TVSquad

Is there a bigger star in the world right this moment than Michael Phelps? He's poised to break Mark Spitz's record seven gold medals in one Olympics. He's already the most honored Olympic champion of all times, having won more gold medals than some entire countries.

Jeremy Schaap was singing his praises on ESPN this morning. Michael Phelps is tall, fit, good looking and has the makings of humongous success. Can't you just see him as a TV star?

As Rich pointed out, being an Olympic champion can sometimes be a launching pad for a career on TV. For most, the fit isn't exactly right, but I think that that was the fault of the producers back then, not the Olympians.

Therefore, I'm going to help Michael and those TV bigwigs with a few ideas. Here's four existing shows that should be writing scripts for Michael Phelps right away, and one remake that's right up his alley.

My favorite athlete from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City was Sarah Hughes. She wasn't expected to win a medal, but she piqued peaked at exactly the right time. She skated a flawless final program and, thanks to some bobbles and falls by her teammates, she ended up on the top of the medals podium. But, where is Sarah today? She was only 16 when she won gold so she's not too old to skate. Heck, Michelle Kwan has been a part of the Olympics since Lillehammer in 1994 (sadly, she had to withdraw from the games yesterday due to injury).

I did a little nosing around the internet and found Sarah. She's a student at Yale, where studies come first, boys come second, and figure skating is somewhere after that (although she has been hosting some skating events for charity). Sarah will be in Italy for the games, however. She'll be doing some sideline reporting for MSNBC and she'll be cheering on her little sister, Emily, the alternate skater who will take Michelle Kwan's place.

Most of the action today is going to be on the ice, in the form of figure skating and speed skating. Figure skating pairs begin competition with the short program. Expect to hear a lot from the commentators about how the judging has changed since Salt Lake, when Canadian and Russian pairs ended up sharing the gold medal. Also today, Chad Hedrick begins his quest for five gold medals in speed skating. Plus, the Americans face the very strong Chinese women in freestyle skiing. All the high profile events will air during NBC primetime.

Here's the schedule:

Want to see some fearless athletes who won't be going to the Olympics? Check out Winter X Games highlights on iTunes. Most notable is Tanner Hall's win in the skiing superpipe. This kid (from my hometown) is fearless. In his first competition since breaking both ankles and both heels last spring (OUCH!), Tanner won his 10th X Games medal. You can check him out in Day 4 Extended Highlights, which also includes Snocross, a snowmobiling competition with some serious air. Blair Morgan goes for his record fifth gold medal in the event.