And this is the face of stupid ladies and gentlemen....Can someone please explain to me this right that professional athletes and entertainers think they have to go out and do whatever it is they please without any repercussions whatsoever?
I have been trying to formulate this blog since the story broke Saturday night and in keeping close track on the related stories that involve Super Olympian Michael Phelps and I think I finally have my angle. A friend posted a blog not claiming that he was a pot head and neither shall I. I can just state that I was 23 once too. The difference between Michael Phelps and myself is that he has more god given talent in the swimming pool than I possess in my little finger. Watching him this summer in Beijing was inspiring. The margins of victory and even the close races made it fun to watch the Olympics again. Watching someone so talented put on a display is really something special.
For years, and I mean almost his entire professional career until very recently, I DESPISED Tiger Woods. I never jumped on the Tiger bandwagon and I always wanted to watch him lose. I was at Pinehurst in 1999 on Sunday when it came down to the late Payne Stewart, Phil Mickelson and Tiger. I can remember the feeling of wanting Payne to win so bad and wanting to watch Tiger lose. He was a kid, a few years older than me, and he had mastered a sport that I had been trying to my entire teenage life. He was cocky and arrogant. But when he lost, he had yet to learn humility. Fastforward nine years to this past year's US Open. The Rocco Mediate story was great; it really was because he was old school, the kind of golfer who I was cheering for when Tiger was just a young punk on the tour. But to watch Tiger Woods that week was something really special. Here is a guy who played with a broken knee. Call it what you will, his knee was broken. He persevered and put on one of the best shows I have ever seen between the tees. I can't wait until he gets back because the PGA has no clue how to market itself without him.
You want to know the funny thing about Tiger Woods? He was 23 at one point too. He went to college. Why didn't Tiger Woods ever have an underage DUI or get caught smoking weed at a party?
Bringing it back to Olympic athletes, remember Bode Miller? Come on people, were you all smoking with Phelps that night??? Bode Miller, the prolific member of the US Ski team who was kicked off the team because he partied and smoked too much. YES, that Bode Miller. Here is a guy who was chastised for his extra curricular activities and gave as much of a damn as Michael Phelps does right now. Why is the penalty so much different? And what about the IOC rule where an athlete caught using drugs gets banned for 4 years? Why did the IOC step up and SUPPORT Michael Phelps instead of chastising him the way Bode Miller was chastised when he did the EXACT SAME THING? I'll tell you why, RATINGS. They know without a shadow of a doubt that if they ban Michael Phelps from the 2012 games in London that NOBODY would watch. It would turn into the PGA Tour without Tiger Woods.
The IOC, along with Phelps' sponsors are whores. They are using this kid (and he is proving he is still just a kid) to their benefit and society is failing to demand different. Well I for one am demanding different. Before any of this happened, my girlfriend and I had talked about attending the 2012 Olympics and now I really have a reason to do so. I am an American, just as much of one as Michael Phelps; but if this is the way he is going to represent not only himself, but our country, then I will be there loud and proud to cheer for every other participant but him. For now, I just need to figure out how to actually go to the Olympics on someone else's dime and not support the IOC with my hard earned money...
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