Michael Phelps and a bong? Is there any truth to this?

Per AP, "The company did not renew its deal with the US Olympic Team, which expired in December." I rather expect there is more to Kellogg's action than meets the eye; i.e., MP's "disappointing and regrettable behavior" may have given Kellogg's the reason they were looking for. And it could move a lot of cereal boxes off the shelves in the next 3 weeks. Celebrity endorsements and team support are probably easily shed from the budget in crunch times. And M. Phelps as a face is stale and overexposed. When they need him they'll be back. Land of Second Chances. :)

With greatest respect to Sanders and Hall they didn't do what Phelps did....8 olympic gold medals and upsurge in participation. So, he could have taken all the bong hits he wanted, just not after 14 gold medals. One gold medal, bongs hits galore, and no public uproar and no USA Swimming suspension. TMZ said that Frosted Flakes is the cereal for potheads so why is Kelloggs dissing their customers by dropping Phelps. Potheads should totally boycott Kelloggs products. I guess that there was reason that he went with Kelloggs over Wheaties besides wades of cash. Well, at least, Baltimore is getting some economic stimulus with the paparazzi flocking to Baltimore to follow Phelps to and from practice.

OK, if this is true, I just lost even more respect for him. WAH wAH WAH Jeez, you f'ed up. Take it like a man. Its a symbollic punishment that's all. Quit acting like an indulged, celebutard! I'm glad someone else had the same reaction to this! What a passive-aggressive, dorky thing to say. As my husband said, "You aren't playing like I want! I'm going to take my ball and go home..." I am not that upset about the bong thing. I think it shows his immaturity and lack of common sense. But this posturing like he may punish us all by not swimming in 2012 is just digging the "immaturity hole" deeper. THINK before you speak, Michael!!!

OK I just lost even more respect for him. WAH wAH WAH Jeez, you f'ed up. Take it like a man. Its a symbollic punishment that's all. Quit acting like an indulged, celebutard! You did not lose any respect for him! He made an off-the-cuff comment to the Baltimore Sun because he's right in the middle of his self-created sh*t storm. It will quiet down soon, he'll get back into his training routine, and by the time May rolls around he'll be thrashing people in the pool again. There's no way he skips 2012. And here in the U.S. we spell symbolic with one L and not two! Jeez, for someone with the gift of the queen's english, you sure can't spell. Why don't you take your boy Beckham back to Europe for some man love!:bighug:

I apologize for dissing you. I mean that sincerely. 'Pology accepted. :)

To inject a serious thought: in this discussion, terms like 'role models' and 'hero' have been used variously. While I am a total swimming fan and naturally wowed by Phelp's feats, along with the attendant dedication necessary to achieve them, I think it would be much healthier to choose our heroes, not automatically from celebrity/sports figures but from within those ranks of people who transcend fear, danger, disease etc., to either save lives or achieve great social good. They are out there.

Somebody earlier said that the thread-jack over the last few days reveals the short attention span that ppl have. I concur wholeheartedly.

I only dismiss the one who believes that Soccer (originally named Association Football, and still called Football in the majority of the playing countries of the world) is REALLY REALLY popular in the USA... Than why do you dismiss me? I sure as hell don't say that soccer is "REALLY REALLY popular in the USA". I said in that thread repeatedly that soccer has a decent, underrated, undervalued following. Nuance is a ***, huh. Carlos will be heartbroken to find that the biggest prize signing for MLS has decided he can still play at a higher level and wants to do so... Jajajajajajajajajajaja!!!!!!!!!!! Oh. My. Gawd. Here's YOU... last summer: Beckham is past his peak. Though he still has some years left on the clock for marketing etc. Still in the national team picture for England. Dominating in Serie A. Moving there for athletic purposes, not image/$$. God DANG you were wrong. :D

I'm a little late in reading this thread, but Hoo-Ray for Fortress for her investigative abilities. Carlos? Comments? Donna Uh. Yeah. I've commented that post plenty. Right after it, even. On the same page. Look. A clique of posters on this board picked a fight w/ me last summer. In that "discussion" they questioned my swimming abilities and talked smack about swimming. I ignored it. They also went on ratemyprofessors.com and claimed to have found me, but all they found was an engineering prof at UC Berkeley who happens to have miserable student evals. And I ignored that b/c any idiot would know that engineering classes do no delve into ethnomusicology, gender and cultural studies, which is what I do. In this thread Geek made a snide remark about my swimming again. So I didn't ignore it. The point is: if you're going to slander somebody's swimming abilities, at the very least do the minimal work and figure out who the heck you're dealing with. Yea, I think even Stud, with his british backing and attraction to football would have figured out you weren't talking about Fort. But, I do have one question, you asked them to "put-up or shut-up" so, why haven't you gonna ahead to put your times up? The times were linked. There was no need. I think that if you are going to make a challenge to someone, then why not put your's out there first. Be proud of your times. If you are faster...great...if not...great too. It wasn't about being fast, faster, slower or anything. I find that attitude counter-productive to the general good will that defines masters swimming and masters athletics overall. It's calling out geek and stud for dissing a fellow swimmer for the sake of an Innernets fight.

I have to say this is a pretty good move by USA Swimming. I has all the appearances of being tough so as to calm the uproar. But, it really has no teeth. It's like suspending a hockey player in the Summer. Phelps can still train, which he was planning on anyway, and get back in shape and be ready for the late Spring and Summer season. Hopefully this will put an end to it all. I also note his first eligible meet is in May here in Charlotte, sweet.