Bengie Molina wins no matter who wins the World Series

Bengie Molina/Courtesy: bhurtik.wordpress.com

Sometimes, everything just rolls your way. We don't recall any situations recently like the one facing former San Francisco Giant and current Texas Ranger catcher Bengie Molina.

If you aren't sure what we are talking about, think about the previous sentence. If you still don't know, well, that means Molina played for both of your World Series teams this year.

In fact, he played long enough for the Giants that should they win....you guessed it, he'd get a World Series ring.

Conversely, if the Rangers win...well, Bengie still will be getting a World Series ring.

Read more from this story courtesy of NESN.com RIGHT HERE

Molina story non-withstanding, we are actually looking forward to this years series. First off, none of the "Unlimited Budget" teams are playing in it. That unto itself, reinforces what we feel strongly about....that money can't always buy you happiness, or a title. There is something to be said for having a good team...with guys in it for the team rather than the money.

Dolphins Screwed Out Of Win Against Steelers

((HT: NFL on CBS/Youtube/Miami Herald/Neal))

Jeff Reed kicked a 19-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining to hand the Miami Dolphins a 23-22 loss to Pittsburgh dropping the Dolphins to 0-3 at home and 3-3 overall this season.

But, the question of the day is: Should it have come to that...???

On 3rd and Goal from the Miami 2, Ben Roethlisberger went for the endzone off a scramble. Officials initially ruled a touchdown, but the Dolphins challenged.

After a lengthy review ((the video below)) it was decided Roethlisberger fumbled before he crossed the goal line. But since the officials, on the field or otherwise, couldn't figure out who recovered and the replay couldn't give definitive proof- the Steelers were given the ball inside the 1, fourth and goal.

Then, the Reed field goal...

Here's the play, the review, and the aftermath...
Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf are on the mic...


"This leaves a bitter taste," said Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby. "A bitter taste... They took that game from us."

That'd be about right...

Blue Deuce Knocks Gordon From Title Chase

((HT: ESPN/NASCAR/Youtube))

Another race, another Kurt Busch incident...
This time, we're in Martinsville...

Gordon entered fourth in points, 156 behind Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, but was spun into the frontstretch wall by Kurt Busch.

Gordon wound up 20th and fell to fifth in the standings, 203 points behind Johnson.

Kyle Busch finished fourth and moved up to fourth in the standings, 172 back.

Tell you something...???
We think the punishment that Busch doled out to Gordon doesn't match the bump-and-go that the 24 popped him with...

Here's how it all went down...


And Marty Reid gets credit from the HQ... the assessment that Gordon's chances were "flushed" was spot on...

TWTW: Hawkeyes Blow A Tire, Lose To Wisconsin

((HT: WHO-TV Des Moines))

Who knew a fake punt would change things so dramatically...

Bret Bielema called for one midway through the fourth quarter. Montee Ball ran 8 yards for a touchdown with 1:06 left as the 10th-ranked Badgers rallied to beat Iowa 31-30.

Scott Tolzien threw for 205 yards and a touchdown and John Clay added a pair of touchdowns for the Badgers, now 7-1/3-1...

Bielema called for it on fourth down from his own 26 with Wisconsin down 6. Ball capped an 80-yard drive with the game-winning score.

"It was something we had seen on film," Bielema said. "Once I saw them put the punt return unit there ... we gave them the call."

Shawn Terrell got to see this one up close...
Maybe, he wishes he hadn't...
Well, at least the ending...
 

TWTW: "The Damn Thing Is Over..." WKU Streak Ends At 26

((HT: WBKO-TV Bowling Green/CollegeHeightsHerald))

Western Kentucky's 26-game losing streak - the longest active streak in Division I- came to an end with a 54-21 win at Louisiana-Lafayette. The Hilltoppers led 3-0 through one quarter and never trailed.

And you thought TLB was chapped at LSU's loss to Auburn...

Sophomore quarterback Kawaun Jakes was 18-for-22 passing for 262 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 28 yards and two more scores. True freshman running back Antonio Andrews had two touchdowns on the ground as well.

