Over the years, Michael Phelps has mastered the art of playing coy.
He has been answering reporters' questions since he was 15, and he knows exactly how much information his answers should reveal. When asked recently whether he thinks he'll be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, an honor that is expected to be announced today, Phelps offered a half-smirk and a roll of his shoulders.
In truth, Phelps knows precisely whether he's the magazine's pick this year. The interview and photo shoot are done well in advance, and all indications are that Phelps, who won eight gold medals this year in Beijing, is a virtual lock. If selected, he would be the first Maryland athlete since Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995 to earn the distinction. But at age 23, he has mastered the art of politely deflecting inquiries that might make him seem presumptuous or controversial.
"I think to have an honor like that, following so many great athletes who've received that award ... it's hard to put into words what it would really mean," Phelps said two weeks ago, during a brief interview before the Golden Goggles swimming awards in New York. "It would be a huge honor, something I would cherish, to follow in the footsteps of someone like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, some of the greatest athletes in the world. To be in that same sentence would be pretty special."
Phelps doesn't sit still very often these days. His post-Olympic schedule has been packed with corporate obligations and personal ones. Although he was relatively famous before the Beijing Olympics, that life offered him virtual anonymity compared with the one he has now.
Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, became business partners by purchasing the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Mount Washington, and he formed a foundation to introduce kids to swimming.
"It's just another way for him to impact other people and particularly the sport of swimming, which is one of his goals," Bowman said. "I hope we can put out some products that will be very attractive to people and that we'll teach a lot of people how to swim or swim better."
Phelps has been part of a media blitz. He was recently on the cover of GQ magazine, where he was honored as one of the Men of the Year. He was featured on the CBS news program 60 Minutes last weekend, showing off his Fells Point bachelor pad and discussing his post-Olympic life. He filmed a popular commercial for the video game Guitar Hero with Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez and Tony Hawk, in which the four athletes danced around in their underwear, re-creating the famous Tom Cruise scene from the movie Risky Business.
