Michael Phelps is still answering questions about his marijuana use.  Phelps was photographed smoking marijuana from a bong during a party, and the photos surfaced in tabloid.

Matt Lauer asked Phelps about the incident during the “The Today Show” March 13 on NBC.

Here are some excerpts from the interview.

PHELPS: “It was an awful judgment. And, really, the people I hurt is my family, clearly, my friends, the close people around me and most importantly, the fans. And I realize that that hurt a lot of people.”

LAUER: “When you first saw the picture, when you first laid eyes on it and realized what it was a picture of, did you calculate at that point the fallout? Did you start to think how damaging this could be to you personally and your career?”

PHELPS: “It’s not about money to me. The contract side of things, yeah, I was disappointed. But I think the biggest thing is who I hurt the most. Like, if I lost money, okay. It’s not an issue with me.”

LAUER: “Were you smoking pot?”

PHELPS: “It was a bad mistake. I mean, we all know what you and I are talking about. It’s a stupid mistake. You know, bad judgment. And it’s something that I have to, and I want to teach other people not to make that mistake.”

PHELPS: “I mean, we were just celebrating, honestly.  There was probably two or three people there I didn’t know. It was a very small group. Six or seven people probably total in the whole house. Like nothing major. You know, not like a giant college house party. It was nothing like that. It was just a small group and we were just sitting around and celebrating.”

LAUER: “Were you aware that anyone had taken a photo that night?  Is that, maybe, a lesson to be learned here? That not everybody’s your friend?”

PHELPS: “I’ll say that there are a lot of people out there who want to take advantage of any situation they have.  I trusted my friends who were there about who they were. And clearly they weren’t trusted people. Sometimes you learn the hard way.”

PHELPS: “I had no idea really what to do. I knew that I’d made a mistake and made a bad judgment. And I know that when you do make a mistake you’re responsible for all of the consequences. And I was willing to accept the fact that I did make a mistake.”

Now that Phelps has given an in-depth interview about this topic, hopefully the public will be able to forgive and forget and move on.

The so called “friend” who sold that picture to the tabloid for money is a low-life.  I would never do that to someone I called a friend.

Hopefully, Phelps can recover from this embarrassment and bring home more gold medals.

Tim Henley

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USA Swimming decided to suspend Michael Phelps for three months after a photo appeared in a tabloid showing him smoking from a marijuana pipe.

The organization released a statement that said “This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero,” the Colorado Springs-based federation said in a statement. Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust.”

I’m baffled because they said no anti-doping rules were violated, but yet, they suspended him anyway.  He also lost an endorsement deal with Kellogg.

Yes, Michael Phelps is a role model, and millions of children look up to him.  However, role models do mistakes from time to time, and there’s no need for everyone to start passing judgment on him.  I’m sure he will make several other mistakes throughout his life.  We all do. That’s part of being a human being.

 If he was caught drinking alcohol or smoking a cigarette, I wonder if he would have been suspended for that too? Probably not.

Although I don’t condone marijuana use, it’s not as dangerous as other substances.  More people die from  alcohol and cigarette use than they do marijuana.

And shame on the person who sold that photo to the tabloid. I’m sure they received a lot of money for it.  If I was in that position, I wouldn’t have sold that photo because I don’t believe in causing anyone public humiliation.

UPDATE: On second thought, after examining how empty my bank account is right now, I absolutely would  have sold that photo for money. I do have bills to pay.

Tim Henley

The British newspaper News Of The World published a photo of decorated Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps smoking from a bong at the University of South Carolina.

A bong is typically used for smoking marijuana. In the photograph you can’t tell exactly what he’s smoking, but he’s definitely inhaling something other than pure oxygen.

The newspaper claims Phelps’ representatives offered them incentives to keep them from printing the photo.

Phelps set a record at the 2008 Olympics when he won eight gold medals which gave him a career total of 14.  No word yet on whether the U.S. Olympics Committee will get involved.

Olympic and world championship athletes are supposed to undergo drug tests on a regular basis.  If they fail, they are disqualified from competing.

Phelps has spent most of his life in a swimming pool preparing for Olympic and world championship competitions.  There is nothing wrong with him going to a party and having a little fun.

However, when you’re a high-profile celebrity, you have to be careful of what you do because there are ALWAYS cameras around.

Phelps released a statement that said “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment.  I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

I don’t think Phelps should be judged too harshly.  Yes, he is a role model, and millions of children around the world probably look up to him.

But keep in mind, role models are human beings, and they make mistakes too.  Most mistakes are made during the teen years and early 20s, and everyone out there has done regrettable things during their early 20s.  It’s all part of growing up.

But the next time he wants to experiment, he should probably do it in the privacy of his own home where no one is watching.  The photo from News Of The World is posted below.

Tim Henley

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.

The 23-year-old broke records during the Olympics earlier this year when he won eight gold medals, giving him a career total of 14 gold medals.

He was the face of the Olympics and in the world of athletics during this entire year, so he is very deserving of this title.

Whenever he dies, someone should conduct a DNA test on him to make sure he’s actually a human being and not a superman.

Tim Henley

Her top nine picks are listed below, but if you want to see who was chosen as the number one most fascinating person, then you have to watch the show Dec. 4 on ABC.

I’m going to take a guess and say that Barack Obama will probably be number one, but I don’t know for certain.

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps

Actress Miley Cyrus

Actor Will Smith

Actress Tina Fey

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh

Pregnant man Thomas Beatie

Actor Frank Langella

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps hosted “Saturday Night Live” during the weekend. He was featured in various comedy skits, and I just have one thing to say—Michael needs to stick to swimming.

The skits weren’t very funny whatsoever, but I don’t know if Phelps is to blame or should we blame the writers. During some of the scenes it sounded like he was reading off of a teleprompter word for word, which he probably was.

On the other hand, it probably was good for NBC to put Phelps on the show despite his lackluster acting skills. Phelps is popular sports figures in the country especially after the Olympics, and I’m a lot of people watched the show that night which translates into big ratings.

The highlight of the show was the performances of the current king of rap Lil Wayne. He performed his hits “Lollipop” and “Get Money.”

Another notable moment was the opening of the show when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler portrayed Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton during a press conference. Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin was right on.

Barack Obama was supposed to make an appearance on the show, but he canceled because of Hurricane Ike.

Michael Phelps’ mother and William Shatner made a brief appearance on the show. I guess if Obama can’t make it on the show, the next best thing is to have Phelps’ mother and William Shatner….not really

Tim Henley

Since he won eight gold medals at the Olympics in Beijing, Michael Phelps has been living the life. He’s been attending multiple red carpet events and award shows, and he’s even been living it up on the Las Vegas party scene.

Now, he will be hosting Saturday Night Live tomorrow night. I’m always interested when a non-entertainer tries to host Saturday Night Live.

I remember watching Al Gore, Rudy Giuliani, LeBron James and NBC News host Brian Williams when they did the SNL gig.

While those episodes weren’t very amusing, I get the feeling that Michael Phelps will be very humorous on the show.

Also, Barack Obama is scheduled to make a guest appearance in one of the sketches. Should be interesting.

Tim Henley