Angel
03-09-2006, 10:06 AM
Vikings fumble truth in running off Culpepper
TOM POWERS
The Vikings' vaunted Triangle of Authority — otherwise known individually as Speak no Evil, Speak no Evil, Speak no Evil — has had one primary task this winter: resolve the Daunte Culpepper situation.
Wednesday, the matter spun completely out of control when the ligamentally challenged quarterback asked to be traded far away from Minnesota. The Isosceles Boys are off to a rough start.
Burrowed deep in their bunker at Winter Park and operating under a strict code of radio silence, the new guys are under orders to maintain an information blackout. They all were hired with the understanding that each would be an Anti-Tice.
In other words, anyone not on the Zygi Wilf payroll has absolutely no right to any information regarding the team, the players, the strategy or the future. The only exception is that all Wilf employees are allowed to gush over the "crown jewel" of sports complexes being proposed for Blaine.
One reason for the wall of silence is that, when it eventually becomes time to release information, the organization will speak with "one voice."
The problem, however, is that Culpepper has been hearing more voices than a rock star in detox.
"You're our guy, Daunte."
"Never say never."
"We're not trading you."
"When the phone rings, you answer it."
Apparently, Culpepper was convinced the Vikings wanted him back in 2006. According to Culpepper, Wilf convinced him of that by telling him the Vikings were not trying to move him. And Culpepper, surprisingly naive for somebody who has been in the business for so long, believed him.
As it turns out, Culpepper was being offered around so openly and to so many teams that I thought the Triangle of Authority was going to put him on eBay. Oddly, Wilf isn't even one of the angles on the triangle. He would make a fourth, which technically makes it, say, a Square of Solidarity.
All this talk about triangles is inaccurate, anyway. It's more of a Circle of Trust ("I'm watching you!"), as illustrated in the movies "Meet the Parents" and "Meet the Fockers."
In any event, the Vikings' Circle of Trust collapsed when it came to Culpepper, who clearly was furious to find out he nearly was booked as an on-sale item on the Home Shopping Network. So on Wednesday, he asked out of Minnesota.
Does Culpepper deserve to have his contract renegotiated? No. Does he deserve to have his job guaranteed? No. Does he deserve to be lied to? Nobody deserves that.
I'm sure Wilf and everyone else in the Circle of Trust would deny lying, insisting it's all a matter of semantics. Of course, they don't comment on such internal affairs. Remember, it's nobody's business. That's where the wall of silence comes in.
They should have taken their own advice and allowed just one voice to talk to Culpepper. Instead, they messed up big time by sending conflicting messages. The Triangle of Authority, or Circle of Trust, or Rectangle of Rubes — whatever you want to call it — was compromised.
I know there is a large contingent of Vikings fans that would just as soon see Culpepper play somewhere else anyway. But everyone has to realize that when an athlete asks to be traded, his value immediately drops. Knowing that the player is unhappy, and that the team likely has no choice but to trade or release him, other general managers will make lowball offers.
Don't worry, the Circle will reinflate. It can be effective in certain matters. For example, Angle No. 1, Brad Childress (Fran Foley is Angle No. 2, and Rob Brzezinski is Angle No. 3) very thoroughly and systematically got rid of every assistant coach, the trainer and even secretaries from the previous regime. That's because we're going in a new direction. It's a new day dawning over the newly erected bunkers at Winter Park.
Based on the handling of the Culpepper situation, that day is mostly cloudy and dank.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/tom_powers/14052077.htm
TOM POWERS
The Vikings' vaunted Triangle of Authority — otherwise known individually as Speak no Evil, Speak no Evil, Speak no Evil — has had one primary task this winter: resolve the Daunte Culpepper situation.
Wednesday, the matter spun completely out of control when the ligamentally challenged quarterback asked to be traded far away from Minnesota. The Isosceles Boys are off to a rough start.
Burrowed deep in their bunker at Winter Park and operating under a strict code of radio silence, the new guys are under orders to maintain an information blackout. They all were hired with the understanding that each would be an Anti-Tice.
In other words, anyone not on the Zygi Wilf payroll has absolutely no right to any information regarding the team, the players, the strategy or the future. The only exception is that all Wilf employees are allowed to gush over the "crown jewel" of sports complexes being proposed for Blaine.
One reason for the wall of silence is that, when it eventually becomes time to release information, the organization will speak with "one voice."
The problem, however, is that Culpepper has been hearing more voices than a rock star in detox.
"You're our guy, Daunte."
"Never say never."
"We're not trading you."
"When the phone rings, you answer it."
Apparently, Culpepper was convinced the Vikings wanted him back in 2006. According to Culpepper, Wilf convinced him of that by telling him the Vikings were not trying to move him. And Culpepper, surprisingly naive for somebody who has been in the business for so long, believed him.
As it turns out, Culpepper was being offered around so openly and to so many teams that I thought the Triangle of Authority was going to put him on eBay. Oddly, Wilf isn't even one of the angles on the triangle. He would make a fourth, which technically makes it, say, a Square of Solidarity.
All this talk about triangles is inaccurate, anyway. It's more of a Circle of Trust ("I'm watching you!"), as illustrated in the movies "Meet the Parents" and "Meet the Fockers."
In any event, the Vikings' Circle of Trust collapsed when it came to Culpepper, who clearly was furious to find out he nearly was booked as an on-sale item on the Home Shopping Network. So on Wednesday, he asked out of Minnesota.
Does Culpepper deserve to have his contract renegotiated? No. Does he deserve to have his job guaranteed? No. Does he deserve to be lied to? Nobody deserves that.
I'm sure Wilf and everyone else in the Circle of Trust would deny lying, insisting it's all a matter of semantics. Of course, they don't comment on such internal affairs. Remember, it's nobody's business. That's where the wall of silence comes in.
They should have taken their own advice and allowed just one voice to talk to Culpepper. Instead, they messed up big time by sending conflicting messages. The Triangle of Authority, or Circle of Trust, or Rectangle of Rubes — whatever you want to call it — was compromised.
I know there is a large contingent of Vikings fans that would just as soon see Culpepper play somewhere else anyway. But everyone has to realize that when an athlete asks to be traded, his value immediately drops. Knowing that the player is unhappy, and that the team likely has no choice but to trade or release him, other general managers will make lowball offers.
Don't worry, the Circle will reinflate. It can be effective in certain matters. For example, Angle No. 1, Brad Childress (Fran Foley is Angle No. 2, and Rob Brzezinski is Angle No. 3) very thoroughly and systematically got rid of every assistant coach, the trainer and even secretaries from the previous regime. That's because we're going in a new direction. It's a new day dawning over the newly erected bunkers at Winter Park.
Based on the handling of the Culpepper situation, that day is mostly cloudy and dank.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/tom_powers/14052077.htm