August 17, 2008
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
|
As odd as it sounds, watching the Olympics this week has reminded me a bit of this year in NASCAR. Actually, it is watching one athlete in particular, and comparing him to the top driver in NASCAR: Michael Phelps and Kyle Busch.
Both appear to be unstoppable.
Phelps snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Friday night when he won his 7th gold by the length of a pencil eraser. He seems to win in every race he swims in. It doesn’t matter who he is racing against, or what stroke he is swimming…or how long the race is. He wins. And in all but one case, he smashes the old world record.
Sounds a lot like the driver of the 18 car this year, doesn’t it? Kyle Busch also seems all but unstoppable. Put him in a Cup car, a Nationwide car, or a Craftsman truck, and he seems to be able to win. It also doesn’t seem to matter who he is driving for: Joe Gibbs, Billy Ballew, and Todd Braun. He gets behind the wheel, and crosses the line first. He can be spun half way through a race and still find a way to win it.
Like Phelps, he seems to be living the charmed life right now and nothing and no one is going to stop him.
The primary difference between the two young men, who, by the way are almost the same age (Kyle was born May 2, 1985 and Phelps was born just over a month later on June 30, 1985), is attitude.
Lebron James, who is just five months older than both men, also seems to take the whole big picture scene into much better context than the Shrub. James has been playing in the NBA since he was 19…about the same length of time as Shrubbie has been driving in NASCAR…is willing to go to the floor to help his team win. The USA men’s basketball team is known as the “Redeem team” this year because of the very un-stellar results they had in Athens four years ago. Between his shoulders he has a tattoo that reads “Chosen 1”. But it is all about the big picture to Lebron. In the day to day workings of the NBA, James, Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd might play for different teams, and might strive to help that team win, but in Beijing, they are working as a team to help better the USA. Ego’s are out the door. All are great in their own community, but together they are better.
When they win, they talk about the great play by both teams, and how working together, they have accomplished what the team was unable to do four years ago.
When Phelps wins, he is humble, and has been spotted crying a time or two over what he has accomplished. He commends his competitors, and boasts about his entire team.
Kyle, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to know the word humility exists. The only crying I ever see him do is in the figurative sense, when it comes to complaining about why he didn’t win. It is never his fault, but always someone else’s. He’s run over a teammate for a win.
When asked on Friday about the paring of Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart for next year, and a reporter asked lightly and off the cuff who was easier to pass, Stewart or Newman, he had no problem actually taking a dig at Newman and the fact he wasn’t as easy to pass as Stewart, claiming it must have been his “Open wheel roots” that prohibits Newman from moving over when a faster car comes up to try and pass him. (Apparently he forgets that Smoke also has open wheel roots….and quite strong ones to boot).
When the comparison between Phelps and Kyle was mentioned to a pair of friends of mine, one said “(Phelps) does seem to always find a way (to win).... kind of like Kyle Busch, but he's likable.” The other commented “Phelps is nothing like Kyle.”
All of the athletes, on the track here in Michigan this weekend or over participating in the Olympics in Beijing, are the top of their class. They wouldn’t be doing what they are doing if they weren’t. However, I hope that maybe Shrubbie is watching the Olympics and seeing not only that the athletes over there are excellent at what they do…but they are humble about their ability to do that.
Humility is a good thing…and a lesson that, should Kyle ever learn it, would win him even more fans than he currently has. And maybe make people pay as much attention to what he has accomplished this year as to his less than stellar attitude about those accomplishments.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Kim at..