SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- Michael Phelps held off a late charge by his rivals to win the 400-meter freestyle Saturday at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix.
Track and field star James Carter, a member of two U.S. Olympic teams, has very strong opinions about pro athletes who get busted for substance abuse or have their pictures taken with bongs.
So, how serious was Michael Phelps about quitting the sport that made him famous -- and, um, infamous? Serious as a sheet of paper, a line dividing the page in half and headings with "pros" on one side and "cons" on the other. It was mid-March, not long after a photo surfaced of the American treasure and most decorated Olympian sucking on a bong, and Phelps was tired of celebrity, scandal and a world he no longer trusted beyond chlorine and water.
They say it's a good walk spoiled, but for a certain group of uber-famous people, golf can be a getaway; a place where a nice stroll is happily interrupted by the occasional short iron. 
It is virtually impossible to find a superstar athlete these days for whom some disdain can't be mustered. Michael Phelps gets busted. LeBron James gets the benefit of the NBA's preferential refereeing. The Williams Sisters get surly. Rafael Nadal showed some audacity by suggesting tennis adjust its schedule to his liking. And Derek Jeter is a Yankee.
Michael Phelps was America's Olympic hero last summer, but he couldn't have won his eight gold medals without the help of his relay partner Jason Lezak, who caught France's world record holder Alain Bernard from behind to win the 4-by-100 freestyle relay.
If your job was to count the good decisions Michael Phelps has made since he was wearing that American flag swimming cap on his head in Beijing, your days have probably been fairly uneventful.
