Classless

[Rastak]

Rastak, that bar might not be Gabe's could it??

It's close by here but no, sadly it was Red Hook ESB in my basement.

Rastak, if you haven't tried Red Hooks "Late Harvest Autumn Ale" I highly recommend it.

This has got me thinking about a post for beer.

I've had it, and it is very good. I think Old Chicago had it on tap too.

[MadtownPacker]

Please, save the nice talk crap. You want the Packers to lose badly and you know it!!

[Rastak]

Please, save the nice talk crap. You want the Packers to lose badly and you know it!!

Are you kidding, you bet I do! I'm pretty sure if the Vikings do pull out a win it won't be a one sided asskicking.

[MJZiggy]

I'm thinking if the Packers do, it will be...

[Rastak]

Here's a good post from Rube Chat forum on the Williamson thing....

If Troy Williamson ends up being the reason that Brad Childress is pushed out of Minnesota, NOBODY can ever call Williamson a useless bust ever again. In fact, he should be seen as a hero if it means getting Chilly out of Minnesota. That contribution is worth more than any touchdown catch he could have made on the field.

Pretty funny.

[gbpackfan]

Rastak,

Yes, I am going to the game. It should be a good one. I have no doubt that the Vikes are going to give 110%. And if I came accross as a donkey, sorry. Didn't mean it.

[Rastak]

Rastak,

Yes, I am going to the game. It should be a good one. I have no doubt that the Vikes are going to give 110%. And if I came accross as a donkey, sorry. Didn't mean it.

Just a little, then I did you one better and became a complete jackass.

Anyway, I agree it should be a good game. It seems Viking-Packer games always are close.

[Rastak]

Back on topic, it looks like they reversed their decision after the players indicated they were acting like dicks.....

Vikings will pay Williamson
November 10th, 2007 – 12:04 PM by Kevin Seifert The Vikings will in fact pay WR Troy Williamson his game check for the No. 4 game against San Diego, reversing an earlier decision to withhold it after he missed the game to plan his grandmother’s funeral.

Coach Brad Childress confirmed the decision in an interview this afternoon. The impetus, Childress said, came from a meeting of his veteran player council Friday.

“It’s important to convey that this was never a penalty,” Childress said. ”I just want to emphasize that I’m grateful to have a great leadership group and great owners in the Wilf family. We had an open and candid discussion with our leadership group and spoke at length about it.”

Childress added: “In the end, we wanted to get this thing right. It’s more important to get it right than to be right.”

Williamson’s base salary this season is $435,000, meaning he stood to lose $25,588.24 had the Vikings not paid him.

[esoxx]

Damage is already done.

[Fosco33]

While I generally disagree with the decision - I wonder why we're all quick to jump on management's back on this one...

I make salary - but have to take personal time (paid) to be away for personal reasons. Do I go to my boss or HR and complain? Nope. Do our prospective new hires not come to my firm because of that policy? Nope

What do other teams do in similar situations?

[MJZiggy]

The fact is, though that with private companies you have the personal time to take. If the person who raised you dies, you can go home to deal with it. What did the Packers do when Irv Favre died? I've never heard of a team doing this before, and I'm glad they reversed the call on this one.

[Rastak]

While I generally disagree with the decision - I wonder why we're all quick to jump on management's back on this one...

I make salary - but have to take personal time (paid) to be away for personal reasons. Do I go to my boss or HR and complain? Nope. Do our prospective new hires not come to my firm because of that policy? Nope

What do other teams do in similar situations?

Because in this industry they are trying to sell tickets, and it doesn't help their cause when they come off as a cold hearted bunch of jerks. Look, the Vikings had a right to say he has to play. In fact, they offered to fly him home for the game and then back after the game and he said no, he was staying home. I can see their point in docking him his weeks pay but it's extremely bad public relations and not a very nice thing to do.

[retailguy]

While I generally disagree with the decision - I wonder why we're all quick to jump on management's back on this one...