The Hilltopper defense also scored twice on a second-quarter fumble return by Quanterus Smith and a fourth-quarter interception return by Derrius Brooks.

WBKO's coverage is here... the play-by-play call from the end is awesome...

Here's the reaction they got when they landed back in Bowling Green...


It's almost like they won a bowl game or something...
Well, you know what...???

It probably felt like it...
Now they try to get a winning streak going against North Texas...

TWTW: Baylor Bowl Eligible, Cracks Top 25

((HT: KWTX-TV Waco, Texas))

After defeating Kansas State to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1994, Baylor was ranked 25th in new AP poll, the school’s first ranking since September 5th, 1993 when the Bears were 24th...

For a week...

And how's this for odd... or abnormal... whichever you choose...

Big 12 South

Baylor 3-1
Oklahoma 2-1
Oklahoma State 2-1
Texas 2-2
Texas Tech 2-3
Texas A&M 1-2

Oh, the game...
Jay Finley rushed for a school-record 250 yards, Robert Griffin threw for a career-high 404 yards and four touchdowns as Baylor beat Kansas State 47-42...

Baylor (6-2, 3-1) has not played in a bowl game since 1994, when the Bears were part of the old Southwest Conference.

The offense gained 683 yards breaking a school record that was set three weeks ago.

Brett Denham delivers the good news indoors...

Mary Jo Loses A Bet

((HT: WLEX-TV Lexington))

Mary Jo Perino and her Sports Department co-hort Alan Cutler had a bet over baseball...

If the Yankees got further than MJ's favorite ((probably, the field)) then something bad got to happen to Alan...
Didn't go down that way...

Alan won the bet, and MJ hopefully didn't get to spend too much on dry cleaning...

Here's the payoff...

TWTW: War Cam Eagle! Beelzebub Can't Keep Up With LSU

((HT: NBC13- Birmingham))

Cam Newton ran for 217 yards and Onterio McCalebb sprinted 70 yards for the go-ahead score with 5:05 left to give Auburn a 24-17 victory over LSU.

The Tigers, now 8-0/5-0 in the SEC, makes LSU 7-1/4-1.

Newton ran for two touchdowns and broke the league’s single-season rushing mark for a quarterback of 1,006 yards by Auburn’s Jimmy Sidle in 1963. He also surpassed Pat Sullivan’s 40-year-old school mark of 26 TD’s rushing and passing in a season.

It's time to catch up with Don Hawes again...

TWTW: Tide Takes Out Frustrations On Vols

((HT: WVTM-TV Birmingham))

Trent Richardson's two TD's were half of 28 unanswered second-half points as No. 7 Alabama beat Tennessee 41-10.

Greg McElroy completed 21 of 32 for 264 yards. Julio Jones set an Alabama single-game record with 221 yards on 12 catches.

Richardson finished with 119 yards on 12 carries, and Alabama got its fourth straight win over Tennessee for the first time since 1992.

Chris Pollone got to take the roadtrip for this one...

Okay, NOW We'll Talk About it...

Not much, mind you, but we'll now go into the whole athlete-cell donging escapade that Brett Favre has admitted to Sunday afternoon...

According to Fox Sports, Favre told league investigators that he left phone messages for Jenn Sterger, who worked for the Jets in 2008 when Favre was their quarterback. However, Favre denied sending inappropriate photos.

We anticipate the rest coming down the line very soon...

The HQ knows that, while cell donging can be traced to certain cell phones, it would be difficult to prove in any kind of court of law- unless someone undresses in open court... there is a certain amount of plausible deniability there...

Here's 4's wife, Deanna, answering the question, but not answering the question on ABC's "Good Morning America" program this past week...

TWTW: Arkansas Beats Ole Miss In An Empty Stadium

((HT: KTHV-11 Little Rock))

There's a certain sense of irony when a game is delayed twice by lightning...

And you have to finish it 90 minutes later than you would have liked...

Arkansas wins 38-24 as sophomore Knile Davis ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs. The Razorbacks improve to 5-2 (2-2 in the SEC) and the Rebels drop to 3-4 (1-3 in the SEC).

