Down the Pipe

Name as many current NBA players as you can in ten seconds. Lebron, Kobe, Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnet, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen…and time.

Name as many current NFL players as you can in ten seconds: Peyton and Eli, Big Ben, Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Bouldin, Hightower, Willie Parker, Santonio Holmes...and time. Can you tell the Super Bowl was last weekend?

Name as many swimmers – past, present, or future – as you can in ten seconds. Michael Phelps…umm…all those other guys he beat…wait wait…and time. Wait, Mark, Mark – you know the guy who’s record he beat? Can I at least get half a point for that?

Swimming isn’t a household sport, but right now Phelps has as much star power as any swimmer ever. He’s translated his trips to the podium into advertisement deals with Rosetta Stone, Hilton, Subway, and AT&T, just to name a few. After all, who wouldn’t want the most decorated Olympian endorsing their product?

Recently, however, a photo of Phelps and a pipe surfaced. While not confessing to inhaling, Phelps did admit the photo is legitimate. Granted, this is not technically a positive test, but in the NFL, the first positive result would result in up to ten tests a month and the second would cost the player four games in salary. Certainly no apology would garner a pat on the back from Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Why should Phelps be treated any differently than Plaxico Burress? Burress now faces charges for carrying concealed weapon without a permit and could receive up to seven years in prison. New York is known for cracking down hard on crime, so it wasn’t seen as a string-up-the-star charge. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has a reputation for cracking down on drug crimes, so it logically follows that – assuming the evidence supports it – he would press charges against Phelps.

Unlike Phelps, Burress is replaceable. Certainly he was an incredible receiver, especially when you consider the injuries he was playing through. However, the NFL also has Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Larry Fitzgerald, and many wide receivers to replace him in the hearts of fans. Swimming doesn’t have a number two guy. Not only is Phelps so far ahead in skill, his name recognition alone generates press for Phelps. If Phelps disappears, so does swimming. If swimming disappears, so does Speedo and FINA, so its no surprise these groups issued statements supporting him. For better or worse, Michael Phelps is swimming in America.

More alarming is the continuing trend of immortalizing athletes and then expressing shock that they are indeed human. Eleanor Roosevelt once gave the advice to “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” Yes, it’s a headache to explain t youngsters that their hero is not perfect, but it also presents teaching opportunities. Parents can either bemoan the fact their children idolize athletes who make mistakes, or can use those moments as an entry point for discussions of awkward topics. It won’t make talking about drugs as easy as asking “how was your day?” but it sure beats trying to come up with something out of the blue. This way, the kid doesn’t has as strong a suspicion that the only reason you bring it up is out of fear that they’re using.

What has happened, happened, and no amount of writing, discussing, or blogging will make it disappear. Why not just move on and worry about our own problems and let others do the same?