Michael Phelps is a winner of multiple gold medals in swimming competitions during the Olympics. There was a photo taken of him smoking marijuana out of a bong while at a party and this became a large problem with the media. He then posted the blog, linked below, to help bring his image back from the mistake. Do you think he seems very sorry from the context of his blog? He used correct grammar and punctuation; does that make his blog less sincere? Does he seem more sorry for his actions or is he just sorry for getting caught? Should people expect a 23 year old to make all the correct choices in life? Do you believe he is telling the truth when he says he will never smoke again?
http://www.swimroom.com/?page_id=3&cat_id=4&post_type=2
I believe that at his age, it is okay to make a few mistakes. We all have to learn from them. I think that Michael Phelps was truely sorry for what happened because he has so many people that look up to him, but i think that he is also sorry that he got caught. I doubt that it will be the last time Michael smokes marijuana and that he will just be more careful about who is with him next time.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the apology was probably written by someone else or that he was helped with what to say because it was worded so formally. It reminded me of the Bill Clinton apology because he was somewhat indirect and pretty general. He kept it short and to the point. I don't think that the formal writing or correct punctuation and grammar make the apology any less sincere because I know I always try to use the correct punctuation because it bothers me writing in slang. I think that it's hard to judge whether it's sincere or not because it was so short, however he did acknowledge that he let his youth sort of get in the way of making a good decision. That is him admitting his fault, and he promises not to do it again. I think that is a huge promise to make, especially because he is so young. I think that if he does stand by his promise then it will show greatly for him and make him more of a role model. I think that if he gets caught again, it will completely deplete his entire apology and his ethos. I think he is sorry for his actions and sorry that he let down his fans.
ReplyDeleteI think he is sorry that it happened, I think he is sorry he got caught but he was having fun with friends and these days that's what having fun entails. Even if it is illegal so is underaged drinking but it happens everyday everywhere. Underaged drinking is not taboo and neither is smoking. Yes it is illegal yes he is in the public's eye but he is still young and allowed to make mistakes. People expect more from him because he is an olympian, but they get tempted to do steroids and all that as well; not all athletes are perfect. I feel like he is sorry, I do not think that his grammar makes it more or less sincere it just means he is very good at English. I don't think people should expect him to be perfect because then they would be hipocrites. Everyone has done something bad and made bad decisions. He is a kid and has the same right to make mistakes as anyone else. He just has to deal with the consequences differently than "normal" people. I don't think we do know if he won't smoke again but that is his decision.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that sticks out to me about Phelps' apology is the length of his statement. Too often people make long, drawn-out statements to invoke pity or point blame elsewhere. Although he does bring up that he is still in his twenties, he doesn't use that as a major talking point in his apology. I think it is always difficult to convey feeling through writing, so it is difficult to tell his true feeling on the situation. It is important to note that all prior blog posts are also grammatically sufficient, so it doesn't make his blog any less sincere. It shows that he is a consistent person and writer. He seems sorry that he got caught. Let's be honest... Had the picture never surfaced, the apology would not have come to be. It has always been like that, as no one, for the most part, is very sorry until they get caught. I do feel that he will never smoke again, mainly because at this point in his life he has a serious career in his hands and doesn't want to tarnish his reputation.
ReplyDeleteI think that Michael Phelps made the apology because he needed to and not because he is sorry. Because his apology is so short and basic, I think that he isn't sorry at all for what he did, he's sorry for getting caught. I also think that he is only 23 years old, he is still allowed to make stupid mistakes. I don't see why this incident was even a big deal in the media. All he was doing was smoking pot,which people do all the time and are fine. Its not like he was shooting heroin or something. I think that Michael Phelps has a similar mindset and that is why he isn't really sorry.
ReplyDeleteI think that a person that is just 23 can't be expected to make all the right choices and decisions. That said, I think that he is actually sorry for what he did. This is one of those times that grammar and spelling takes a back seat to the actual sentiment of the blog so I don't think that changes the sincerity for good or bad. I don't think that he is sincere about not doing it again but he is definitely going to think twice about doing it again.
ReplyDeleteI question the sincerity of Michael Phelps's apology, although I think it could go either way. Reading through his past posts on his blog, they all seem to offer a lot of information about what he was up to that day and very little about how he was really feeling. His post about his mistake was very short and seemed as if he was more giving an apology that someone had come up with for him, like a statement to be released to the press, than an honest apology. Not to say that he wasn't sincere- but this seemed more like something he was saying because he had to, and perhaps if he had posted something longer it would have been viewed as insincere because it may have seemed like he was making excuses. As far as the punctuation and grammar, I don't think that has anything to do with it... what is wrong with using correct English?
