Vikings-Living Up To The Name

Since the Minnessotta Vikings have come into hard times lately, it seems like a good lot ofthe people involved within the sports and other media are salivating like vultures over the corpse of a slaughtered coastal villager in Pre-Christian days. Well, what would you expect? You have an NFL team that is on, or needs to be on, terminal life support. They have a loosing record so far this season, and just can't get it together on the field. Team discipline has totally dissipated. One wonders what in the hell the occassion for a cruise was to begin with. What exactly were they celebrating?

Or was it meant more to be a kind of old style funeral barge. Well, somebody set the boat on fire, all right. So far, no team owner or manager has stepped forward to claim repsondibility for what happened on the cruise ship that ploughed the waters of Lake Minetonken, yet someone in addition to chartering Al And Almas cruise ship had prostitutes (what the hell else could you call them) shipped in from Alabama. So in addition to possibly facing team and leaque sanctions, there could potentially be a question of federal criminality involved here, as it involves interstate transportation to perform a criminal act-prostitution.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. Some of the crew members evidently felt harrassed, and were reportedly threatened, by several of the team members. I smell a lawsuit, or several of them, coming down the pike, and what's worse, one or more of the players (some of whom made statements of apology for the conduct of their teammates) may be called to testify on behalf of the plaintiffs, if it does come to that. This could indeed turn out to be the biggest mess to hit the NFL, or any professional sport, in a long, long time.

Still, again, no owner, no team coach or manager, has come forward to claim even a semblance of responsibility for allowing, or encouraging, or facilitating this event. Not as yet, to my knowledge. Obviously, there was a good deal of alcohol intoxication,and probably drug use involved as well. So perhaps it is understandable from both a legal and a public relations standpoint.

Hopefully,this issue will be resolved, and all relevant parties will be held accountable, including the team ownership, if applicable. As for the team as a whole, one can only hope they will concentrate their efforts on living up to the Viking name on the football field. In other areas, they should perhaps try to be a bit more civilized than that.