It is not surprising that members of the Minnesota Vikings allegedly participated in an orgy while aboard two boats owned by a private supper club. It isn’t surprising that the players might have engaged in sexual acts with women who probably are prostitutes.

Nothing to do with the scandal is surprising other than that the Vikings were stupid enough to bring their acts of dubious character to such a public light. The Vikings sex scandal is only a fresh example of a reoccurring theme in professional sports. Athletes participate in illegal and inappropriate behavior all the time, we just don’t hear about it. We heard about Kobe Bryant of the Lakers when he was charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Colorado. The Vikings incident sounds eerily similar to a lawsuit filed in 1992 involving 20 Cincinnati Bengals players charged with the sexual assault and rape of a woman.

In both cases, the charges were dropped. Not only do athletes rarely get caught, but when they actually do, they tend to escape punishment because they are in such a spotlight. No one wants to have to go through the rigmarole of being on television or being that girl who got molested by everyone else’s hero athlete.

Oh yes, somewhere between Little League and the big leagues, many athletes’ moral perspectives are completely lost. Perhaps the millions of dollars athletes are paid are too much for them to control. They have all that money, so why shouldn’t they have everything else? It could be all the pressure they face to win games each week. It might be the hard life on the road and being away from their families so much.

These Vikings players are those tacked up on posters on children’s walls. They represent the state of Minnesota and its people. And they show complete disregard for the reputation of both. And they want us to pay for a stadium? Hold your pants, boys.