Contacting Janet Evans

Guess what I got to do - I got to send Janet Evans an e-mail!

Well, not really. The legendary Olympic swimming champion, whom I have long admired, has been analyzing the swimming events at the Games for Yahoo's news service. Apparently Yahoo Olympic commentators, including Evans, have been taking comments and questions from people who log on to Yahoo. And, Yahoo says, such comments and questions might be used in their analysts' future articles or Webcasts. So I sent one to her commenting on her undeniable greatness - and I also asked her if she thought Michael Phelps could still tie Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympiad . . . in the next Olympiad in Beijing.

Since then, swimming concluded in Athens, so I don't expect Evans to offer any more articles on the competition. As for Webcasts . . . please, I have dialup! Like I can really pick up one of those things! But for what it's worth, Evans is a fine writer, her commentary is unpretentious and detailed, and she has offered some interesting insight, the kind that only someone who's been there can offer. Heck, she's almost as good a writer as I am - but, being a Californian, she's not cynical enough to be a sportswriter in the tradition of Jerry Izenberg (who, of course, is from New Jersey).

When she retired from competition in 1996, Evans promised that she'd "still be around." Nice to see she's kept her promise! :-)