Michael Phelps

[ravensgirlx88]

[quote name='Mishel' post='150896' date='Feb 5 2009, 07:13 PM']a friend just told me that Kelloggs has dropped Phelps. I heard this morning none of his endorsements were expected to drop him. Wonder if anyone else will follow...I think its ridiculous.[/quote]

Me too. He's talking about not even swimming in 2012. I mean come on. He's still just a normal guy.. that makes mistakes. Lots of them...

Wait a min.. You kind of have to understand where these "sponsers" are coming from. Phelps is kind of like the face of America.. Alot of kids look up to him.

[carmen]

all that kid sees is dollar signs he couldn't give a **** about the kids of America looking up to him, as long as they buy his stuff....

[Rocky Mountain Raven]

[quote name='Mishel' post='150896' date='Feb 5 2009, 05:13 PM']a friend just told me that Kelloggs has dropped Phelps. I heard this morning none of his endorsements were expected to drop him. Wonder if anyone else will follow...I think its ridiculous.[/quote]

I dont think its ridiculous. What he has achieved is nothing short of amazing and no one is discrediting him. In most of the endorsement contracts theres a moral/ethical clause protecting the companies. Its not a big deal to me that he smokes but if I paid him any amount of money to brand my product I'd be pissed right now. He's a public figure that by signing these endorsement deals is a role model for children, if hes not going to act right then cut him.

[theFRANCHISE]

Well, it's just been announced that USA Swimming has banned him from competing for three months, effective immediately. They'll cut off financial support for that time span, and it was confirmed that Kellogg's has said they will not renew their sponsorship deal with him.

[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=3887608"]ESPN.com[/url]

At least Phelps has accepted this punishment voluntarily. I still think it's a bit much, but it's better than criminal charges (which I'm not sure have been dropped yet.)

[mjccia]

This is all total BS. Weed, while it is an illegal drug, is not performance enhancing. He was not a better swimmer b/c he smoked weed. USA swimming could not have asked for a better golden boy then Phelps, and they toss him aside.

And I dont buy the whole role model thing either. The first role model a kid should have is the parents and if you depend upon some 23 year old olympic swimmer from Bmore to be your kids role model you have a lot bigger issues at hand.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='mjccia' post='150966' date='Feb 5 2009, 10:50 PM']This is all total BS. Weed, while it is an illegal drug, is not performance enhancing. He was not a better swimmer b/c he smoked weed. USA swimming could not have asked for a better golden boy then Phelps, and they toss him aside.[/quote]
I think they did it just to let the whole controversy die down. They had to make an example out of Phelps, and he was willing to go along with it just so people would stop making such a big deal out of it. Either way, losing out on three months' financial support and being forced out of competition during that time span isn't nearly as bad as if they had banned him for life or anything drastic like that.

[quote name='mjccia' post='150966' date='Feb 5 2009, 10:50 PM']And I dont buy the whole role model thing either. The first role model a kid should have is the parents and if you depend upon some 23 year old olympic swimmer from Bmore to be your kids role model you have a lot bigger issues at hand.[/quote]
True. But, you know that's not how the world works. Society puts athletes and public figures on a pedestal, and because of that, it's kind of our fault as a group that this 23-year-old is a role model for our kids. He may not want to be a role model, and he shouldn't be forced to be a role model, but he is and because of that, USA Swimming and Kellogg's felt like they had to do something to stop the bleeding.

[Mishel]

[quote name='mjccia' post='150966' date='Feb 5 2009, 10:50 PM']This is all total BS. Weed, while it is an illegal drug, is not performance enhancing. He was not a better swimmer b/c he smoked weed. USA swimming could not have asked for a better golden boy then Phelps, and they toss him aside.[/quote]


Agreed. While he was competing he was drug tested and had nothing in his system...being caught smoking weed one time on his break at that, how does that effect what he did when he won the medals? the only reason this is being blown up is because of who he is. Its funny how in the entertainment world being caught with drugs, holding up production of a movie due to hung overness/drug use (Lindsey Lohan) or heck even a trip to rehab (Britney Spears) boosts your career but yet Phelps is being punished for something he did in the off season. I think our celeb obsessed culture is blowing this way out of proportion and if the media hadn't picked up on it and it wasn't on the tv every 5 minutes I doubt the Swimming Association would've done anything about it.

