Posted on 10/12/2005 5:55:27 AM PDT by Rakkasan1
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Department is investigating allegations of criminal sexual conduct by Minnesota Vikings players after a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka turned into an out-of-control party that included lap dances and sexual acts, an attorney for the charter boat company said Tuesday.
Stephen Doyle, a lawyer representing the owners of Al and Alma's, a company that charters cruises on the lake, said cornerback Fred Smoot and another Vikings player, whom he declined to name, reserved a charter for a night-time excursion Thursday.
"From our end, I don't know the name of the other primary person, but we turned over to the police today documents that show signatures or credit cards or whatever was associated with closing this deal," Doyle said.
A woman called Mound police Thursday night to report "possible prostitution, drugs and live sex acts" on the two boats. According to the police report, the woman said she and her brother's girlfriend served as hostesses on the boats.
Doyle said he didn't learn details of what allegedly happened until he met with six of the eight crewmembers Tuesday.
Doyle said about 90 people were on the two boats. According to a Vikings player who spoke on the condition of anonymity, about 15 Vikings players were on a charter as part of what he described as a "team event." The player said he was unaware of any sexual acts and that the cruise lasted less than 90 minutes. Doyle said he believed it to be a tradition for Vikings rookies and first-year players to take their teammates out.
Upon returning to the dock, the player said, there were no police officers present and he did not know of any problems on the boats.
Contacted Tuesday afternoon, Smoot said the allegations are exaggerated.
"It's slanderous," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
Good thing the Vikings moved to improve their moral standards by dumping Randy Moss!
Just boys being boys. What's the big deal? I think all professional athletes should have sex in public as often as possible. After all, they're our heroes, right? They're special, right? In fact, I think the halftime shows at the new stadium we're going to pay taxes to build for the Vikings should be all-nude, with sex acts on the 50 yard line. That would increase attendance, especially among the hard-to-reach college boy crowd.
Yeah...that's the ticket!
Hey, it was a private party on chartered boats. As long as all of the participants were willing adults I don't see why anybody should take issue with this.
Who ever said that? The fact of the matter is that the Vikings, Twins, Lakers, Timberwolves, North Stars and Wild have been playing their games in publicly owned and funded facilities for over fifty years. Has this entire history been an illegitimate scheme by Sid’s friends to fleece the public and pocket a “pile of money”? Was Met Stadium a scam? Was the Metrodome a scam? Is Excel Energy Center a blight? Was it a mistake to build it? Has the average citizen of the area received nothing from this fool’s bargain of stadiums for millionaires?
Unless you take the position that the entire pro sports history of the area has been a waste and a fleecing of tax payers, than you admit some legitimate role for publicly owned and operated sports facilities that allow private sports teams to operate, since every one of their thousands of games have been played in one. So, if you then admit that having the presence of these teams in town over the last 40 years has been beneficial and legitimate, if not downright fantastic, then you are left to answer the question: just how many years to you expect the Twins and Vikings to occupy the Metrodome? Do you consider it adequate? It is now 25 years old and one of the worst facilities in both leagues. Just when do you suppose it will be time to replace it and should the public bear any burden at all for the new facilities?
The fact is that the Twin Cities has gotten by on the cheap for a very long time. The Metrodome cost something like 62 million and has been paid for for 15 years.. Why were the Dome and the Met legitimate, but proposed replacements not? Lastly, why are knee-jerk anti stadium types such obtuse and logically challenged people?
Hey, at least they finally found a way to score...
Well, at least they've won more games this year than Super Bowls ever.
Well, it seems as though the two females working as hostesses on the boat didn't take kindly to being exposed to it as part of their employment. I don't think that they were willing, just trapped on a boat.
Whew.... THAT'S a relief.
Quite a leap you take there. I'm not against building a stadium for sports teams here in town, but the deals our elected officials make suck. We should get revenues proportional to the percentage of public participation, covering all revenues including naming rights, luxury boxes, seat licenses, etc. It should also include all concessions, and a percentage ownership in the team.
By your standard, the construction and operation of Met Stadium, Met Center, Target Center, and Excel were illegitimate giveaways, right? The public should have had their hand in the hot dog vendors’ pockets all this time.
That thing I find so irritating about analyses like this is the ridiculously narrow definition of economic benefit. The presence of a team is a significant asset for millions of people that never visit the stadium or spend a dime to watch a game. The ability to watch a home team, listen to a team, root for a team, discuss a team over the water cooler, read about them, complain about them, and possibly dance in the street in joyous rapture to celebrate their glorious exploits, is a very real economic asset to vast numbers tax paying of people.
It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but pro sports appeal to a large enough base of tax payers to justify public investment. If you say that’s socialism, then it’s a very benign form of it. Teams are not like most other businesses. They teams are not bolt manufacturers. The benefits they provide extend to a far more broad and vast population that can enjoy the fruits for little or no personal investment if they wish. This is why bolt factories have always built their own buildings while the public has, for the most part, financed sports stadiums. In a perfect world we’d all get what we want, but the fact of the matter is that the NFL is extremely popular. Teams have options. They can and do move. We can be self-righteous if we like. More wisely, we can recognize our market power for what it is and make the necessary investment to protect our asset with its long tradition (sex boats not withstanding), or we can lose it to a higher bidder, as Houston and Baltimore did. Then, when remorse and recriminations set in, we can spend three times more to replace the team than we would have cost to keep it, as Houston and Baltimore did.
There you have it folks, the heart of the anti stadium argument. There was never any such thing as the Curse of the Bambino, The Ice Bowl, The Heidi Game, Wilt The Stilt, The Great One, The Billy Goat Curse, Sweetness, Broadway Joe, The Catch, Lord Stanley’s Cup, The Steele Curtain, The Perfect Season. All of you that thought such history an lore was an integral part of the American culture, and an enhancement to your lives, are nothing more than parties to a rip-off, who’s silly indulgences have forced Fog Nozzle to pay more for Mad Dog 20/20. Let me go out on a limb here Mr./Mrs. Nozzle and predict they won’t need extra chairs for your funeral.
"Hey, it was a private party on chartered boats. As long as all of the participants were willing adults I don't see why anybody should take issue with this."
But the gals said that they had to punch it in from less than 5. The players had no ability to go deep.
"If they can afford to give their players million-dollar signing bonuses, then they can afford to build a stadium."
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