Did anyone else catch Phelps on the Today show this morning? I thought he handled himself quite well - especially as he is already not the greatest public speaker and interviewee in the world! I had to agree with his assessment of the DUI and the latest issue being very different. It's a huge difference when you are endangering the lives of others (by being on the road) versus doing something that though illegal, in and of itself has no impact on the health and safety of others around him.
Good to see him out by the pool, and look forward to seeing him dominate in Rome this summer!
Comedian John Witherspoon(from the films Boomerang, Friday, Next Friday and he was the dad on some Wayans Bros. WB sitcom) said to the papparazzi at LAX(the paparazzi live there and that Ivy Restaurant) that something to the effect, "Phelps won 8 gold medals, he should take a bong hit".
Phelps gave some very scripted answers - such as how he answered (didn't answer) the question if he smoked pot not.
I think he also lied when he said he didn't know if his people tried to suppress the picture. By now - surely he knows if they tried to do that.
It was interesting that Letterman had a top ten item "messages left on Bernie Madoff's answering machine.
Item #2 was "It's Michael Phelps - do you need something to relax?" Got a huge laugh.....
The Phelps interview will be on Dateline NBC tonight at 7PM EST. Phelps could get some good 18-49 demo ratings. Plus, this is a good lead-in for the new NBC show at 8PM, Kings. Of course, Phelps won't be able to help that piece of crap, Celebrity Apprentice. That goes Phelps helping NBC's dismal ratings again.
Well, he won't be remembered for his articulate public speaking ability! I feel bad for the guy having to give such lame responses to avoid further bad publicity. "We were just celebrating"! Come on now Phelps, more like partying it up! Ultimately it's good that he is back in the pool again, because he was on a 6 month party binge enjoying he new found superstar status and financial windfall.
Does anyone know what pool that this interview took place at. It definitely wasn't Meadowbrook. Just wondering!!
It looked like it was at the Loyola College pool.
I think that he choose Matt Lauer to interview him because he could get away with saying, "it was a bad mistake". The best interviewers in the business(ie Howard Stern, Diane Sawyer) would not put up with that kind of answer. Howard Stern is the best in the interviewing business. After he interviewed NFL Player Jeremy Shockey, he wasn't allowed to do interviews ever again.
I think that he more than deserved the 6 months of partying. It was pretty cool when Vegas hotels were working their tails off to get him to stay at their hotel. Of course, he stayed at the Palms and found a new girlfriend. Phelps looked like he was having a good time when he was hanging out at the pool with Warren Sapp.
today.msnbc.msn.com/.../
phelps today show vid
www.baltimoresun.com/.../bal-michael-phelps-today-show-313,0,3379480.story
Thanks for the links, Ande. I wasn't able to watch him on t.v. the other day.
All of this makes me sad for him. I hope that when he returns, he leaves everybody in his wake so that this mistake can be quickly forgotten. He brought a lot of positive publicity to swimming. Let's hope that 20 years from now, Phelps will be remembered for his accomplishments and not for a mistake that in the whole big picture of things is very small.
