I'm encouraged that so many people are rallying behind Max. I just hope people remember this when it comes to other big time athletes or celebrities. I couldn't imagine living with the scrutiny some people have to deal with. Max Hall isn't much older than me, and others are even younger than me.

I couldnt imagine being in his shoes. I never did cocaine, but prior to being baptized I experimented other drugs and was a weekend binge drinker. Much of this was from pressure I recieved from my parents. After finishing my mission and transferring to BYU, I had a whole new set of pressures and slipped up on more than 1 occasion (never to the extent mentioned earlier)...

We put a lot of pressure on athletes and others that goes way beyond what is appropriate. This isn't a byu issue either. Just think what happened to J Law this weekend. It's one thing to think someone is a really good actor or athlete. It's completely different to allow ourselves to forget they are so much more than that, and put them on this pedestal that is almost impossible to live up to. It's not fair to anyone.

Pressure can commonly lead to self medication as it did for me. If every move I made was scrutinized by the amount of people that celebrities are; it is likely I could have wound up like the numerous celebrities who outwardly seem to have "ruined their lives" or die young.