The big story in the Viking universe this week, other than Sunday's matchup with the Houston Texans, is the potential suspension of defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams for testing positive for a diuretic that's listed on the NFL's banned substance list. The substance in question, known as Bumetanide, helps players to cut their excess water weight. The problem comes with the fact that it can also be used to dilute urine to the point where it will mask any steroids that can be found in a person's urine sample.
Several players are caught up in this at this point. . .and, frankly, we shouldn't even know their names. . .but apparently the players in question were taking an "all-natural" supplement called StarCaps. Bumetanide is not "all-natural," or anything even remotely close. It's also not part of the ingredient list that's on all bottles of StarCaps. One would have to wonder if they might start including it on the label now.
Or, at least one, MIGHT have the ability to wonder that. . .if they hadn't pulled the plug on their entire operation (as ProFootballTalk.com is reporting).
Say what you will about PFT. . .and we all have at some point, I think. . .but they've done a damn fine job of keeping up with this story. They're reporting that the National Center for Biotechnology Information. . .a site we link to frequently here at The Daily Norseman. . .said back in November of 2007 that StarCaps contained Bumetanide, yet the ingredient still wasn't listed on the label.
Now, I'm pretty sure that this new information would help Kevin and Pat Williams a lot in a court of law. . .but it remains to be seen if it would do anything to sway the NFL, which can basically do whatever the hell it wants here. However, it's also been brought to light that the NFL's "steroid hotline" doesn't always have somebody minding the store. Who mentioned this? None other than Vikings' receiver Bernard Berrian.
"You've got to take some responsibility and call into that hotline [to inquire about the legality of certain products]," Berrian said on Sirius. "But I know one thing about that hotline. I've called twice before and actually never gotten a hold of anybody sometimes. So even when you try to do the right thing sometimes it is still hard to get a hold of somebody and really find out what you're really taking."
Maybe the NFL should consider cleaning up their own house here. Of course, as long as the league is run by the joke that is Roger Goodell, I wouldn't bet anything of significance on that happening any time soon.
We'll be back with some more tomorrow, folks. . .lots of stuff to look at going into Sunday's game. Also, be sure to vote on the new poll question over on the right-hand side there.