Did
Michael Phelps Really Win That 7th Gold, |
What Happened? | Check This Out | Cold, Hard Facts | Darn Evidence | F.A.Q. | Final Thoughts | Your Feedback
1. Couple of you commented that 001ofasecond.com name is a misleading since 001 represents 1000th of a second, and not one 100th as implied. We registered 001ofasecond.com on August 16, just a few hours after that charade in the Water Cube. Our original aim was for 001 to represent 0.01 of a second, since it's impossible to register a domain name with a dot (.) in it. We could have used subdomain and make it 0.01ofasecond.com, but that would have been confusing for others even more. For the sake of pedantic clarity we have now decided to register and also run 100thofasecond.com and clear any and all confusion. So as of August 20, 001ofasecond.com will forward to 100thofasecond.com, and therefore we ask you to visit and link to 100thofasecond.com as a main source for the 2008 Michael Phelps' Beijing Olympic conspiracy theory. So please adjust your habits and links accordingly. 2. Too many Phelps' fans emailed us and offered us the same Sports Illustrated sequence photos as a definitive proof of Phelps' win, YET none of you commented about that simultaneous two-hands touchpad FINA rule? In any case, we are aware of those Sports Illustrated sequence photos, but we feel that they are inconclusive other than the fact that Phelps' left hand was nowhere near the touchpad. In addition to that, you may or may not know but Sports Illustrated magazine last issue (August 18) featured Michael Phelps on its cover, using dreamy superlatives like 'AMAZING' and 'KING' to describe him. Not surprisingly, Sports Illustrated next issue (August 21) will also feature Michael Phelps on its cover. For that reason please forgive us if we don't take Sports Illustrated sequence photos as a 'foolproof' evidence of anything other than Sports Illustrated reliance on the worship of Michael Phelps for their own financial gains. Again, we are coming back to the conflict of interest issue. We can't in our good conscience, and as a matter of moral and philosophical principle, believe in the set of photos that are published in the source that makes so much money off of Michael Phelps' name, fame and likeness. That would be akin to unquestionably believing the vice-president Dick Cheney and his version of the events in Iraq, while knowing that his company Haliburton was given billions worth of U.S. government contracts in Iraq without any normal bidding process whatsoever. Is this analogy unrelated to the Phelps' 7th gold medal issue? Perhaps. Is it unrelated to the underlying point in the Phelps' 7th gold medal issue? Certainly not. 3. Many of you commented that we shouldn't have posted Cavic's result from qualifying and semifinal races, because those races 'don't mean a thing'. The only race that means is a final race. Well, we disagree. By posting that Cavic was superior to everyone in two races prior to the final race we have established a pattern of his success. We have established that, in fact, Cavic was the favorite in the final race, despite the fact that very few people ever heard of him. By establishing that he was a favorite, we have also established that him leading the whole final race was not a surprise. He was not just some guy who unexpectedly run the race of his life, but somebody who was just doing his job, by being the best, even when having the ever mighty Phelps next to him. 4. We put that particular freeze frame photo in order to highlight the difference in hands' position of the two swimmers. Cavic's hands are perhaps about 10 inches (25 cm) away from the sensor, while Phelps' hands are perhaps about six feet away (180 cm). Even if we account for the fact that Cavic was gliding, and Phelps was 'flying' through the air, the difference, particularly at the finish, was huge. Should have been huge. Should have been enough. But apparently it wasn't. Why? 5. Cavic graciously admitted defeat?
We don't know why Cavic chose to remain quiet. He knew that under those
circumstances nobody was about to question and/or strip Phelps' off
of his gold medal. Knowing that Cavic lives and trains in the U.S. we
are probably not far off if we say that he was afraid of being labeled
'ungracious looser' by the U.S. swimming community, and the U.S. public
at large. Cavic is not stupid. He also knows that his future livelihood
is tied to those two. He also knows that FINA, if they wanted to, can
make him 'disappear' by disqualifying him for any number of made-up
reasons. He also knows that Phelps', with his rich sponsors, money and
fame, is an all-powerful beast that is not to be messed around with.
Why ruin the NBC Olympic saga, why deflate American kids' dreams (that
they too one day can win nine, or even 19 gold medals) why spoil the
good life and Phelps' moment in the historic spotlight for some gold
medal that wouldn't have been nearly worth it, as much as silver medal
is. Cavic is a smart man. For
him silver shines brighter than gold, if you know what we mean. |
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