Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Views and Personal Photos on the Vikes from the Inaugural Hall of Fame fan.
Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to theA day after I wrote a entry talking about role models over at the newly created Four Hoarse Men blog comes the latest shameful report pertaining to athletes....this time very close to home.
And don't start on me with "boys will be boys". I'm not buying it. What we all do in the privacy of our own homes is our business. How we conduct ourselves in public while representing our organization is the public's business.
There will be changes coming. Or else there will be a significant drop in season ticket renewals at the end of this season.
There will be changes coming or else there will be no new Vikings stadium....along with no new Twins stadium (you can learn about that over on the Greet Machine).
As always, I will let the dust settle and hear further reports and listen to the official team statements as they come out. Fred Smoot has stated the allegations are exaggerated. And some players on the boat were clearly embarrassed by the actions of their teammates. But here is what we know now.
According to The Associated Press, a group of at least 20 Vikings players were part of a group that went out on a pair of charter cruises on Thursday night. Smoot reportedly paid for one of the boats, which featured sexual acts happening "all over the boat." The local police are investigating the situation for possible prostitution, drug use, and illegal sex acts.
The point that sticks in my gut is that the Vikings essentially engaged in their misbehavior in public. Lets' review:
- Urinating on the lawn of a private residence even as the home owner, a female, confronted the player
- nude women performing lap dances on the boats
- boat workers, some as young as 18, terrified for their lives
- condoms laying on the floors of the boat
- oral sex acts being performed in the open
Makes a fan feel all warm and toasty inside, doesn't it? Makes Mark "Hot Tub" Chmura look like a first class citizen.
Of course, the local rags are having a field day. At least the Pioneer Press is reporting only the facts while the worsening Star Tribune has decided to bellow opinion...and poor ones at that.
Jim Souhan is a columnist trying so hard to be funny he doesn't realize he just offends and often just inflames bad situations even more. Today, Souhan writes, "..you would assume that 'Zygmunt' is an old Yiddish word meaning 'Are you kidding me'. He then tries to tie our owners name to the German name 'Sigmund' and carries that to a diatribe on libido.
Oh, I'm sure Zygi Wilf will have no issues with that, will he? Souhan owes an apology to our owner.
And then there is the Star Tribune's troll, Gollum. Also known as Nick Coleman. Coleman is a hateful person and is only happy if he is, well, unhappy. If you missed it earlier, the Greet Machine painted a picture perfect portrait (literally!) of this self-proclaimed intellectual earlier this week.
Gollum would like us to believe that based on this single action, Wilf and company should completely shut down the Vikings operation, forget about the new stadium, and just do away with the NFL altogether. He refer's to Mr. Wilf's statements as "self-serving blather."
Apparently self-serving Gollum doesn't read any of his own blather. He has been called out for his own mistakes and embarrassingly bad reporting and opinion so many times that by his own account and policy, he should have been "shut down" many, many years ago.
Yes, you do address the bad apples. You do set examples and make sure players and personnel within the organization see the door with pink slip in hand. That is what would occur in the private sector. And it should be no different here.
But you don't shut down a whole organization.
The Vikings have to rebuild from the foundation up. Wilf has said and done the right things and I can tell you, first hand, that he is instilling a family atmosphere at Winter Park. He and his brother Mark will not tolerate this type of behavior.
Otherwise, they'll have season ticket renewals to add to a worrying list of other issues. The stadium. The coach. The record.
Videocast
A quick video tour of my office containing some of my Vikings memorabilia. This use to be proudly displayed at home in my living room. Then I got married and, um, after much debate was moved to the basement...followed a short time later to boxes in the garage. Sound familiar?
Where is your Vikings stuff displayed? Do you guys (and gals!) also have "spousal issues" where your purple items can be displayed?
Posted by maasx003 at October 12, 2005 08:12 AM | TrackBack
It seams that every year, we read of the off field antics of athletes. Why do the Vikes lead not only the NFL, but all professional sports teams in this kind of crap???? Is it THAT cold and boring in Minnesota? It's good to see them spending their time off wisely, instead of stupid stuff like studying film, working out, etc. BTW....my Viking shrine used to cover our entire basement. Wall to wall. We recently bought a hobby farm with a large home of 3300 square feet. I get the "sitting parlor" for the shrine room. I am about 50% complete. I'll send ya some pices when it is finished.
