Trash-talking Cavic the perfect foil for Phelps

Sport needs more competitors like Michael Phelps: Supermen, world-beaters, athletic excellence personified.
But it also needs more competitors like Milorad Cavic: Villains, boat rockers, athletic challenge personified.
That Phelps kicked Cavic's polyurethane-encased butt at the world swimming championships after the latter trash-talked him (of the wishy-washy aquatic variety) is about as good as it gets in a non-Olympic year. In the Olympic year just passed, Phelps won eight gold medals but tarnished his image somewhat when photographed on the business end of a smoking bong.
So it's nice to see him back to normal, churning out records in the pool rather than headlines on gossip websites.
Yesterday, he finished up with another gold, his fifth of the week, as part of the U.S. 4x100 medley relay team.
The old Jim Croce song says: "You don't tug on Superman's cape," lest there be hell to pay. Someone will always do it though, and in this instance, thank you, Mr. Cavic.
Ali needed Frazier. McGwire needed Sosa (and they both needed performance enhancers, alas). Federer needs Nadal. Tiger could use someone to step up and tug on his Sunday-red super-Nike golf shirt.
Notably, after the 100-metre butterfly showdown was over, Phelps made a rare (for him) show of emotion and pointedly ignored Cavic, next-best but no slouch. The Serb made a point, though, of shaking hands with Phelps' coach Bob Bowman, rolling his eyes as if to say, "Well, I tried."
"I never attacked Michael," he told reporters later. "I have nothing but respect for the guy."
Still, his earlier show of throw-down bravado was as welcome as it was unusual. He had challenged Phelps to don the same super-fast suits that helped other swimmers shatter records so he'd have no excuse once defeated.
Phelps' special technology remains his heart – literally and figuratively. He has trained it from such an early age to such a great size and high level that its aerobic, as well as emotional, capacities are truly extraordinary.
Once asked what goes through his mind during a race, Phelps replied: "Nothing. I just get in the water and race."
Cleary, though, before a race he will find whatever shred of motivation he might otherwise lack. All the best ones are sensitive to slights, real or perceived.
At Beijing last year, U.S. teammate Brendan Hansen said of Phelps: "Michael is the biggest thing that sport has ever seen. Not swimming, but sport in general. He just made the pressure putt to win the U.S. Open. He just won the Tour of France. He just knocked out Muhammad Ali.
"And he did it in one week."
Inevitably, though, his records will be eclipsed. Such is the march of science and sport. He trained five hours a day, seven days a week, for years. Someone will come along and work harder, train and eat better, get more out of the ever-rising pool of global competition.
A fellow swimmer said of him, according to The New York Times: "He's not from another planet. He's from the future."
In the meantime, Phelps has taken all swimmers to new heights of celebrity. He's in a league with ... well, how about Shaquille O'Neal, who is spending the summer getting ready to play for his new team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, by going one-on-one with Phelps and others in their sports.
It is, of course, fodder for yet another "reality" TV series, ABC's Shaq Vs. to premier in a few weeks.
Shaq will negotiate a handicap for each competition, including those against, among others, Phelps, Ben Roethlisberger, Serena Williams and Albert Pujols.
Shaq, who sports a Superman tattoo on his enormous left bicep, is hiring coaches and doing specialized training for a week leading up to each competition.
He might consider enlisting Cavic's advice, too.