Phelps...

inmytree

Come on, seriously, why is this an issue...?

hell, peanut butter has killed more people...

VINNY GOOMBA

Wouldn't it be awesome if Michael Phelps held a press conference and said, "That's right. I SMOKE WEED, on occasion, and in moderation-- and somehow, I've managed to win MORE GOLD MEDALS than anyone else in history." Of course, he'd probably be stripped of his medals shortly after. To me, they should double up on his medals-- after all, POT is probably the exact opposite of PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS, when it comes to physical activity and athleticism... Or so we're led to believe?

Now, granted, I'm sure he doesn't do it all that often, because of drug tests and whatever... Has he put a book out yet? I don't think he has.. But it'll be intereting to see if this awesome plant had any role in his life before he started swimming for money, and even after, for that matter.

milarso

inmytree wrote:

Come on, seriously, why is this an issue...?

Slow news week.
Same thing happened when Anna Nichole Smith passed and Don Imus talked about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
When you live a society that demands 24-hour, up-to-the-minute news coverage, you can't be surprised when they blow insignificant shit out of proportion. They have to have something recent to talk about when nothing else interesting happens. Right now, the Phelps story is the standby of the next few days.

inmytree

milarso wrote:

inmytree wrote:

Come on, seriously, why is this an issue...?

Slow news week.
Same thing happened when Anna Nichole Smith passed and Don Imus talked about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
When you live a society that demands 24-hour, up-to-the-minute news coverage, you can't be surprised when they blow insignificant shit out of proportion. They have to have something recent to talk about when nothing else interesting happens. Right now, the Phelps story is the standby of the next few days.

good point...

I do find it interesting that Phelps, a proven winner, and the MVP of this years Super Bowl are tokers...

blackredyellow

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

milarso

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

Of course, he'd probably be stripped of his medals shortly after.

The surprising thing is, no he wouldn't.
The IOC has already set precedent when it comes to this.
In 1998, Ross Rebagliati, a Canadian snowboarder, won the first snowboarding gold metal, but his urinalysis came up positive for pot. Keep in mind, this was during the Olympics. They stripped his metal, but returned it after a worldwide public outcry. And the fact that marijuana wasn't on the banned drugs list. It is now, but I think, in order for them to strip you metal, you have to fail an IOC drug test.

I think the bigger damage that would come from out and out admitting he smoked would be that he could stand to lose millions in endorsement money. Smoking in a public place was a dumb decision, surely one he regrets now, but no reason to bury the guy.

milarso

blackredyellow wrote:

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

I agree. But I think if it was handled in a different way in the media, it could be more of a learning experience for all, rather than trying to make the guy out to be a vile criminal.
He's still a kid himself in a lot of ways. People make mistakes, and if they learn from them, they can often come out better for it. I hope that's how this works for Phelps.

DriftingByTheStorm

blackredyellow wrote:

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

a law that violates the US Constitution is void on its face.
8-)

blackredyellow

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

a law that violates the US Constitution is void on its face.
8-)

Good luck with that argument in court

soulsinging

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

a law that violates the US Constitution is void on its face.
8-)

Haven't you read the Supreme Court opinions? Someone smoking a joint has an effect on interstate commerce, thus it's perfectly ok to regulate it, because nothing affects commerce like locally grown and distributed plantlife that is not even legally recognized as commerce... thank you Justice Scalia for that clarity and logic! Good to see hypocrisy is alive and well on the court.

blackredyellow

milarso wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

it's an issue because it's illegal and he's supposed to be some sort of role model.

I could care less who smokes what, but the fact is that he broke the law at the same time sponsors are paying him a lot of money to sell people stuff (including kids).

I agree. But I think if it was handled in a different way in the media, it could be more of a learning experience for all, rather than trying to make the guy out to be a vile criminal.
He's still a kid himself in a lot of ways. People make mistakes, and if they learn from them, they can often come out better for it. I hope that's how this works for Phelps.

I don't think that he's being portrayed as a vile criminal (at least from what I've seen). To add to it, his "I made a mistake and it won't happen again" card was already used up on his DUI a few years ago.

Like I said, I don't care what he does, but in our society most people are going to pass it off as something stupid that a young kid did but a vocal few are going to muster up the fake outrage against him.

I just think that Phelps is waking up everyday hoping that some other celebrity got arrested that night or something, so that it will take him off the front page of the celeb/gossip media circle jerk that we live in.

milarso

blackredyellow wrote:

I just think that Phelps is waking up everyday hoping that some other celebrity got arrested that night or something, so that it will take him off the front page of the celeb/gossip media circle jerk that we live in.

And the sad thing is, that is most likely how the problem will be resolved, or at least taken out of the public eye.

soulsinging

milarso wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

I just think that Phelps is waking up everyday hoping that some other celebrity got arrested that night or something, so that it will take him off the front page of the celeb/gossip media circle jerk that we live in.

And the sad thing is, that is most likely how the problem will be resolved, or at least taken out of the public eye.

I don't know, maybe it will fade when they turn to covering the horrific problems in Gaza which impact the entire international community.

Aw, who am I kidding? My money's on Lohan or Britney.

TheVoiceInside

I love it when reality hits the american public in the face. And all the corporations that were trying to make money off Phelps good ol american hero image now have to pull out and go find another fake hero. Im so glad this happend and as another poster said it would be graet if Phelps would come out and say that he smokes pot and that there is nothing wrong with it.

stickfig13

A man smokes weed in his 20's and becomes president...

A man smokes weed in his 20's and gets kicked off a corn flakes box...

Funny world

JonnyPistachio

if they stripped me of my gold medals every time I smoked pot, i'd have no gold medals left.

Pats54

McDonald's should now hire him. Think of the commercials they could make

Cosmo

Anyone who holds up an Athlete (or Movie Star or Rock Singer) up as a 'Role Model' is an asshole.
Anyone whose kids looks up to an Athlete (or Movie Star or Rock singer) as a 'Role Model' is a lousy parent.
...
PARENTS should be Role Models... not someone who is on T.V.

Commy

phelps should have admitted to being a stoner. he would have saved more face that way.

kenny olav

stickfig13 wrote:

A man smokes weed in his 20's and becomes president...

A man smokes weed in his 20's and gets kicked off a corn flakes box...

Funny world

corn flakes are quality munchie material too. idiots.

LikeAnOcean

How can he possibly have his olympics medals stripped from him? What would players from Amsterdam do?

This issue is stupid. America needs to have its head pulled out of its ass.