Click here to view the embedded video.

At the behest of a sponsor, Michael Phelps has recorded a video apology to the people of China, expressing his remorse over the recently published pictures of him using a marijuana pipe and thanking them for their support and forgiveness.

The 52-second video has been posted on several Web sites in China, and one major Chinese newspaper said the video had been sent directly from the Japanese auto company Mazda, which last month signed Phelps to an endorsement deal believed to be worth more than a million dollars. Phelps was signed to promote Mazda cars in China after his record-breaking eight-gold-medal performance at the Beijing Olympics last summer.

But Mazda apparently decided an apology to the Chinese would suffice. The company issued a statement saying it would continue its sponsorship of Phelps. “His expression of remorse and his determination to make amends, and especially his video apology and expression of thanks to the Chinese people, give us confidence that Phelps can make a healthy return to the pool and have even more brilliant achievements,” the statement said.

I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten — how many gold medals and world records did Michael Phelps win for the nation of China again?  Or Japan?

I had been withholding judgment on Phelps apologies.  I was giving him some leeway, being a 23-year-old young man, being socially awkward from years spent in a pool rather than socializing, being in the unenviable position of having the entire world focused on you as you decide “millions of dollars and set for life” vs. “the fallen-from-grace gold medalist who stood up for pot”.  I’m down for the cause and all, but you throw eight figures at me and I might have to think about it.

But apologizing to the Chinese?!?  A country that censors its internet, aborts its unwanted females, imprisons its religious, and generally represses human rights needs an apology over a photo of a bong-smoking swimmer or its people won’t buy a lousy Japanese car the swimmer endorses?  

Forget it, Phelps, I’m done withholding judgment.  You may be the fastest fish in the water, but out of the pool you’ve got as much spine as a squid.  Your pot smoking isn’t something to be ashamed of, in fact, it was the smartest recreational intoxicant choice you could make.  You’re unquestionably the greatest swimmer ever and your financial future would be secure even if every sponsor dropped you (unlike, say, the thousands losing their jobs over a dirty pee test).  USA Swimming would never have banned you from any real competition; you’re their only household name.  You, unlike anyone else caught smoking pot, were in the most unassailable position to finally say, “I smoke pot and I like it a lot – so what?” and maybe be the little boy who cries out the emperor is naked that finally tips the scales in ending adult marijuana prohibition.

Real men stand up for what they believe.  Real men fight for their sacred honor.  Real men don’t cower and submit for a paycheck when their family’s survival doesn’t depend on it.

Sheesh, do we now have to boycott the companies that kept Phelps because they’re supporting the Judas of Ganja?  ”Is this not the third time thou hast denied me,” said Cannabis?

“Send a Strong Message” to USA Swimming

Tell them to reinstate Michael Phelps and stop driving athletes to drink!

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5559/t/4030/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2533

USA Swimming suspended the 14-time Olympic gold medalist following the publication of a photo showing him using marijuana at an off-season party. USA Swimming was not required to punish Phelps, according to Executive Director Chuck Wielgus, but it “decided to send a strong message to Michael…”

That message: athletes must only use alcohol when they party, and they will be punished if they make the safer choice to use marijuana instead. After all, the 23-year-old swimmer would never have been punished had he been photographed chugging Budweiser beer — an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

If you agree Michael Phelps should be reinstated and that athletes should not be driven to drink, please take a second to click on the following link and “send a strong message” to Chuck Wielgus and USA Swimming:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5559/t/4030/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2533
Mason Tvert, Executive Director
SAFER – SAFER Voter Education Fund
office: 303-861-0033 – fax: 303-861-0915
mason@saferchoice.org - http://www.SAFERchoice.org

(AP) Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps was sentenced to 18 months probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to drunken driving.

“I recognize the seriousness of this mistake. I’ve learned from this mistake and will continue learning from this mistake for the rest of my life,” Phelps told the judge as more than 100 spectators packed the courtroom, mostly to see the famed Olympic champion.

“It’s not out of line with other first-time offenders who blow .08 in Wicomico County,” State’s Attorney Davis Ruark said of Phelps’ sentence. Prosecutors said Phelps had a .08 blood alcohol content — the legal limit in Maryland.

Phelps was stopped by a state trooper on Nov. 4 for running a stop sign near Salisbury University, about 85 miles southeast of Baltimore.

Phelps, [age 19,] who won eight medals at the Athens Olympics, was charged with driving under the influence, driving while impaired, violation of a license restriction and failure to obey a stop sign. Maryland’s drinking age is 21.

via Olympic Champ Sentenced For DUI, Phelps Gets 18 Months Probation In Drunken Driving Arrest – CBS News.

So let me get this straight:

Michael Phelps was convicted of illegally using a hard drug (alcohol is a hard, though legal, drug and Phelps was 19, not legal age to use it) when caught driving a car, running a stop sign, and pushing the legal limit for intoxication.  Michael Phelps could’ve caused a serious accident and injured or killed himself and others.  Kellogg’s didn’t seem to have a problem with that being “not consistent with the image of Kellogg”.

