Michael Phelps' Bong Picture Causing Quite a Stir (If It's Him)

Michael Phelps, Olympic hero, has allegedly been busted smoking out of a bong (which is a large glass pipe used to smoke marijuana). Presuming the accuracy of these photos, the "Michael Phelps Bong Incident" will become the latest in a line of events that have moved Phelps away from "Olympic hero" status and into the dreaded "sketchy athlete" realm.

The photo, which you can view here, comes from News of the World and it apparently portray Phelps at a University of South Carolina house party, following Cypress Hill's advice.

It was on November 6, weeks after his Beijing triumph, that 23-year-old Phelps surprised students at the University Of South Carolina in Columbia by showing up unannounced at a house party.

He was visiting Jordan Matthews, a girl he was secretly seeing who was a student there.

Our source revealed: "Michael came to visit Jordan but ended up just getting wasted every night."

News of the World is obviously making a big deal out of this -- they stand to make a ton of money in name recognition and Web site traffic once the word of this gets front and center. But really, is it that surprising that a 23-year-old uber-celebrity likes to party? I say -- emphatically -- "no."

However, that doesn't make Phelps' decision to throw down in public at a major university (in this day and age of camera phones, etc.) any less ridiculous.

And while advertisers can certainly forgive his tabloid-friendly romances, a shoddy SNL performance and even his bringing home a cocktail waitress for Thanksgiving, if these photos prove to be Phelps ripping tubes, you better believe that his market value is going to take a tremendous plunge.

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