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CROSS RIVER…. The Minnesota Vikings’ embattled running back, Adrian Peterson, has an outcome from his reckless or negligent injury to a child case in Montgomery County, Texas. In September Peterson was indicted by a grand jury regarding injuries found to his four-year-old son’s back and buttocks by a doctor who had examined him and reported the findings to law enforcement officials per his legal obligation to do so. At that time it was alleged that Peterson had struck the child several times with a tree branch. Last week Peterson and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, entered a plea agreement with authorities. For a no-contest plea, Peterson received probation, a fine, and an order to perform 80 hours of community service.
The photos that found their way onto the internet of the boy’s injuries created a backlash against Peterson and the NFL at the time of their release and had many people calling for harsh punishment for the star athlete. However, from my viewpoint, this is about the outcome I had expected. It shouldn’t be a secret that our system of justice is now an income-based enterprise, nor that big-name athletes usually get different legal outcomes than the average Joe. But Peterson’s case is still under review by the league, and it is uncertain how that and his suspension and banishment to the commissioner’s exempt list will play out. He is still receiving his playing salary, although Nike has announced recently that they are cutting ties with him, and whatever endorsement fee he receives from that will be lost.
The NFLPA is seeking an immediate reinstatement for him, and that’s fine. That’s what they do for their membership. I guess I don’t care one way or the other if he goes back to the Vikings right away—I don’t follow that mess much anymore. Would justice have been served to place Peterson behind bars for his actions? I doubt if that could have been any more punishment than the mental hardship and public shaming he has had to endure since this story broke, if indeed AP has any conscience or remorse about what he did. The fine, community service, and probation are only fluff and window dressing and are virtually worthless in the scheme of this matter.
From what I have read and heard about Peterson since this story broke, and in building a kind of mental profile/picture of him as a person with that information, he seems to be basically quite stereotypical of an athlete with a lot of income and a challenging living environment growing up. He has fathered several children with several women. He admits that he smokes “weed,” even stating that he did so before one of his court appearances. I personally don’t care if he does that or not, but I have reason to believe that he would be in violation of court orders to not do so while awaiting jurisprudence of his case, not to mention potential league CBA substance abuse policy.
It appears, though, that those issues will be overlooked while the league tries to figure out what, if any, additional punishment should be meted out to Peterson. I have seen poster boards with fans saying that AP should be allowed back in right away, and others stating that he deserves additional “quiet time.” What to do? On the one hand, what Peterson did was uncalled for and despicable behavior to put upon a young child. On the other, the league has painted itself into a corner with its decades of star athlete coddling no matter the offense. These guys have never had to “pay the price,” and when they finally create a situation whereby the public calls for that, the league is stuck stuttering and stammering a bunch of nonsense instead of acting forthrightly and with impunity. It’s gotta suck to be Roger Goodell right about now…
THE MINNESOTA WILD took off like a hockey rocket at the start of the regular season, streaking northward into the night sky. They whipped up on the hapless Colorado Av’s en route to two straight shutout victories. They continued with a couple of sterling games against two pretty good clubs, the Duck and King, out-shooting and outplaying them but dropping twin 2-1 decisions. They came home to feast on Arizona and Tampa Bay, then went to the Big Apple and had their way with the Rangers for two periods before their third-period debacle and loss. They recovered with a comeback win in Beantown and followed that up with a shootout win over the inconsistent Shark.  
They popped the top-heavy, unbalanced Dallas North Stars a good one in St. Paul before getting the snuff knocked out of them in the last three tilts: a home loss to the Pengwah, then road losses at Ottawa and Montreal. They looked poor and lethargic in most of those nine periods. In their defense, at Ottawa, without Craig Anderson in the net that night, the Wild should have won.
In my humble opinion, the current state of the Wild is in flux. They have major players out at this time with injuries: Zach Parise (concussion), Jared Spurgeon (shoulder), and Matt Cooke (lower body). The remainder of the club hasn’t picked up their game enough to make up for these roster absences.

The next factor is youth and inexperience. The club decided to go with some younger players on D this season, and there have been some rewards, but risk as well. Matt Dumba and Christian Folin have tons of upside but little experience in the show, and the team has paid for it on occasion. You have youth at forward that also has tons of ability but not the full depth of experience to back it up with. The team made former player Andrew Brunette special teams coach, and all he has accomplished thus far is to clog up the bench with another body and confuse the message. The team is 29th in the league for PP goals and that is at a five percent clip.
The pre-season injury to expected incumbent goalie Josh Harding is hurting the team. Darcy Kuemper has good numbers but is 6-4. Niklas Backstrom is 1-2 and with poor stats. The team is on the outside looking in for a playoff spot, and that U.S. Thanksgiving playoff standard is looming large right now, with challenging games on the docket for the rest of November. Will the rest of the season play out like the past two weeks? PEACE

Marc Elliott is a sports opinion writer who splits his time between Minnesota and his hometown in Illinois.