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Cut and pasted from Fanhouse.com


Michael Phelps was suspended from competition for three months by USA Swimming, the latest fallout from a photo that showed the Olympic great inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

The sport's national governing body also cut off its financial support to Phelps for the same three-month period, effective Thursday.

"This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero," the Colorado Springs-based federation said in a statement.

Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust."

Phelps won a record eight gold medals in Beijing and returned to America as one of the world's most acclaimed athletes. Now he's enduring a wave of bad news in the wake of the photo, published Sunday by News of the World, a British tabloid.
Earlier Thursday, cereal and snack maker Kellogg Co. announced it wouldn't renew its sponsorship contract with Phelps, saying his behavior is "not consistent with the image of Kellogg." The swimmer appeared on the company's cereal boxes after his Olympic triumph.

USA Swimming provides a $1,750 monthly stipend to national team members to help defray travel and training expenses, plus performance bonuses. However, it's a small percentage of the millions Phelps makes through endorsements.

kayrharris wrote:
. . . The swimmer appeared on the company's cereal boxes after his Olympic triumph.

Cornflakes! We bought some.

We're still gonna eat them.

I am amused that they suspended him for a period during which there are no swimming events at which he would represent them. Olympic trials start in June.

Ritterskoop wrote:I am amused that they suspended him for a period during which there are no swimming events at which he would represent them. Olympic trials start in June.

Yeah, they dint waste any time on that one.

Ritterskoop wrote:I am amused that they suspended him for a period during which there are no swimming events at which he would represent them. Olympic trials start in June.

June, 2012, in Omaha (again).

In fact, I am not sure even if Phelps is training right now. He was taking an exended break after the Olympics.

This whole thing is just a load of overly righteous people feeling the need to look good by taking a stand against someone who's supposed to be a role model.

Now there's no doubt that Phelps made a mistake but this is being blown waaay out of proportion and many of the self-righteous remarks being made are seriously hypocritical.

If the CEO of Kelloggs, and the head of the USOC and the many members of the media that are bashing Phelps never tried pot then I'll eat my hat.

I hope I am not representative of the self-righteous remarks to which you refer.

I think marijuana should be legal for a bunch of reasons, and I am askance at the response to this Phelps thing, which I did not realize happened three months ago, which is just one more reason it should be giggled at and left alone.

I do a course segment on arguments for and against legalizing it. Because I am an employee of the state, I cannot condone actually partaking of it, because it is illegal, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about whether it SHOULD be legal.

My bad. It is the national championships, which are also trials for the world championships. Early July, not June. Still well after the suspension, which was the point.

Ritterskoop wrote:I hope I am not representative of the self-righteous remarks to which you refer.

I think marijuana should be legal for a bunch of reasons, and I am askance at the response to this Phelps thing, which I did not realize happened three months ago, which is just one more reason it should be giggled at and left alone.

I do a course segment on arguments for and against legalizing it. Because I am an employee of the state, I cannot condone actually partaking of it, because it is illegal, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about whether it SHOULD be legal.

You are not.

And fight for pot.

I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

clem21 wrote:
If the CEO of Kelloggs, and the head of the USOC and the many members of the media that are bashing Phelps never tried pot then I'll eat my hat.

He'd eat his hat?! A sure sign of the munchies if I ever saw one...

Just sayin'

If I am part of the self-righteous, so be it. It won't be the first or the last time.

I am for the legalization of pot. (the other word is just too hard to spell)

I am for athletic role models.

I am for people who train their whole lives to excel in an athletic endeavor to do so and be in the public eye and get public accolades.

Anyone who takes that course on, has got to learn to play by the rules.

Kelloggs is not going to have a pot smoking swimmer on their box. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. Speedo and the watch company probably will not be so upset.

Pot is banned in olympic sports. If you are gonna play the game, and make yourself a public figure of the game, you play by the rules. You break a rule, you pay the price.

Stoopid Phelps.

Second Chance wrote:

clem21 wrote:
If the CEO of Kelloggs, and the head of the USOC and the many members of the media that are bashing Phelps never tried pot then I'll eat my hat.

He'd eat his hat?! A sure sign of the munchies if I ever saw one...

Just sayin'

Maybe he could compromise and just eat Alpha Dummy's hat.

Wow, I must be getting old. To me if pot is illegal don't use it and just because you are in your 20's doesn't make breaking a law less of an offense. Now I read how many people think what Phelps did was not so bad. I must be in the minority.
Just like in my graduate class, I was so aghast that students used laptops to watch baseball games, texted personal messages and even talked on their cell phones during class. I was told by almost everyone in the class that I was just being silly and everyone does it and the teachers don't care and it isn't a big deal. I must not be changing with the times. Ugg.
It is interesting to read other BB's opinions because it makes me re-think my opinion and take a second look.

