The Swimming World Championships in Rome have just finished up and Michael Phelps closed it out with a gold medal performance on the American relay team. That left him with a total of five golds and a silver for the competition, not too shabby. But perhaps even more than the continued domination of Phelps, the real story from Rome seems to be the 43 world records set there. Brian Cazeneuve from Sports Illustrated puts in his two cents:

It’s gotta be the suits. What else could explain the absurd number of world records set in Rome? In 2008, a year when the rise of records left people calling for drug inquiries, pool measurements and the return of 1920s swimsuits, there were 102 records set throughout the year. That’s almost one every three days. In Rome, swimmers set new standards 43 times in eight days. FINA, the sport’s international governing body, has said it will adopt new regulations to prohibit some of the materials in the suits of the last two or three years. They will also restrict the length of some of the suits for both men and women. Still, those regulations won’t go into effect until Jan. 1 and even those will be against the objections of many suit manufacturers who want to liquidate their stock of the suits that will soon be illegal. Once that happens, some of these records could stand for some time.

So all these new-fangled swimsuits are going to be made illegal? When I heard the story the first thing that popped into my mind was the sound of those speed skates in Nagano in 1998 and every Olympics since. Called “clap skates” these things broke every record there was to break in speed skating. But they are still legal today.

With the skates in mind as a precedent then, it seems a bit odd to me that the swimsuits should be banned. Further strangeness in this story comes from the fact that all of the records in swimming HAVE ALREADY BEEN BROKEN by them. If the reason for making the suits illegal is to make the times of the swimmers closer to something a normal human should be able to do, than don’t we have to re-swim every event since Beijing? FINA, the governing body of international swimming, needs to get their heads out of the suits and let technology through on this one.

OK, but then what about aluminum bats in Major League baseball? If we should let in the swimsuits, then why shouldn’t we let in the bats? OK, here’s why: The swimsuits have already been used, the records are already broken. With baseball, if they choose to not let those bats in, then fine, that’s up to them. But FINA shouldn’t have gone back on their previous approval. I don’t care too much about what choices a governing body makes in terms of technological advances, so long as they stay consistent. Baseball has, speed skating has, swimming seems to have had a false start.

- Thanks to his public show of affection for Mary Jane, Michael Phelps was booted from his motivational speaking gig says SPORTSbyBROOKS.com.

- Now that the Colts have officially released receiver Marvin Harrison, Uncoached.com writes that he’ll always have a career as Wayne Brady’s stunt double.

- The guys from The Love of Sports details which NBA players need a new ‘do (as in hair).

- Awful Announcing has the lowdown on Charles Barkley heading to jail for 10 days because of a DUI charge.

- Tonyblogs.net want Rick Reilly off television and we couldn’t agree more.

This is a surprise.

Former Atlanta Falcons running back Jamal Anderson was arrested and booked into an Atlanta-area jail late Saturday night on a felony possession-of-cocaine charge and possession-of-marijuana charge, a misdemeanor.

Anderson, an NFL analyst for ESPN’s First Take this past season, was booked into the Fulton County jail in Georgia and denied bond.

His first hearing was set for Monday morning, the Fulton County sheriff’s office said Sunday.

Anderson, 36, was arrested at the Peachtree Tavern in the community of Buckhead after an off-duty officer working security at the club alerted police, according to The Associated Press, citing a police spokesman.

Police found a suspected marijuana cigarette in Anderson’s pocket, local reports said. Another man with Anderson was also arrested. Police said both men were in possession of cocaine, according to the reports.

Anderson never struck me as someone who would get into this kind of trouble, but who knows these days. The marijuana is not the big deal here. The hysteria surrounding the Michael Phelps story is absurd, but cocaine is another matter.

- PACMAN JONESIN’ has the story of the sheriff in Richland County, South Carolina that is threatening to bring criminal charges against Michael Phelps for smoking the weed.

- SPORTSBYBROOKS informs us that multi-millionaire Tiger Woods doesn’t tip. Ever. (Is he secretly Australian?)

- FOX SPORTS lists the top 10 Super Bowl commercials.

- DEADSPIN has video of an escape artist nearly dying of drowning during the intermission of a recent Oklahoma City Thunder game. (Not for kids.)

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS has a helpful Pittsburghese-to-English dictionary.

Michael Phelps was photographed taking a hit off of a bong at a house party during a November visit to the University of Southern California South Carolina.

In a statement released Sunday, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games did not dispute the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Saturday by the tabloid News of the World.

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

While the newspaper did not specifically allege that Phelps was smoking pot, it did say the pipe is generally used for that purpose and anonymously quoted a partygoer who said the Olympic champion was “out of control from the moment he got there.”

Marijuana is viewed differently from performance-enhancing drugs, according to David Howman, executive director of the World Anti-Doping Agency. An athlete is subject to WADA sanctions only for a positive test that occurs during competition periods.

“We don’t have any jurisdiction,” Howman said. “It’s not banned out of competition. It’s only if you test positive in competition.”

I don’t think anyone would argue that marijuana would “enhance” Phelps’ performance in the pool, so it looks like he’ll take a public relations hit (pun intended) and move on.

