Commentary on Phelps and Pot...

[Geo]

Phelps chose to cash in on being a role model. Do you think these companies give a damn if he can swim?

Yes, I do. If he couldn't swim, he wouldn't have gotten the endorsements in the first place. If Michael Jordan couldn't play basketball there would have been no Air Jordans for Nike.

They give a damn because of the status that swimming has given him. They consider him a role model.

So how is this different than giving a damn if he could swim?
It is because he swam so well that corporate America took notice and society elevated him to "role model" status.

This is what the sequence looks like to me.

20 something dude swims faster than anyone else ---->

Put him on the cover. Put him on the cereal box. Use his image in as many media messages as possible as quickly as possible to sell our stuff to the American people who will be unable to see this guy as a 20 something who swims fast but rather they will see him as a "role model" . ---->

Self fulfilling prophecy. Dude becomes a "role model" to those exposed to media messages ----->

20 something proceeds to act like a 20 something (as most 20 somethings do because they ARE 20 somethings) ------>

This comes to our attention and we freak. "How could he behave like a 20 something? He isn't a 20 something. He gave up his right to be a 20 something when he agreed to swim fast and cash checks. He was our role model and now my kids are screwed. Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?"

 

[Mango]

This thread is starting to need a spliff.

 

[full time]

Yes, I do. If he couldn't swim, he wouldn't have gotten the endorsements in the first place. If Michael Jordan couldn't play basketball there would have been no Air Jordans for Nike.




So how is this different than giving a damn if he could swim?
It is because he swam so well that corporate America took notice and society elevated him to "role model" status.

This is what the sequence looks like to me.

20 something dude swims faster than anyone else ---->

Put him on the cover. Put him on the cereal box. Use his image in as many media messages as possible as quickly as possible to sell our stuff to the American people who will be unable to see this guy as a 20 something who swims fast but rather they will see him as a "role model" . ---->

Self fulfilling prophecy. Dude becomes a "role model" to those exposed to media messages ----->

20 something proceeds to act like a 20 something (as most 20 somethings do because they ARE 20 somethings) ------>

This comes to our attention and we freak. "How could he behave like a 20 something? He isn't a 20 something. He gave up his right to be a 20 something when he agreed to swim fast and cash checks. He was our role model and now my kids are screwed. Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?"

OK - you win. I think Phelps was set up and photographed smoking weed from a device that all first time, recreational users enjoy (Like the CNN anchor said - he can't possibly be a stoner). Some freshman swimmer enticed him for the first time to put his lips inside of a bong and then nefariously snapped a photo. How could Phelps be expected to overcome the peer pressures exerted by 18 year olds at a party at which he was the star? He was led astray by the other "bad" kids that no one knows. Children can't possibly understand the pressures that come with being a high school graduate and collecting millions of dollars through use of his name. Kids would smoke weed too under the same work pressures and abundance of young co-eds who want to party with the man. How dare corporations, consumers buying the endorsed products and parents of the USC swimmers expect something better. He is, after all, an intellectual midget just trying to get his party on. Feel better?

 

[Geo]

OK - you win. I think Phelps was set up and photographed smoking weed from a device that all first time, recreational users enjoy (Like the CNN anchor said - he can't possibly be a stoner). Some freshman swimmer from England enticed him for the first time to put his lips inside of a bong and then nefariously snapped a photo. How could Phelps be expected to overcome the peer pressures exerted by 18 year olds at a party at which he was the star? He was led astray by the other "bad" kids that no one knows. Children can't possibly understand the pressures that come with being a high school graduate and collecting millions of dollars through use of his name. Kids would smoke weed too under the same work pressures and abundance of young co-eds who want to party with the man. How dare corporations, consumers buying the endorsed products and parents of the USC swimmers expect something better. He is, after all, an intellectual midget just trying to get his party on. Feel better?

I still am not buying it that you are reading my posts before you respond.
Your words are written for someone who believes Phelps was entrapped into smoking weed. Someone who would like to naively think that the photograph shows him smoking pot for the first time in his life. Someone who believes that Phelps is an angel who was surrounded by bad kids at a party who pressured him into partaking. Someone who believes that Phelps got high because he gave in. Someone who believes that Phelps is either smarter or dumber than the average 20 something.

That ain't me, FT.

I believe he smoked pot for fun and that it ain't a big deal.

I believe that someone who smokes pot on occasion isn't morally wrong any moreso than someone who drinks Budweiser or swallows Prozac.

I believe it is regrettable that someone decided to snap a picture of Phelps and then sell it.

I believe that we have better choices for role models than athletes and entertainers and that parents are ultimately responsible for teaching their children right from wrong, truth vs. fiction and how to think for themselves.

I believe that most who demonize a plant do so because they believe this is what they are supposed to do not because they have applied thier own logic, reason and fact.

I believe that most people don't know or don't care that pot became bad because it threatened an industry so that industry started a propaganda campaign and lobbied the government to make it illegal.

I believe that most people don't know or don't care that the government's "war on drugs" does not work (but still believe it should be continued).

I believe that Phelps made a foolish mistake which is that he put himself in this situation. Not because he inhaled the smoke of a plant from a waterbottle. But because he did it in a way that jeapordized his meal ticket.

I believe that Phelps is not much smarter or dumber than anyone else in their 20's despite the fact that he is rich and famous.

I believe that it is none of my business if Phelps smoked pot or got a DUI.

I believe I should stop now.

 

[LuciferSam]

Those presidents weren't professional athletes - that's my personal issue with it. (a sentiment apparently shared by other former swimmers)

I'll bet you're not familiar with this story about Doc Ellis. LSD and the No-Hitter

 

[scooterbug44]

Of course he pitched a no-hitter - he couldn't see the catcher's mitt most of the time and can't remember most of the game. I'm surprised he didn't walk more than 8 batters. :roll:

I am not impressed by this guy's actions either - he could have killed someone w/ those wild pitches.

 

[LuciferSam]

Of course he pitched a no-hitter - he couldn't see the catcher's mitt most of the time and can't remember most of the game. I'm surprised he didn't walk more than 8 batters. :roll:

I am not impressed by this guy's actions either - he could have killed someone w/ those wild pitches.

My attitude is that sports figures do not make reliable role models and that professional sports have been inseperable from, boozing, womanizing, drugs, fighting gambling, and arrogance since the beginning of time. To equate sports with wholesomeness means you have to be really high.

 

[Danny Burns]

Geo, I think that some people need to read the entire thread before attacking a single misinterpreted idea of yours. Thanks for this thread and the honest diologue it started out to be.

And Lucifersam, I couldn't agree more about sports figures. ARod has now admitted to using designer steroids. And even Babe Ruth set his HR record with copious amounts of beer and thousands of hot dogs. Still a beloved sports figure, but not a good role model.

 

[Matt J]

Just imagine if Jesus had suffered the same scrutiny after turning water into wine.

Oh the horror.

 

[Teresa]

This thread is starting to need a spliff.

a what?





:rofl: