Two days later and there still seems to be loads of debate about Michael Phelps in the media. The guy has a picture taken of himself taking a hit off a bong and it’s been turned into an international incident. News broke today that he’s been suspended from swimming for 3 months and lost his Kellogg’s endorsements . There are people calling for him to be stripped of his record 8 Olympic gold medals. I thought George W. Bush left office a couple weeks ago and everyone in America was supposed to lay off the crazy pills and everything would go back to normal.

What about being a gifted athlete means you have to be exemplary role model? There are lots of amazingly gifted athletes that most people wouldn’t let babysit their kids let alone be a role model for them. Why people put so much weight of expectation on athletes to be role models is just beyond me. I know America takes pride in building people up just so they can tear them down, but to me this just seems to be over the line. Professional athletes get paid millions upon millions of dollars to ply their trade, so they can take their lumps knowing they’re well reimbursed for the trouble. Michael Phelps is an amateur swimmer. The guy has devoted most of his life to training for a niche sport, with the ultimate goal of representing his country versus the rest of the world. He hauls down 8 gold medals in a single Olympics and as a reward gets to host Saturday Night Live and sign a few endorsement deals. The guy spent most of his childhood and formative years training with the sole goal of bringing America international sporting glory. Let the guy have a few hits off the bong for his troubles.

Bestowing the title of “role model” on people just because they are talented in the absence of proper parenting is what is really the disgrace. Being naive enough to believe that casual drug use isn’t happening on a regular basis in every village/town/city in America, that’s the disgrace. He’s already given his country so much, just let him have his fun.