Michael Phelps, the 23-year old Olympic gold medalist (Oh, he had eight in Beijing alone!) who swims like a shark, stirred the news worldwide by his use of marijuana.
His picture showing him smoking from a bong or marijuana pipe, was published earlier in a British newspaper before the news broke out around the world.
Phelps recently admitted his wrongdoing.
Why has it become a media frenzy? Because Phelps is no ordinary person. He is an icon, a role model. He is idolized by many people of all ages especially the younger generations all over the world and seeing him caught red-handed like this is really sad, if not shocking.
I myself adore him. I watched some of his Olympic games on TV and saw how he managed to break records and amassed eight gold medals in Beijing, summing up his Olympic golds to 14.
This young man is amazing. But he's not perfect, as nobody is.
We all screw up sometimes. But should our lives be wasted for a few false moves? We all deserve "amnesty" right? One way or another, we all go wayward. What matters is if we manage to get back on the right lane again.
But then again, he deserves some spanking for his misconduct to teach him a lesson. I think it's not something we should condone considering that he has throngs of people looking up to him as a hero. News reports say he may be losing some good product endorsements (like Kellogs?).
To me, it is important that he was able to realize and admit before the whole world that he had done wrong and that he's sorry and he regrets his behavior. He recognized that he "acted in an appropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from" him.
Acknowledging your own misdeed is one bold move, especially when you make it public.
I hope the next thing he'll work on is to make things right again, pick himself up, think more rationally and act like a real champion again.
Go, Michael Phelps! I'm still a fan!
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