Monday morning, the Baltimore Sun

[meowbunnymeow]

There are a couple of articles on the paper, this one is by Kevin Van Valkenburg and Nicole Fuller, with Buzzkill's statement (Debbie's yet to response) and some sport consultants' opinion.
Phelps: Behavior 'inappropriate'
Photo of swimmer apparently smoking marijuana unlikely to

Comments

[mp_fan]

Thanks for the detailed info. I think Fina's statement is still outstanding, right? I will feel more comfortable after FINA confirming that no action need to be will be taken against Phelps.

Subway? Any chance that they may reconsider Phelps'endorsement? When the Subway deal was announced, they emphasized on advocating healthy & active lifestyle for kids. If their TV ad is focused on that theme, they may not want to show it while the Bong issue is still hot.

[meganrenee323]

Yeah, Subway yanked their commercial that was suppose to air during the Super Bowl. Don't know if they'll drop his deal or just wait until things settle down, but you've gotta think they are *pissed* after spending all that money for a stupid commercial and then have to cancel it. :P

[meowbunnymeow]

Subway, Kelloggs and Mazda (it's the conservative Chinese we are talking here) ... those are the one I wanna know of their reactions...

[meganrenee323]

Only time will tell...

[3pronged_spear]

"after FINA confirming"

i believe fina's statement is crucial too...
fifi has now an little red mark on his butt saying "to be watched". yet, he is far from being the only one among swimmers.
i think fina will do what they can and have to do, that is, wait until fifi trains and attends competition events again. it's the only way they can legally conduct investigations.
of course if fifi finds himself in a such kind of awkward position once more, even if he is distantly related to it like in a case where some of his acquaintances possessing or dealing juana, serious trouble will start to arise and then fina would have the right to investigate without notice. that's what my afp friend also told me...

[tooh1999]

That could be a good thing though, to be forced to distance himself from people that engage in this kind of activity. Especially from parties like where this all occurred. He's just damn lucky that there wasn't more in that pipe than just pot.

[3pronged_spear]

so true!

i asked this "stupid" question the other day and nobody answered, maybe because as usual i was yelling on top of my lungs and stating stuff without using gloves... :

where and who are his close friends? seriously?

[tooh1999]

That's not a stupid question. I've been wondering the same thing. Maybe they can't get away from their real life responsibilities to keep an eye on MP 24/7. But then again, its not like he went to USC on a whim, he supposedly had good friends there as well and they didn't seem to have any influence on him at the time. Unless the close friends are also the problem.

[3pronged_spear]

yeah, many things implicated here.
people change so fast between 18 and 23. maybe he tried to relate to them and vice versa and it's no longer working. it happens to everyone. people often separate when they grow and become adults.
now, phelps is also a celeb. it's easy to imagine what can be happening during parties. everybody tries to act "as if" everything was normal but no, things change when you have money and become famous. the other problem is that he is constantly traveling. doesn't help to stay connected...

[meganrenee323]

Seems maybe they've been caught up in the celebrity as well.

[3pronged_spear]

what about guys like eric vendt? i know he's busy training and a little overwhelmed by his political orientation, but i thought he had a whip for fifi spanking, i mean, i thought he had influence on him...

jezus! valentino rossi is much richer than phelps and has therefore bigger responsibilities weighing on his shoulders. he is also one the busiest athlete i've ever seen. and still he has a bunch of close friends. some are traveling with him, others remain at home. when he does interviews, he always refer to them, as much as his coach, mum and dog...
why isn't that possible with fifi?

[meganrenee323]

I *really* wish I had an answer... :/

[meowbunnymeow]

I think it depends on the person himself. Before relying on his family, coach and true friends, Milky must find out from his own heart what he wants (god knows if he actually wanna be a rock star then continue, go figure). I got be be honest here and say this time I found it not as easy to forgive since he had a similar situation 4 years ago.

Please don't blame on his entourage, money, fame etc, as Spear pointed out, there are plenty of successful top athletes who managed to keep some of their privacy, I love Phelps, but I don't wanna see any more excuses. Time to be independent and take full responsibility.

[meganrenee323]

I thought the same thing because of the DUI four years ago. Hello, didn't you say you learned your lesson and wouldn't let it happen again?? Granted he didn't get a DUI again, but the conept is the same, no? So much from learning from your mistakes. Hopefully he takes this one to heart (and I think he will) and ditch the celebrity lifestyle.

Time to be independent and take full responsibility

YES

[meowbunnymeow]

That's why mentioning his age in the initial statement is so lame...

[meganrenee323]

That was a poor move on their part. Octagon's screwed up so many times with this, it's unreal. You'd think they'd be smarter than that...