Mark Spitz gets skewered in this article by Ann Killion at the Mercury News. Why you hatin' AK? A brother's gotta eat. I will concede: hawking botox injections is a bit of a come-down from winning 7 gold medals in 1972, but if even Ms. Killion seems convinced of Spitz's genuine enthusiasm for his paralyzed face, then good on him, I say! At least he's doing something that excites him. Some Olympic athletes like to parlay their success into motivational speaker gigs or celebrity has-been reality shows or even fodder for med school applications. Even if not the most noble of professions, selling botox to make people feel good about themselves is not nearly as titillating as perhaps getting caught partying in a short skirt without any underwear ~ especially for a 58-year-old dude.
There are gems of irony and real humor in the article as well though. I especially liked the anecdote about bullshitting the Russian swim coach into getting all the Russians to grow mustaches as well (nostalgia for the good old days when the bad guys were Reds... although I guess some things never change). But Ms. Killion sledgehammers the last line by tying the new Speedo swimsuit technology (LZR) to Spitz's botox.
