More on the Vikings' boat cruise follies

Jon passed along a link to Free Will with yet more on the Vikings' latest PR idiocies:

OK, a couple things here for any Vikings who might be reading:

1) If you're going to do things like this on or in a rented vehicle or facility, you should check to see if it's going to be a problem. Before you sign anything.

2) Your wives are your own problems, but the decisions you make in the privacy of your hotel rooms take on a whole new significance when you make them on a boat in front of a whole crew, especially when you are national celebrities in an industry that expects you to, in theory, be some kind of role model and, worse yet, try to involve and/or threaten the crew. It's 2005, and people will hear about it.

Update: Don Banks gets in a few digs at SI Online:

t's only a guess, but after the news that 17 Minnesota Vikings were aboard two charter boats on which sex parties allegedly were held on Oct. 6, I'm assuming no more United Way spots for the Vikings for the time being.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more embarrassing for the team that gave us Onterrio Smith and "The Original Whizzinator'' and the Mike Tice Super Bowl-ticket-scalping affair, the Vikings may have hit a new high for lows.

I've heard of team bonding excursions, but never one in which almost one-third of the roster potentially had to post bond. But then, these are the Vikings, and they are adept at making the wrong kind of news off the field. In August, Minnesota All-Pro defensive tackle Kevin Williams was charged with domestic assault against his wife. (He has pled not guilty to the fifth-degree misdemeanor charge and has a mid-Oct. court date). In September, Vikings offensive linemen Bryant McKinnie and rookie guard Marcus Johnson were arrested in connection with a late-night fight at a Twin Cities-area gas station. (Both have pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process; preliminary hearings are scheduled for Nov. 4)

Even if the current allegations of prostitution and lewd behavior on Lake Minnetonka don't result in indictments, the controversy-plagued Vikings might still see their bid for a new stadium derailed by the avalanche of bad publicity. How's that for bottom-line impact?

The whole stadium deal is a non-issue for me: I don't live in Minnesota, so my taxes won't be affected one way or the other, but I'm against pro sports teams getting taxpayers to build stadiums for them. That aside, I do have to agree that the Vikings are going out of their way to make it difficult for stadium backers to shake down the state legislature for hundreds of millions of dollars.