The Honourable Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps has been in the news a lot since it was discovered that he smoked a joint in some party. Wow, must have been a slow news day.

Reading the college newspaper (you know where this is going) I came across a scathing editorial that criticized Phelps because he is supposed to be a good role model, yada yada yada… The author of this piece went on to state that Phelps should have known that a professional athlete like him has no private life.

I disagree with the notion that a globally recognized athlete like Phelps has no private life. Someone please show me the part in his contract where it states that he signs away his right to privacy. Alternatively, if you could please quote the Constitution or the Bill of Rights on how athletes (or any celebrities for that matter) lose their right to privacy, I’d appreciate it. Because all this time I have been under the impression that the paparazzi et al. are the violators.

If I had the stones and the capacity to become a professional athlete and be successful in my career, I would be happy to be doing something I enjoy and getting paid well for it. I would even understand that people would idolize me and set ridiculously high moral and ethical standards for me. That is their right to do so, and it often goes with the territory, seeing as people quickly lose all concept of reality when it comes to their idols. For my part, I don’t understand why George Bush didn’t consult William Shatner when trouble was a-brewin’ – after all, The Shat has saved the world on the silver screen ten times over.

Phelps did his part for the country. He won, and he won big, and he could not have picked a better time to do it since the nation’s reputation abroad is in the crapper, thanks to the past eight years of stellar Republican leadership. Phelps has done us a great service, for which he was handsomely paid, and for all we know he did it without popping pills to enhance his performance.

If all he wants in return is a pile of money and to have a beer and to take a hit from a joint, then he is welcome to it, as far as I am concerned. I have enough going on in my life, I don’t need to be worrying about his. If he gets busted for possession of marijuana, then he will face the charges and so on, just like anyone else. I am willing to bet that a considerable number of those individuals who are criticizing Phelps have smoked marijuana too at one point or another in their lives.

If there is a moral clause in Phelps’ contract, which may well be the case, then he may have violated it, in which case it is, once again, between him and the company or organization that he is in contract with. He does not answer to the public, despite being a public figure due to his talent and success.

Essentially, the point is this: if Phelps breaks the law, it’s between him and the justice system. It’s not entertainment fodder for the Joe Sixpacks on their hypocritical high horses.