<p>They do say that the memory goes first, then the senses …</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1378664-new-2012-world-university-rankings-released.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1378664-new-2012-world-university-rankings-released.html</a></p>
<p>Applying the following poster’s reasoning:</p>
<p>“There are many possible reasons that Stanford does well, and many of them apply to other schools too. If you look at the Olympic sports, Stanford doesn’t field any more (relevant) teams than the rest of those who produce a lot of Olympic athletes. It’s just that the best student-athletes go to Stanford in higher numbers because it has many “top” teams (a positive feedback loop)”</p>
<p>…to the final results:</p>
<p>“Team, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Total Medals
USC, 12, 9, 4, 25 #1 Overall
Cal, 11, 1, 5, 17 #3 Overall
Stanford, 12, 2, 2, 16 #4 Overall
Washington, 2, 6, 3, 11 #6 Overall
UCLA, 6, 1, 1, 8 #8 Overall
Arizona, 3, 2, 0, 5
Oregon, 2, 1, 0, 3
Arizona State, 2, 0, 1, 3”,</p>
<p>…do we assume the “best student-athletes” are now going to USC? </p>
<p>Guess so!</p>
<p>Sam Lee, nobody is claiming that Phelps swam for the University of Michigan varsity Swimming team, which makes Colleen Thomas’ article completely irrelevent. To question Michael Phelps adission into Michigan or his academic accomplishments at the University is pointless since nobody knows how he came to be admitted or what classes he took while on campus. That is all speculation tantamount to gossip. </p>
<p>What is clear is that Michigan and Phelps have a strong affiliation. Phelps did not merely live in seclusion in Ann Arbor for a short period of time. For four years, he was a student at the University of Michigan, coached by the University of Michigan varsity Swimming coach, used the University of Michigan swimming facilities to train and practiced with University of Michigan swimmers. Your insinuation that Phelps was faster than any swimmer on the Michigan swimming team is hardly a revelation. Phelps was faster than any swimmer on earth back in 2006-2008. IBut Michigan always had some of the best swimmers in the nation. The Michigan Swimming team is usually ranked among the top 5 nationally. Traiming with swimmers at that level definitely pushed Phelps, and he has often admitted as much. </p>
<p>The question to answer is pretty straight forward. Does Phelps assosciate himself with the University of Michigan? If the answer is yes, then Michigan is entitled to claim him as an athlete associated with the University. He has two tattoos on his body; the Olympic Rings (he won 22 medals, 18 of which were Gold) and the University of Michigan Block M. Clearly, he feels very strongly about his affilitation to the University.</p>
<p>Being a student, training on campus with Michigan coaches and athletes, the tattoo are only some evidence of the two-way association. Phelps has lived a pretty standard campus life at Michigan, attending several football games, wearing Michigan paraphernalia, attending campus parties etc…</p>
<p>I think the picture below leaves little doubt as to weather or not Phelps considers himself part of the Michigan family. If he associates himself with the University, I see nothing wrong with Michigan listing him as an olympian with ties to the University.</p>
<p>[Michael</a> Phelps’ SI on Campus shoot - Photos - SI Vault](<a href=“http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1144363/1/index.htm]Michael”>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1144363/1/index.htm)</p>
<p>Final count, atheltes affliliated with the University of Michigan won a total of 12 medals (8 Gold) in the 2012 London Olympics, good for 5th place among US universities.</p>
<p>It’s pathetic how far you will go to claim a person as an alum of Michigan Alexandre. Don’t you have any pride for the academic standards of your alma mater for its athletes? Phelps was merely an U of M fan who called Ann Arbor home for an extended period of time and used Michigan’s athletic facilities. That doesn’t make him a U of M graduate or alum</p>
<p>He didn’t spend countless hours doing problem sets, attending labs, doing group projects, and doing what it takes academically to receive a Michigan degree. Michael Phelps had a 2.3 GPA in HS so its unlikely he has the discipline or intellectual focus to handle any academic subject at Michigan. You’re disrespecting every student athlete that has actually put forth the work to get a Michigan degree Alexandre by calling Phelps an alum.</p>
<p>Michigan has plenty of alums that actually went to the school that they can be proud of. Michael Phelps isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>
Her article is not irrelevant. She is one of the UMich students that thinks critically, raises a good question, and has a different standard.<br>
Yet, you made plenty of speculation and present them like facts in your entire post, trying to portray him like any other Michigan student as much as possible.
He was there 2005 and competed at 2008 Olympics. That’s not four years, buddy. You do not know the saying that he audited couple classes is true or not and Colleen put it as “brief stint”. Yet you made it sound like he took classes for credits and did so continuously for four years. What we do know is he was never on a degree-seeking track.
2.