Sisyphean Fan wrote:

Second Chance wrote:

clem21 wrote:
If the CEO of Kelloggs, and the head of the USOC and the many members of the media that are bashing Phelps never tried pot then I'll eat my hat.

He'd eat his hat?! A sure sign of the munchies if I ever saw one...

Just sayin'

Maybe he could compromise and just eat Alpha Dummy's hat.

Another backstory that needs some 'splainin. Bet it's a good'un.

I don't disagree that he was dumb to let himself be caught.

I don't disagree that any sponsors who think he no longer represents their values should drop him.

skoop

question

Is there a difference for you when you say "I don't disagree" vs "I agree".

peacock2121 wrote:skoop

question

Is there a difference for you when you say "I don't disagree" vs "I agree".

Yes, but it is probably not important to anyone who is not inside my head. It made sense at the time I thought it, but now I see it caused you to jump through unnecessary hoops.

I will try to be less goofy next time.

geoffil wrote:Wow, I must be getting old. To me if pot is illegal don't use it and just because you are in your 20's doesn't make breaking a law less of an offense. Now I read how many people think what Phelps did was not so bad. I must be in the minority.
Just like in my graduate class, I was so aghast that students used laptops to watch baseball games, texted personal messages and even talked on their cell phones during class. I was told by almost everyone in the class that I was just being silly and everyone does it and the teachers don't care and it isn't a big deal. I must not be changing with the times. Ugg.
It is interesting to read other BB's opinions because it makes me re-think my opinion and take a second look.

The issue for me is that because a thing is illegal does not mean in is automatically immoral. I'm glad we can have conversations about what should and shouldn't be illegal.

Many sexual acts are illegal in this state and others, but there is little reason anyone should care if consenting adults do them. I understand they keep them on the books so they can add charges to child molesters and such, but they could be amended to say the victim is underage.

peacock2121 wrote:Pot is banned in olympic sports.

This is not true. The IOC has supported Phelps. Marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug, unless you are perhaps talking about competitive eating. There is a difference between anti-doping and anti-dope laws.

The Guardian wrote:Smoking cannabis out of competition is not an offence under the World Anti-Doping Code, and athletes who are resting or in training are not tested for the substance because it is not regarded as performance enhancing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/fe ... ympics-ioc

Ritterskoop wrote:

peacock2121 wrote:skoop

question

Is there a difference for you when you say "I don't disagree" vs "I agree".

Yes, but it is probably not important to anyone who is not inside my head. It made sense at the time I thought it, but now I see it caused you to jump through unnecessary hoops.

I will try to be less goofy next time.

A long time ago, I said this to an eight-year-old kid: "I don't have a problem with that."

Her father erased the ensuing look of puzzlement on the kid's face by saying: "That means Yes."

Said kid is now 20-something and is very good about being clear with her kid.

In case this is helpful...

What happened was, I read a statement and thought, "Do I disagree with that?" The answer was no. So I wrote it down the way it happened in my head.

But that was not good communication for someone not in my head, which is to say, everybody.

Estonut wrote:

peacock2121 wrote:Pot is banned in olympic sports.

This is not true. The IOC has supported Phelps. Marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug, unless you are perhaps talking about competitive eating. There is a difference between anti-doping and anti-dope laws.

The Guardian wrote:Smoking cannabis out of competition is not an offence under the World Anti-Doping Code, and athletes who are resting or in training are not tested for the substance because it is not regarded as performance enhancing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/fe ... ympics-ioc

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A96E958260

The International Olympic Committee executive board said yesterday in Sydney, Australia, that marijuana and other social drugs would be added to its list of banned substances, even though they are not considered performance enhancers.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... g&refer=us

Marijuana is an outlawed substance in Olympic sports. First-time offenders caught using it get a two-year suspension from competition. The drug is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which sets rules and oversees testing for Olympic-level sports.

Ritterskoop wrote:In case this is helpful...

What happened was, I read a statement and thought, "Do I disagree with that?" The answer was no. So I wrote it down the way it happened in my head.

But that was not good communication for someone not in my head, which is to say, everybody.

I have been known to say "I am not a no." which is way different from me saying "I am a yes."

Just wondered if it was different for you - it did not confuse me.

peacock2121 wrote:
I have been known to say "I am not a no." which is way different from me saying "I am a yes."

Just wondered if it was different for you - it did not confuse me.

It occurs to me also that "I agree" is commitment.

"I do not disagree" leaves a little wiggle room.

Ritterskoop wrote:

peacock2121 wrote:
I have been known to say "I am not a no." which is way different from me saying "I am a yes."

Just wondered if it was different for you - it did not confuse me.

It occurs to me also that "I agree" is commitment.

"I do not disagree" leaves a little wiggle room.

That is true, like taking a position about something, stating a point of view and standing for it.