Michael Phelps

Goes to show he is a human being with problems. I don't think it takes away from his accomplishments but he will be remembered differently. Mainly because he got his one "youthful indiscretion" when he got the DUI a few years ago. He should have learned from that but now it looks like maybe he hasn't.

Hopefully it was a one time thing but if not I hope he wakes up and realizes he has a problem and gets help.

I still think he is an incredible athlete,and he got caught smoking pot.I really do not think that constitutes a drug problem or half the country would have a drug problem.
I understand he is a role model, but I think the perfectionism people expect out of the young man is unresonable. he is human and he did something wrong.
Doesnt really change my view point of him in any way.If he had a medical problem he could smoke it legally. How many people do you think smoke it legally now? More than most people realize.

I'm not surprised. Our society send mixed messages. Why do we harshly criticize a young athlete for doing the same thing at least two of our presidents (including our current one) admittedly have done.

Sometimes we forget that these guys are still just young men that are living under pressures that most of us cannot understand. It is not unusual for our greatest and brightest to train big, perform big, and play big. It is just harder now because of cell phone cameras and 12 megapixel cameras that are smaller than a cigarette pack. One must be more careful and use good judgment.

I am not going to make excuses for him, but I understand the pressures. There just always seem to some that love it when the brightest stars mess up so that we can pile on them. Sign of the times.

I agree with fanofgame. Pot smoking, although illegal, is considered by many people, especially young adults, equivalent to drinking a beer. How many people in there twenties get high, probably quite a few. His status as a high profile athelete should make him think twice before doing this but his only 23 and his judgement has not matured yet it seems.

Those of us who grew up in the 60's and 70's chances are we did the same thing. Who are we to now judge others who do it.

Fungo, who is harshly critizing him? Apparently and thankfully in 2009, smoking pot in your twenties does not eliminate someone from a successfull career twenty year later.

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There's a real knack to this...it isn't as easy as it looks!

Doesn't take away from his accomplishments at all. Probably shows that he could have been even better. Doesn't really surprise me though. I was a swimmer in HS and swimmers are the craziest people I had ever met. Must be all the hours in the chlorine and silence.

this made me ponder a few things, that's not always a good thing.


we as a society tend to be very critical of successful people. sports ,business whatever it may be. maybe even more so in cyber life.


does fame and fortune make you a better person? should it? do certain indiscretions make you a bad person? would this be new's if he wasn't a world class athlete? should it be new's? i will say it's better than the gloom and doom economic new's lately.



how many people never break the law? i mean any law,speeding etc. most of us aren't under that microscope either.

No big thing !!!

In fact saw one article stating nobody was sure as to what he was smoking

The state of Massachussetts now has a law that makes it a simple misdemeanor , like a traffic ticket, if caught with an ounce or less on your person---CT is condisering the same law

Personally I think it should be legalized and run by the goverment---taxing it would certainly help the state deficits

I agree with TR. At this point in history this is, or should be, a non-story.

for those of us that grew up in the 60's, 70's or 80's we're not easily offended by this type of news, however as an olympic athlete he's a role model.....it's unfortunate!

if anything there is a good lesson for our kids in this situation. most can probably relate, but once we realize our kids are elite athlete's at the high school level, they start getting the speech that they are role models in the community, they represent their school, etc. in this electronic media age.....we really can't stress that enough! with the web, *** texting, social networking sites, etc. "behind closed doors" doesn't really exist anymore. i've been stressing that to my son, but i'll probably use this story to stress that point once again. live clean and be decent both on and off the field....always assume that someone is watching and judging your performance and behavior....be an "11" always!!!

just out of curiousity....how many college and pro organization are actively educating the kids on these type of pitfalls???

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Originally posted by Fungo:
I'm not surprised. Our society send mixed messages. Why do we harshly criticize a young athlete for doing the same thing at least two of our presidents (including our current one) admittedly have done.

Coming from a parent of one whose son plays on a team with a few known tokers, I think you are all onto something. I am going to have the team over to my house for a pot party. Now that you all have mentioned that it is no big deal, I have been waiting to do this for a while but thought it might not go over well. With all of you thinking it is acceptable, you have changed my mind.

I won’t let any of them drive or do anything stupid (about half of them are 15 and don’t have licenses anyway.)

We will probably have to get extra Doritos and maybe we can grill hotdogs too. I think I have a cop friend that can get me about 4 grams of sensimilla for around $250. For about 10 kids, do all of you think that is enough for one evening? The kids can all chip in about $30 and that should cover the pot and the munchies. My bongs are in storage, so what is the easiest way kids like to smoke these days? I would assume 2 or three small bowl pipes would suffice.

Of course I will confiscate all cell phones and cameras at the door, wouldn’t want anyone to get pasted to the net as a few of the kids have some verbals to D1. I think that this will be great, I can show them how to make brownies too that their parents might not know how to do. For those kids who don’t want to smoke, I have a few tabs of valium left over from my back surgery that I can give them.

I will let you know how much fun we had after the party. Isn’t the HSBBweb a great place? If it is ok for some of the biggest stars in the sports world, how can it hurt these kids?

quote:

I'm not surprised. Our society send mixed messages. Why do we harshly criticize a young athlete for doing the same thing at least two of our presidents (including our current one) admittedly have done.

Our current and last president admitted to worst. So, you're right there. To a large extent, he set this problem up for himself by the marketing image he was portraying himself to be through his endorcement deals. He'll pay a price, as he should, by losing some of those deals and that will be his penalty. The press got their body blows in on this one and should move on to the next target...as they are always trying to tear down anything positive.

Who makes Phelps and others the idols for our kids to worship?

They are humans just like the rest of us except for the microscope they are under--

Think about this--- this kid has been under lock and key ( swimming practice et al) every day every year since he was a pre teen---he is now loose and free to do what he wants

The English media came up with this? Isn't that their usual modus operendi

quote:

Originally posted by Kokomojo:
Coming from a parent of one whose son plays on a team with a few known tokers, I think you are all onto something. I am going to have the team over to my house for a pot party. Now that you all have mentioned that it is no big deal, I have been waiting to do this for a while but thought it might not go over well. With all of you thinking it is acceptable, you have changed my mind.

I won’t let any of them drive or do anything stupid (about half of them are 15 and don’t have licenses anyway.)

We will probably have to get extra Doritos and maybe we can grill hotdogs too. I think I have a cop friend that can get me about 4 grams of sensimilla for around $250. For about 10 kids, do all of you think that is enough for one evening? The kids can all chip in about $30 and that should cover the pot and the munchies. My bongs are in storage, so what is the easiest way kids like to smoke these days? I would assume 2 or three small bowl pipes would suffice.

Of course I will confiscate all cell phones and cameras at the door, wouldn’t want anyone to get pasted to the net as a few of the kids have some verbals to D1. I think that this will be great, I can show them how to make brownies too that their parents might not know how to do. For those kids who don’t want to smoke, I have a few tabs of valium left over from my back surgery that I can give them.

I will let you know how much fun we had after the party. Isn’t the HSBBweb a great place? If it is ok for some of the biggest stars in the sports world, how can it hurt these kids?

i don't think anyone on here was condoning that type of behavior....i personally would throttle my son or any of his teammates if i caught them smoking cigarettes.....pot would get them beheaded!!

but in all fairness we live in a world where presidents, legislators, athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc. make bad choices.....some of them are choices that each of us may have made at one time or another.

btw, josh hamilton did every drug under the sun, squandered his talent and almost died....his story of redemption, mercy, mental tenacity and forgiveness was the baseball story of the year last year.......

michael phelps' story isn't complete.....before we judge let's see how he writes the rest of it.

quote:

but in all fairness we live in a world where presidents, legislators, athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc. make bad choices.....some of them are choices that each of us may have made at one time or another.

btw, josh hamilton did every drug under the sun, squandered his talent and almost died....his story of redemption, mercy, mental tenacity and forgiveness was the baseball story of the year last year.......

For every Josh Hamilton story there's a Len Bias one. You play with fire, you might get away with it...or you might get burned for life. Why roll the dice.

Guys and Gals

We are talking weed here not coke or crack

I will submit to you no one has ever done coke without starting with pot. Sure, some do pot and never go beyond that. But many can't stop there, which is rolling the dice.

Nobody is condoning the behavior. In this world it is a reality. As much as we would like to produce perfect little people who always make good decisions and do everything they are supposed to do. It is not a reality. Any parent who doesn't realize it is kidding themselves and burying their heads in the sand. Kids make mistakes.

I have seen very controlling parents who believed that their kids are perfect. Those are the kids who go to college and act like idiots just released from captivity. It happens.

The hsbbweb is not condoning this behavior. Denying that it happens would be just as foolish. Knowing about it better lets us plan for and educate the parents here to better prepare themselves and their children for the eventuality of temptation. The reality is that kids will do things and not let their parents know. Teens and young adults experiment. Just the way it is.

It is easy to be sarcastic and condemn the discussion as somehow condoning the usage. It is just so much BS.

Clinton didn't inhale. Yea right! Bush didn't party! Yea right! Obama experimented. Come on people get real. We cannot control what young adults do. We can only learn and try to give them the skills and tools to cope with the eventuality that temptation will rear its ugly head. If you think that most won't be tempted and cross the line....grow up. As parents we can only hope they don't get totally stupid and prepare them as best we can.

I, for one, would rather be pleasantly surprised by their good decisions than devastated by their bad ones. That would be a failure to be prepared and informed on my part. jmo

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:

For every Josh Hamilton story there's a Len Bias one. You play with fire, you might get away with it...or you might get burned for life. Why roll the dice.

which is why we talk to our kids about the danger of drugs including cigarettes, chew, alcohol, etc......

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by Tx-Husker:

For every Josh Hamilton story there's a Len Bias one. You play with fire, you might get away with it...or you might get burned for life. Why roll the dice.


which is why we talk to our kids about the danger of drugs including cigarettes, chew, alcohol, etc......

Agree 100%. Don't dismiss it as no big deal, rather, you get what's coming to you if you decide to enter into the field of greater risk factors.

And "Denying that it happens would be just as foolish."...just as foolish as telling teens everyone does it. Some do, some don't.

quote:

Originally posted by Fungo:
I'm not surprised. Our society send mixed messages. Why do we harshly criticize a young athlete for doing the same thing at least two of our presidents (including our current one) admittedly have done.

What I find ironic is that many of those who attempt to bad mouth his actions belong to the generation that put it on the table to begin with. Looking back I'll bet that many of us could imagine seeing our own faces, our family, or friends in that picture and not bat an eye toward judgement.

Do you suppose there might be a clause in the many endorsement contracts he signed that prohibit this type of behavior?

Aside from the legal issues that seem to be almost always overlooked these days, violating the pricey contracts he signed will be a hard lesson to learn if they get cancelled because of this.

Just read that the IOC accepted Phelps apology and he will suffer no consequences from them. He was not in training and it had nothing to do with his Olympic achievements. I can appreciate this although I do not condone pot smoking, by anymeans. It is because he manned up and came clean and apologized instead of hiding or lying about it. That is a lesson in itself.

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Fungo, who is harshly critizing him?

I thought this article was critical of Phelps. After all the headlines read "WHAT A DOPE".

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Thankfully in 2009, smoking pot in your twenties does not eliminate someone from a successfull career twenty year later.

Obama is thankful too. However that is not always the case. While there are many that have NOT been eliminated by their pot smoking --- there are MANY young people that HAVE had their lives negatively impacted by pot smoking and have NOT had a successful career twenty years later because of drug use.

I would venture to say there's a very good chance that Michael Phelps will admit that this incident of pot smoking had a negative impact and may actually eliminate him from a successful career. Not it won't, and shouldn't, strip him of his medals, but I suspect it will greatly impact his ability to get endorsements. A lot depends on how the media spins it.

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Who makes Phelps and others the idols for our kids to worship?

I'm not sure anyone said anything about "worship." But, like it or not, he is in a position in which a lot of kids look up to him. A lot of adults too. He accomplished a lot...more than any human being ever in a particular field and is/was put forth as one of the "best" America has to offer. He is someone we like to like.

I will not tell my kids that its just the way it is now nor will I tell them "its no big thing." It is a big thing. Nearly every kid I know/knew who ended up on harder, more dangerous drugs started with pot.

I am no puritan. I grew up just like the rest of you and I didn't live like a monk. I am not so naive to believe my kids never have nor never will do something that disappoints me. But the example I set to my children is important to them and to me...saying that "its no big thing" would not at all be the example I want to set.

I am disappointed in Michael Phelps. I thought and had hoped that at a minimum, he was wiser than this situation shows him to be. Oh, and I'm disappointed too in Presidents, Congressmen/women and others in position of leadership that think its "ok" to openly discuss their drug use for all to hear...even if it was 30-40 years ago.

Why all the righteousness?????

I am not ashamed to admit I did weed in my youth

And weed in a bong does not always lead to other drugs---that is totally false---


Mr Righteous--why is it wrong to discuss our use from 30 or 40 years ago---hey those were some pretty good years---as a youth back then it was surely better than what the kids are going thru today

quote:

...as a youth back then it was surely better than what the kids are going thru today

Looks like yours and my generations did a great job then of advancing humankind to a better state - huh?

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Why all the righteousness?????

I am not ashamed to admit I did weed in my youth

And weed in a bong does not always lead to other drugs---that is totally false---


Mr Righteous--why is it wrong to discuss our use from 30 or 40 years ago---hey those were some pretty good years---as a youth back then it was surely better than what the kids are going thru today

The only difference from our youth times & now is- then there was no one was standing around with a cell phone camera ready to get the picture to make money off that moment.

Most of us would have been just going around campus for a few days saying "hey guess who I partied with last night"...