The four quarter was well worth the price of admission alone...
Provided you were around to see it and hadn't gotten tired of hanging around by then...

Jeremiah Masoli may be finding his sea legs for Houston Nutt as he threw for three scores for the Black Bears...

Here's your highlights and a lot of discussion during them...

Velasquez Proves Lesnar Is Human At UFC 121, Undertaker Surprised

((HT: UFC/ESPN/Youtube))

There is no doubt that Brock Lesnar is a bad man...
But, at his most basic, he's still learning the craft that is Mixed Martial Arts...

He had only fought six times going into the fight at the Honda Center last night against Cain Velasquez...

But Velasquez, for those of you who dig those "Sport Science" features on the four-letter, know that he can hit at the top end of the power scale with his right hand ((over 2200 lbs of force)) and he can spear someone to the floor with the power of Dwight Freeney.

This was a three-minute beatdown once Velasquez got on top of Lesnar...

Here's your fight... and act surprised as much as we did...
Until it gets pulled...


The HQ still doesn't necessarily get UFC, but it's a helluva lot better than boxing these days...

But, then after the fight, there was this exchange...
((HT: Fanhouse))


At least the HQ also knows that 'Taker won't ever go in there...
Too much common sense...

TWTW: For Utah, It's About Style Points, Too...

((HT: KSL-TV))

As they beat the pants off Colorado State 59-6...

And the HQ will get to answer the question we posed about Oklahoma STate in the coming weeks...

How will they react when they play "somebody...?"

Their next three weeks are: Air Force, TCU, and Notre Dame...

Jordan Wynn threw for 321 yards and three TDs...

"Everything was clicking. We feel fully prepared for every team that appears on our schedule," he said after the game.

The Utes, now 7-0 and 4-0 in the Mountain West, are 7-0 for the third time in the last seven years. In the 2004 and 2008 seasons, the Utes went undefeated and won BCS bowl games.

The HQ is unclear if that means we need to look to 2012...

"We're playing our best right now. We played a good game in all three phases, but we have a lot of tough challenges ahead of us, starting this week," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

What he said...

Rod Zundel is indoors in front of his green screen...

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

TWTW: Does Anyone Want To Be Number One...? OU Falls In Columbia

((HT: Newsok.com))

That seems to be the question around these, or any other, part of the country since the evil early January-college football standings came out last week...

For the third week in a row, the team on top got knocked off by someone motivated.

And, really, it seemed like nothing went right for Oklahoma against Missouri.
Sho' nuff...

The Sooners couldn't do anything on special teams on the opening kickoff, couldn't play catch-up when down by 15, and couldn't keep from turning the ball over.

Blaine Gabbert solidified himself as one of the quality QB's in the country in the 36-27 win, and the Missouri fans solidified themselves as a group that doesn't listen to public address announcements when it comes to storming the field...

Berry Trammel and Jake Trotter discuss since they're the only ones left in Columbia on the football field... and they're trying to get back inside before the rain...

TWTW: Oke State Plays Someone, Can't Stop Nebraska

((HT: Newsok.com))

The running opinion on Oklahoma State this year was, "Well, they haven't played anybody, yet... We'll see what happens when they do."

Well, they did...

Taylor Martinez was responsible for five touchdowns through the air ((and a freshman record with 323 yards passing)) and Nebraska took care of the Cowboys rather handily, 51-31...

After a lightning-round of a first half, where Nebraska put up 31 points, the Cowboys couldn't keep up- period...

Guess who gets to regroup now...
Interesting to say that about the former-number 15 team in the country...

The stylish Jenni Carlson and Brandon Chatmon discuss...

TWTW: Navy Takes Irish For Third In Last Four

((HT: NCAA on CBS/Youtube))

Ricky Dobbs scored three touchdowns and Alexander Teich ran for 210 yards to lead Navy to a 35-17 win over the Irish at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The 84-year old series, which Notre Dame once owned like no other in college football history, now belongs to Navy who are now 5-2.

