[TexasParent]

If you actually believe that this was something that he only recently started then are kidding yourself.

In looking back I realize that I didn't make my main point very clear and that is that the man broke the law. Pure and simple. You can make all the arguments you want about the health risks of pot as opposed to alcohol but the fact of the matter is that at this point in time marijuana is illegal. Now that being said would everyone be so willing to give him a mulligan if it were some other infraction?

Here is the gravity of his offense in South Carolina where he smoked the marijauna:

Possession of one ounce or less is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of $100 - $200 for a first offense.

In fact, he probably didn't even possess the pot, he simply smoked something that was there, was a crime even committed?

If this were Massachusetts; there would simply be a fine with no possibility of jail time.



Yes, despite my person feelings on Marijauna and Alcohol; I would give him a mulligan if I simply took into acccount the gravity of the crime measured by the State Law that he potentially broke.

[tomder55]

Mark I'm with you .

He's a celeb. Approaching celebretard status. This is a 'canary in the mine 'moment for him because I see a downward spiral is very possible.

I know it's his own life and he is free to destroy what he took so long,and sacrificed so much to achieve . But what a waste it would be.
http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/200...s-up-in-smoke/

[spitvenom]

Well it looks like most of his sponsors don't give a S#*t that he was smoking a bong. But the police want to file criminal charges. Can they do that? How can they prove that he was smoking pot from a picture?
Michael Phelps facing criminal charge for 'bong shot' - Telegraph

[tomder55]

They can't unless they get some witness to testify . That witness was probably token also . The cops should drop it.

The way I read the article is that is would be more trouble than it is worth to drop him outright. They will wait until the contract expires. Good luck to him getting it renewed .

[spitvenom]

If speedo stuck with him when he was driving drunk at 19 years old they will still sign him.

[Skell]

Sports stars don't have a responsibility to be role models to kids. They have a responsibility to play sport and win on the sporting field. It's a parents job to be a role model and teach there kid that what phelps did was wrong.
The argument of sports people being role models is a ridiculous one in my honest opinion.

[TexasParent]

Sports stars dont have a responsibility to be role models to kids. They have a responsibility to play sport and win on the sporting field. Its a parents job to be a role model and teach there kid that what phelps did was wrong.
The argument of sports people being role models is a ridiculous one in my honest opinion.

I agree, but the media wants to create these hero's so they can make a buck of them. Like you said, they are simply the best at their sport, no more, no less. Is their dedication to be admired, surely; are they perfect human beings, no; just regular like the rest of us.

[excon]

Sports stars dont have a responsibility to be role models to kids.

Hello Skell:

Neither do community organizers. Look, it didn't hurt that Obama kid. And, he inhaled too.

excon

[tomder55]

Phelps had the choice and said to anyone who would listen that he wanted to be that role model . He's off to a fine start

[Skell]

Yeah I agree Tom, he apologised and owned up for his "mistake".

[spitvenom]

Well USA swimming gave Phelps a 3 month suspension. That doesn't even seem like a punishment at all.

Phelps eager to put suspension behind him - Yahoo! Sports

[jjwoodhull]

You can argue that the team needs him more than he needs them. I'm sure they felt pressure to suspend him. But like you said, 3 months is not much.

Kelloggs has also decided not to renew their contract with him. But I would think they wouldn't have renewed anyway. Olympic stars usually don't keep endorsement deals longer than a year after the games - unless they are products related to their sport.

[jjwoodhull]

And now it's being reported that Subway is dropping him AND they plan to sue him for the money that he has received.

[spitvenom]

I don't even remember seeing him in a subway ad.

[tomder55]

He's also dropped by Kelloggs
A Michael Phelps Kellogg's box won't make you rich - Game on - USATODAY.com

[spitvenom]

The funny thing is when 2012 rolls around no one will remember this until the announcers at that Olympics bring it up. He will win more gold medals and will get new sponsors.

[TexasParent]

The rest of the industrialized world smokes pot and doesn't view it as a big deal. Only in this the Evangelical Christian States of America is it considered taboo; oh... and also in our sister nation of religious morality, Iran... ;)

If American sponsors drop him, European sponsors will gladly pickup the slack.

[excon]

...and also in our sister nation of religious morality, Iran... ;)

Hello tex:

An apt and insightful comparison. Nother Greenie for you.

excon

[450donn]

The rest of the industrialized world smokes pot and doesn't view it as a big deal. Only in this the Evangelical Christian States of America is it considered taboo; oh...and also in our sister nation of religious morality, Iran... ;)

If American sponsors drop him, European sponsors will gladly pickup the slack.

GAD! This has to be the biggest unsupported nonsense comment I have read in a long time.
If one were to follow your illogical logic it should then be legal for prostitution, opium dens, gambling, and pollution control equipment free automobiles and trucks all across the country.

[kp2171]

He made a dumb move.

He's mortal.

Like Billy the I-Didnt-Inhaler and Dubya the Snorter.