Michael Phelps's Years of Hard Work Scarred by Bong Picture: The Real Issue With the Phelps Picture

This past weekend, News of the World released pictures of Michael Phelps taking bong hits. My blog saw a huge increase in traffic obviously from Phelps's fans. Many of them are clearly missing the point and accusing me of a witch hunt against Phelps is crazy. I am a former licensed athlete, and it saddens me to see other licensed athletes not respect their sport's rules, especially when it comes to drugs.

Most people in our country are used to watching professional athletes work their way up from little league to junior high sports to high school and finally college. This is true for a majority of sports. All of these sports have their rules. When you apply for a license in the sport, you agree to follow the rules set up by the sanctioning body.

I raced bicycles and was a member in the same sanctioning body that Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong are a part of. The United States Cycling Federation has clear rules about drugs. The higher level your license you hold, the more likely you are to get tested. I know Phelps's license for his sanctioning body is no different than the USCF. Phelps knew the rules, and he broke them.

I have watched one of my heroes, Greg Lemond, who I got to ride in Wisconsin with a few years ago, demonized as he continues to help clean up cycling. I don't understand why if someone stands up for the rules they are the bad guy in America these days. It's not just in sports either. Americans should be more aware of a little organization called ACORN, who registered voters up to 75 times to vote for Obama. Rules were broken in Minnesota when election officials copied ballots and didn't mark them as copies to give Al Franken the lead. When you speak up, they try to discredit you and make you out to be the fool. I have watched Lance Armstrong laugh at Lemond's efforts, and it saddens me. I admire Lemond for pushing for better doping tests, but his efforts have cost him. Most recently Trek dropped their partnership with Lemond and Lemond Racing Cycles. (I won't be buying a Trek anytime soon because of their decision.)

This isn't a witch hunt against Phelps. I don't even care about swimming. I am just tired of seeing sports ruined because players don't want to play the rules. I am tired of celebrating athletes and then find out my celebration was in vain. I watched Floyd Landis bonk in the 2006 Tour De France, to celebrate the ride of a lifetime the next day with an unbelievable comeback that won him the Tour De France. A few days later his drug tests came back positive, and he lost the title a few months later. It would have been much easier to see him bonk and put the effort in and lose rather than to see the ride of a lifetime and have it scarred because he decided not to follow the rules.

When you cheer for an athlete you cheer for their hard work and their sacrifice. Many athletes give up hanging out to spend hours and hours training. It's sad to see their sacrifice given an asterisk because they choose to break a rule. I have nothing against Phelps. It's unfortunate he made a bad decision, just like it's unfortunate Landis made a bad decision. It will be interesting to watch how swimming's governing body treats the picture of him taking a bong hit. One of the articles read one of the reasons Phelps took a chance was because it was the off season and swimmers are less likely to be tested. Unless this is a regular habit, his activities in November may have left his system. I am unfamiliar with any stories that present similar evidence. This may serve as a wake up call for Phelps, but his image will be tarnished by it. Swimming must not be as tough as cycling, who test during the off season. Lance Armstrong writes in his book how frustrating it is that they show up at his house to test him during the off season.

It would be nice if athletes respected their hard work as much as the people who are working hard to developing their talent admire it. When you are working your way up on a smaller team, you dream to be racing in their place. I think sometimes the athletes forget that once they reach the big time. It's too bad people demonize people like Greg Lemond, who wishes nothing more than to restore the purity of the sport, and ignore when athletes break the rules of their sports whether it be marijuana or EPO. Rules are rules, and when you apply for your sport's license you pledge to follow the rules.