The Downfall of a Hero

This past Thursday, Michael Phelps was suspended by the governing body of United States swimming. The suspension came less than a week after Phelps had been pictured in a British tabloid smoking marijuana from a pipe at a party on the University of South Carolina's campus. Now Phelps is considering retirement from swimming, claiming that the disappointment is just to much to bear. And it should be. I can very easily recall the magic moments of this past summer...the anticipation, the adrenaline, the goosebumps that were present in every viewer as Phelps stepped onto the platform each night in Beijing. Watching Phelps win those golds was quite possible the most miraculous achievement that I had seen in my young lifetime. Now, with Phelps backed into a corner I wonder what happen to all the magic. I balk at how a man who had it all...glory, fame, cash...would trade it away for a dose of marijuana. I grimace at seeing parents faces as they try to hide their children from seeing their role model crash and burn. I think Yogi Berra put it best; "If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be." Too bad it isn't.