GIVE PHELPS A BREAK

In recent weeks, American Olympic hero Michael Phelps has taken a
very public beating after he was photographed smoking marijuana at a
fraternity party. Apparently his discretion was so compromised that
Kellogg's, the famous cereal company, has terminated their sponsorship
of Phelps. That's not all; USA Swimming has also levied a three month
suspension on Phelps despite the fact that he didn't violate any of
the body's meticulous and complex rules and regulations.

To put it bluntly, this is just complete garbage. Kellogg's said in a
statement that Phelps was "not consistent with the image of
Kellogg's." Really? Well, I guess the White House has lower standards
than the angels at Kellogg's, because the current president of the
United States has admitted to smoking weed and it's a pretty safe bet
that the previous president has as well. Obama went so far as to state
"I inhaled frequently, that was the point."

So Obama smoked some pot in college and he's fit to lead the free
world, but USA Swimming has deemed the 23-year-old Phelps a national
disappointment?

Come on, enough is enough. This is getting stupid. The guy is 23 years
old. Understandably, Phelps is more than a little pissed off over this
whole mess and has said publicly that he is seriously contemplating
retiring from competitive swimming, including the future Olympic Games.

To state the obvious, that would be a terrible loss for the entire
sports world. This is a superstar who won a record eight gold medals
last year and actually got people genuinely interested and engaged
with the Olympics. Besides, does USA Swimming realize how screwed
they'd be without Michael Phelps? All they have to do is take a look
at the state of the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods has been sidelined with
a knee injury to paint themselves a picture.

Besides Michael Phelps, can you name even one other Olympic swimmer? I
can't think of any, and that's a pretty solid indication of the
average sports fan as well. Phelps is the type of athlete that can
single handedly boost his sport, like Tiger Woods in golf or Wayne
Gretzky in hockey. Without Phelps swimming will go back to being just
another after-school activity for kids in grade three and four. Phelps
has literally put swimming on the sports map, and that isn't an
understatement; for 95 per cent of people out there he's the only
reason they even care about swimming.

Now imagine if he decided to call it quits. While it isn't likely, it
isn't out of the question either. After all, money isn't exactly an
issue for the Baltimore native anymore. Even without Kellogg's, Phelps
has major endorsement deals with heavy hitters like McDonald's,
Coca-Cola, Omega, Mazda and Speedo. With those companies behind him,
he won't be in bad financial shape any time soon.

But just the fact that so many people out there are making such a big
deal over all of this is beyond silly. So for all the people trashing
Michael Phelps out there, give the guy a break. He's saving the sport,
he hit the bong, and he's 23 years old. Enough is enough.