Ian Thorpe

Ian James Thorpe OAM (born 13 October 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales), nicknamed the Thorpedo or Thorpey, is a former Australian freestyle swimmer. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian, and in 2001 he became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship.[1] In total, Thorpe has won eleven World Championship golds, the second-highest number of any swimmer.[2] Thorpe was the first person to have been named World Swimmer of the Year four times by Swimming World Magazine,[3][4] and was the Australian swimmer of the year from 1999 to 2003. His athletic achievements made him one of Australia's most popular athletes, and he was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year in 2000.[2]
At the age of 14, he became the youngest male ever to represent Australia,[5] and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth World Championships made him the youngest ever individual male World Champion.[6] After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 m freestyle, winning the event at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships until his break after the 2004 Olympics.[7] Aside from 13 individual long-course world records, Thorpe anchored the Australian relay teams, numbering the victories in the 4 × 100 m and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relays in Sydney, among his five relay world records. His wins in the 200 m and 400 m and his bronze in the 100 m freestyle in Athens have made him the only male to have won medals in the 100–200–400 combination.[7]
After the Athens Olympics, Thorpe took a year away from swimming, scheduling a return for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. However, he was forced to withdraw due to illness. Subsequent training camps were interrupted, and he announced his retirement in November 2006, citing waning motivation.

Michael Phelps

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. By the end of 2008, he held seven world records in swimming.
Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics with the eight golds he won at the 2008 Olympic Games. With this record, he surpassed American Mark Spitz, who was also a swimmer and had held the previous gold medal total with the seven that he won at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008. In winning these medals, he has twice equaled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics; Dityatin garnered eight at the 1980 Summer Olympics, while Phelps won eight medals at both the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.
Phelps's international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze. This includes all of the Championships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. In 2008 Phelps won Sports Illustrated magazine "Sportsman of the Year" award.

Oklahoma will prevail in shootout by winning turnover battle

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Every time someone asks who I think will win the BCS title game, I go hunting in my pocket for a coin to flip. Florida has emerged as the slight favorite in Las Vegas and the overwhelming favorite among media types, but both teams were so dominant at the end of the season that it seems foolish to believe either team is significantly better than the other.
That said, Oklahoma coaches and players probably appreciate all the love the Gators are getting. The Sooners entered their last two bowl games as heavy favorites and lost both. Maybe playing as an underdog is exactly the motivation the Sooners need.
Quarterback Sam Bradford, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, cracks open his Bible and reads the story of David and Goliath before every game. Bradford said he doesn't consider the Sooners to be David to Florida's Goliath in this situation, and he's correct. These teams are much more evenly matched than David and his Philistine foe.
Here are five reasons why Oklahoma will win:
1) Tempo, tempo, tempo. In about the time it takes to read this sentence, Oklahoma has called its next play, gathered at the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball. Florida, a team that routinely milks the play clock, has tried to simulate the chaos Oklahoma's no-huddle offense causes, but the simulation may not do justice to a scheme that virtually eliminates between-play defensive substitutions and saps the energy from pass-rushers.
"Momentum is such a big part of college football, and you don't have to take that little break. You keep going," Sooners center Jon Cooper said. "If you can catch a team off guard a couple times, they don't really have time to disguise coverages or fronts."
2) The best offensive line in college football. Oklahoma allowed just 11 sacks this season. Florida ranked No. 30 in the nation in sacks with 32. So a team that rarely allows rushers to reach the quarterback has to block a team that is only slightly above average at rushing the quarterback. Bradford isn't going to get touched.
Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson, Cooper, Brandon Walker and Trent Williams will face their stiffest challenge when trying to establish the run. Lack of a consistent run game was a major reason the Sooners lost to Texas, and Oklahoma's linemen know they must open holes for Chris Brown and Mossis Madu to beat the Gators.
The good news is that Alabama, which boasted an excellent offensive line -- but one that isn't as good as Oklahoma's -- ran for 136 yards against a Florida team that didn't have to worry about getting torched in the passing game. Against Oklahoma, the Gators will have to respect the pass, which should allow the Sooners' linemen to blast open paths for the backs.
3) They make opponents give them the ball. Let's be honest. No matter what Sooners defenders say, Oklahoma does not have an elite defense. It doesn't have a bad defense, either. And the thing the Sooners do best is the one thing that can produce a massive momentum shift and/or negate any talent advantage on the other side of the ball.
They can force turnovers.
Oklahoma led the nation in turnover margin at plus-23 -- Florida was second -- and defensive coordinator Brent Venables is a wiz at designing schemes that force opposing teams to make mistakes. Remember, Ole Miss did not have an elite defense, but Florida put the ball on the ground five times in that game, and the Rebels recovered three of those fumbles. That's why Florida lost.
If safety/linebacker Nic Harris can channel his frustration with the criticism of the defense into a few bone-jarring hits, the ball may squirt free. If it does, it's anybody's game.4) Sam he is. We've already established that Bradford will have enough time to make a pot roast every time he drops back to throw. That's especially bad for the Gators, who have not faced a quarterback this season who can pick apart a defense with such precision. Tight end Jermaine Gresham (6-foot-6, 261 pounds) is a matchup nightmare, and receiver Juaquin Iglesias (69 catches, 1,092 yards, 10 TDs) is a legitimate deep threat.
Oklahoma has five players who caught at least 25 passes and averaged at least 15 yards a catch. Every play, Bradford should have time to look, look, look and find one of them open. Florida's secondary is excellent, but even the best defensive backs can't maintain perfect position for the amount of time Bradford will have to throw. If one of them slips even a little, Bradford will make him pay.
5) A month of hearing about how you'll get beat would make anyone angry. The Sooners are sick of hearing about how great Florida is, how Oklahoma's defense won't stop Florida's offense and how Gators quarterback Tim Tebow will win the game's MVP and then single-handedly stiff-arm the nation out of recession. "People say we can't play defense," Sooners defensive end Jeremy Beal said, "but I think we know we can play defense."
That kind of negativity, applied over time, can cause a pretty violent reaction when a team finally gets a chance to hit someone. Two years ago, everyone spent December wondering how Florida would stay on the field with the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes. Gators coach Urban Meyer, not satisfied with the volumes of actual negative press his team received, had his staff cook up even more negative clips to post on a bulletin board. By the time Florida took the field in Glendale, Ariz., Ohio State didn't stand a chance.
Though the doubters of this Oklahoma team haven't been so universal, coach Bob Stoops should have plenty of material to motivate his team. "They're a prideful group no matter what, so I'm sure it has bothered them," Stoops said.
Prediction: Both offenses will score their share of points, and punts should be few and far between. The winner will force turnovers on defense and protect the ball on offense, and Oklahoma has done that better than anyone this season.
Oklahoma 45, Florida 38