Michael Phelps' middle name is apparently Spicoli

[Mizzougrad96]

No doing this just shows he's a dumbass...

I'm pretty happy about this. I've never been a fan of the guy.

 

[JC]

I think Phelps is an idiot for risking is career on a bong but to me driving drunk is a far more serious crime.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think Phelps is an idiot for risking is career on a bong but to me driving drunk is a far more serious crime.

Agree completely. The guy is a douche, who happens to be one of the best swimmers ever.

 

[93Devil]

Can we just legalize this stuff?

 

[JC]

Can we just legalize this stuff?

We should.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

When asked what he thinks of the people who wrote the article and took that picture, Phelps said...

THOSE GUYS ARE FAGS!!!

 

[Zombie Vonnegut]

Good thing Prohibition kept Babe Ruth away from illegal liquor and beer during the peak of his career, else we might have had to judge his behavior very harshly. Very harshly indeed.

 

[21]

Good thing Prohibition kept Babe Ruth away from illegal liquor and beer during the peak of his career, else we might have had to judge his behavior very harshly. Very harshly indeed.

Which has zero relevance to Michael Phelps in the 21st century.

No one said Phelps wasn't the greatest swimmer ever. But he's a world class moron for allowing this to happen. How many big sponsors have their legal crew at work today, figuring how much they can save on those big contracts now?

The America sports culture has been starving for a golden boy role model hero, and Phelps was it. The People do not like to be disappointed.

 

[WriteThinking]

And when people keep saying it is no big deal, that's when, and why, it becomes no big deal. Even when it should be.

Michael Phelps has now been publicly busted for allegedly smoking weed, and, in 2004, was charged with drunk driving.

Is it really such a big leap to wonder, and maybe even suspect, that he has also done something more than "just weed"? No. And, it's not the topic here, but it's also not a big leap to go from this, to questions about the possibility of using performance-enhancing drugs. And what would that do to his legacy?

There is a pattern of behavior and stupidity here, one that shouldn't be excused.

Not everyone does drugs at some point in their lives. Considering all the testing done on athletes, and considering all that is at stake, Michael Phelps has more reason than most people to be one of those who doesn't.

Michael Phelps is a moron. But the Beamon-esq leap in from weed to PEDs is far more moronic.

For the first time ever, I think, I guess we disagree, DoubleDown.

Because you're someone on this board that I really respect, and someone who I think is knowledgeable about and interested in Phelps' sport, it almost pains me to say it, and, maybe rightfully so, gives me pause to have you say that about my thought.

I'm not saying Phelps has done PEDs, but it would surprise me much less, in light of these actions, if it is ever found that he has. It's the actions, and the propensity/willingness to take them, that would equate. Not the drugs.

 

[Double Down]

It's fine to disagree. And I appreciate that you respect my opinion. Instead of me calling you moronic, let me make my point this way: Just because marijuana and steroids are classified under the giant umbrella of "drugs" doesn't mean they're remotely the same thing. Michael is not a particularly smart person. He's grown up in a fairly sheltered world. And so it doesn't surprise me at all that he was dumb enough to let himself get photographed smoking weed. (Dude, seriously, go in the other room.) But he also has a pretty ridiculous sense of honor. Getting high and cheating to go faster are so far apart in his mind, they're on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon in terms of moral wrongs. In fact, you can make a pretty good case that marijuana is performance detracting instead of performance enhancing for a swimmer, where the ability to process oxygen is sort of the key to everything.

Phelps -- like so many 20-something guys these days -- is sort of emotional immature, but not because he smokes weed or he drinks too much. heck, at 23, I drank too much, and while I didn't smoke weed, it wasn't because I thought it was morally wrong. It was because I couldn't handle smoking. I wish I had, looking back, because it probably would have chilled me out a little.

When combined with the DUI in '04, he probably lost himself between $20 million and $40 million this weekend over the life of his endorsement career. And that's fine. I've been arguing for a couple years that the attempt to market him as some all-American epitome of perfection was stupid, and bound to backfire. (This idea that Olympic athletes should be viewed as paragons of virtue, mostly pushed by NBC types, is just absurd and I hope it's further torn down by this.)

He's a real person, with all kinds of normal flaws. But he's not a cheater. I'm pretty confident of that.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

There is a HUGE difference between smoking pot or taking steroids.

Doing either makes him a dumbass.

 

[joe king]

There is a HUGE difference between smoking pot or taking steroids.

True, but I understand Write's point, which is, the fact that Phelps is dumb/immature enough to blatantly disregard one set of rules -- those against recreational drugs -- makes it easier to believe he would disregard another -- those against PEDs, especially when the temptation and potential payoff for using PEDs is so great.

I don't think Write is making a connection or saying, ``See? He smoked pot so he MUST be taking steroids!'' He's merely suggesting that the moral compass seems to be skewed and the fear of repercussions for veering off course isn't terribly strong, which makes other ``errors in judgment'' seem more possible.