South Carolina will Not Charge Michael Phelps

All things considered, the whole bong-smoking incident could have turned out much worse for Michael Phelps. At least, considering that the picture of him smoking pot has circled the globe millions of times by now. It looks like the endorsement damage will be fairly minimal, with only Kellogg Co. really dropping him as a result of the photo. Now, Phelps is free to focus on the pool once again, which is almost certainly a more welcoming place than it seemed to him just a few weeks ago, before the story broke.

If Phelps was unsure about whether or not he wanted to continue swimming, here's betting that it's looking pretty good right now. Something like this might serve as a the wake-up call to a kid who may not have quite understood just how simple and good his life actually is. He can do more good for himself and for the world as a whole by continuing to swim competitively and dominate his sport. Transcendent athletes like Phelps and Tiger Woods will never be more relevant than they are when they are winning in their sports. Regardless of the philanthropic ventures or charities that they support, they will reach and help the most people by staying with what they do best. The rest will take care of itself.

Michael Phelps has at least one more Olympic games in him, likely more if he maintains the level of fitness that he's reached already. He may never win 8 golds in a single games, but no one had ever done it before, so it will likely never be commonplace.