PHELPS' LEGACY WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED OUTSIDE THE POOL

The sky is falling and the world is officially coming to its end. The
unthinkable has happened. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, the
All-American boy, was photographed smoking marijuana out of what
appeared to be a bong.

But wait, I think I am still alive. So does that mean that some of
these high and mighty columnists are possibly blowing this whole
ordeal out of proportion, and there may be a chance the Earth will
continue to rotate on its axis for at least another three billion
years or so? Definitely.

It has been almost 16 years since Sir Charles Barkley's Nike
commercial stated, "Just because I dunk a basketball does not make me
a role model...Parents should be role models."

Barkley is not typically a guy I find myself in agreement with but his
1993 commercial could not be any truer today than it was then. Speedo,
Omega, Visa, (and the list goes on) did not give Michael Phelps all of
that money because he won eight Good Samaritan Awards. His sponsors
fattened his pockets because he won eight gold medals at the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games. Phelps destroyed the competition in the pool
and got paid for it.

Michael Phelps performed an illegal act and as a result of that, he
has to deal with the consequences. If his sponsors renege on their
deals based on a poor morals clause, then so be it.

However, I am so tired of all of these "high-horse riding, praise you
one day and then condemn you the next" sportswriters who feel it is
their obligation to completely tear down a young man who made one
critical mistake.

And for the love of all that is right in the world, can every one
please stop with the, "what about the children" argument. No young
child knows what a bong is, and if they do, you probably need to check
the parents.

While I disagree with anyone who intentionally performs an illegal
act, the fact of the matter is he is not hurting anyone and he clearly
is not hurting himself considering the guy can do everything in the
water short of walk on it.

The painful truth for parents and you sportswriters out there is that
Michael Phelps did not get into competitive swimming because of you 20
years ago and he does not do it because of you now.

His responsibilities are only to his sponsors and those duties are to
continue to win races and not to do anything that could hinder that.

Phelps got caught smoking before he restarted his training regimen.
Now that he is back in the pool, expect to see a rededicated Michael
Phelps with only one thing on his mind.

That one thing will be terrorizing the opposition on the way to more
gold. In 2012, all of this will be forgotten and Phelps will be right
back on top of the mountain.

But in the mean time, everyone needs to relax. Phelps sure knows how
to.