by Mj Ferruzza

Created on: February 07, 2009

After a picture was published showing Olympic Freak of Nature, Michael Phelps on the pipe, Kellogg immediately dropped his sponsorship and he was banned from competitive swimming for 3 months. This was an easy out for Kellogg who, as a corporate
giant, must be feeling the pinch of a sour economy and saved a few dollars from the incident. Pending lawyers, of course. And

all good (endorsement laden) athletes should have pending lawyers around to cover their tail. But back to Michael...

That glassy stare, that garbled speech, that glazed look, I just thought he was mildly retarded or some sort of aquatic idiot-savant. Now I know he is just like the rest of us, a party boy! Looking for sex, drugs and/or rock and roll. Of course most of us aren't offered $110 million and asked to keep our noses clean and sign a behavior clause. But when your TV appearances and commercials display your lack of talent in anything other than touching a wall faster than other athletic freaks of nature, you may find the whole thing boring, so let's smoke some!

What was Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan's fall from public grace? Was it that eternal loop of her wailing "Why me? Why me?" after her "hit" by rival Tanya Harding's crew? Her lack of gold medals? Or the fact that on a Disney tour, while Grand Marshal in their parade with a mike open and being recorded she said the infamous "This is soooo stupid!" So stupid most athletes would give their eye teeth for the recognition and reward.

Kobe Bryant was accused of misconduct in a Denver hotel room. Though accusations were dropped (and after he bought his teenage wife a $3 million dollar 'I'm sorry' ring), Sprite dropped his commercial contract. He has spent the better part of the second half of his career trying to earn those endorsement perks back. Is the whole thing now a distant memory for the Lakers and NBA's poster boy? Just listen to the fans in Denver still today!

Commercial endorsements are the key reward for the Olympic athlete, far beyond any medal won by these supposed amateur athletes. But after years of sacrifice to get to that brass ring, after all the years the media built up a sad your life story and the greatness to overcome adversity (like a family divorce and abandonment), most athletes just fall back to old patterns and be themselves. They just hope that a camera, microphone or accuser are nowhere nearby when they do!

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