Phelp's is the tall white-man's Erkel.
But man will he parlay that dorkiness into much poontang. :hump:
Here is an interesting article in today's Baltimore Sun about his new $1.7 million townhouse in Fells Point.
baltimoresun.com
If you live near Michael Phelps, don't answer the phone
Laura Vozzella
August 24, 2008
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How's this for gold-medal motivation? On July 31, just days before he headed to Beijing, Michael Phelps shelled out $36,538.46 for property taxes on his $1.7 million Fells Point townhouse.
That $1 million bonus Speedo dangled for tying Mark Spitz's seven golds? Taxes will eat that up in 28 years.
Maybe it's the city's high tax rate, or the real estate slump, but Phelps will have precious few neighbors once he's back from Beijing.
His 4,080-square-foot townhouse is one of 10 built last year on the waterfront at the end of a cobblestoned Fells Point street. Priced from $1.4 million to $1.85 million, they boast marina views, hardwood floors, granite counters and - no small luxury in that part of town - parking!
But only three of the 10 units have sold, one to a pair of doctors, the other to what passes for royalty around here: a pothole heir. (More on him later.)
Perhaps the lack of residents at this luxury complex will give Phelps some privacy. But so far, the opposite is true for his few neighbors.
Using the tech savvy usually reserved for omigod!-quality messaging, Phelps fans have mined real-estate closing documents and struck gold: the cell phone number and e-mail address for the guy who lives two doors down.
"I'm getting text messages from girls, 'Oh my God! He's so cute!'" said A.T. Ward, aka Arthur Thomas Ward IV, the aforementioned pothole heir.
(His grandfather, the late Arthur Thomas Ward Jr., was a Baltimore surgeon who dabbled in his father's paving business and wound up creating the blend of plastics, asphalt and chemicals used to patch potholes. I'll admit I'm not certain that Ward, 25, is living off a pile of grandpa's pothole dough. He wasn't saying what he does for a living, so that's my best guess.)
Who knew love-struck teens could be so handy with public land records? And not just them. "I'm getting e-mails from companies," Ward said. "'We know you're his neighbor. Can you make an introduction?'"
Ward has barely had an introduction himself. Phelps bought the townhouse last Halloween but has been off training in Michigan ever since. Phelps has said he'll really move in upon his return from Beijing.
"He's only been here for two weekends," said Ward, who nevertheless met Phelps and found him to be "a real nice guy."