In 2007, the Midshipmen snapped their NCAA record 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame with a 46-44 win in overtime in South Bend. The HQ enjoyed Paul Johnson in that one immensely...

Last year, Navy won 23-21 at Notre Dame- the first of four straight losses that cost Charlie Weis his job.

It was the Irish's most lopsided loss against Navy since 1963.
Wasn't some guy named Staubach QB then...???

Notre Dame is now 4-4 and get Tulsa...

Whatever...
So, the HQ figured it would show you a passing touchdown as a bit of a change-up...
It's a hell of a catch by Teich...
Craig Bolerjack is on the mic for you...

TWTW: Marrone Gets Biggest Win At Syracuse, Upsets WBGV...

((HT: WSYR-TV Syracuse))

Doug Marrone has his "signature" win.

In his second season coaching his alma mater, Marrone gets arguably the program's biggest win in a decade- beating Number 20 West Virginia 19-14 in Morgantown. It's Syracuse's first win there since 2000, and snapped a 12-game home win streak.

Syracuse intercepted Geno Smith 3 times leading to nine points. Offensively, the Orange kept the ball on the ground- 188 yards among Delone Carter, Antwon Bailey and Prince-Tyson Gulley. Bailey carried the ball 19 times for 94 yards.

With the win, SU improves to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big East. Syracuse is on the road next week when they visit Cincinnati, and they're only two wins away from being bowl eligible...

Enjoy another nebulous fan piece, thanks to our friends at WSYR-TV in Da 'Cuse...

TWTW: Who Are These Longhorns...??? Losing To Iowa State In Austin...???

((HT: KVUE-TV Austin))

And what in the blue hell have they done with Will Muschamp's defense...???
More accurately, what in the blue hell has happened to the offense...???
What's eating Garrett Gilbert...???

Conspiracy theorists think the Georgia kid is bagging it so he can be first in line for the Georgia job if AD Dave McGarity is fed up with Mark Richt sooner rather than later...

Mike Barnes has the Cyclones winning in Austin, and no amount of TV magic can fix this one...

Eric LeGrand Support Comes From All Over

((HT: NJ.com))

High school players around the state of New Jersey will get to pay tribute to Rutgers University junior defensive tackle Eric LeGrand who was paralyzed from the neck down during a kickoff against Army last Saturday.

Their helmets will feature Eric LeGrand's No. 52 in Rutgers' scarlet color.

The idea came from LeGrand's alma mater, Colonia ((NJ)) High School.

"I don't think it's as much for his football as for what a great kid he is," Colonia head coach Ben LaSala told The Home News Tribune of East Brunswick. "I just think that's where this outpouring comes from."

Riddell reps are saying that they're printing in the neighborhood of 11,000 stickers for use in the northeast by high schools.

A store in New Brunswick is breaking out their printers to benefit LeGrand with the following designs. Pick them up from Scarlet Fever here...

Proceeds go to a fund for LeGrand...

Here was local reaction from Pitt, thanks to our friends at nj.com
Rutgers gave up 27 straight points to Pitt, losing 41-21...

An emotional day as Rutgers and Pittsburgh football honor Eric LeGrand

And here's a feature Rutgers put together on LeGrand at the beginning of the season...
Required viewing...

If you should be inclined to donate to the LeGrands...

“Eric LeGrand Believe Fund”
PNC Wealth Management
Attn: Kimberly G. Kingsland, Senior Trust Advisor
One Palmer Square Suite 201
Princeton, NJ 08542

The HQ will keep you posted on his progress...

TWTW: Purdue Can't Get A Coach Fired 2 Weeks In A Row

((HT: WBNS-TV Columbus))

Terrelle Pryor threw for three scores, Dan Herron ran for two and that ended up to be five of the seven scores in Ohio State 49-0 victory over Purdue.

The Buckeyes, now 7-1 and 3-1, in the Big Ten/11/12 also got some measure of revenge for the 26-18 upset a year ago at Purdue.

Purdue, now 4-3, and 2-1, didn't exceed 100 yards in total offense until their final possession.
Here's The Vest, thanks to our friends at 10tv. but not before his first sip of Diet Coke...