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North: Ledecky is great, but Phelps is the best

My overall impressions of the Rio Olympics have been fantastic, give or take a dirty swimming pool or some poor sportsmanship.

I heard someone say Katie Ledecky was the most dominant swimmer at Rio, but I have to disagree.

Yes, she is outstanding and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, but Michael Phelps is, was and will continue to be the best swimmer of all-time when the games officially end.

His star will only get brighter and his career will expand in multiple ways from television to movies and anything else a marketing genius will dream up.

Phelps said the other day that he considers himself a racer and that's what he does.

Yes, he will love being a new father, but the pool will always be his first love.

Though Phelps was the main event, Ledecky deserves her props and her life also will undoubtedly evolve in other rewarding ways.

Other props go to the women's gymnastics team, the men's and women's basketball teams and all the U.S. participants. They are doing the country proud!

Golf at the 2020 Olympics.

Golf has one more chance at the 2020 games, then a vote will be cast to see if the sport stays in future Olympics.

Look for American golfers to turn up in mass in 2020. Japan will be a lot safer, cleaner and more secure, and U.S. players will be focused and ready to participate.

Bears must earn respect.

Please don't let anyone paint a pretty picture of the Chicago Bears after their exhibition loss (22-0) to the Denver Broncos.

If the Bears had won 22-0, a parade might have been given. That said, the media has to be fair so a one-sided loss must be fairly assessed.

Kyle Long expressed sentiments that the Bears were being disrespected. Not really, Kyle, because the Bears are respected by almost everyone in Chicago - many who either have Bears clothing hanging in their closets, a Bears shrine in their basement or other prized Bears memorabilia sitting on their shelves.

The respect has almost always been there.

I know it's early, but I don't see a Super Bowl in the forecast.

That doesn't mean they can't play well, but if you are looking for respect, how about earning it first? Let's start this week by scoring some points and maybe winning a game.

More respect will come fully when they resemble a football team.

Program notes:

Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.

• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.

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