Phelps’s Folly

Who is this joke frigging writer to tell anyone what to do? Here`s a better idea Mike Starr, put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger...

Michael Phelps is a phenomenal swimmer. However, if he were a normal person with a normal job, he would have been fired for that photo. I think it is kind of sad that he is 23 and still doing things that most of us grow out of in high school/college (there are those people who never do grow out of them....).

ok, not really Ben Franklin

There is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana. Aparently you can do it and still win olympic gold. No serious long term effects have ever been identified. Too bad the writer didn't focus his outrage on the injustice of imprisoning 300,000 americans every year for a habit that hurts no one. I do agree that it is foolish to put athletes up on a pedastal. They are fun to watch when they are competing and I respect the hard work involved. I think we should view people who violate marijuana prohibition in the same light as people who violated laws against segregation and slavery and alcohol prohibition. Laws without morals are in vain.-Ben Franklin

Twenty-three isn't as "old" as it used to be. Yes, it's still "youthful" by today's standards. Many young people today pretty much act like this until at least 25 and beyond. Though I don't condone pot smoking, what Phelps did was pretty normal for a guy his age. What he needs to realize, though, is that he's not a normal 23-year-old. With great achievement comes great responsibility. I hope he realizes that now.

I read somewhere that dope head our self destructive Mr. Phelps was penalized 3 months from swiming. Someone need to tell Mr.retard he can start walking. Half of that man brain tells him, swim and swim good. The other half tells him to be a jerk and a good jerk.

Write this down: You can play sports and be foolish. You can win games and respect and be foolish. BUT if you want to sell your name IT becomes a product. You sign on the dotted line knowing the contract. And if you sell one product but deliver another the buyer is not going to be happy. Like buying a stock that tanks. "Sorry" just doesn't cut it. Do whatever you want, just don't expect someone else to pay you for it.

I wished I lived in a time when a story like this wasn't an issue. Perhaps someday folks will realize that this "drug" is safer than most prescribed drugs.

I wished I lived in a time when a story like this wasn't an issue...perhaps someday, hopefully soon folks will realize that this "drug" is safer than most prescribed drugs.

You sports writers are all the same - sanctimonious, preachy and slavishshly tied to 1950's ideas about the importance of sports. You, in particular, are exceptionally self-righteous (I recall that you once compared ball scuffing, a time honored tradition in MLB, to steroid use). Michael Phelps is doing what most 23 year males olds do, and have been doing since the 60's - living like a frat boy. That he can be loose and have fun (and please don't give us this drivel about marijuana being evil - it just makes you sound really out of touch) and still be a great athlete goes against the fairy tale that people like you hoist on the rest of us - that being a world class athelete requires some sort of austere devotion to purity and hard work. The truth is that the majority of top athletes are physically gifted from birth, and there is not a chance in Hades that anyone can make it if they just work hard and play by the rules. Michael Phelps exposes the truth: that gifted athletes are just that - gifted, not man made. And despite that, and perhaps even helped by the lust for life that you despise, he still worked harder than everyopne else and achieved the impossible. This is episode is less about how arrogant an athlete is and more a comment on how our laws and media inspired values are so very disconnected from how most people actually live their lives. Micheal Phelps behavious is not the exception, it's the rule, and the fact that he was caught in so open an area suggests that it's the rule for most people.

By many estimates, the human brain isn't fully developed until 25. Is it coincidence that my car insurance company gave me a discount simply for turning 25? In a nation that gradually and constantly extends the period of life considered to be childhood (increased drinking age restrictions, driving age restrictions, firearm restrictions and what might be a record number of adult children living with their parents), who are we to label 23 as "too old" for "youthful" ANYTHING?

Which is it? 90% of the time, we're arguing that young people need to be protected from themselves... Up until they do something wrong, that is, at which point we argue that they're perfectly rational, capable creatures who knew better. Perhaps they'd perform more consistently if we quit contradicting ourselves.

Mr. Starr, direct your bitter judgment elsewhere. Your "opinion" in this particular matter is just a sad waste of time.

Mr. Starr, direct your bitter judgment elsewhere. This article is a waste of time.

THIS IS THE TIME OF THE LIBERAL AGENDA; THIS DOES NOT APPLY FOR DRUGGIES.

SWIMFAST IS STUPID IF HE THINGS DRUGS DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO HIGH INCIDENT OF ACCIDENTS.

SWIMFAST OBVIOUSLY SMOKES AND INHALES.

Pot should not be illegal. When was the last time you read about a wreck caused by a high driver? Americans consume crazy amounts of alcohol. Binge drinking is a big problem in our country. But, all of this is considered ok because our lovely government says it is legal. Give me a break, please.

Dear Mr. Starr: A 23 year-old kid smoked some grass and you are in high dudgeon. Having just read your oh-so-earnest disquisition on this national calamity I have but one suggestion: put on an Enya CD, light some candles, kick back on the sofa and fire up a doob. Really. You need to chill.

Holy S***!!!! A 23 year old hit a bong. STOP THE PRESSES!!! Really??? We have multiple wars, a failing economy, crumbling infrastructure, pathetic international relations, foreign hostile dictators... yet, this is newsworthy.... I'm glad to be up to the minute when it comes to professional swimmers... give me a break, who cares if the sweatshop conglomerates decide to drop him... People need some perspective

This blemish makes him even more All-American than before.