Michael Phelps

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) -- Six-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps was
arrested last week and charged with drunken driving.
A trooper saw the
19-year-old swimming sensation go through a stop sign Thursday night, state
police said Monday. The trooper saw signs of intoxication and arrested Phelps
for driving under the influence, police said.
Phelps also was charged with
violation of a license restriction and failure to obey a stop sign. The legal
drinking age in Maryland is 21.
"I made a mistake." Phelps told Sports
Illustrated's Rick Reilly by phone. "I know it's wrong to get into a car when
you've had anything to drink. I'm 19 years old and I made a big mistake. I was
taught to take responsibility for your actions so that's why I'm
calling."
The swimmer from suburban Baltimore won eight medals at the Athens
Olympics, including six golds.
Phelps, wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey, was
introduced to the crowd before the team's game Sunday night.

Is it wrong that this story actually gives me more respect for Michael Phelps? The kid is 19 years old, he's in a college town (not that that's an excuse, but it gives insight into why he was in the car and where he probably was before then), he breaks the story himself, and he admits that he's wrong. Of course, I guarantee you that Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and all of the morning shows will be salivating over this going "What went wrong?"

You know what went wrong? Absolutely nothing. The kid was born 2 years too late and driving the wrong car is what went wrong. I don't know any of this for certain, but here's my theory...Michael's got a free weekend, he goes to see some friends at their school (Salisbury University - the biggest party school in Maryland -- good choice!), they're out at college night or a frat party (because it's 5p somewhere and because the weekend always starts on Thursday in college), and Michael's got the car...being that most of his friends from home are probably Freshmen or Sophomores it's a good bet that they don't. They pile in for a short drive back to the dorm/apartment and Michael is driving a black escalade.

Now be honest, when you think of a black escalade who do you think is driving? Michael Phelps was stopped for running a stop sign. Not a stop light, a stop sign. Still dangerous, but A STOP SIGN. Personally, I think he was "racially profiled. " Salisbury is still a relatively small town, and they don't tend to get black escalades running around in the middle of the night. Either it was a reallllllllllllly slow night on the Perdue Farms beat or the cop saw the escalade and decided to tail it because "obviously these guys were out for trouble." Imagine his suprise when instead of the profile he expected, he got a white, slightly goofy, internationally-known, world-class athelete. I hear there could be a job opening at the Salisbury PD.

Drunk Driving is wrong, Racial profiling is wrong, and I hope that the second part of the theory I have is wrong. I'm just not looking forward to days upon days of discussions about what went wrong with Michael. Nothing went wrong with Michael. He's 19, it's a college town...even though he's not a student he's hanging out with students...drinking is a part of college life (hey, my school issued Freshmen their own beer coozies and bottle openers). He's a normal kid, let's leave him alone and get past this. There are NFL drug dealers and NHL hit men to focus on instead.