MICHAEL, MEETMIKE
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, knows all about starstruck reactions. But he turned into a fan-boy himself Monday night when Michael Jordan surprised him and appeared at a taping of Golf Channel’s ‘‘Feherty Live’’ at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.
‘‘Oh, my gosh. Last night, when I met him, I literally thought I was going to be like one of the crazy, screaming [ fans,” Phelps said. ‘‘Like, I thought I was going to start crying, I was so excited. That was something I always wanted to do. I had that chance last night, and that was awesome.”
Phelps is in town to watch the Ryder Cup. He was a part of the winning celebrity scramble team at Medinah Country Club on Tuesday.
But cradling the winner’s plaque, Phelps gushed about his visit with Jordan, with whom he’d exchanged text messages over the last few months but hadn’t met in person until Monday.
‘‘The biggest thing with Michael, I literally have looked up to him my whole entire life,’’ Phelps said. ‘‘In my eyes, he changed the sport of basketball, and that’s what I wanted to do in the sport of swimming. He was a model for me.’’
Phelps was so excited Monday, he called and texted all of his friends, as well as his mother.
‘‘I was talking a million miles an hour,’’ he said, ‘‘and I just couldn’t stop smiling.’’
Sean Jensen