Aussielover
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Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me.
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Post by Aussielover on Feb 7, 2009 10:52:42 GMT
So, Olympic athlete Michael Phelps was photographed huffing a bong and lost his Kellogg's cereal deal and is banned from competing for three months. sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=dw-phelpssuspended020509&prov=yhoo&type=lgnsKellogg's and USA Swimming are more concerned about their image and what middle America might think if they went about with business as usual with a pot smoking Olympian with the most gold medals ever in swimming, as their spokesperson. For me, this is much ado about nothing. I think this sums up the whole situation: So, what do you think? Did they do the right thing by punishing Phelps? Do athletes have a moral obligation to their fans to at least appear to be above reproach?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2009 16:27:30 GMT
I think it is all so stupid. The media whips itself into a frenzy to show that these people are gods and then it makes it all the more fun to tear them down once they have reached the top.
If reality shows on television had not become so popular putting people's lives under a microscope for maximum dramatic effect and making them into temporary superstars or super villains, I wonder if it would be considered 'good' to milk these other people for headlines, even when all they wanted us to notice were their sports exploits.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 7, 2009 16:53:51 GMT
Obviously the occasional hit on a bong doesn't adversely affect Phelps' performance in the water.
Could the same be said if he stuffed himself on the sugar-crammed fluff Kellogg's wants the world's children to eat?
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Post by grecian on Feb 7, 2009 17:47:45 GMT
Word is that Phelps is both Ghey and takes enhancing drugs, anyway
Nothing wrong with the first accusition, mind...
Lance Armstrong certainly took some serious 'stuff' but has never been caught...
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Aussielover
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Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me.
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Post by Aussielover on Feb 7, 2009 23:52:26 GMT
Ha ha, bixa! That's so true! That last thing that enters my mind when I think of sports performance is refined carb-laden cereal from Kellogg's (or any other cereal producer.)
What irritates me is that this is supposed to send a message to all the young people out there that pot = bad, and you can't be a great athlete if you have the occasional smoke. Now - I don't smoke the stuff, but I've been around drunks, and I've been around people that smoke pot. Guess which group I'd rather be around afterwards? And I guess this puts a spanner into the theory that recreational smoking means that you can't be a great athlete.
It just brings to mind an episode of M*A*S*H, where Hawkeye gives Radar a dressing-down for putting him so high on a pedestal, that any slip-up is seen akin to telling a child there is no such thing as Santa Claus.
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welle
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Post by welle on Feb 10, 2009 12:28:54 GMT
I don't see the point of punishing someone for a bong hit. If that's all we have to worry about, we're doing really well.
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Aussielover
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Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me.
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Post by Aussielover on Feb 10, 2009 22:55:02 GMT
Oh - it's just the hypocrisy of the whole thing that gets me the most, I suppose.
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Post by tigronette on Feb 11, 2009 10:11:02 GMT
You're right about hypocrisy. It's funny that the sporting world which is often presented as the healthy alternative to a no-good slacker lifestyle, contains as many druggies as any other walk of life, hell maybe even more so.
As for the bong, well it's so obvious now that it's alcohol use and not dope use that should be restrictied seen the associated risks.
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