This summer, the entire world fell in love with Michael Phelps’ youthful vigor.
On Sunday, an image surfaced of Phelps displaying his youthful vigor in a slightly different manner, leaving many unimpressed.
The image in question, as most know, is of Phelps, as sportscaster Stuart Scott put it, “smoking from a pipe often associated with marijuana” (because using the term bong on TV might make the viewership blush) at a party at the University of South Carolina. The picture first appeared in News of the World, a British newspaper that apparently has world-class Facebook scroungers.
When I called and asked my mom if she’d seen the image of Phelps, she responded “Oh, the one where he ruins his life? Yeah, I saw that.”
Unsurprisingly, when we discussed the picture in one of my classes, the general response was that Phelps’ use of marijuana humanized him and, to some, made him even more likable.
And so it seems the Phelps marijuana scandal has become a tale of two generations. College students that will likely view Phelps as a marijuana icon, or, as one of my friends put it in a Facebook note listing 25 things about himself, “If I were to engage in smoking the dope, I would only do it with Michael Phelps.” Then there are the parents who fear that their children may be compelled to smoke pot because Phelps did it (and then go on to win 14 gold medals, become president of the United States or even lead a perfectly normal life).
Parents should look at this as an opportunity to engage in a dialogue about drugs rather than a chance to turn their kids on Phelps. Trying pot isn’t all bad. As writer P.J. O’Rourke once noted, “Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system.” If you truly wanted to vilify Phelps, you should have done it when he was arrested for drinking and driving four years ago. Why was that more forgivable than smoking pot?
The news world, as it enjoys doing so much, has taken the offensive.
“I’ve been waking up to guys yelling into megaphones outside my window at 7 o’clock in the morning,” Phelps told The Baltimore Sun. “I’ve been through just about everything you can go through. I’ve had paparazzi people following me from my house to my mom’s house. People knocking on the door.”
Based on pictures, anonymous sources and the admission of the person in question, Phelps attended a college party in November and acted like a 23-year-old. Because of this, the same American media that was ready to name Phelps Barack Obama’s running mate this summer is trying to change his official title to “Michael Phelps, 14-time gold medalist and noted pothead.”
As Radly Balko put it in a column posted on Reason.com, “[The public] just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from grace – all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process. And it’s hypocritical righteousness at that, given that 40 percent of you have tried pot at least once in your lives.”
If there hasn’t been any press about Phelps since the Olympics, it’s because he’s been busy. Many people recall the $1 million bonus Phelps received for netting eight gold medals, but what a lot of people don’t know is that he used that money to start the Michael Phelps Foundation to help support swimming programs for underprivileged kids. He went on an eight-city tour to promote the organization. With any luck he was able to find the kids a role model in one of the cities.
Perhaps it was Phelps’ response to the allegations that bothered the American public. See, he must not know how accusations against athletes in this country work. Rather than deny the validity of the picture, call it a Photoshop or pull a Roger Clemens and blame the whole ordeal on his athletic trainer, Phelps took responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that he made a mistake.
In a country where taking accountability seems to be a lost art form, especially for athletes, Phelps has been made a scapegoat.
The fact is that a lot of 23-year-olds smoke pot; they just don’t happen to win gold medals for a living. No, they prefer football.
Treadway is a political communications junior.
I was a smoker for years! But it destryed my brain, and now I am a full time, no vacations, no time off, no outside help, no social life, no friends.....sole provider for my Invalid Mom, and Dad. We Celebrate our 8th year of this in August 2009. I think I will light one up in honor then!