Michael Phelps mistake?

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/9168458?MSNHPHCP&gt1=39002

While reading this article, I found it very amusing and humorous. But also very ironic, as to some of the points that Kevin Hench makes. He states that it would be in poor taste for McDonald's to withdraw their sponsorship of Michael Phelps for smoking pot and yet McDonald's products are not in anyway healthy for us to eat either. I have to say I completely agree. People are gonna judge Phelps for his marijuana use, just as they judged him for his drunk driving incident. But if he was eating mcdonald's everyday or frosted flakes every morning(another of his sponsors) he would not have been a 14 time olympic gold medalist. That is the reason they are his sponsors, is it not. Granted the images of him smoking does not set a very good example to children that hope to someday become the next great swimmer, but neither does a unhealthy diet. So it would be hypocritical of Mcdonald's or Frosted Flakes to stop their sponsorship of him. Even though they probably will, just to set a statement. I am not saying I condone his actions, I am just saying I find it humorous that his sponsors will probably give into the "schizophrenia regarding marijuana." I mean he did admit to it, he is taking the blame and not putting it on someone else, that in itself says a lot about his character. We have all made some bad decisions, but can we all say that we have owned up to them.

I found the recent photos of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana pretty shocking. The reason I find it so surprising is that if you were to ever reach his level of fame you would think that you would simply know better then to go out and do something so potentially threatening to your career. This is especially true for Phelps who has become the face of the U.S Olympic team. Although his sponsors are sticking with him and he isn’t being judged to harshly by the media I don’t think this stories going to go away completely. Once the Olympics come around you can almost guarantee the story on the news will be either Phelps wins despite the fact that he parties a lot or he lost because he parties too much.

Great article! Quite funny. I liked the President Obama reference, as well. I tend to agree with the sentiment of "White Flag", under member comments. It's all about money and business, in a way. What Phelps does in his personal and private time is up to him and his actions weren't meant for public display and scrutiny. I also liked the points made about some of what could be considered rather "unhealthy" sponsorships.

My first thought, when I heard this, is that if I were him I wouldn't have apologized at all. I would have said, "Yes I did it and no I'm not sorry and I won't make a promise that this won't happen again." Yet, I understand the other side of the coin - it's big business and sponsorships could be pulled, plus there would be outrage over the "example" he would be setting for children.

Maybe next time he'll make sure there are no cameras around.

I think the whole Michael Phelps thing is ridiculous. Okay, yeah he probably shouldn't have smoke marijuana, but he is just a human. He makes mistakes and he makes stupid decisions, just like everyone else his age. I understand he is an olympic medalist and all but c'mon. I think the whole issue is being blown way out of proportion. I mean, I can understand why he would lose his sponsers, and that makes sense to me, but people are being so critical of him about this. I am sure that all his friends or the people his age smoke, and he hasn't because of the olympics, but peer pressure gets to everyone at some point. This was his point. I don't like how something so little, yeah it was wrong, can cause such commotion. When I was watching the news or something, they were talking about how he could lose his medals, and I can't believe that. I do not think there is any good reason for him to lose his medals. He won them fair and square, they even drug tested him during the olympics. If the olympics are over and he's won the medals then it should be a done deal. No one should be able to just take them back because he made a stupid mistake that your typical young adult makes. Don't get me wrong though, I do not think he made a wise decision and I am not supporting him in any way. He should've definitely thought about his reputation and the young kids that look up to him, but I just don't think it's such a big deal. Stuff happens, it's not like he killed someone or something.

I was pretty shocked to hear about the new about Michael Phelps. I do think an apology was necessary. He is a role model that many young children look up to. As far as his sponsorships, I do not think that they should revoke them by any means. His personal life should be separate from his professional life. I know these things do make him look bad, but they shouldn’t make people forget his incredible accomplishments at the Olympics. No one has ever earned as many medals as he has. I only played sports in high school and they were still a time commitment. I can’t even imagine at Olympic level. So give him a break he just had a little too much fun!!

I totally disagree with most of you. Yes he maybe just a human being, but this is a person who attained much respect from not only people of America but people of different countries as well. He was a nationwide idol to many young people as well as old and now he is no different then teens who do drugs all the time. Don't get me wrong he may not be as bad as some but what makes you think this was his first time smoking marijuana? There is no way he just started to smoke marijuana at this age after all the accomplihments he has made. I have a feeling this has happened before and he finally got caught. Michael Phelps is the Michael Jordan of swimming and he basically just screwed up big time. Many people are going to think of him different now as they seen these pictures. He needs to be smart when he does things like this, im sure it has happened before and now he must pay for his actions. Maybe next time he will be a little more careful. I mean just imagine having kids when Michael Jordan was in his prime, and he got caught smoking marijuana and photos were all over the web and news. Would you really want your kids looking up to someone like this?

This is the first time I have heard about this, and I have to say in some ways I do not agree with you. I do agree with the fact it showed a lot of character to own up for Phelps mistake. However, I do not agree with putting marijuana use on the same level of kids not being able to control their eating habits. Yes Mcdonalds may not be healthy, but they do have some healthy items, and it is also not a matter of how unhealthy it is, but how much you eat of it. I think that it was a good choice to stop sponsoring Phelps for what he did, but he should not be receiving all of this negative media attention. We all make mistakes, and he showed at the Olympics how much he has changed.

I found this article a little shocking, but also I find it a little blown out of proportion. It is true that Michael Phelps is one of the greatest swimmers of all time and that he definitely earned his perfect 8 for 8 gold medals. But seriously give him a break, when he went to the Olympics his main goal was not to become a major idol to everyone, he just went out there to win some gold medals for his country. We all have made mistakes in our lives and in this case it was a big mistake because he is losing the respect of many sponsors and fans. But come on, give him a break! If stars such as Lebron James were caught doing this, would he get the same treatment???