admin @ Fri, 2005-10-14 11:00
The names of 17 Minnesota Vikings who were identified as being aboard two charter boats last week where sex parties allegedly took place have been given to Vikings officials in a controversy that has put the team's bid for a new stadium and its standing among fans and community leaders in jeopardy.
At least six crew members who allege they were confronted with out-of-control Vikings players on the boats met Wed- nesday with Hennepin County Sheriff's detectives who are investigating allegations of prostitution and lewd behavior.
"We understand that athletes aren't necessarily role models," the governor said, "but we at least expect them to abide by the basic laws of the state."
The claims involve players aboard two boats on Lake Minnetonka. Because of the ongoing investigation, the repercussions are hard to gauge. But what is known is this: The NFL once again is monitoring a legal issue involving the Vikings, anti-stadium opponents are having a field day, public relations is at its lowest point in memory and the Vikings are the butt of jokes.
At the time of the party, Vikings officials were heavily lobbying state legislators to convene a special session to get public funding for a stadium.
The incident casts a "dark shadow" over the team and "it certainly does negatively affect the opportunity" for legislative approval of the financing package that the team and Anoka County officials seek, said state Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine, chief House sponsor of the Vikings bill.
Employees of the boat company and a resident of the lake community of Mound described players having public sex, drinking heavily, urinating on a lawn and aggressively propositioning female crew members.
Vikings players gathering Wednesday at their Winter Park training center in Eden Prairie either declined to comment or denied involvement in any sex parties on either cruise.
- Ben Roethlisberger isn't the Pittsburgh Steelers' only injury worry with Sunday's game against Jacksonville approaching. Wide receiver Hines Ward missed practice for a second straight day Thursday with a nagging hamstring injury.
If Roethlisberger and Ward can't practice today - and neither player has been on the field since Monday night's 24-22 victory in San Diego - it seems unlikely they will play. Most weeks, the Steelers require a player to practice at least once before a game to play, though coach Bill Cowher said he does not have a blanket policy.
Cowher did get favorable injury news: Roethlisberger's backup, Tommy Maddox (calf), was upgraded from questionable to probable. That means he could start ahead of No. 3 quarterback Charlie Batch, who hasn't started a game in four years, if Roethlisberger can't go.
- The New Orleans Saints, forced out of the Superdome by Hurricane Katrina, will play in front of their first "home" sellout of the season Sunday against Atlanta.
The team announced a sellout Thursday of the second of three games in the 65,000-seat Alamodome. The Saints will play their next four home games at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., before returning to the Alamodome for their final home game.
- Bill Romanowski used steroids and human growth hormone supplied by Victor Conte, the former NFL linebacker tells CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.
Romanowski said he took illegal steroids for a two-year period starting in 2001 and got them from Conte, the former head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which has been at the center of a steroids controversy in several sports.
"I took (human growth hormone) for a brief period and ... I definitely didn't receive what I got out of THG," Romanowski said, referring to another drug he got from Conte.
Romanowski played linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders in a 16-year career that ended in 2003.
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