Future bright, shades recommended for Phelps, Bolt, White

Michael Phelps' London Games will not be easy. "The goal I have set for London is a very hard goal," Phelps told the Baltimore Sun prior to next week's U.S. Nationals. Unfortunately, he won't reveal what that goal is, saying that "The only two that are really going to know that goal are [coach] Bob [Bowman] and I."

Left without answers, we shall now speculate. Phelps already has the most gold medals of any Olympian ever, and he's just three medals from surpassing Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most medals (19) in Olympic history. Surely he's aiming higher than that, right? Our guess: After winning five golds and one silver at the 2009 World Championships, Phelps is targeting six golds in London, which would give him a potentially insurmountable total of 22 career medals, and would make his career gold medal tally a spectacularly round number: 20.

Usain Bolt thinks that running 9.4 is possible... maybe. "I always say that probably 9.4 is possible," Bolt told the Associated Press just over a week before his much-anticipated Aug. 6 matchup with Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in Stockholm. Also notable from Bolt's discussion with the AP: He's not quite ready to use a word that in our opinion gets thrown around all too often. "I don't think I'm a legend now," Bolt said. "A lot of people have [won gold in an event] one time. If I can double, few people in the world can say they're double Olympic gold medalists. I want to be one of those few people."

It's worth noting that Bolt is apparently setting repeat 100m or 200m gold as the benchmark he has to hit for legendary status. But what if he repeats as 100m and 200m Olympic champion - something no competitor has ever done? In that case, it would only seem fair that every time we referenced Bolt's accomplishments, we would have to deploy the word in question with an underline: legend.

Meanwhile, Shaun White is back on a skateboard at the X Games, while thinking about himself appearing on large screens. As reported by the New York Times, White has signed with Creative Artists Agency as he begins to ponder opportunities in film and TV. We'll resist making a joke about him filming a buddy cop movie with Carrot Top, because frankly that's just too easy.

Instead, we'll share a brief lament. Taking into account White's appreciation for the retro (AC/DC's Back in Black was the soundtrack during his gold medal run in 2006 and after his repeat victory in 2010), it's a shame that he wasn't around trying to get his acting career started about 17 years ago. With his awe-inspiring red locks and clear appreciation of decades past, he would have been an asset as one of the many memorable characters during the party at the Moontower scene in Dazed and Confused.