[Rocky Mountain Raven]

[quote name='mjccia' post='150966' date='Feb 5 2009, 08:50 PM']And I dont buy the whole role model thing either. The first role model a kid should have is the parents and if you depend upon some 23 year old olympic swimmer from Bmore to be your kids role model you have a lot bigger issues at hand.[/quote]

Get real man. Do you honestly think that parents sit down with their kids and say "Heres your Role Model Jr, Michael Phelps, do exactly what he does". Kids are impressionable and do stupid things by watching other people do them, regardless of what their parents say. Do you have your own brain, and make your own decisions? Well so do kids. I believe that theres a moral decay in America and it starts with the family; whole other discussion. Not every child has great supporting parents like you or I might have had. So some kids may look up to him and admire his accomplishments, and if theres no consequence for him than why shouldn't they do it.

[FerrariFan87]

Some of you in here are missing the point! Phelps is a role model/hero for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of kids around the world. When you have that type of responsibility on your very broad shoulders, you can't be doing this type of thing. Oh, and the argument that this is "age-appropriate" behavior is B.S.; last I checked, breaking the law is not appropriate at any age, I don't care if a majority of 23 year-olds are smoking weed, all that means is that there are a lot more stupid people in this country than I thought...

[bce086]

So... if the media never made such a big deal out of this, how many of us would even know about it?

They just need some more BS to rant on about, and in turn Phelps isn't ruining his image by having fun in his off season, the media is ruining it for him.

[carmen]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' post='151054' date='Feb 6 2009, 08:03 AM']Some of you in here are missing the point! Phelps is a role model/hero for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of kids around the world. When you have that type of responsibility on your very broad shoulders, you can't be doing this type of thing. Oh, and the argument that this is "age-appropriate" behavior is B.S.; last I checked, breaking the law is not appropriate at any age, I don't care if a majority of 23 year-olds are smoking weed, all that means is that there are a lot more stupid people in this country than I thought...[/quote]


EXACTLY!!! The moment he took on the role of role model, [b]he[/b] immeadatly took on the[b] responsiblity [/b]to act as so.... Either he needs to grow up, or continue being wreckless, and ultimatly possibly ruin not only his image, but in the long run his career.

[theFRANCHISE]

The only thing I hate about this whole mess is that this basically is a victory for the British tabloid that published the photo and brought the situation to light in the first place. This essentially empowers the tabloids and gives them credibility, even though we don't want to admit it.

In other words, the bad guys won. A role model for the masses has had his image tarnished. Parents and kids were let down. And the tabloids profited from it perhaps more than they have with any other celebrity they've trashed, because Phelps was supposed to be above all that, in spite of his flaws.

[MKdave]

[quote name='bce086' post='151064' date='Feb 6 2009, 01:46 PM']So... if the media never made such a big deal out of this, how many of us would even know about it?[/quote]
And if the media never told us that OJ killed his wife, he'd be an american hero.

It's their job to do this exact thing.

[Rocky Mountain Raven]

[quote name='MKdave' post='151178' date='Feb 6 2009, 02:26 PM']And if the media never told us that OJ killed his wife, he'd be an american hero.

It's their job to do this exact thing.[/quote]

Exactly! You cant blame someone for relaying the truth.

[bce086]

Parents just tell your children, "Sure you can smoke weed like Michael Phelps.... right after you bring me home 12 Olympic gold medals."

[Mishel]

The latest...8 People have been charged

[url="http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9814127"]http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9814127[/url]

[raven43]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' post='151054' date='Feb 6 2009, 08:03 AM']last I checked, breaking the law is not appropriate at any age, I don't care if a majority of 23 year-olds are smoking weed, all that means is that there are a lot more stupid people in this country than I thought...[/quote]
well said, very well said. And I totally agree. I cannot believe he did this, I haven't lost [i]all[/i] respect, it's just I hate potheads is all. It's an incredibally stupid thing to do and I see kids that do it almost everyday, and its really just dumb.

[RedFire]

[quote name='RedFire' post='150390' date='Feb 4 2009, 09:40 AM']haha!

ya fav rapper will get on camera smoking weed and talking about weed and have pictures floating around with blunts etc and it's all good.
Josh howard of the dallas mavericks said on TV he smokes weed in the off-season.

Swimmers smoke weed from what i've witnessed and heard.


Lawrence Taylor smoked crack. Mayor of DC smoked Crack and got re-ellected. Shawn Kemp for the seattle supersonics smoked Crack!
Celebrity rehab you got people shooting dope! Lindsay Lohan snorts lines of coke!


ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT TRIES TO GO AFTER PHELPS IS BORED AND TRYING TO MAKE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES![/quote]


well what do u know?....they arrested some people he smoked with to try 2 build a case against phelps.

[JEFF4i]

I'm 22, never done marijuana, and think Phelps deserves every single punishment he gets. He broke the law, bottom line.