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MURPHY BLANKS THE SOX -- Two noteworthy events happened last night in MLB, only one of which most Baylor fans will care about. This is that one. Murphy came in for the eighth inning with the Rangers down 12 runs and, apparently, not interested in using any more of the bullpen than they had to. I wasn't crazy about the decision because position players are almost as bad as relief pitchers as pitchers are as batters. But it worked out, with Murphy striking out Mike Carp looking and giving up only a double. His was the only inning in which a Rangers pitcher did not give up a run.
PHIL STEELE LIKES 2 BEARS MORE THAN MOST -- Baylor's Cyril Richardson (1st) and Lache Seastrunk (3rd) made Phil Steele's Preseason All-American team for this year. I have a hard time imagining a scenario where Texas A&M's Mike Evans ends up as a 2nd-team AA and Tevin Reese doesn't make any of them.
BAYLOR BETTER IN 2012 THAN YOU THOUGHT -- No, that's probably impossible. I am, after all, one of the people who said when 2012 ended that we were one of the best teams in the entire country. For most, though, it's true.
BIOGENESIS -- This was the other MLB news of note, and its impact will be far-reaching, indeed. If you've got a favorite player, chances are he might be on the list of potentially-suspended players.
MICHAEL DIXON HASN'T COMMITTED -- So we jumped the gun on this, it seems. Baylor could still make a run at the talented, but troubled, point guard.
QB DOMINOES ARE FALLING -- This year, more than most, it seems like the major QB recruits in the country are looking at a small, interrelated group of schools. That means their potential commitments probably affect each other; as one takes himself off the board, others move up and schools move on. Only one recruit in this article has ties to Baylor: Shreveport's Brandon Harris, the #1 Dual-Threat QB in the country. On that note: did you know Waco is actually closer to Shreveport than Baton Rouge? It's true by about 15 miles.
LHN STILL PISSING PEOPLE OFF -- It's almost like nobody saw this coming two years ago when it was obvious that this would be coming.
NEW BEAR FROM DOWN UNDER -- Actual bears are not native to the country-continent of Australia, but with the Muir brothers and now former rugby player Peni Tagive coming on board, there may be more Baylor fans down under than ever before. If you ever wonder why we keep Brian Norwood around, it's because of guys like this. His connections are some of the best in the game, particularly in the Pacific.
I can't be sure since I haven't looked, but I believe that should this come to pass, Tagive would be one of the only Baylor players to have a personal wikipedia page before he ever played a down. He's 24 years old, and I'm pretty sure @PeniTagive is his account on twitter. Norwood follows him. He's also now got a 247Sports profile, too.
Thoughts? Maybe I'll make a specific thread for discussion about where such a player might contribute.