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Star Athlete Cultivates Squeaky-Clean Image in Order to Make More Money, Without Any Intention of Living Up to It
Film at 11
You mean marijuana won't make me a loser like the after school specials told me?
Star Athlete Cultivates Squeaky-Clean Image in Order to Make More Money, Without Any Intention of Living Up to It
Film at 11
Cut the guy some slack. He may have simply forgotten for a moment how much his millions depend on his image.
This is turning into a mess.
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COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) - Olympic superstar Michael Phelps could face criminal charges in the fallout from a photo showing the swimmer smoking from a marijuana pipe at a University of South Carolina house party.
A spokesman for Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who is known for his tough stance on drugs, said Tuesday the department was investigating.
"Our narcotics division is reviewing the information that we have, and they're investigating what charges, if any, will be filed," said Lt. Chris Cowan, a spokesman for the agency.
The photo first shown in British tabloid News of the World on Sunday was snapped during a November party while Phelps was visiting the university, according to the paper.
Phelps, 23, and his team have not disputed the photo's accuracy. Phelps has issued a public apology, acknowledging "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after the photo appeared.
One of Phelps' agents, Drew Johnson, said Tuesday authorities had not contacted the swimmer. "So we really can't speculate," he said.
Last fall, Phelps was introduced to large applause at South Carolina's football game with Arkansas. He met with players and visited with Game s coach Steve Spurrier, who gave Phelps one of the ball coach's trademark visors.
Phelps also spoke at a university class on sports' role in society.
Where exactly the party occurred isn't clear. The university said its police have no evidence it was on campus, and city police said they won't pursue criminal charges unless more information comes forward.
The Richland County sheriff can pursue charges as long as the party was in the county, the spokesman said.
"The bottom line is, if he broke the law, and he did it in Richland County, he's going to be charged," Cowan said. "And there's no difference between Michael Phelps and several other people that we arrest for the same type of a charge everyday."
Under South Carolina law, possession of one ounce or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $200 and 30 days in jail for the first offense. Possession of paraphernalia is a $500 fine.
Meanwhile, another of Phelps's big-name sponsors — credit-payment processor Visa Inc. — said it supports him.
"We have spoken with Michael, and he has expressed regret for the situation, has committed to being accountable and improving his judgment in the future," Visa said. "We intend to support him as he looks to move forward."
On Monday, sponsors including apparel company Speedo, luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega and sports beverage PureSport's maker Human Performance Labs also said they stand behind the athlete, even if they don't condone his behavior.
Some of Phelps sponsors still weren't commenting on Tuesday. A spokeswoman at Kellogg Co. said the cereal maker declined to comment. The company put Phelps on boxes of its Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes.
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story...PHCP>1=39002
Yes there is. Michael Phelps had a photo published in a tabloid and that's the only reason you knew about it."And there's no difference between Michael Phelps and several other people that we arrest for the same type of a charge everyday."
He must have nothing better to do. Seriously, WGAF? Sheriff just wants to make a name for himself.
Wow. Just ing WOW.
I'd like to see how they are going to find him guilty of possession of marijuana based on a picture. If they're able to...how ing scary is that? Anyone in a picture shown to be smoking marijuana, or even pretending to be, could be charged with possession? What the ? Where's the "possession" after the fact? Illegal use of a drug, maybe. This isn't a picture of him holding a gun to a teller's head while he's robbing a bank or something. Are they going to find the ashes from the bowl and submit it as evidence?
This is just a case of an asshole trying to make a bigger name for himself. He looked down at his and recognized it was small and it left him feeling insignificant and inadequate. So he decided to give his small- crushed ego a boost by proving how much of a bad-ass drug busting cop he really is. His must be awfully small these days to be going after a 14 time Gold medalist, based on a picture, for a charge that is ultimately less significant than his own sorry ass.
^ Just came here to share. Thats stupid that they want to charge him based on a picture.
Would have been more impressive if he was winning golds after dropping acid.
This is diabolically disgusting and scary! I'm slowly losing my hope in humanity...What's next, is the gov going to start taxing us for the air we breathe?
Unlike marijuana, I think LSD may have the potential to be classified as a performance enhancing drug...depending on the situation.
For instance, on June 12th 1970 Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the San Diego Padres.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Ellis
That's ing awesome. I can't imagine pitching a game on acid. Maybe in an empty stadium, but not with fans and flashbulbs and all other kinds of crazy going on.
Last edited by baseline bum; 02-04-2009 at 04:38 AM.
I don't see how a picture can convict a person after photo shop came around.
If that was true, they should have arrested this vato long ago,
South Carolina, the same state that wants to ban cussing.
Sorry to anyone from South Carolina, but that state sucks.
I bet the next time he does that he will have the smarts to go into a bathroom or something. Especially a party where there's people there you don't know. I know he would love to get his hands on the asshole who took that picture. The DWI he got in 04 was pretty unavoidable from being leaked to the media by it being public information.
You'd be surprised what I've done while on acid. Any drug can alter one's performance good or bad. It is all in the mind.
The upside is he can always get a Job hosting Fear Factor.
Damn, Phelps said he may not even swim in 2012 because of this crap....
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/o...,7428864.story
Michael Phelps leaves the Meadowbrook Athletic Club Wednesday. "It's definitely not what I wanted, and it's clearly not what my mom wanted," Phelps of the tabloid photo showing him apparently smoking marijuana. (AP photo / February 4, 2009)
In his first interview since a photo surfaced showing him smoking from a marijuana pipe, Michael Phelps said today that the intense public scrutiny has him contemplating whether he will swim in the 2012 Olympics.
