From Aquageek:
"Stand up, take responsibility for your actions, stop making silly excuses."
Is that not EXACTLY what Phelps did when called by a reporter immediately after the press found out?
Originally posted by jroddin
From Aquageek:
"Stand up, take responsibility for your actions, stop making silly excuses."
Is that not EXACTLY what Phelps did when called by a reporter immediately after the press found out?
Are you serious? He really took a lot of responsibility a week later when he was found out.
For the record, it's absolutely ludicrous to base a crime on whether a single person has done it or not. There are right things and wrong things and the test is not whether you have personally done it.
I think Phelps made a mistake and is paying the consequences of it. Everyone, remember, he is still a kid and will make mistakes. Now if he does it again.........well then bring out the rope.
And lest you think I am light on drunk drivers, my son has a friend who was hit Sunday morning by a drunk driver and is in the hospital and his mother was killed.
I believe Michael is very lucky to have just run a stop sign without hurting anyone and maybe is learning a hard lesson without anyone getting injured. I wish the drunk who hit the friend had learned his lesson in this manner.
Originally posted by dorothyrde
Now if he does it again.........well then bring out the rope.
You gotta be drinking while posting. So, the first one is free? Let's give him another chance to kill someone and then we can get serious about drinking and driving.
Originally posted by Maryyyyyy
People who drink and drive not ONLY break the law, they are also jerks and losers. If you did it when you were a kid, well, then, you were a jerk and a loser as a kid.
Ah, you are over in Italy. If more people felt that way here, maybe we wouldn't have a two-term president with a DUI (at age 30), and a vice-president with 2 DUIs.
Phelps doesn't have to "learn" anything from this. What 19-year-old doesn't already know that this behavior is wrong.
He is standing up, admitting he did it, and will bear whatever consequense comes of this. I doubt there will be a jury trial here. His lawyer will appear before the judge -- maybe with him there, maybe not. He will be fined. Probably will be assigned to some sort of alcohol awareness class (as if he will really learn something from that.) He will get a crapload of points assigned to his license. Probably any additional moving violations will result in the suspension of his license, but as it stands now he will probably keep his driving priveleges.
And that will be that from the legal aspect. Just like any other 19-year-old who does the same thing.
From what I've seen so far, he will NOT take the standard road of denial that other young sports stars do. (Consider basketball's Carmello Anthony who was caught with less-than-one-ounce of pot at an airport. "Not mine! 'A friend' put it in my bag...") Phelps will probably have no qualms fielding questions from the media for years to come over this incident. And he will look the camera in the lens and tell the audience, "Learm from my experience. Even a big-time swimmer is not immune to the bite of the law. This cost me a small fortune in fines and insurance costs. It cost me this-and-that endorsement. The law now watches me like a hawk. One more screw-up and I lose my license. Kids, don't mess with behavior like this."
I can't think of a more positive outcome from this incident that something like that. And I can't think of another superstar athlete who would do this the way I think Phelps will do it.
It just shows anyone can be an idiot. I drink on occasion but if I do, I don't drive. Let him face the conseqences of his actions if he goes to jail, it is not punishment it just the consequence of drinking and driving.
George
Phelps committed two crimes: Underage drinking and DUI. He deserves to get the same consequences as any other member of society in the same situation - no more and no less. That he is a "role model" is a consequence of society placing a strange added-value on athletes, most of whom have clay feet, and should not factor into sentencing. Hopefully, he will realize that, strange or not, some people do place a greater worth on his actions and "go the extra mile" to explain to same the potential consequences of what he did. He has always seemed like a class-act and I'd be willing to lay $ on the line that this is a one-shot screw-up where, fortunately, no one got hurt.
Originally posted by knelson
I wonder what the license restriction was (is)? Anyone know? I know some states have restrictions on teen drivers, but I can't imagine they apply to someone 19.
EDIT: Another thing to consider is many states have a "zero tolerance" policy for underage drivers. In other words, you can get a DUI with a BAC of only .02%. I haven't heard yet what Phelps' BAC was, but just something to keep in mind before we start accusing him of being drunk.
I'm not sure what the restrictions are here in Maryland any more as they changed them. I don't think that at 19 there are any restrictions, but I don't know 100% any more.
As for BAC, I think it is 0.02% for anyone under 21, or it was when I learned to drive 16 years ago. They are much harder on underage drinking and driving, which is good, so it's impossible to know how much he had been drinking.
Having said that, I do think what he did was wrong, but if he only had one drink that's a lot different then having more then one. I just hope he learns from this, as do other people.
