Add it to the list, maybe

A common theme amongst Minnesota sports fans is having things begin to go our way and then having the proverbial "rug" being pulled out from underneath us. Well, we can add the Vikes to the list for 2008. I know, I know, all cities and states have their relative issues with sports teams such as Seattle this year and maybe Jacksonville with the Jags, or even San Antonio and the Spiz-urs, just to name a few. However, these teams have other things or recent success to fall back on. For example, the Seahawks, even though they are having a down year, (a really down year) have been to a Super Bowl and/or NFC Championship in the last five years. They may not have won but they still made it and gave the city some hope and generated some genuine excitement. Watch, this year they are on pace to get a top five pick and will be back better than ever after drafting Michael Crabtree and housing teams for size in their division (just my humble opinion from looking at it from the outside). I digress.

Amongst us Goldseaters, we have a common expression whenever something happens to one of our beloved teams. We say, "add it to the list" a line referring to all the times other teams from the land of 10,000 lakes have gotten our hopes up only to see them come crashing down in one fell swoop. The latest example is the Williams Wall and the StarCaps situation. As of now both Pat and Kevin will not see the field in the coming four games unless a savvy lawyer can pull something out of the hat. That leaves a huge hole in the middle of the D-line and a more challenging mountain to climb into the playoffs.

The situation is a sticky one for the Williams' boys, but Vikes fans should not abandon hope yet. Something just is not right about the situation. In doing a little research and making a few conclusions we may find that Pat, Kevin, and the others may have a legit story. According to a press release from the FDA, which can be found here: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/balancedhealth11_08.html

the drug which got the players into trouble, Bumetanide, was never listed on the ingredients label on the bottle itself. This would leave the player to believe that the supplement StarCaps would be okay to take in accordance with the NFL's banned substance policy, not knowing the pills actaully contained something which was on the league's banned substance list. The NFL is strict in it's policy saying a player is responsible for whatever they put in their body no matter what. Short of taking it to a lab and having a scientist run a test, how were they to know that the supplement was to contain a banned substance that was not even on the ingredients of the bottle. Nobody else knew, not even the seller of the product (maybe) until the league ran a test on the players and it was discovered.

Further, reading down the FDA press release we see that the bottles of StarCaps containing the banned substance Bumetanide were sold between August of 2008 to October 30 of 2008 which falls in line when the players were in training camp and subsequently tested positive according to league officials. The dates match up almost perfectly with when they would have been taking the weight-loss supplement giving the players more credit to their claims.

Long story longer the players may have a complelling case, but the league and its "make an example of you" attitude was quick to rule against the players, and now we are without two key pieces to our defensive puzzle. If its not this it will be something else, like an immobile QB or a bothced special teams play, that will brings our hopes and dreams of a Super Bowl victory crashing down in the end.