In the wake of "The Bong Hit Heard 'Round The World," Olympic swimming champion/badass Michael Phelps faced a brutal falling-out with various sponsors and parents. Kellogg's recently dumped Phelps as a spokesman because getting high on grass at a college party is "not consistent with the image of Kellogg," according to the company. Speedo, on the other hand, has kept Phelps on. So, too, it seems, will the Chicago 2016 committee. more ›

Last night's season premier of SNL was lackluster and sluggish ... except for the opening sketch, which was sheer genius. Second City-alum Tina Fey lived up to the hype and gave a stinging impersonation of VP wannabe Sarah Palin. Fey looked so much like Palin, in her blazing red jacket and stacked hairdo, that the perfectly flat accent (shades of Fargo?) and the smarmy smiles were like icing on the cake. more ›

The hugely popular Michael Phelps will be participating in a live chat today to promote Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Phelps told Oprah this morning that he's focusing a lot of his energy on his newly announced foundation that will promote youth swimming programs and water safety. more ›

Mark your calendars! Michael Phelps—perhaps you've heard of him—will be in town Wednesday to support Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. It's not clear yet what he'll be doing exactly. [Crain's] more ›

The Beijing Olympics are over, which means that Jay Mariotti has returned Stateside after being his verbose self for two weeks in mainland China. The summation of Mariotti's final Beijing-datelined column? "China is creepy!" It's worth noting that Mariotti filed the column just as he was leaving China on a jet plane and free from being detained for "re-education" by authorities. more ›

About this time on Friday afternoons, we start getting Friday brain. We feel punchy. We feel silly, maybe a little argumentative, and certainly unable to complete substantive tasks or engage in meaningful discourse. Sometimes, this becomes a leg-wrestling tournament. Sometimes a walk around the block to play that stupid road trip game where you put the word "anal" before the names of cars ("anal Explorer," "anal Liberty," etc). Today, Marcus and I decided to discuss the Olympics, which we've both been watching damn-near constantly. more ›

Michael Phelps is home from Greece where he tied a record by winning 8 medals, set a world record, and broke 3 Olympic records. And after all that you'd think the guy'd want to take a break, but it turns out: not so much. Phelps, along with his gold-medal winning teammates Lenny Krayzelburg and Ian Crocker are going on tour to promote swimming among American kids. more ›

Stars will be shine and poignent stories will fill the airwaves. The 's list of 20 Things to Watch calls attention to many, including Michael Phelps' attempt to win 7 swimming golds, the debut of women's wrestling and the Iraqi soccer team who had been abused at the hands of Saddam Hussein's son Udai. more ›