Michael Phelps On Tiger Woods: 'I Just Wish The Best For Himself And His Family'

MANCHESTER, England — Michael Phelps expressed sympathy for Tiger Woods and his family on Thursday because of the scrutiny resulting from the golfer's admitted infidelity.

"He's going through a hard time right now I assume – I've no idea what he is going through – but it can't be easy, I just wish him the best for himself and his family," said Phelps, who's in Manchester, England, for the "Duel in the Pool" swim meet. "I'd be the first to admit I've made a lot of mistakes both in and out of the pool.

Phelps, who won a record eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing, was photographed three months later inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

"Of the mistakes I've made I've never made the same mistake again," Phelps said. "I've become a much stronger person, and I've helped other people not make the same mistakes."

After the photograph of Phelps was published in a British tabloid, USA Swimming suspended him for three months. He went on to win five golds and a silver at the July world championships in Rome.

Comments

[hypnotoad72]

11:02 AM on 02/21/2010

So said the weed smokin' womanizer, no less.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/04/exclusive-confirmation-miss-california-dating-michael-phelps

[botan]

04:15 PM on 12/21/2009

I fail to see the connection between these two men at all.

[Bogey907]

02:56 PM on 12/21/2009

"I'd be the first to admit I've made a lot of mistakes both in and out of the pool"

EEWWWWW!

[DessLoch]

05:17 AM on 12/21/2009

interesting comment coming one day after Tiger was named sportsman of the decade from someone who was probably on the shortlist.

[Lulubelle1]

12:59 AM on 12/21/2009

This has nothing to do with race, at least not for me.

It has to do with morality. I don't consider smoking pot to be immoral, at least not on the part of a very young man still in his footloose & fancy free days. C'mon... many of us had them.

The DUI is something else. Driving drunk endangers not just the driver, but anyone on the road. It's tantamount to negligent homicide, since all that prevented it is luck.

As for Tiger Woods, he is a husband and father, yet he exposed his wife to STD's, broke his marriage vows, and betrayed the integrity of his family. That's a big, big moral lapse to me. If you want out, get out. If you want an open marriage, marry someone who is okay with that.

But be honest. He's dishonest, lacks self-control, and displayed complete indifference to his wife and children. That implies a lack of character to me. I don't care about the details, or who he committed adultery with. It doesn't matter. He did it, and it was wrong. I can't support that.

To those who think me too harsh, well, I'm sorry. But that's my reaction to it.

[hypnotoad72]

11:04 AM on 02/21/2010

Potheads don't bother me nearly as much as womanizers do.

Judge a man my his character.

http://snarkerati.com/celebrity-gossip/miss-california-carrie-prejean-is-dating-michael-phelps/

Prejean is aware of his womanizing ways too (both articles I linked to mention that).

If prejean was a real Christian, she'd be doing relationships for real intent and being serious and not just having a 'good time'. She's just another F R A U D.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/04/exclusive-confirmation-miss-california-dating-michael-phelps

[hypnotoad72]

11:07 AM on 02/21/2010

Drat. "Judge a man by his character". I apologize for not re-reading before hitting 'Post a Comment'. Oh well. At least I'm not a womanizer or a woman who makes two-faced comments about being a Christian.

[KarateKid]

01:52 PM on 12/20/2009

Tiger is black, Michael Phelps is white. I'll bet all the Tiger _hating moralists are white. OK, I had the stones to say it. That's what a double standard and splitting hairs is all about, ultimately, in this and other blogs.

[noudidnt]

02:52 PM on 12/20/2009

What he said.

[NeverRepublican]

03:32 PM on 12/21/2009

It's so refreshing to have race pumped into the conversation...

So... every ethnicity believes infidelity is cool except white people?

You make NO SENSE AT ALL...

And a very poor spokesman for the rest of humanity...

[Waltb31]

04:18 PM on 12/21/2009

No. That's not what he said or implied.
To be clear, the fact that Tiger is "of color" and the women involved are white has contributed to the extreme reaction to this situation.

[jwadvocate83]

02:34 AM on 12/20/2009

So you all know, adultery is a crime in a good couple of states.

[KarateKid]

01:46 PM on 12/20/2009

It carries a _death penalty in some countries.

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

03:50 PM on 12/20/2009

So is sod omy and homo se_xuality.

Do you think all supposed crimes should be enforced by local law enforcement, or just supposed crimes Tiger committed?

