In Wednesday’s “First Call,” Le’Veon Bell is defending his struggling quarterback. Some rumblings about that Emmanuel Sanders trade. And a hockey coach may have gotten a little too mad at a referee.

Strange sense of humor

Remember when Bill Cowher stuffed a photograph in a referee’s pocket?

Yeah. This is worse.

A Russian hockey coach threatened to torch a referee’s car.

Via the AP, Kontinental Hockey League coach Alexander Gulyavtsev shouted “I’m going to set fire to your car” to a referee. He even referenced the ref’s hometown.

Pretty specific.

The coach later said he meant the comments as “a joke,” adding that “I just said car, it’s not as if I said apartment.”

Good point!

Gulyavtsev was fined 300,000 rubles ($4,700).

Le’V lookin’ out for his QB

New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell is mad at the NFL.

And it’s got nothing to do with him.

Sam Darnold was wearing a microphone for NFL Films during his club’s recent 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots. In the midst of Darnold’s four-interception meltdown on “Monday Night Football,” he made a comment about how he was “seeing ghosts.”

Bell was mad that comment made it on the air.

The NFL screwed Sammy over…there’s not one player in the NFL who’s cool with having every sideline convo broadcasted to millions…there’s a reason we’ve never heard other QB’s frustrated on the sideline like that before…that’s crazy, @NFL did Sam dirty as hell https://t.co/2XmYXNTNoL

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) October 22, 2019

NFL Films has to sign off before ESPN can use any audio from players during live games. This one may have slipped through the cracks.

See ya’ around, Manny

The Denver Broncos traded former Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to the 6-0 San Francisco 49ers.

And it sounds as if Sanders wasn’t exactly happy on the way out the door.

“When we look at it, Emmanuel had issues and we had issues, so that’s why it was a good time for us to go in different directions,” general manager John Elway told The Athletic. “With that being said, we were able to get the value that we thought was fair, so that’s why we decided to make the deal.”

Just two games ago, Elway made it sound like he had no plans to trade Sanders, or any other players.

But Sanders had only three targets, one catch and no yards in a 16-0 win over the Tennessee Titans. He was ruled out for the second half with a knee injury that day.

Then, the Broncos were blown out by the Chiefs in a Thursday night game, 30-6. Sanders had 60 yards receiving that night.

Denver also sent a 2020 fifth-round draft choice to the 49ers in exchange for 2020 third- and fourth-round selections.

“We definitely had great run out here in Denver,” Sanders told the website. “I had a lot of great times. But, obviously, all good things come to an end. So I’m looking forward to getting out to San Fran and showcasing my talent.”

Cole isn’t alone

Gerrit Cole wasn’t the only ex-Pirate to have a rare up-and-down night on Tuesday.

Cole was the losing pitcher as the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the World Series, 5-4.

Leading 5-3, Daniel Hudson came out of the Washington bullpen and got the team out of a difficult spot in the seventh inning.

CLUTCH!

Daniel Hudson gets the strikeout with the bases loaded to preserve the Nationals' lead! pic.twitter.com/u1sicnpy71

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 23, 2019

But when he came back in the eighth, Hudson didn’t have the same kind of magic, and he allowed the Astros to get closer.

One. Run. Game. ?#WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/qShEMc2utf

— MLB (@MLB) October 23, 2019

That was nearly a home run by George Springer, who had homered earlier in the game. And that long double made the contest 5-4 in the eighth.

Hudson hadn’t allowed a run out of the Washington bullpen since Sept. 11. That had been 14 straight unblemished appearances.

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