A week into the Michael Phelps Reefergate saga the dust is beginning to settle. USA Swimming has opted to suspend Phelps for three months and Phelps’ reaction reflects the maturity most of us had come to expect from him before the photos of him smoking pot were published.
“It’s not my decision. It’s theirs,” Phelps said of USA Swimming’s decision. “I have nothing to say, but if that’s they want to do, that’s their choice. It’s something that USA Swimming came up with. It’s fair. Obviously, for a mistake you should get punished.”
As I have stated in previous posts, I don’t judge Phelps for having fun or smoking pot. At 23, he is old enough to make that choice for himself. And he wasn’t doing anything that any number of other professional athletes have done or are doing. The problem is he didn’t have the good sense to do it discreetly.
The Kellogs company has announced that they have decided to drop their sponsorship of Phelps and that’s not the least of his worries. Richland County Sheriff, Leon Lott said earlier this week that prosecutors are looking into the possibility of pressing charges which could result in jail time for the multiple gold-medal winner.
That seems just a tad bit excessive to me. I would imagine that South Carolina authorities have more important crimes to investigate, though undoubtedly those wouldn’t get nearly as much press coverage.
There is an interesting blog posting by ESPN.com writer Pat Forde that is definitely worth a read, especially for parents. It addresses the very real issue of placing too much emphasis on athletes as role models. It’s a debate that has been swirling for years and this article hits right on target.
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with kids admiring athletes for their ability and performance. But when it comes to kids looking for role models, as parents, we should strive to fill that role for them.
Rather than pointing the finger at athletes who behave badly (and I truly believe they are the minority, most really are good role models) for setting a poor example, we should reflect on our own shortcomings as parents and try harder to connect with our children so that they naturally look up to for guidance.
For Phelps, he is experiencing the type of growing pains that we have all experienced as we mature, he just doing it very publicly. He’s taking the medicine handed down to him from USA Swimming like a man and I suspect that he’ll be back in competition and as dominant as ever by the time the World Championships hit Rome this summer.
Tags: kellogs, michael phelps, pot smoking, role model, sponsorship, suspension, USA swimming