I make salary - but have to take personal time (paid) to be away for personal reasons. Do I go to my boss or HR and complain? Nope. Do our prospective new hires not come to my firm because of that policy? Nope

What do other teams do in similar situations?

Because in this industry they are trying to sell tickets, and it doesn't help their cause when they come off as a cold hearted bunch of jerks. Look, the Vikings had a right to say he has to play. In fact, they offered to fly him home for the game and then back after the game and he said no, he was staying home. I can see their point in docking him his weeks pay but it's extremely bad public relations and not a very nice thing to do.

Rastak, I'm glad someone finally put this thing out... Yeah, it was ticky tack to fine him and not worth the PR headache, but if I recall the funeral was early in the week. Flying in for the game, then flying back for a few days was more than a reasonable request on the part of the Vikings. After, all he's paid VERY WELL.

Remember, these guys only play 16 games a year, and have a significant amount of time off during the year. Everything has a cost. I have funeral leave from work. A week. If I don't show up at the end of that time, it's unpaid, and I work for a very large corporation with awesome benefits. I'd hate to think what would happen if I purposely didn't show up for year end close, when I could have.... Not a good career move. With a SALARY, I get paid to "do a job" not punch a clock. So does Troy.

The Vikings were not really out of line on this, but should have seen it was a "no win" PR battle. Quite honestly, Troy Williamson kicked their asses good. Maybe they've hired him for the wrong job? He'd make a pretty good PR guy...

[gbpackfan]

In the end, the Vikings did the right thing. Players will notice this. People make mistakes, you have to be willing to admit to them and fix them. How cliche of me.

[Rastak]

gbpackfan was right, the story lives....at least until tomorrow.....from ptf.com

WILLIAMSON WILL DONATE GAME CHECK

Vikings receiver Troy Williamson, who recently has become far better known for his involvement in a pay dispute with the team than for his performances on the field, has issued a statement regarding the decision of the Vikings to pay him for Week Nine despite the fact that he missed the game due to the death of his grandmother.

The statement was sent to various members of the media. Somehow, yours truly was on the original distribution list.

Here's what the statement, um, stated:

"Earlier today, coach Brad Childress informed me that the Vikings have decided to pay me my game check for the game I missed last weekend due to the untimely death of my grandmother. I wanted to release this statement to thank the thousands of supporters who spoke up for me on my family's behalf. We also want to thank them for their outpouring of emotion and support.

"This has been an extremely trying and difficult time for my family, and I hope that everyone's thoughts and prayers are with my brother Carlton for a quick and speedy recovery. My wish is that the issue is over, and that I can now go about being a football player and putting this matter behind me. I wanted to thank my family, my friends, my teammates, the NFL Players Association, my agent David Canter, and all the Vikings fans for supporting me through this difficult time. In light of today’s events, my wife Charity and I have decided to donate that game check to a charitable foundation to be determined at a later date in the memory of my grandmother Celestine. I will not be speaking about this issue any further."

Williamson's brother, Carlton, was involved in an automobile accident several weeks ago, and remains in a coma. Another brother, Roy, was killed in a car accident when Troy was a boy.

Because the Vikings caved, the question of whether the CBA permits a team to dock a player for missing a game will be, for now, undecided. And, as one member of PFT Planet points out, the Vikings' decision to pay Williamson puts the other owners in a box moving forward. When a member of a player's extended family dies, there will be pressure on the team to give the guy one of his 16 actual annual work days off.

And not everyone supports Williamson on this point. As one reader said, "This is a guy who was paid a big signing bonus and has caught nine passes this year. He should be doing all he can to get better and earn his money."

Still, everyone grieves differently. Just ask Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who turned in a Monday night performance for the ages the day after his father died.

The best approach would be for the league and the NFLPA to come up with a clear, consistent approach for dealing with situations like this in the future. If nothing else, it will insulate teams from having to make tough decisions -- and it will prevent them from treating their most valued players differently than the ones they no longer regard as important to the long-term plans.