Just Sayin'

I'm not surprised Michael Phelps smokes dope. There's a bunch of viewers that needed performance enhancing drugs to get through the Olympics last summer. I am surprised he put himself in a situation where someone would try to capitalize on his fame by taking his picture while he was using a bong. I watched the Olympics, I saw the puff pieces where they walked through his daily diet. You gotta be high to eat that much food. He packed on some lbs ala a girl who goes off to college and gorges on the dining hall grub resulting in the fabled Freshman 15.

Olympians seem to fall into two catergories nowadays - they are either innocent and formulaic (they play by the book) or they are characters with their fair share of quirkiness. He reminds me of the Winter X Games crowd, there's no denying that they like to party.

In this day and age, it has become exponentially more difficult for public figures to be able to separate their professional and private personas. Should we give people mulligans? Of course, unless they prove without a shadow of a doubt that their deleterious behavior makes their life a spectacle rather than a journey. Why should we hold Michael Phelps to a higher standard than let's say The Flying Tomato? Maybe if we gave him a bitchin' nickname like Aquaman or Wet Suit Willie, it would be perfectly acceptable to laugh off the munchies.

Maybe this is why I don't carry around a digital camera or like to be photographed. There are just as many people that enjoy the picture as much as they want to take advantage of their consequences.