Somewhere in heaven, Isaac Hayes is reprising one of the best jobs he ever had.  No, he's not amusing the masses with his Chef character.  Nope.  He's rewriting his Academy Award winning song, Theme from Shaft.  After all, it's time for an update.  Back here in the present, Michael Phelps is proving that he's now the baddest mutha in a Speedo.  I can hear it now:

Hayes:  "Who's the lanky slick / That's a medal machine to all the chicks?"
Girls: "PHELPS!"
Hayes: "Ya damn right!"
Hayes: "They say this cat Phelps is a bad mother—"
Girls: "Shut your mouth!"
Hayes: "I'm talkin' 'bout Phelps."
Girls: "Then we can dig it!"

In a year with some amazing sports stories by some of the world's most amazing athletes, Phelps is writing a story that will trump them all.  Sorry, Tiger.  Even if you were healthy all year, I'm not sure you could compete with this one.

I'll refrain from having a Costas moment.  I'll refrain from throwing all the facts and figures out in a dramatic dialogue.  I will say that if Phelps wins eight gold medals in Beijing, he will have more Olympic golds than a slew of countries have in their history.  Heck, he'll have more gold than Fort Knox.

So we know this Phelps guy is a pretty dominant figure.  But where does he rank among the all-time athletes.  A year ago, The Age asked the great debate:  Phelps vs. Thorpe?  The bad part of this argument is that they're comparing him to Ian Thorpe, not Jim.  I'll give them a break though.  This is an Australian newspaper and it was written in 2007 before the World Swimming Championships.  Even in 2007, the argument was hard to make for Thorpe. 

When asked about Phelps' place in swimming history, Mark Spitz had the following comment:  "I'm not the one to ask," says Spitz. "I don't think you can actually evaluate what he has contributed or will contribute until he's retired. He's still in the middle of his journey. He's got some pressure at the world championships but they are not the Olympic Games, they don't come close to what the Olympic Games represents from the pressure … The question is, is this a prelude to what we are going to see in Beijing and the answer is probably yes."  I guess we all know how he's handling the pressure.

So where does Phelps rank among all-time Olympic athletes?  It's hard to compare him with the other members of the "Nine Golds" club. 

Carl Lewis is pretty amazing because of his longevity.  Nine golds and a long career in sprinting is very impressive and he'll always have a place in my top-athletes list.

Paavo Nurmi dominated the track in the 1920's just like Phelps is dominating the pool in the 2000's.  Nurmi finished his career with the nine golds and three silvers.

Right now, I'd compare him most favorably with Larissa Latynina (right).  She dominated the gymnastic competitions for three-straight Olympics, winning 18 total medals.  She won a medal in every competition she entered.  Wow.  She was the original Michael Phelps!

So where does he rank among these greatest athletes?  I'd say that Spitz said it best when he said it's still too early to tell.  I'd say that Phelps, after winning his third gold medal of these 2008 Games, is one of the top three Olympic athletes of all-time. 

The scariest part of all this is the potential for Phelps.  He's already talked about swimming in London in 2012.  If he can somehow finish off the eight golds in Beijing and then win some more in London, he'll certainly cement his place as the greatest Olympic athlete of all-time.

And how does he compare with the non-Olympic athletes?  I don't know where he'll fit in on a Top 10 List, but I do know that ESPN is going to have update this list from 2004.  Phelps will be near the top!

How fitting that in a country that produced the most magnificent manmade structure ever, the Great Wall, Phelps is constructing the greatest Olympic resume.  Ever