LET'S NOT HOLD PHELPS, OR ANYONE ELSE, TO IMPOSSIBLE STANDARDS

Michael Phelps can be so slippery in the water and so smooth on land
that it's hard not to believe he's more than just a man.

And as the gold medals piled up last summer during his
record-breaking run at the Beijing Olympics, the 23- year-old
Baltimore native was elevated to superhuman status.

Phelps seemed to embody the American Dream, overcoming his parents'
divorce and his own attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
to become the best swimmer the world has ever seen.

He was good with the press, good for a quote and good to his mother,
all while wearing a wide smile.

But for many of us, that wholesome image has gone up in smoke since
Phelps was caught on camera, smoking a marijuana pipe at a party.

Suddenly, his good-guy guise is gone, and we're forced to see Phelps as flawed.

As flawed, perhaps, as he was when he was busted for drunk driving in 2004.

And as flawed, perhaps, as we are.

And if there's one thing we don't want him to be, it's one of us.
Anything but that.

We want to look up to him. We want to be able to ask, "What would
Michael Phelps do?"

But if we ask that question, we should always remember that we may
not like the answer we get.

We should also remember that Phelps is still as very young man, and
- -- though I wouldn't have believed it when I was 23 -- still very
immature in some ways.

And we should remember that none of us -- not fans and not Phelps --
can ever be anything but disappointed if we hold him to impossible standards.

Some would say that because he possesses such amazing athletic
ability -- and because he can make so much money from that ability --
that he must shoulder the responsibility of being a role model, to
elevate his behaviour while he lowers his lap times.

But while that's a worthy goal, it isn't our place to impose it on
Phelps, or on anyone else.

Just like us, Phelps should pay for his mistakes. And considering the
scrutiny he's now receiving -- not to mention the threat of criminal
charges -- it seems he's already paying for this latest one.

Hopefully, he's learning from it as well. So let's give him the
chance to learn.

Like it or not, he's only human.