Shaq was witty, complimentary, and surprisingly knowledgeable about swimming (though I suspect he was handed a few of his better lines). Both he and Phelps were gracious, the races were well planned (i.e., close at the finish), and everybody seemed to be having a good time. The show did not generate a single wince-inducing moment. Submitted by: halfbreed
September 16, 2009 justacoach- The author of this article was simply quoting one of the more entertaining comments made by Shaq during the show. A comment that, in my opinion, gave me a lot of respect for Shaq, considering that it meant he not only knew who Cavic was, but also that he knew the history between the two (Phelps and Cavic) as well. Although there were others, that moment made me realize just how well Shaq knew his stuff, and you have to respect him for that. Submitted by: Sarah E
September 16, 2009 Cyndee77,
Sorry you did not enjoy the article. I hope that the explanation for the title gave you some more insight as to why I chose to title it "The Black Michael Cavic" a quote lifted directly from Shaquille O'Neal in a program that was fit for network TV.
-Chris Submitted by: Chris DeSantis
September 16, 2009 Chris, don't let them get you down. And thanks for posting the video, enjoyed it the second time through as much as the first! Submitted by: Sphere
September 16, 2009 As stated previously, we are going away from anonymous criticism of people - including our authors, on this site.
I've deleted justacoach's comment and edited Chris's response unless he decides to claim the right to post such a comment with his full name. Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
September 16, 2009 That was definitely entertaining. Phelps pulling all those times with some stupid turns haha. Good that he had a bum ankle to play up, it kinda worked for the best imo. Submitted by: elixirnova
September 17, 2009 Phelps definitely does deserve credit for having paced his IM just perfectly. He normally takes out a 200 lcm IM in 24-high; Dana Vollmer's best 50 lcm fly would be something along the lines of 25.8 or so; yet Phelps finished behind her after the fly leg. Hmm. His 50 back leg is normally around a 28-high, which would be about the same as Kukors' best. Yet he fell WAY behind her on the backstroke leg (granted, she had a dive). But Phelps also made it look good by oging hard on the last lap to barely touch out Shaq. The whole thing reminds me a little of the races I used to have with my kids when they were five or so. Submitted by: halfbreed
September 17, 2009 Chris -- Nothing against the article, I just saw the headline and thought to myself what in the world?? And subsequently I didn't read the article fully to see that Shaq referred to himself that way. I did watch the show when it aired and clearly missed that part.
I apologize for reacting without taking the time to absorb the information in the article.
Cynthia
Posting my name bc I suspect we are encouraged to identify ourselves on this forum (based off a previous comment by Jason M)? Submitted by: cyndee77
September 17, 2009 Cynthia,
As a company overall, we are moving away from anonymous commentary.
We do not have an issue with someone being critical on our site - of our work or of the activities of those within the aquatics sports communities. We're just done providing people the privilege of doing so from an anonymous platform.
If a user wants to be critical of us or anyone else we cover, they need to put their name on those comments so that the largest viewership within the online aquatics sports community has a chance to know where the comment is coming from.
justacoach responded to my requirement that he post his full name (James Smith) while being critical of Chris' writing. As already stated, we are not moderating out criticism. But, we are moderating out anonymous criticism whenever it comes to our attention.
Here is justacoach's comment:
cyndee77 - I agree with your initial comment regarding the title of the article as chosen by the author. One would think that Swimming World Magazine would do a better job of editing, or even rejecting, a work of this poor quality as submitted by a "college-level" coach. The author seems to have an affinity for writing on the level of an 11-12 year old when one considers previously submitted works; too bad.
- James Smith
Here is Chris's response to that comment:
Justacoach, not sure what I've done to deserve your comparing my writing to an 11-12 year old.
Perhaps you could reach out to me personally with some tips on how to write better? Better yet maybe you could send in a sample of your own writing for a Swimming World editorial. I look forward to your response.
-Chris DeSantis Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
September 18, 2009 Thanks for telling us the embed expires oct 19 2009. Not many of us know that Submitted by: xxgeffxx
September 23, 2009 I've swam a few meets at that pool, and I'm 100% sure that the pool was set up in SCY. When I saw Phelps' times on the board, I had the same questions about how hard he was working it, especially when Bowman said that Phelps would go around a 21 from a push (a way more believable time). Maybe the ankle was bothering him more than he let on. Submitted by: nostalgia
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
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