Phelps, who said he "clearly made a mistake," and that the past week has been both embarrassing and uncomfortable for him, spoke with The Baltimore Sun inside Meadowbrook Athletic Club after finishing his daily workout. While he still has goals he wants to achieve in the sport, he said he's going to discuss it over with his family and his coach, Bob Bowman.
"This is a decision of mine that I'm not going to make today and I'm not going to make tomorrow," Phelps said. "It's going to require a lot of time and energy and a lot of thinking for myself. But also talking to Bob and talking to my family and just deciding what I want to do.
"Yeah, there are still goals that I have in the pool, 100 percent. But I'm not going to let anything stand in my way. If I decide to walk away, I'll decide to walk away on my own terms. If it's now, if it's four years, who knows. But it is something I need to think about and decide what I want to do."
Bowman said he doesn't foresee Phelps retiring until after the 2012 Olympic Games, but that he understands how difficult it is for Phelps to live up to the public's high expectations.
The 23-year-old Rodgers Forge native said he realizes that his actions seem that much more foolish considering this is his second public slip up, following a DUI in 2004. Phelps said it "definitely wasn't easy" to tell his mother, Debbie, a principal at Windsor Mill Middle School, about the picture.
"Seeing my mom reminded me of how it was the day after I got my DUI, and I swore to myself I'd never do that again," Phelps said. "This is just a stupid thing of mine that I did, and I have to live with it."
Phelps said he's spent the past few days with his mom and his two sisters, Hilary and Whitney, after the photo was published in a British tabloid over the weekend.
"We've been talking a lot," Phelps said. "I've been able to get back to my family. It's part of my life I need back."
When asked if he is a regular marijuana smoker, Phelps said he was not.
"This was stupid, and I know this won't happen again," he said. "It's obviously bad judgment and it's something I'm not proud of at all. I will say that with the mistakes that I've made in my life, I've learned from them. Every one of them. And I've become a better person. That's what I plan to do from here. It's definitely not what I wanted, and it's clearly not what my mom wanted."
It's been an intense week for Phelps, who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A majority of his sponsors have vowed to stick with him despite the controversy, and today FINA, swimming's governing body, praised his apology. But the scrutiny of Phelps' already public life has become that much more prominent.
South Carolina Sheriff Leon Lott told reporters he will press charges against Phelps if he can prove the swimmer actually smoked marijuana in Richland County, where the party allegedly occurred. The pursuit of Phelps' first public comments has been fierce.
"I've been waking up to guys yelling into megaphones outside my window at 7 o'clock in the morning," Phelps said. "I've been through just about everything you can go through. I've had paparazzi people following me from my house to my mom's house. People knocking on the door. It's crazy."
Returning to the pool, and training every day, has brought a certain calm back to his life, Phelps said. He spent this afternoon swimming laps with a kickboard, working on his butterfly, doing dry-land training with a medicine ball, and joking around with Bowman and fellow Olympian Katie Hoff.
"It makes me happy," Phelps said. "It's a part of me I've always had, and I always been happy doing it. I like getting up in the morning and having something to do. On Monday we get back to two-a-day [practices] and I'm looking forward to that. I feel more comfortable here. This is my home."
Phelps, who started a foundation to help teach kids how to swim after the Olympics, acknowledged that he does feel like he's let some people down, especially younger fans who look up to him.
"I think this is like the DUI, in that it's something I can talk more about and make sure that nobody makes the same mistakes I made," Phelps said. "What I've gone through in the last week, no one wants to go through."
While he doesn't condone Phelps' actions, Bowman said everyone makes mistakes.
"Nobody's perfect," Bowman said. "It's not acceptable, and this is not to excuse it. He definitely, from this point forward, has to decide what he wants to do. But for Michael to go through our trials, our training camp, and then the Olympics, which is unbelievably stressful, without any down time, that's hard. Still, it's not an excuse."
Phelps said, if anything, this has reminded him that he's going to be watched, photographed, talked about, and whispered about every time he walks into a room. He said he does employ drivers and he does have bodyguards that travel with him to places. That is part of the trade-off his life requires.
"There are always people you can't trust," he said. "During the whole thing, I've really been able to see who my friends are, who my family are, and who really loves and supports me. They've stood by my side, from the countless text messages, phone messages, e-mails, those are your friends. All those people who are around during the good times? Those aren't your friends."
Last edited by florige; 02-05-2009 at 12:24 AM.
Translation: That ahole who took that picture and got me busted is on my list.
Seriously though...the way he's hitting that bong, that's no amateur there. I call BS that it's a one time thing, then again you have to say that or else you go to jail.
I think he should pull out of the Olympics too...he's already made his history and is a millionaire...he could send a huge message to our controversy hungry country by telling everyone to off and enjoy the 4-7 fewer gold medals without him in 2012, "nice job assholes, now look what you accomplished". The only reason he's probably not coming out with a stronger opinion is, A. Because of that jail thing and B. Because his Mom will probably kick his ass.
Really. I'm willing to bet you that it was someone he never would have suspected. Probably someone who is hating on all his fame and attention he is getting from girls everywhere he goes. You'd be amazed what jealousy would push some people to do.
You don't have to have years of pot smoking experience to use a damn bong.
another story...blown out of proportion. congrats America...you're stupid.
Last edited by johngateswhiteley; 02-08-2009 at 12:52 AM.
if he gets jail time for this, they should arrest every single person who has been mentioned in High Times
Doesn't Amsterdam have swim team?
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