[balancedsolution]

02:41 PM on 12/19/2009

That's a lame argument.

Smoking weed at the age of what 22? compared to sleeping with multiple women while married are two big things.

Smoking weed is one thing that you do with ramifications to ones self

Sleeping with women while married affects your wife, your kids, and your integrity.

If one is that dense to not see the difference, you might want to break out the bong.

BTW why is Stephen A. Smith hounding Tiger to come out? Tiger has no one to answer to except himself, his wife, kids, and his higher power.

Sure he and others think he has handled the situation poorly. Who are we to judge? At the end of the day, he's just a man with issues.

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

07:18 PM on 12/19/2009

Agreed. It's illegal to buy and smoke weed.

[noudidnt]

02:53 PM on 12/20/2009

Bingo!

One is a crime and the other is a lapse in moral and financial judgement.

[Lordcron]

08:42 PM on 12/17/2009

Tiger suffers extreme backlash for his relationship breakdown and loses endorsements but Phelps who is caught in a picture smoking a bong and no one know what is really in it. Phelps keeps not only keeps his endorsements but people come to his defence and protect him.

Yeah............ OK................ Here we go again....... Let me guess......... It's not what it looks like right? I'm not even gonna say what it looks like because everyone knows. Seriously.

[ezgoingal]

10:14 AM on 12/18/2009

No, seriously, dude, what Phelps did is nowhere near what Woods has done in protraying himself as the Ward Cleaver with his family and then finding out he is a scroundrel of the highest order. If Phelps was caught smoking a bong 14 TIMES with no backlash, yeah, then you could call it what you are leaning towards. At least, Phelps stepped up to his situation like a man and didn't keep stepping into like Woods. Wood did this to himself, his family and his career, and no one else did it to him.

[lippp]

11:06 AM on 12/18/2009

Agree. And Phelps did not portray himself as the poster boy for anti drugs or against marijuanna. In other words, he is not phony so one can forgive a transgression. In Woods' case, tiger not only portrayed himself as a family man, but someone who "put family first" according to an Australian interview he gave just months before being found out. In retrospect, it is not clear which one of his mistresses' family he was putting first!

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

07:11 PM on 12/18/2009

Huh? It isn't illegal to cheat on your wife, dude.

Smoking we ed is still illegal.

[AllenFromAtlanta]

10:34 AM on 12/18/2009

Dude, I'm a black guy and I say stop digging for racism; it ain't always the case. Endorsers just want to make money, period, and I don't think they really care who can brings them the bucks.

I traveled to many a golf tournament to see Tiger play and I am pissed that he will be away from golf for a while, but Tiger messed up big time and must now pay his dues and get his life in order. He has no one to blame but himself.

[Waltb31]

11:40 AM on 12/18/2009

Really? If Tiger's women of choice were Black, this would be a non-story.
Michael Jordan was just as high profile, had as many endorsements, and had numerous women. The women were Black, so it didn't "offend" the sensibilities of the majority.
There was already an underlying deep-seated resentment of Tiger because of his fame, talent, and wealth. Tiger committed the cardinal sin for "athletes of color": He deflowered the "off limits unattainable women" in the public's eye.
Portraying his soon to be ex-wife as a victim is part of the deal. He is the "brute" that deflowered the "Lilly".
This story has played out so many times; from the days of the boxer Jack Johnson until now.
Tiger has his life in order; he just received a stern reminder that his wealth, talent, and status will never insulate him fro the biases in this country and the world.
He will be much better for it.

[KossAtl]

04:40 AM on 12/19/2009

There is a racial component to this. If the women involved where black it would not be a story.

[dac253]

08:33 PM on 12/17/2009

This is the first Tiger Woods article that I clicked on because finally someone has something rational to say.
I'm glad someone else isn't crapping on Tiger Woods like every little gossipy girl in a high school. This country, or at least the media, is obsessed with sex scandal and I couldn't be more bored by it.

[Imnot2blame]

09:38 PM on 12/17/2009

Hasn't change much since the Puritan colony.

[elizlucinda]

05:23 PM on 12/18/2009

Then go find a hobby.,....that should help your boredom.

[sweetwhine]

07:50 PM on 12/18/2009

No. He's right. It's been just ridiculous. Phelps has class. Most people don't.

[isaidit]

07:23 AM on 12/19/2009

Congratulations on finding yours.