ReplyDeleteYes, he may only be 23 years old, but 23 is far from an age where behavior like this should be looked over and forgiven quickly, especially given his celebrity status. However, I think Phelps did learn his lesson with this incident and I don't think he will smoke again.
Depending on the blog of Michael Phelps, I think his apology is less sincere. As a 23 years old guy, his behavior is understandable and can be forgiven. However, his is a celebrity and with a lot of respect from fans. He should think of the consequences of what he did. Showing his abilities and setting good examples are his responsibilities, but he did not reach these. He was sorry for the inappropriate behavior, but he make this an excuse that he was only 23 years old. Although he was young and can do some crazy things, he should be more careful. Michael Phelps did not care about the commons that people who cannot forgive him. He should be more sincere for the bad thing he did.
ReplyDeleteI like this apology. It is short and straight to the point. No sugar coating is needed to explain how sorry he really is. I think that the thing he is most sorry about is the disappointment to his fans and those who admire him as a role model. You can really tell that from his second blog post when he is thanking people for their comments how sorry he is. For this reason, I believe that he will not smoke again.
ReplyDeleteAs far as age versus expectation goes, everyone should hold themselves to high standers regardless of age. Using age as an excuse is juvenile in itself. We should all want to be the best that we can be.
From these couple short posts, it does not seem to me as if Phelps is being all that sincere. He does seem slightly sorry for his actions and definitely regretful, but I think it is mostly because he regrets getting caught. When he says it will not happen again, he does not really explain himself. He may just not get caught again. I think if he was going to engage in this kind of activity, for as popular as he is, he should have in a private setting. So maybe that's what he has learned from this. And we may never know if he will never smoke again. In order for Phelps to be more convincing or sincere he should have, one, put more effort and detail into his blog, and two, seemed more remorseful for his actions. Afterall Phelps is definitely a role model for many children and teenagers and that should have been addressed in his apology.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Michael Phelps did the right thing by apologizing and I also think that his apology was sincere. He kept it short and sweet by sticking to the point of the matter. There were no excuses, just an apology. However, I can also see how it would be hard to get a feel for his remorse in those few sentences. I don't think it matters what age you are, everybody makes mistakes and has to apologize. Celebrities and non-celebrities of all ages have made the same mistake. So his age is irrelevant to me. The way he says “it will not happen again,” makes it seem like he really won’t do it again, probably to keep his promising career. There was no hesitation and it was almost forceful. But I also can see how this promise could be a hard one to keep and if he doesn’t succeed with this promise than it will be a greater let down to his fans.
ReplyDeleteUpon reading Michael Phelps apology, I have arrived at a few conclusions. First, I believe that he is sorry and ashamed that he was caught. Also, I think he’s more concerned with how the incident blew up. The apology seems like a statement he simply made for the sake of having an apology. I think he knew exactly what he was doing, despite the “acted in a youthful and inappropriate way” comment. Second, at the time he didn’t think it was a bad idea, but because of public opinion he had to change his own. Michael Phelps is 23 year old man who makes mistakes like the rest of us, but because he is an icon, he is elevated to a much higher standard of morals then we are. Finally, I believe that when he says “it will not happen again,” I think he is referring to the fact that he doesn't think he'll get caught again. I think underneath the it all, his thoughts are saying he will be cautious, not that he will never smoke again.
ReplyDeleteAt any age people make mistakes, but since he is 23 (college-age) more people are likely to respond positively to his apology. Many adults did things in college that are best left forgotten and Michael has a easy angle to appeal to them. However, as a role model he shows that you can accomplish things if try and that it is okay to make mistakes. Since his "mistake" didn't hurt anyone that also makes it easier to forgive.
ReplyDeleteThe apology was short and to the the point, he is sorry. I don't know whether he will ever do it again perhaps he will do it and like Kelly said just be smarter about who he does it around. Or maybe he won't either way as long as he keeps his personal life out of the news and continues to win, the public will willing forget the photo.
