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Nikki M. Mascali
I have a problem with Michael Phelps.
OK, I don’t have a problem with him winning a pirate’s ransom of gold medals at the Olympics last summer. I don’t have a problem that, since earning said medals, his goofy smile has been everywhere. Hell, I honestly don’t even care about the photos of him holding the bong.
My problem is the statement he released following the pot scandal, where he said: “I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public — it will not happen again.”
Well, no shit, swimmer. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place!
What really grinds my gears about him is how he brushed it off by saying that he’s “young.” Last time I checked, age 23 is five years into adulthood. By the time I was 23, for example, I had four years of a full-time job with benefits, a car payment and rent behind me. I’m sure millions of upstanding Americans can say the same thing, maybe at even younger ages.
Phelps is not a baby in diapers or someone who didn’t know better, especially considering this is his second walk on the wrong side of the law. In 2004, at 19, he was charged with a DUI. In the statement after that incident, Phelps said “… I made a mistake. … I’m 19 but was taught no matter how old you are, you should always take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I’m extremely sorry for this.”
Now, I could give a hoot who is photographed with a bong, a blintz or whatever, but when someone is in the public eye like this man is, there should be a certain level of decorum. Especially when, after he won all those medals (bringing his gold count to an astonishing 14), he was touted as an “American hero.” Really?
Ad agencies slapped that offensively inane grin on everything from "Guitar Hero" (which he plugged with new fallen angel A-Rod, by the way) to Subway to Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes (Kellogg Co. said it will not renew his endorsement deal following the incident), and he was America’s Golden Boy for months.
Maybe my problem is how revered sports stars are, given how I just had to snarkily throw A-Rod in above paragraph.
(On a side note, yesterday, A-Rod also chalked his recent controversy up to being “young and naïve.” In case you’re wondering, he was 25. Twenty-five! How many of us have lived lifetimes by the age of 25?)
Sure, every athlete is doing something I would never in a million years be able to do physically, but when people call them “heroes,” I cringe inside.
Ponder, if you will, this: If they were heroes, wouldn’t they play without the kabillion dollar paychecks? And sans enhancements?
The real heroes are the everyday people who help other people every single day as their life’s work. Sick children who sit in their hospital beds and smile just because. Soldiers overseas who keep us safe, regardless of our opinions on why they’re there.
Where are their endorsement deals, their Wheaties boxes? I’m sure thousands of these examples I’ve just given would love to have the chance for half of what society gives sports stars, only to have those sports stars let their opportunities go up in smoke.
(That pun was definitely intended.)
About the Author
Nikki M. Mascali began her career at the Weekender as an intern in 2005 - and holds the honor of being the oldest intern the paper ever had. She received her degree in journalism from Luzerne County Community College in 2007 and joined the Weekender staff full-time in 2006 as staff writer/designer before becoming associate editor in 2010. In March 2011, she was named editor.
Nikki has interviewed everyone from Gene Simmons to Richard Simmons, and her articles have run the gamut from local and national theater to music and in-depth reports on the radio industry and negativity in NEPA.
Nikki enjoys writing, quoting movies, traveling and being a diehard foodie - which is why she pens our weekly food and drink column, "Dish."
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1 COMMENTS
Skip Johnson said...
Well said. I concur.
February 20, 2009 at 10:55 AM