Posted by: NOT Les Steckel at October 12, 2005 11:29 AMI don't know but maybe this happens all over the rest of the NFL. Not this particular thing but bad behavior in general. First of all the facts have not been laid out yet. But I do have a few questions (I don't get the Star)
1. The lady that made the statements was working as a hostess but learned all this from her brothers girl friend also working as a hostess?
2. The boat captain had time all day tuesday for the media but can't talk to the police until today? Sounds like he really was fearing for his life.
3. Why were the police not called on the way to shore?
I don't condone this type of behavior but it looks to me like someone is after some easy money.
But if this causes season-ticket sales to slump or not getting a new stadium it would be totally stupid. If I were Zygi I would give the state legislature 1 year to accept Anoka/Wilf plan or I would stop worring about it. Because in 2011 I would be in LA. At that point Rozelles promise on paper would be expired and the NFL would not have to put another franchise here. The value of the Vikings will not depreciate in the next 6 years no matter what the season ticket holders do.
Posted by: Lonnie at October 12, 2005 12:38 PMI really hope someone hangs for this. I do not put this all at Tice's feet, but I do think he may have calibrated the moral compass toward the south with the whole ticket scalping thing. Even with that though, you still have to have morons that are willing to do the unthinkable in public. Makes Moss look like a boy scout.
I have been a Viking fan since I was 7 years old, (my earliest recollection of football.) I am now 39 and the only way I can explain my loyalty to the Vikings is that it's like I exchanged marriage vows (without a ring I might add!) For better or worse, sickness and health, till death do us part. I have had some influence on my 5 year old nephew who made me proud by proclaiming at 3 years old that he was a Viking fan. I bought him a Moss jersey and he wore it everywhere. It no longer fits him but I am told he still wants to wear it.
His dad (my brother) is not a Viking fan, but did like Moss up until his most recent antics which completely changed his opinion of him. He now sees him as a talented loser. My brother likes to allow his kids to make their own choices on things like favorite teams, colors etc., and not try to direct them in any one direction. He would rather know what they really like then have them agree with him out of obligation. I'm sure it was hard for him to fight the urge to influence my nephew toward his opinion of Moss during the seemingly constant barrage of negative news.
With this most recent bit of bad Viking press, I could not help but think... Had this happened when I was 7, I might be wearing a big block of cheese on my head today.
__
Kevin from AZ
This is really an offensive story. These overpaid hoodlums are just damn fortunate that football is a popular professional sport. They are "in the money" when -- based upon the judgement exhibited on the cruise -- many of them would be making minimum wage or doing 5 to 9 if it weren't for their sport's popularity.
I thought I had been offended enough by the Vikings from just having watched them play the first four games of their season this year. This latest story puts them over the top as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Tom at October 12, 2005 10:13 PMAs far as the police goes, Al and Alma's issues with bringing the boats in was handled without police as they just wanted to bring the boats in. Since there wasn't, at the time, any real idea of any of the issues were illegal, the assailants could not have been arrested. Legally, it's similar to an Inspiration Point type of situation. "Parking" would get you a fine and a misdemeanor on your record. Nothing else. Even going to Tabu and giving a girl money for a lapdance constitutes nothing more than a hefty fine (perhaps $200 or so). Tabu, as you may know, isn't zoned for lapdances and whatnot.
Posted by: Eric at October 13, 2005 08:49 AMHey! Watch the Chmura comments. Chmura was accused of RAPING a teenager and Vikings players are accused of peeing in public, hiring stripper/prostitutes and letting it get out of hand. Were they in the wrong, yes, but there is a little bit of a difference here!!!
Casey
Posted by: Casey at October 13, 2005 09:27 AMHere in Philly we have our own blowhards in the media. Jim Souhan's columns has always irritated me. Is he so negative. I wish we could shine a light on his world and see how perfect everything is.
Posted by: Pa Viking at October 14, 2005 12:08 PMHey, Watch the Chumura comments period. Remember the facts and the final outcome, as it ends up the Vikes peeing is public is worse than what actually happened. The "little girl" said it was all for the money. That seems to be at least partly the case with this boat owner.
Posted by: PackerGma at October 24, 2005 03:20 PM