I don't think Michael Phelps was really sorry for what he had done when he was writing the statement. I feel like his apology was too short and informal to stress his regrets. However, I think his behavior was quite understandable. He is only 23 years old. But he has achieved huge success worldwide. He has accesses to almost everything, so it's really easy for him to make some wrong choices and do something wrong. Also, for smoking weeds, it's pretty common among American young people. It even becomes one of the young cultures. Young people are doing this all around,and Michael Phelps was just following a controversial trend because he is young. Maybe that is why he didn't feel really sorry for somking weeds because everybody is doing that but nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteI believe from reading the blog, Michael is mostly sorry he was caught. However, I believe that the public isn't going to be too hard on him for this action, because he is 23 years old and just like any other young adult he is going to make mistakes that he will regret. I believe he does regret what he did. However, to say whether he will do it again or not isn't clear to me. He is an athlete that wants to keep a good reputation and career, therefore I think the public won't see him repreating these actions anytime soon. He came out, admitted his wrongdoing and apologized. He didn't try to "sweet-talk" the issue, which shows maturity and sincerity.
ReplyDeleteI think as a 23 years athlete, Michael has received all honors and rewards he could get. but, the success in Sport dose not mean also in life. Young people always do the stupid stuff. I think we can not expect a 23 years guy does all correct decision in their crazy life. The apologize is not in formal way, because He is trying to make things easier. He is more seems sorry to be caught. and also, I think he has taken the lesson from that event.
ReplyDeleteI want to show more tolerance to Michael's behavior because what he did,from my own perspective, was not so unacceptable. I mean it is not severe enough to utterly destroy a person's image. I think Micheal realized his behavior was wrong but he also believed he deserved a second chance, no matter if people want to give it to him. I also think both merit and weakness make a person being a lively humsn.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he felt regret on his behaviour itself, but was sorry for not fulfilling people's expectation. As the opinion I hold for a while, people see those celebrities as role models, who ought to be perfect in their eyes. Once we found they are human beings like us, we refuse to accept the truth and blame them regardless of the pressure they might face. We should be acknowledged that at least one fifth of American college students reported have used marijuana. Based on this statistic, Michael's misbaviour sounds not such a big deal. Personally, I won't expect a 23-year-old make all correct choices in his life and also, I won't expect he will never make the same mistake again.
ReplyDeleteI Like the grammar Michael Phelps used in his blog for apology. Even though he doest not use any big or fancy word, his apology seems to be very sincere. Also, i believe it's ok for a 23-year-old young man to make mistake. Michael Phelps was successful athletes and earned so many paises. This makes him so perfect and people hold high standard on him.However,as he got caught by using marijuana, he is probably not really sorry for it. Instead, he is sorry that he got caught, and it is not reliable that he said he will never smoke again. So I'll say he seems sincere for apoloizing, but in fact he just apoloized for it happened and maintain his image.
ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that Phelps used correct grammar and punctuation makes his apology more sincere. If it was all spelled/worded wrong, I would assume that he didn't spend much time thinking or writing the apology and doesn't really care about what he did. Obviously what he did was illegal, but each and every one of us has broken then rules at one point or another. He stated in his blog that he "acted in a youthful and inappropriate way", but he is still in his youth, he is 23. With all of the other things celebrities are doing like cheating on their spouses, making racist/sexist comments and cheating the government, I would say what Michael did isn't even worth talking about. Yes, he made a mistake, but he seems truly sorry for it and he hasn't done anything else to make us believe he's lying when he says "it will not happen again."
ReplyDeleteI feel that Phelps apology was short, simple, and sincere. I agree with most of the comments above that Phelps was young and made an honest mistake. I think it is easy to forgive him because everyone has done something that they regret or made a stupid mistake. He realized that he behaved inappropriately and was quick to admit his mistake and apologize for it. Although I do not think that his choice effected his althetic career, I do think that it hurt his credibility as an athletic role model.
ReplyDeleteThis is the exact kind of comment I would expect from Michael. He is not known for being outgoing and talkative, and the shortness and abruptness of his apology here is really good. It cuts straight to the point, and he actually promises to never make the mistake again, which is something different from the other apologies we have seen. That being said, it leaves room to wonder if it would have been better for him to have not said it, because it seems highly unlikely to me that he will never smoke marijuana again. I remember hearing about this right after it happened and being shocked. Michael was a huge role model for me in the pool (I swim a lot) and out of it, so this made me pretty upset with him and I definitely stopped looking up to him so much. Hopefully he keeps true to his promise and steers clear of this stuff; I think people will be much less likely to forgive a second time.
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