Phelps' apologies apparently not enough ... but could suffice

Sports

February 7, 2009

Column

Anonymous The Weatherford Democrat Sat Feb 07, 2009, 01:46 PM CST

So I realize that the whole Michael Phelps situation has been beaten to death over and over and OVER lately, yet I was still motivated to comment on it and give you guys my two cent’s worth.

First of all, anyone that watched his performances during the Olympics should know what I’m talking about. And if you didn’t see all of his record-breaking triumphs in Beijing, then you honestly have no right to an opinion regarding him and his character.

For those sheltered ones that haven’t heard about the situation yet, Phelps was captured in a photo that was leaked to some British newspaper basically smoking marijuana.

It raised a huge fuss, resulting in a three month ban and nearly everyone talking about it, myself included.

Yes, the picture was incriminating and yes, it was incredibly stupid of him to first of all do it, and second put himself in a position where a picture could surface.

Now in no way do I advocate illegal drugs in our country but I think there is one thing that nearly everybody has forgotten.

Michael Phelps is 23 years old. Not a child, but hardly an adult.

He’s bound to do stupid things. We all do. It happens.

It’s easy to overlook all that after his winning eight medals and yes, he looked like an Olympic veteran out there but he’s not, unless you count the Olympic games before.

He’s already apologized, NUMEROUS times, for his actions, yet people are still talking about, including a certain sheriff from South Carolina who is bound and determined to jail him for criminal charges.

How petty can you get? As a friend of mine once said, somebody’s up for reelection soon.

I don’t understand how you can prosecute someone based on just a photo and maybe a few testimonies by some underage frat boys who were drunk at the time. I just don’t.

But back to the apology. It’s obvious he was sincere, and I’m pretty sure he’s aware of just how much that one picture affected everything.

Now guys on the radio are saying it’s not enough to others.

I agree that other people, coaches, maybe family members, should step up to the plate and rally around him.

Was it not enough that pretty much ALL of his sponsors backed him up and made statements saying they intended to keep sponsoring him?

Of course not, because when you’re that famous and that successful, there are always going to be people that want to knock you down.

It’s not like he took steroids or anything to MAKE himself win all those medals.

There are still baseball players that haven’t even admitted to the illegal drugs they took to enhance their performances, yet they get overlooked for one 20-year-old.

People need to get down off of their soapboxes and stop trying to hang someone just because he’s good.

Cut him some slack, he’s sorry and after all the media glitz and attention this incident has received, I’m 99 percent sure it’s something that won’t happen again.

Join the club and forgive him. If for no other reason, do it just because he’s human.

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