Its All Just A Cliffhanger That We Need Resolved

Guys, I know it's probably going to be a silly movie and nowhere near as seminal as the first film, but I am dying to see Jurassic World. Maybe it's because I identify so strongly with the first one- after all, it came out perfectly for me, since I was still a young dinosaur-loving boy. But it's also hands down the simple fact that I really want to know some things.

Like, what's up with the raptors?! How does Starlord get them to join his motorcycle gang? I mean, we all know now that he's their trainer. But how much control does he really have over them? And what exactly are they going to do against a genetically modified super-dinosaur, considering a T-rex demolished them in the first film?

And what's up with that guy, anyways? How are they going to stop it? Is there actually going to be a super awesome dino fight between it and the T-rex? If so, is that guy trained too?!

It's the age of the internet, so it's not like I don't spend some time here and there trying to find the spoilers for this. (Yes, I am that guy.) Sure, I could wait a few more months and, you know, go and see the actual movie and find out, but my curiosity wants to be satiated now, dammit! And don't get me started on Star Wars, by the way.

The thing is, at the end of the day, a lot of us are like this. Especially when it comes to outright cliffhangers. Your favorite TV show just wrapped up its season with a crucial character hanging in the balance and ZOMG BUT WHAT HAPPENS I CAN'T WAIT THE TIME TO FIND OUT. We want to know, and know NOW!

And that's what this whole Adrian Peterson thing is for us Vikings fans (and a lot of other NFL fans by now), really. It's a cliffhanger in one of our favorite serials (although for us the good guy NEVER EVER WINS, DAMMIT) and we want to know the ending.

Sure, we could all wait for April 15^th, or sooner even depending on Judge Doty. I mean, this isn't some mystery that will never be solved. In fact, at most, we're likely waiting less than two months to know what happens. But in the meantime, we're scanning the interwebs for spoilers. But unlike a movie, with a script that's already been written and filmed, there is no such thing just yet as an actual, true spoiler to be found. Because there is no script, and the truth is, even the principles in this situation don't actually know how it's going to end. They may have their desires, their goals, sure. But they still don't know exactly what will happen, and in large part because they may not fully know the other sides' plans just yet. As much as we want to believe that back channels and such have made both Peterson's camp and the Vikings' brass omniscient as to what's really going on, chances are very low that that's the truth.

First off, there can be no official contact. There can be contact with Peterson's agent... obviously, we know that at this point... but I'm honestly a little unclear as to what the rules on that are. It would seem to me that if Ben Dogra can openly discuss anything regarding Peterson with Spielman, et al and vice-versa, well- what's the point of barring Peterson from having contact with the team? Such as it were it'd just be forcing them to talk through an intermediary, which is fairly pointless. And I don't think the ‘back channels' are as strong as we all like to believe.

Further muddling that is the strong chance that neither side really wants the other to know what their plans are. The comparison of all this to being a game of high-stakes poker is used frequently and is also quite apt, in my opinion. At the most, Peterson absolutely wants out, and wants the Vikings to know it. But even then, Spielman has no good reason to let Peterson know whether or not he would acquiesce. After all, his goal at that point would be to build the market, and one of the most crucial steps there would be to effectively let all other 31 NFL teams know he's just peachy keen on keeping Peterson, regardless of his desires or salary, on the team in 2015.

All of the reports that have come out- starting with Peterson's statement that he wanted to return to Minnesota, then his words regarding his unease in doing so (which I had penned a large piece on, then deleted- but honestly if you check out Adam Warwas' excellent piece on the matter over at Vikings Territory his thoughts very strongly reflect my own), to the he-wants-to-be-traded-oh-but-ok-maybe-not brouhaha, then with the scuffle between Dorga and Brzezinski (whom I shall now forevermore dub ‘Brzy'), and then to the comments from AP's father- have spun a tale all in and of themselves. But that's not what we want. None of us actually want this drama. What we really want are spoilers, spoilers that let us all know how it ends.

But we can't have them. Because again, there is no real script here. The ending hasn't been written and filmed. We can infer, we can have knee-jerk reactions, we can grossly corrupt and misstate what was actually said/reported (such as with Jason Cole's initial piece regarding Peterson's desire to play for the Cowboys, which grew into a totally different story than what he originally said), and we'll certainly follow and read. We just desperately want to know already. The cliffhanger is killing us.

But we can't let that constantly alter our perception of what this all is- a cliffhanger that has no resolution determined yet. Every little detail is being overanalyzed, over-reacted to, and at times over-reported. Take Brzy and Dorga's near Rumble in the Jungle Combine. We all- myself included- took it as the absolute spoiler, the end of the story. AP wanted out and was going to be gone, the only question was where he'd go and what we'd get. Except that Brzy and Dorga were talking amicably the next day, and Dorga apparently had very heated confrontations with a few other executives as well. Maybe when Dorga shouted that AP would never play another down as a Viking he was just grossly overreacting, speaking in the furious heat of the moment as any human will occasionally do. AP's own father, in comments made after said confrontation, effectively stated that his son hasn't figured out exactly what he'd like yet (and I don't feel that he's some pawn on a chessboard, either).

If we're capable, we all need to take a bit of a step back from all of these tantalizing tidbits that keep floating out there and accept that the situation has no ending written in stone just yet. Even with AP's own words, we have to remember that the guy is a complete off-the-cuff speaker who can contradict himself in an hour's time and not even be aware of it. Everything that has come out and will come out needs to be taken with a grain of salt until such time as AP and the team are able to communicate freely again. (And even then we're not likely to know exactly what's happening right away.) Because SPOILER ALERT- there are no credible spoilers to be had. We're just going to have to wait to see how this ends.

Except for how Starlord trains those damn raptors and exactly what's up with that motorcycle gang! //Googles said question for the millionth time