I’m sure that by now everyone has heard about the weed scandal with Michael Phelps.
Number one: Stop calling it a scandal. He is twenty three years old. In fact, his age shouldn’t even matter. He is a record setting, gold medal winning, Olympic swimmer who got caught taking a bong hit. Everyone is treating Phelps like he is an idiot, like he made the biggest mistake of his life. If anything, this should show people that even a big star likes to indulge. For isntance, check out this little blurb from the New York Times:
In this plummeting economy, Kellogg could probably do better than shovel money at a callow swimmer. Maybe Kellogg exercised prudence because the money was not easy-come-easy-go tax money but real money, their money…There was almost no trace of education from the University of Michigan, where Phelps had spent several years training, and his instincts seemed to lean more to house parties than to the classroom.
Here’s the deal. Phelps is a swimmer. Nowhere did it say that he was a genius’s or a perfect human being. And, in all honesty, I doubt that word of Phelps smoking weed will dent Kellogg’s sales. Lets put it this way. If someone snapped a picture of Justin Long rolling a joint, I fully believe that Apple would not be affected. Basically, if a kid likes to eat Frosted Flakes, he is going to eat Frosted Flakes. Taste buds don’t change with the altered states of Phelps’ mind. I agree that Dan Wetzel put it best when asking
Who knew cereal had an image?
This brings me to point number 2. Maybe people need to ease up on their judgments of professional athletes and stars alike. Maybe instead of criticizing and ostracizing these people in the public eye, we need to rethink our beliefs. If we’ve got athletes like Michael Phelps, Barry Bonds, and many others using steroids or other drugs, maybe we need to take a step back and reevaluate. These guys compete to win in their field. It seemed that everyone loved him when he won 8 gold medals in Beijing, but he takes one bong rip and people turn their backs. Let athletes and stars live their lives. People are people.
I’m glad to hear that brands like Speedo and Omega have stood by Phelps. Even Brazilian futbol star Ronaldo hs backed Phelps on his decision. I get that he is a role model for many around the world, but this incident should not label him as a bad person. If anything, this should teach kids that all people, even the famous ones, experiment. No one is perfect.
It amazes me that journalists and people focus so much on drug use. Their are much worse things than inhaling some THC. I can’t even believe that this incident has received so much coverage. Out of all the genocide, murder, rape, and kidnapping going on in the world, people decide to debate the punishment of an Olympic swimmer’s private life.
I’ll leave you with this thought. How would you like it if someone snapped a picture of you doing something that your mother wouldn’t approve of and published it in the local paper? Think of Phelps. The whole world now knows about this.
Well said.