Growing Pains

Let’s be honest, Michael Phelps just wants to rock out. Just like any other 23-year old guy, he wants to party. First he gets the underage DUI back in 2004, now he gets caught smoking marijuana. In between he’s been hanging out at the Hard Rock pool in Vegas, doing cameos at MTV awards shows, and chumming it up with celebrities of all sorts. Now he’s talking about not swimming in the 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately for Michael, it’s not up to him.

Michael Phelps erupted on the big stage in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, winning 6 gold medals and capturing the nation’s attention. As soon as the 2008 Beijing Olympics came into view, we immediately turned our attention to Phelps again, setting the bar incredibly high for him, daring him to break Mark Spitz’s gold medal record. And everyone knew in the back of their minds that he had a pretty good chance of doing so. Michael lived up to, and surpassed, all the hype we created, putting on an absolute show. I remember jumping up and down watching him win some of the most thrilling races I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’m alone in this either. He was instantly the nation’s hero. The new Golden Boy.

We forgave him after the DUI incident five years ago. He was a dumb kid with a lot of money, doing stuff that dumb kids with a lot of money do. This time, people haven’t been as forgiving. Rightly so. If you are the most decorated athlete in Olympic history and the hero of an entire nation, you can’t get caught smoking weed at a party. Can’t do it. CAN. NOT. DO IT. It’s unacceptable behavior. Use your brain, Michael.

Not every luxury is afforded to everyone. People given the most talent or given the most responsibility are held to a higher standard. Not only are they held to a higher standard, they are made more accessible to people like you and me via the good ole paparazzi. If you are famous, you can’t go around doing whatever you want or saying whatever you want—you forfeited that right when you made the decision to embrace celebrity status. Barack Obama had to give up his blackberry when he got elected. Why? Because the President of the United States is not like you and me. He can’t be LOL’ing and Cya l8r’ing during meetings. Paris Hilton can’t go to Starbucks on Main St, Lebron James can’t get his haircut at Joe’s Barber Shop in Cleveland, and Michael Phelps can’t go to parties with a bunch of random people he doesn’t know. If you are a celebrity, people are out to get you. Reporters want sound bytes, fans want autographs and pictures, and most of all, the general public wants to see you screw up. It sounds cynical, but we do. We want you to screw up because we screw up and that makes you more like us. How often have you told or heard stories where someone has met a celebrity and then they tell you, “Yeah I met him, he’s a real jerk.” Or, “I saw so-and-so at a club, and he was all over some girl.” You’ve probably heard that story at least twice as much as the “I met him and he’s such a nice guy!” story. People want the juice; we don’t want to hear how likeable celebrities are. That makes us hate them even more! It’s just the way it is.

For Phelps it’s a double-whammy because he’s an athlete AND a celebrity. We’ve already addressed why he can’t partake in this type of nonsense from the celebrity side of things. From the athletic side, some people are blessed with talents that 99% of us could not match if we worked every single day of our lives. At that point, it should be pretty clear what you are here on this earth for. Michael Phelps was put on this earth to swim. He was put here to bring joy to millions of people through entertainment and to bring a nation together that can’t agree on anything anymore. When was the last time 2 American’s agreed on anything? “The sky is blue” isn’t even inarguable anymore because some nut will tell you the sky is grey from all the pollution and damage to the environment. For two weeks, we all agreed Michael Phelps represented us on the world stage…and it felt good. Well guess what, Michael? You’re not getting off that easy! You’re not quitting swimming and pulling out of the 2012 Olympics. It’s not up to you. It’s up to us. You need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture—your accomplishments aren’t about you. They’re not for you. They’re for all of us. You’ll have the rest of your life to rock out, trust me. The booze will be there. The women will be there. But as long as you are the best swimmer in the world, you will damn well swim. And you’ll like it!

Phelps needs cut this immature crap out. The only reason talk of not competing in 2012 comes up is because he wants to party and live the life that he sees other 23 year-olds living. If only he realized how good he has it.