Opinion Corner: Stick to what you know

Talk about it

Accidentally the other day, I came across a non-sports person doing a feature on Colorado Rockies pitcher Jamie Moyer.

It was intended to be funny, it wasn’t. I think the reporter thought he was clever, but failed miserably there, too.

Moyer, of course, is the 49-year-old pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, who is still winning games just shy of 50. There are great stories to be told about Moyer, just not by the person who was attempting in this situation.

It was one of those all-to-common scenarios of someone wading into areas they know nothing about, which inevitably ends in the person looking like a fool.

That scenario has played out in St. Paul for the last few months with the Vikings stadium. That saga, and it is a saga, is similar to the one in North Dakota with the Fighting Sioux nickname, which surpassed the saga stage years ago.

Both are congruous to the person doing the story on Moyer — people messing around with things they know little, or nothing, about.

Whether or not Minnesota builds a stadium for the Vikings, I don’t really care anymore. The politicians in that state have done such an Edward Scissorhands on the whole thing, if I was team owner Zigy Wolf, I’d say, “Screw it. I’m selling the team and going to live happily ever after in my new $15 million Manhattan apartment.”

Despite ardent support from Minnesota’s governor — Mark Dayton — the Legislature in that state is such a dysfunctional zoo that they won’t simply allow for an up or down vote.

If you don’t want to support the stadium, fine. If you do, that’s fine, too. But why not vote on it, resolve it, so everyone can move on to the next unnecessary drama.

It’s very similar to the Fighting Sioux nickname over here where one legislator decided to go all Lone Ranger and bring a dead horse back to life.

Why can’t Minnesota and North Dakota politicians stick to what they’re good at: gerrymandering districts, cutting taxes for millionaires and creating tawdry, albeit entertaining scandals (Minnesota).

Leave the sports stuff to sports people and we’ll all live happily ever after, minus the $15 million apartments, of course.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: opinion corner, sports, baseball, opinion, mlb