The North Dakota state legislature must have been having a slow day recently, as I guess the important business of snow removal and keeping the fish under ice in Devil's Lake had to take a backseat to getting Roger Maris into the Hall of Fame. The resolution orders Secretary of State Al Jaeger to send a copy of the resolution to the members of the baseball veterans' committee. Now the people of North Dakota are some of my favorite in the US (shout out to all my peeps in Fargo, Minot, Grand Forks, and Dickinson), but Roger (854 career RBI's) Maris in the Hall? Not even this guy could talk me into voting for him.

Sure Maris is the greatest athlete in North Dakota history, but Phil Jackson is 2 and Darin Erstad is 3 on the Sports Illustrated countdown, so not too lofty. I'm sure we're not too far from the next edict passed down on high from the state house in Bismarck. And it shall be written that Rick Helling (Fargo native) should be chosen the next Cy Young winner.

One interesting thing I learned about Maris was that he was born in Hibbing, Minnesota. If you're not familiar, this is also the birthplace of two legitimate Hall of Famers, Bob Dylan and Kevin McHale. Is there any other town even close to the size of Hibbing that have produced such a group of famous alumni?

In what must be Kenny Williams greatest nightmare, Todd Ritchie has been resigned by the Pittsburgh Pirates to compete for their 5th starter spot. If Ritchie was to make some kind of comeback and join Kip Wells and Josh Fogg on the Pirates rotation, it just might be too much to handle. This is why I'm starting a fund to provide psychological services to Williams, if this nightmare scenario comes to fruition. If nothing else, we can spring for tickets to the Oprah show for Kenny, since she tapes her show just down the street. (figure of speech, Harpos studios are not in Bridgeport) Get him tickets on a day when Oprah has one of her pop psychologists who focuses on how bad decisions don't have to haunt you the rest of your life. (or do they?)