Spring Break
Bong-hit Wonderkid a suspect
Rami Abdoch
Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: Opinion
Over the weekend, pictures on the internet surfaced showing Michael Phelps smoking out of a bong at a University of South Carolina party in November, just weeks after the Olympics ended. Supposedly, he was there to visit a girl he was involved with. One partygoer was quoted as saying, "He [Phelps] was out of control from the moment he got there."
If rumors are true, this news will tarnish his career if not destroy it. In one fell swoop, Phelps has put in serious jeopardy his numerous sponsorships ranging from AT&T and Speedo to VISA and Hilton. He netted these and six other major corporate sponsors before even winning his 8th medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His annual income on just these sponsorships alone ranged from approximately $3 million to $5 million.
He could have lived quite comfortably off of these sponsorship proceeds and maintained his hero status. Not out of pride or vanity, but rather out of a willingness to offer encouragement to those who look up to him. He is still an exceptional athlete, arguably the best in the world; this, no one questions. The problem is that he in being situated in the position of role model, whether he wanted to or not, he has tainted his status in a way that can never be fully repaired. He has, in effect, neglected the responsibility that comes with such status. People may object to this and argue that "nobody is perfect" or "it only happened once" or what have you.
The action itself - smoking marijuana - is not so much the issue as him being seen doing it and how that affects the mainstream perception of doing drugs in general given his star status. This is why I urge the reader to look at this holistically, in light of the context we are dealing with, and not just a single act of some guy taking a hit. Furthermore, this is not the first time he has been caught in a compromising situation after a moment of glory. After the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the star swimmer was arrested on a drunken driving charge - he was only 19 at the time. Even if he was going to go out and do these actions, the least he could do is present a measure of discretion, as opposed to entirely patent, even gaudy about what he did.
If rumors are true, this news will tarnish his career if not destroy it. In one fell swoop, Phelps has put in serious jeopardy his numerous sponsorships ranging from AT&T and Speedo to VISA and Hilton. He netted these and six other major corporate sponsors before even winning his 8th medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His annual income on just these sponsorships alone ranged from approximately $3 million to $5 million.
He could have lived quite comfortably off of these sponsorship proceeds and maintained his hero status. Not out of pride or vanity, but rather out of a willingness to offer encouragement to those who look up to him. He is still an exceptional athlete, arguably the best in the world; this, no one questions. The problem is that he in being situated in the position of role model, whether he wanted to or not, he has tainted his status in a way that can never be fully repaired. He has, in effect, neglected the responsibility that comes with such status. People may object to this and argue that "nobody is perfect" or "it only happened once" or what have you.
The action itself - smoking marijuana - is not so much the issue as him being seen doing it and how that affects the mainstream perception of doing drugs in general given his star status. This is why I urge the reader to look at this holistically, in light of the context we are dealing with, and not just a single act of some guy taking a hit. Furthermore, this is not the first time he has been caught in a compromising situation after a moment of glory. After the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the star swimmer was arrested on a drunken driving charge - he was only 19 at the time. Even if he was going to go out and do these actions, the least he could do is present a measure of discretion, as opposed to entirely patent, even gaudy about what he did.
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