Posted on 02/01/2009 10:48:10 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Does the Dell guy ring any bells?
He’s a kid and he was having some fun after years of rigorous training. His only real sin was being stupid enough to get photographed doing it.
So he smoked pot. No different than having a scotch. Except the nanny state has deemed one naughty and the other “acceptable.” The nanny state can bite it.
It’s his family I feel sorry for. :( He’s really let them down.
You can be an Olympian and still be an idiot. Your chances are just as good as anyone else’s.
Next thing we'll see is Phelps on tv with tears, asking for forgiveness.
I don’t understand all the excuses for him. He’s 23 not 15, he’s supposed to be training for the next Olympics, it’s illegal, it’s against everything he’s trained for his whole life.
He’s a great example of what not to do when you get a little fame.
Worse part of the entire story is that now he becomes a liberal icon!
Let's move on to the more important issues of the day instead of this celebrity worship and voyeurism.
What?
He’s not a kid. He’s 23 years old!!!
He was already convicted for drunk driving in 2004.
He’s a great swimmer, but clearly a moron.
I wish people would stop making excuses for athletes and celebrities.
We all work hard. That doesn’t give any of us the right to drive drunk or use illegal drugs.
If he doesn’t pay his taxes he can join the Obama Cabinet.
Guess he qualifies for President now.
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He’s already been through this once before, when at 19 he ran a stop sign at a high speed, and was arrested for DUI.
The whole thing was probably staged for Phelps to get the publicity. These guys were looking for a huge payoff from those 8 gold medals, and from what I’ve seen, Phelps hasn’t even come close to what they were looking for. Fast being forgotten and fading from the papers, they do the sensational thing, try to create an ‘edge’ for this guy so the mainstream media will ‘embrace’ him, and he’ll be back to being an icon who can cash in. Another example of marketing groups willing to throw their clients under the bus for the extra dollars, and the dumb client not considering the long-term impact on his credibility.
Yobid, have you given any thought to what Obama’s brain is working like these days?
Worse part of the entire story is that now he becomes a liberal icon!
***Will he run for POTUS in 2012 as a Dem?***
I find out the guy is faster than me while he’s stoned out of his mind. Now I really feel bad.
Breakfast of Champions.
so true
The president should be held to a higher standard.
However, look at the last 3 presidents.
All of them have used illegal substances at some point.
That shows what people think about using these substances.
(ie not a big deal)
You can see the direction things are going in, and thats a good thing.
All along he kind of came across as a stoner to me. Not that it particularly bothered me, it didn’t detract from what he accomplished. But still, I had him pegged.
Dude smokes pot..well now he can run for President of the United States, he has something in common with Obama
Doing what kids do these days ...
It also reminds me a bit of Oksana Baiul. Although she wasn't arrested for drugs, she was in a car accident as the result of a DUI. The charges were eventually dropped after she completed probation requirements.
Still, it's an example of an Olympian who couldn't handle the pressures after Olympic life. This does surprise me a bit, since Baiul came from nowhere to win, while Phelps has a prior successful Olympics behind him even before this last one.
-PJ
He better if he wants his endorsements not to be pulled. He is now banned from the next olympics.
Nanny state aside, fun aside,,this was an incredibly stupid thing to do and tells you what poor judgement and what a dork he is. He is not so bright and has the maturity of a 14 year old....a lot of freepers are like that.
He could be President!
he is a high functioning addict my hat is off to him
Guess what Barack Obama and Michael Phelps have in common?
What a moron.
Sad, that President is held to such low standards, no birth certificate, dope smoker, not even able to get a job with FBI! (Ears probably couldn’t get a job with FBI and low level at that.)
He won’t need to worry about the 2012 Olympics now. Might as well light another bong - he’s done. Assumng of course the Olympic Committee follows its own policies.
Yep Michael, you are 23 and you had a youthful indiscretion. Hope it was worth the consequences.
Well, I didn’t know about his drunken driving conviction, but I still say this is much ado about nothing. The guy worked incredibly hard for many years. He accomplished quite a bit at a very young age. But smoking dope at 23 is not a big deal- I mean, you guys sound like Joe Friday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Twre6ItGEI
“However, look at the last 3 presidents. All of them have used illegal substances at some point.”
You got proof of that?
I think it’s the fact that after having to discipline himself so much, no one gave him any guidance for when he was able to kick back and relax.
Now he’s running wild and while I think he’ll settle down, getting involved with drugs and a DUI is showing him starting on a downward spiral.
I'm under the impression the standard ban is 2 years, with a possibility of 4 years for an especially egregious offense. I suspect he'll get a two year suspension for this.
” He better if he wants his endorsements not to be pulled. “
Bingo.
“ The scandal could be a major buzz kill for Phelps, whose agent, Peter Carlisle,
has said Phelps could bag up to $100 million in endorsements.
The world-record holder’s deals with Visa, PowerBar, AT&T Wireless and Speedo may all be in jeopardy.”
Phelps has been putting his PG endorsements at risk for months .
He’s become a regular in Las Vegas , running with the celebutard crowd.
actually, do we know where the picture was taken? was it in amsterdam? or another country that may have legalized pot?
and another thing... no one is complaining about the backstabbing ‘friend’ that took the picture. if this kind of thing isn’t stopped (we see celebs with this happening quite a bit)... then it will drive all celebs into isolation in order to avoid anything embarrassing. and i mean anything. look at paris hilton’s prison stay. she was afraid to urinate in her cell as she thought the guards would take pictures and sell them to the tabloids (which happened any how)
as a country we should be slamming the lamers that take the photos, not the ones being exploited. and where is the protection for those being exploited for money against their will? where are the consent forms?
Gateway!
I have a problem with a failed war on a plant conducted by federal government.
Doesn't that only apply to performance enhancing drugs, like steroids?
LOL! Cajungirl, you just belted one out of the park!
Pot should be treated the same as alcohol, now if Phelps was caught drinking a beer, this wouldn’t have caused a fuss, would it?
And I say this as a person who has never tried pot and has no intention of ever trying it.
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