Justbaseball

Hey, we all did things in our youth that we would not do today. And Phelps is still just a kid in the big scheme of things. With that said, I didnt have many millions on the line when I was a fool. I wasnt in the public eye, and I certainly did not have a team of advisors telling me how not to act like an idiot. Its like the guy that gets a DUI. Nobody cares that the guy was tanked, they care that he decided to drive and risk others. Nobody cares what Phelps does in his own house (within reason), they care that there is a pic of him doing it.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
And weed in a bong does not always lead to other drugs---that is totally false---

TR,

Did someone say always?

Being in the music biz in your younger years it must have been hard to resist all the other things that were going around. Are you telling us that you were strong enough to say no?

It would be nice to hear how one was able to stand out in that crowd.

Of course I may be wrong in thinking that drugs were everywhere in rock and roll in the 60s and 70s.

In my world, thousands of lives are being destroyed by arrests and imprisonment due to marijuana use, especially on college campuses. We do send a mixed message about marijuana. Something needs to be done Nationally to make it legal with limit restrictions as Massachusetts has done. It is ruining so many lives.

My two grand-daughters attend the Boys and Girls After-School program in Atlanta. About 4 months ago Michael Phelps made an appearance there and helped several kids with their homework for a photo-op. One of my grand-daughters was selected to take a picture with him and it made the papers. Since that day she adores Michael Phelps and has become one of his biggest fans. Hopefully, she will not learn about Phelps on the news. But my daughter and her husband are prepared to discuss this with her if the subject arises.

As I listen to the comments regarding Phelps, we do have a double standard in this country about drug use - and, Marijuana is an illegal drug in most states. Society, including many of us, don't think using marijuana is that big of a deal. However, tell that to your local police officer who throws the book at a kid if he or she is caught with marijuana.

Without getting into the moral questions about this whole issue I would just like to touch on the subject of Phelps being a "Role Model" or not. Many athletes are considered role models, some accept this, some don't. That is a debatable topic. However, when a person such as Phelps accepts millions of dollars from companies to be a the face of their product he is doing so because of his image and is thus accepting the fact he is a role model. That is why these companies chose him and are paying him!

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The only difference from our youth times & now is- then there was no one was standing around with a cell phone camera ready to get the picture to make money off that moment.

A little accountability for one's actions is always a good thing.

I don't think anyone wants there 16-20 year child smoking pot. We don't want them drinking either. Will some, of course. Would I just blow it off as no big deal if my son did? No, I would discuss the problems both legally and personally that would arise if he were arrested for it. Maybe not as calmly as I'm writing this though.

The real world is that many kids that age will try it regardless what Phelps or any other high profile person does. IMO if my son trys pot because Michael Phelps is in the paper taking a hit from a bong, I didn't do a very good job raising him. I really think this role model thing (with athletes, politicians, movie stars, et al) is way over blown as it applies to kids who have stable, caring parents and families. I know many don't but, it seems, people on this site are stable and caring or we wouldn't be here.

The most important role models are in the home! This is apparent to me everytime my son drives with his permit and does something he has seen me do. He thinks it's OK for him to the same things I do. Even though I've been driving for 35 years and he's had a permit for 6 months. It's funny what brings things into focus for us but that has for me. Now I don't drive with my leg and I notice my speed more.

If he has noticed and copies my driving habits he probably noticed ever other bad and good trait I have. Hopefully the few good will influence him more than the many bad ones. I'm pretty sure my habits and actions have influenced him more than what Michael Phelps or Plaxico Burress does.

Boy isn't he lucky!!

this maybe a little off topic but.......
i think open,frank talks about drug's are important. does it make you a hipocrite if you don't fess up about your own indiscretion's?
i do think less of people that i know STILL use drug's. i do know a few,they are in all types of profesional job's i guess i feel there is a time to move on. if you admit these things to your kids are you looked upon in a different light?

you know what they say....people who live in glass house's, dress in the basemant.

infidel

The people I was associated with knew the difference---we didn't look to "stand out " as you phrase it---


We did weed and we drank but it never went further than that , at least in my company either at their homes or mine---we needed to be functional in the studio the next day

There are people who can control what they do---hey I used to smoke three packs a day and stopped cold turkey--no patch no nothing

Pot is widely considered a "gateway" drug, though there is really no scientific evidence, there is certainly anecdotal evidence. Along that same vein, booze is also a "gateway" drug. Most everyone I ever knew who smoked pot, drank a beer or some other alcoholic beverage before smoking pot. That anecdotal evidence says that booze is a "gateway" drug as well. Not everyone who smokes pot or drinks goes on to other drugs. There is some generalization here. The reality is that booze is legal so it is accepted and not widely considered to be a "gateway" drug. There are many alcoholics who have never tried another drug.