- DEADSPIN says that Brett Favre was a dealbreaker in the Bill Cowher-to-the-Jets talks. [DEADSPIN]

- KISSING SUZY KOLBER (great name for a blog, btw) has unearthed some old footage from Morten Andersen’s television show back in 1994 (where he interviews a few NFL cheerleaders), complete with snarky, blow-by-blow commentary. [KISSING SUZY KOLBER]

- SPORTSbyBROOKS gives all the gory details about Charles Barkley’s recent citation for DUI. [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

- BOOSH MAGAZINE has a list of the not-so-spectacular athletes from 2008. [BOOSH MAGAZINE]

- In the wake of the Mike Shanahan firing, IN GAME NOW has a collection of funny expressions from Skeletor (a.k.a. “Rat” Shanahan). [IN GAME NOW]

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS has video of Reggie Evans being called for a technical after slapping Kyle Korver on the tookus. [THE LOVE OF SPORTS]

- SPORTSbyBROOKS reports that swimmer Michael Phelps can’t decide whether or not he has a girlfriend. [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

At the end of the year, it’s always interesting to look back at all that has happened in the world of sports over the last 12 months. 2008 brought us a host of compelling sports stories, including the culmination of the Patriots’ (unsuccessful) quest for perfection, a Bejing Olympics that featured incredible accomplishments by the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the Redeem Team, and, of course, Brett Favre’s unretirement, which managed to hold the sports news cycle hostage for a solid month or more.

As is our tradition, we’ve once again broken our Year End Sports Review into three sections. The first is “What We Learned,� a list that’s packed with a number of impressive feats. And when there are feats, inevitably there are also failures.

Don’t miss the other two parts: “What We Already Knewâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

The New England Patriots weren’t so perfect after all.

After rolling through the 2007 regular season unscathed, the Patriots entered the 2008 Super Bowl as overwhelming favorites to roll over the pesky, but seemingly inferior New York Giants. The Pats were just one win away from staking their claim as the best football team in NFL history. But thanks to a dominating Giants’ defensive line, an improbable catch by David Tyree, and a virtually mistake-free performance by Eli Manning, the unbeatable New England Patriots were beat. It’ll go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and considering Tom Brady’s season-ending injury in 2008 cost the Pats a chance for redemption, it seems that many have forgotten how New England stood just one win away from perfection. – Anthony Stalter

Michael Phelps is part fish.

Eight gold medals in one Olympiad? No problem. Michael Phelps made the seemingly impossible look (relatively) easy en route to one of the most – if not the most – impressive Olympic performances ever. Phelps had to swim all four strokes, compete in both sprint and endurance races, and deal with the constant media attention and pressure that came along with his quest. Sure, NBC turned up the hype, but what Phelps accomplished is simply incredible. – John Paulsen

Usain Bolt is part cheetah.

First, Usain Bolt made Jamaica proud by setting a new world record (9.69) in the 100-meter sprint. Then, he broke the 12 year-old 200-meter world record with a time of 19.30 seconds. He showboated during the first race but cleaned up his act to win the second race in a professional manner. Some even say that Usain Bolt – not Michael Phelps – was the biggest story to come out of the Bejing Olympics. – JP

The Big 12 has the best quarterbacks in the nation.

The Big 12 housed some of the best quarterbacks in all of college football in 2008. Texas’s Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell were all considered Heisman candidates at least at one point during the season, while McCoy and Bradford are still in the running. Amazingly, Bradford and McCoy aren’t done; both will return in 2008. And although they don’t receive as much attention as the top signal callers in the conference, Kansas’s Todd Reesing and Baylor’s Robert Griffin certainly turned heads this year as well. In fact, the highly versatile Griffin is only a freshman and could make the Bears a very dangerous team for years to come. – AS

King-Mag.com released a list of the eight most TiVo-worthy moments of 2008, complete with YouTube video.

It’s a solid list, though there’s a certain swimmer and a certain clutch three-pointer that are curiously missing.

The Love of Sports put together a great list of sports clichés that the general public could do without hearing for the next couple decades.

1. “One Day (Game) at a Time�
Ah, how Zen. It’s great to know our admired athletes live along the same space-time continuum as the rest of us, despite possessing extraordinary physical skill. You may want to stay humble to maintain that underdog mentality, but don’t try to wow us with your existential wisdom.

4. “Nobody Believed In Us�
Really, no one? How very lonely you pro athletes must be. If this were true, then we should all be thankful none of us has to deal with the crushing abandonment that a come-from-behind sports franchise must. Even the Rays had a few thousand “believers� and they claim the most anemic following of anybody. Save the pity card and enjoy the win.

6. “We Never Gave Up�
On behalf of the millions of other fans who invest their money and time to watch you do your job, thank you. This should go without saying. So, by all means, don’t say it.

8. “We Just Had to Come Out and Play Our Game�
Uh huh. And? What a way to say nothing, yet hint at something truly profound. We know what game you played, but damned if we have any idea what “your gameâ€� actually was – or is. Clearly the game the other team played, though technically the same as the one you were playing, was inferior to this mysterious “Youâ€� game. Tell us more.

The “Nobody Believed In Us� is beyond the point of annoying. Players like to assume that everybody is against them now and it’s ridiculous. The whole “respect� thing is getting really tired.