Michael Phelps was photographed using an illegal soft drug in the privacy of someone’s dorm room.  This action would cause zero harm to others and only temporary, negligible harm to himself (“harm” being “getting high”), and, ironically enough, give Phelps the kind of munchies that are best cured with a Kellogg product.  That’s a big enough issue for Kellogg to drop Phelps for being “not consistent with the image of Kellogg”.

Let’s review:  according to Kellogg’s, public drunk driving: OK, private pot smoking: unacceptable.

[UPDATE:  Yes, I know that Michael Phelps didn't sign with Kellogg's until 2008.  The point is that Kellogg's didn't seem to think a conviction of drunk driving, an act that can harm others, should prevent Kellogg's from signing Phelps.]

From this moment forward, I purchase and eat no Kellogg’s products.  That includes the brands Kellogg’s®, Keebler®, Pop-Tarts®, Eggo®, Cheez-It®, Club®, Nutri-Grain®, Rice Krispies®, All-Bran®, Special K®, Mini-Wheats®, Chips Deluxe®, Sandies®, Morningstar Farms®, Famous Amos®, and Murray®.  (Cheez-Its?!?  NO!!!)  I encourage you to do the same.

Kellogg Company contacts:
Consumer complaints:  http://www2.kelloggs.com/ContactUs.aspx
Media Relations:   media.hotline@kellogg.com
Kellogg Company
P.O. Box CAMB
Battle Creek, Michigan 49016.
Consumer inquiries should contact our Consumer Affairs Department at 800-962-1413

Also, take a minute to let USA Swimming know how you feel:

USA Swimming Contact:
http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=26&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en (use on-line contact form) or:
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Phone: 719.866.4578
Fax:    719.866.4669

More fun graphics after the break…

The US swimmer Michael Phelps has been suspended from competition for three months after photographs were published appearing to show him smoking cannabis.

USA Swimming said in a statement: “This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero.

“Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust.”

USA Swimming has cut off its financial support to Phelps for the same three-month period.

Cereal and snack firm Kellogg has also reportedly said it will not renew a sponsorship contract with Phelps, on the grounds his behaviour is “not consistent with the image of Kellogg”.

via BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Phelps suspended over ‘pot pipe’.

I’m sorry, Kellogg, was Phelps use of a non-toxic substance inconsistent with your image as a purveyor of toxic ones?

Kellogg Company announced on February 02, 2009, a voluntary recall of … Keebler® Soft Batch Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, …Special K Protein™ Meal Bar Honey Almond variety only,… Austin® and Keebler® Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers and select snack-size packs of Famous Amos® Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler® Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

These products have the potential of being contaminated with Salmonella.

Or was his all-American athletic achievement and toned physique inconsistent with your image as a purveyor of childhood obesity?  The company that marketed to me “Super Sugar Smacks” (now the more-P.C. “Honey Smacks”) with a cartoon hip-hop frog in the ’80s wants to be a finger-wagging moralist about sending messages to kids?  One serving of Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies has 120 calories and 12g of sugar.  Not a big deal, until you realize they define a serving as 3/4 cup.

As for USA Swimming’s “strong message”, I’m sure Phelps heard it loud and clear: don’t get caught next time.

News of the World in the UK is reporting that Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps is one of us!

THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history.

In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record EIGHT gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong.

And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.

Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he puffed from the bong during two days of partying with students last November, a quiet time in the swimming calendar when athletes would not expect to get tested for drugs.

As he basked in his hero status, Phelps knocked back beers and shots of spirits. And when a student offered him the glass bong engraved with red writing, he did not hesitate, says our source.

Our source said: “You could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do.

“He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits. Michael ended up getting a little paranoid, though, because before too long he looked like he was nervous and ran out of the place.”

The US Olympics Committee, who have pledged to clamp down on drug use, refused to comment, as did USA Swimming and Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman.

More surprising still was the World Anti-Doping Agency’s refusal to comment, given that they introduced the four-year ban on sport’s drug users.

Spokesman Clifford Bloxham offered us an extraordinary deal not to publish our story, saying Phelps would become our columnist for three years, host events and get his sponsors to advertise with us.

In return, he asked that we kill Phelps’ bong picture. Bloxham said: “It’s seeing if something potentially very negative for Michael could turn into something very positive for the News of the World.”

So, you wanna explain to me how marijuana smoking will make one a lethargic, unmotivated loser who will never get anywhere in life?  This should be fun, watching sponsors and Olympic and USA Swimming officials trip all over themselves.  I expect to see a special exemption or a sudden new rule that lets firt time offenders skate with some sort of class and community service.  Does anybody really think they are going to end Michael Phelps’ career, the greatest Olympian ever, and a huge marketing and endorsement cash cow, for a picture of him doing something that isn’t even criminal in thirteen states?