My favorite from the Beijing Olympics

Yep, it's Michael Phelps mom, Debbie Phelps. The image of her staring at the scoreboard after Michael's so-close, win-by-a-fingertip race still hasn't left my mind. But what made me appreciate her more was a couple articles I read about her before the Olympics started - one in the Boston Globe and one in the NY Times.

But if you really want to know about Debbie and her famous son, you'll need to spend some time with Michael Sokolove's 2004 NY Times Magazine article, published shortly before Michael's appearance in the Athens Olympics. It's long but it's good.