A Little Taste of Sunshine, and a Guaranteed Reward.

David R.

October 29, 2010 - 12:10 PM

Up until about four p.m. Thursday afternoon, I was planning on staying in Eugene for Halloween Weekend, and attempting to put together a killer costume that I could wear around to the campus bars.

Now, on Friday morning, I find myself in the back of roommate's car as we are in the middle of our journey down to Los Angeles for the Oregon vs. USC football game. The decision was made extremely last minute, but we all decided that it would be a blast to spend the weekend at USC and hopefully watch our Ducks extend their winning streak.

We left last night at around 5:30 and we stayed the night in Orinda, Calif., just outside of San Francisco, where my roommate's grandparents live. This morning upon waking up we had a tough decision to make: Should we go back to I-5 and bomb down south, or should we take a little more time and drive through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge? We went with the latter, and it was a fantastic choice. I haven't been to San Francisco since the 6th grade, and I loved being able to make another visit and cruise right through the heart of this famous city. We drove over three different bridges in the loop that we made, and the detour ended with a perfect few of Alcatraz and of AT@T Park, which currently serves as the co-headquarters of world series fever. This very second we are about 20 minutes outside of the city and are about 343 miles away from LA. I am certainly excited to escape the rain from the Northwest and hopefully dip my toes in some of the Southern California sunshine.

While football season is in full swing, the major league baseball season is about a week from being over. In my opinion, the major league baseball season is the most grueling, not to mention the longest by far. After 162 regular season games, there are eight teams that make the push to get to the World Series. The Giants and the Rangers are underway in baseball's pinnacle event, and as is always the case, one team will go home empty handed. But what if I were to tell you about a Texas Rangers' catcher that will get a world series ring anyway...even if the team loses? Rangers catcher Bengie Molina has found himself in a very favorable situation. Molina started this season in San Francisco with the Giants and was traded midway through the season to the Rangers. Molina played about 67 games with the Giants this season, which according to the rules, qualifies him as being a member of the Giants. If a player plays over a certain number of games (I think it's 62) with his team before being traded, he is considered to have been on that team for the remainder of the season. Essentially, Bengie Molina will walk away from the world series with a ring, win or lose. If the Giants win, he will get a ring as being a part of that franchise, and obviously, if the Rangers win, he will receive a ring as a member of that team as well. Would Molina prefer to have a ring from his current team, or the team he spent so much time with previously? It's an interesting predicament to be in, but it must be comforting knowing you will receive a ring regardless.

While we make our way down south, the temperature is slowly rising, and I'm looking forward to a great time in LA.