The Trouble With Being Debbie Phelps

The mom of our local Olympic hero has been on a little New York media tour this week, promoting her new book A Mother For All Seasons. You may have seen her on the Today show or Access Hollywood talking about the book, which mostly tells her story of raising the 8-time gold medalist, and briefly touches on the controversy that erupted when a photo of Phelps using a bong came out last year.

"I could not have been more proud of how Michael dealt with the onslaught, taking full responsibility for his actions," she writes of that incident.

Turns out Michael was in town this week too. On Monday, he was spotted here in Bmore, downing a steak at Sullivan's, but by yesterday, he was apparently up in the Big Apple, keeping his mom company. "Michael is in New York to be with his mama, of course," Debbie told the New York Daily News. "He's actually back in training right now."

If that's true, I want to train with that dude.

According to several media reports, Phelps was spotted last night at New York club Marquee downing bottles of vodka and occasionally yelling "Shots!" with his cocktail waitress girlfriend Caroline (Caz) Pal, before heading to another club, Tenjune, where he reportedly reaked of marijuana.

I think we can assume the younger Phelps was not with his mama at that particular moment.

[photo courtesy of HarperCollins]