It's not an untold tale in Minnesota, but the L.A. Times' Jeffrey Crowe has a fun column about our own Sid Hartman and the L.A. Lakers.

As locals know, Sid was the initiator and de facto general manager of the Minneapolis Lakers during their mid-'50s heyday. As Sid told the tale in a 2008 column, he had a deal worked out with the Boston Celtics to grab the first draft pick that became legendary center Bill Russell, but the plan was nixed by a meddlesome owner.

At the time, Sid told his Strib audience, "I had to call the deal off and that was the end of my career with the Lakers." To Crowe, he's more specific: "'When that happened,' Hartman says, 'I quit.'"

But Crowe's kicker is an even more interesting bit of business Sid didn't disclose to local readers (though it might be in Pat Reusse's book):

"If we'd have got Russell," the Minneapolis sportswriting icon says, "I'd have quit the newspaper."

Can you imagine the alternate history on the hardwood and on your doorstep? The mind boggles.