You do not know that. Apparently according to couple sources I read, his days are nothing like “standard campus life”:
<a href=“http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/opinion/pearlman-phelps-retire/index.html?hpt=us_mid[/url]”>http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/opinion/pearlman-phelps-retire/index.html?hpt=us_mid</a>
3. By asking “how” instead of “if”, you implied he went through an admission process at the first place. His HS GPA was 2.3 and he’s not a student athlete. But if he just audited the classes, it wouldn’t matter.<br>
I don’t agree with such loose standard. What you are saying is any successful person who is a UMich fan can be claimed by UMich. If that’s really your bottom line, you didn’t really need to waste energy to try to portray him like a regular student. I think we’ll just agree to disagree. We do know Michael Phelps didn’t associate with UMich strong enough to stay longer when Bob returned to Baltimore. He’s retiring but I have not read or heard that he wanted to apply to pursue a degree there at some point. Already, Michael Phelps is under the list of UMich’s “Alumni” on wikipedia. I personally think it’s disingenuous.</p>
<p>FYI:
in the last 15 years, the Michigan men’s team usually finished in the 6th-10th range, not top-5 (though it was fifth this year). Schools that are usually ahead are in the wamer regions - California, Auburn, USC, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Stanford. The women’s team is usually not a top-10 team.</p>
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</p>
<p>No need to assume or fiddle around with selected data, we know the answer to that question. All that is needed is to google “The National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) annual Directors Cup award”</p>
<p>And fwiw …</p>
<p>As silly as measuring college athletics through an Olympic lens is, one has to consider that the methodology might be just as flawed as the moronic “affiliations” rule we see about Nobel laureates “lists.” </p>
<p>[Stanford</a> athletes stood tallest at London Games - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“Stanford athletes stood tallest at London Games – The Mercury News”>Stanford athletes stood tallest at London Games – The Mercury News)</p>
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<p>I’d say that it really is in the eye of the beholder. If Michigan wants to “claim” him. So be it. If MP considers himself a past (and present) Wolverine, power to him. Perhaps, he will send substantial donations to a MP Aquatic Center in Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>I remember how I once (among other cases) truly embarassed myself in a discussion about Michigan’s Rhodes Scholar. As I relied on google stories, I attempt to correct the POV that a certain student who was a Caltech graduate and applied to the Rhodes Award shortly after enrolling in graduate school at Michigan should be listed under Caltech. </p>
<p>Turns out that the student himself joins the CC discussion and established that he considered Michigan as a cornerstone of his application and had received plenty of support in Ann Arbor. He called my “position” silly, or something along those lines. Regardless, it took me a few days to get that egg off my face. </p>
<p>I thought everything indicated I was right … except for what the person himself thought!</p>
<p>Xiggi, it is true that we can all fiddle with the numbers. Do team medals count for one? If a student didn’t compete for a college team can they be counted even though they attended, graduated or audited courses? What about athletes that train with a schools coaches or use its facilities… </p>
<p>I would say in USC’s Felix case, she did attend and graduate from USC, therefore, I’d be inclined to say that passes the smell test and her medals can be added to USC’s count.</p>
<p>“If I were a Michigan Alum, I would be worried if Michigan can lose to Alabama in September at Cowboys Stadium by less points than there are posts in this thread (52). Any takers on that bet?”</p>
<p>Wow, goldenboy, you think Michigan will lost by 52+ points? I’ll take you up on that bet. What are the stakes should Michigan lose by 51 or fewer points?</p>
<p>UCB,</p>
<p>I don’t hestitate to add hers to USC count. I personally think whether the person is/was on the varisty team is irrelevant if he/she is a degree-seeking student/alum. It’s no different from listing alums that are, say Fortune 500 CEOs, even though none of the schools specificly teach students how to be ones. </p>
<p>I took three classes at UCLA when I lived in LA; my status entitled me to use their parking lot and maybe other facilities. I doubt that qualifies me as a Bruin. When I lived in SF, I took couple classes at UCB and earned my As; would you consider me as a Golden Bear? ;)</p>
<p>
I was being facetious Alexandre but I do think the Wolverines will lose to the Tide by at least 4 touchdowns. Alabama’s O-Line will have a field day with Michigan’s defense and Bama’s LBs should keep Shoelace in check. Bama is simply more talented than Michigan in every single position.</p>
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<p>I guess it depends on what question you are trying to answer or which comparison you are trying to make. If you are asking how many alumni a given school has in the Olympics, then definitely Felix and probably Phelps would count. But if you are asking which college has the strongest athletics program as measured by the number of Olympians it produces then neither one would count.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, my post presented again below, was not intended to be serious, but a bit of a spoof in light of the extreme brand loyalties shown on cc:</p>
<p>Applying the following poster’s reasoning:</p>
<p>“There are many possible reasons that Stanford does well, and many of them apply to other schools too. If you look at the Olympic sports, Stanford doesn’t field any more (relevant) teams than the rest of those who produce a lot of Olympic athletes. It’s just that the best student-athletes go to Stanford in higher numbers because it has many “top” teams (a positive feedback loop)”</p>
<p>…to the final results:</p>
<p>“Team, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Total Medals
USC, 12, 9, 4, 25 #1 Overall
Cal, 11, 1, 5, 17 #3 Overall
Stanford, 12, 2, 2, 16 #4 Overall
Washington, 2, 6, 3, 11 #6 Overall
UCLA, 6, 1, 1, 8 #8 Overall
Arizona, 3, 2, 0, 5
Oregon, 2, 1, 0, 3
Arizona State, 2, 0, 1, 3”,</p>
<p>…do we assume the “best student-athletes” are now going to USC? </p>
<p>Guess so!</p>
<p>Reports: Floyd Mayweather bet $3 million on Michigan </p>
<p>[Reports:</a> Floyd Mayweather bet $3 million on Michigan](<a href=“http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/08/aa/1]Reports:”>http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/08/aa/1)</p>
<p>G’Luck, Blue!!! :)</p>
<p>Western Carolina University can top them all. They claim the toughest Olympian – Manteo Mitchell, the man who ran 200 meters on a broken leg. :)</p>