Michael Phelps, re-hab and re-birth

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by botticelli

It is not like something terrible happened to him. He was screwing his own life, that is all.

but you see that IS a terrible thing. he was suddenly cast into the limelight, and wasnt prepared to handle the sudden fame he garnered, and he made the same mistakes that many athletes do when when tossed into the same situation.

and yes he did it to himself, but understand that the pressures on such people are intense. much is expected of them, and they are pushed harder to go forward to maintain their time in the spotlight. some handle the pressure without issue, but some will either retreat from the limelight, bill elliot did this back in 1985 when he was winning races and in a pitched battle for the winston cup season championship, and others turn to alcohol/drugs to relieve the stress, phelps and manziel did this.

and unless you have been caught in the grip of addiction, you really dont understand just what it takes to break that grip, and try to return your life to normal, especially when you are a celebrity.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by rbohm

but you see that IS a terrible thing. he was suddenly cast into the limelight, and wasnt prepared to handle the sudden fame he garnered, and he made the same mistakes that many athletes do when when tossed into the same situation.

and yes he did it to himself, but understand that the pressures on such people are intense. much is expected of them, and they are pushed harder to go forward to maintain their time in the spotlight. some handle the pressure without issue, but some will either retreat from the limelight, bill elliot did this back in 1985 when he was winning races and in a pitched battle for the winston cup season championship, and others turn to alcohol/drugs to relieve the stress, phelps and manziel did this.

and unless you have been caught in the grip of addiction, you really dont understand just what it takes to break that grip, and try to return your life to normal, especially when you are a celebrity.

I don't see the correlation between fame and drugs. Plenty of people under great pressure don't choose those, and plenty who don't have pressure do. It is simply a choice. Even if it was an addiction, it was a choice. We should stop using ANY excuse for drug abuse but it simply doesn't hold.


Pressure becomes of fame? That's laughable. Millions of people worry about paying bills and even their lives, and we are saying "oh, because he is so liked that must be a lot of pressure!" Well, if you don't enjoy the fame, you won't feel the pressure from it whatsoever.


I have zero sympathy for his "down time", but I am glad he comes back strong.

[RunD1987]

I hope Phelps comes back in 2020 to swim the 10K event