Mr. Phelps is carrying a heavier weight then those 8 metals now

I must apologize to all my readers for the leave of absence I took from blogging, but a situation came up that prompted me to return to blogging. I must first add that the Phils won the WS, and the Eagles, well, same old same old. But now to the topic and concern at hand.
The greatest American Olympic athlete of all time, Michael Phelps, seemed to have created a smokey situation for himself. Throughout all of his successes, it is okay for him to blow off a little steam during his time out of the both, but not literally. Phelps may have apologized for his actions, and said that he acted in a childish way, but it certainly does not erase the controversy that he has created around and for himself. Little kids, and future swimmers who idolize him, and strive to be like him, now have a strange and dark image of their hero painted in their minds. Don't get me wrong, Phelps is still a legend and these out of the water incidents should not interfere with his in pool success.

The situation that has arose reminds me of the Kobe Bryant rape case, in which he was cleared of all charges. Young kids who idolized Kobe, sported his jersey, and bought pictures and posters of him were perhaps too young to understand what was going on. Parents and Guardians, had to explain to their sons and daughters what rape was, and all of that junk; do you think that the parents really wanted to open up their virgin and innocent ears at such a young age? Clearly no, but they had to in order to teach their kids that Mr. Bryant made a mistake. I feel for the parents who have to sit down now and explain to their child or children what a bong is, what marijuana is, and come up with a reason as to why their hero chose to do that. Shortly after the case was dismissed, the effect seemed to diminish as Kobe returned to the court, and his reputation began rebuilding. The case is way in the past, and Kobe has returned to the top, and his jersey sales remain 1st in the NBA. Kobe had a chance to make up for his mistake on a nightly basis, but Phelps must wait until 1212 in London to prove that he is bigger and more mature then his childish act.

Phelps was supported by his endorsers, as he very well should have been. Just because he had a slip up, well two counting the D.U.I he received over 4 years ago, does not mean that he is not still the 8-Gold Medal swimmer that glides through the water. I am a huge Phelps fan, and my opinion of him has not and will not change. Everyone makes mistakes, but the media makes those mistakes bigger when the person is an icon. Phelps is not perfect, well outside of the water at least he is not, and is allowed to make mistakes. He must be taught a lesson by this, because in fact he is still a young man. The pictures of him taking a hit from the bong, are perhaps more popular now than the one that can be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated, after his 8-Gold Medal swims, but I can assure you that the current picture will soon be replaced, and the bong hit will long be forgotten.

The only piece of mind I may give Phelps is that he is lucky he is so adored in this country. If he chooses to partake in that action again, may he do so in the comfort of his own home, while the cameras are off, and the pencils are down, so no reporters can bash him. I hope that Phelps does not get himself anymore trouble, and will get back into the pool, and show everyone that he can overcome all the BS critics.