Lute Olson is stepping down

You knew this was going to happen some time but you weren't sure how you would feel about it. The time has come and Arizona's biggest legend is retiring according to ESPN's Dick Vitale.

Olson didn't show up to practice Wednesday and missed his annual Rotary Club preseason meeting. Assistant coach Reggie Geary claimed Olson was battling laryngitis.

Associate coach Mike Dunlap will take over the head coaching duties on an interim basis, according to Vitale's report.

The 74-year old Olson took a leave of absence last season though denied it was health related.

The Empire will have more on Olson in the coming days.

Stay tuned.

Arizonaaaa......Bear Down

Just another day at Arizona stadium last Saturday. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Wildcat.

Ho, hum, another win over a top 25 team under Mike Stoops. The Wildcats continue to beat teams they're not supposed to beat on the heels of losing to teams they're not supposed to lose to.

Kirk Herbstreit who predicted the Wildcats would pull the upset, saw it coming, and frankly I'm not close to surprised at the 42-27 outcome. I wouldn't be surprised if Arizona beats USC on homecoming Saturday, or at the least plays the Trojans tough like they have the past three seasons.

Last year, Arizona lost 20-13, was up 13-10 early in the 4th quarter.
2006, Arizona lost 20-3, was down just 10-3 early in the 4th quarter.
2005, Arizona lost 42-21, was down 28-21 early in the 4th quarter.

Add to that the fact that for some reason, the Wildcats love to pull off huge upsets on Homecoming and you might have yourself quite a ball game.

I'm bummed I won't be there to tailgate, participate in Frog Friday's and reminisce at Dirtbags after the game. I will be there in spirit, though.

Speaking of the Trojans ...

This is funny. The USC football team gets hypnotized. Either this hypnotism thing really works or the USC film school is really good.

How bad is the Pac-10? Only one team is ranked in the top 25 (USC).

Meanwhile, Arizona received six votes in the AP top 25.

If you're a Laker fan and a Jew you will find this Vic the Brick Jacobs signing bit funny.

Not sure how I missed this a few weeks ago, but Bill Simmons wrote a great article about Elgin Baylor.

Four main points from the article

• Baylor once averaged 38 points and 19 rebounds while playing only on weekends during the 1962 season because he was doing military service.
• He scored 71 points in a game against Wilt Chamberlain's team.
• Baylor was associated with the NBA for 50 years and was the oldest high ranking employee before he got unceremoniously canned by the Clippers.
• He made first team All-NBA in 10 of 11 seasons from 1959-69, and pretty much created the jump shot, the kind where you actually get hang time before you shoot.

The Stairs to stupidity

This, ladies and gentleman is the man who beat the Dodgers in game 4.

I present to you the quote of Matt Stairs, after his two run home run gave the Phillies a 7-5 lead.

“When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys — there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

Thanks for the thought Matt.
Now onto more inappropriateness.

Big Cajones

The blog rumor mill says that Kellen Winslow's undisclosed illness is actually a case of the big balls. Usually, that's something a soldier like Winslow would be proud of, but in this case its a disease called hydroceles, which usually occurs on males either 1-2 years old or 40.
Pro Football Talk, quoting a league source, says Winslow was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic because his balls swelled to the size of grapefruits."


What a day in Big D

If you thought Hard Knocks was a great publicity stunt, how about Tuesday.
Tony Romo is out four weeks with a pinkie injury, Felix Jones is out up to four weeks, the Cowboys trade three picks for Roy Williams, PacMan Jones is suspended for at least four games, and more importantly Brett Favre called Romo.
In other essential news, I made a phone call to my mother.

Coast to Coast

Here are a few things I noticed on my way from Los Angeles to Bristol.

• There won't be a shortage of corn any time soon.
• Speeding tickets in Iowa are a lot cheeper.
• Chicago is like a better smelling version of New York.
• People are insane no matter where they live as noticed by someone stalking Luke Walton.

(Note: Another person stalking Luke Walton's jumpshot was not found; neither was Walton's jumpshot)

• Did you know Elgin Baylor actually worked for the Clippers. Baylor is out as "general manager" of the Clippers but he could have basically kept doing the same thing he was doing."
  

A source told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that Baylor resigned because the Clippers were willing to let him retain his salary and title but were stripping him of any authority. The source also said the Clippers were willing to have him return in a consultant's role. The Clippers are now not expected to fill his position."

Someone should have informed Baylor that he already didn't have any authority.

• Cubs fans are more insane than everyone else. This Cubs fan is selling his allegiance.

Here's what I wrote prior to Saturday's Arizona game.
Go to the Pac-10 standings page and you may be shocked at what you see.
With a 2-0 record in conference and a 4-1 record overall, Arizona is at the top. The Wildcats have been blessed with an easy schedule but nonetheless, have produced against the teams they were supposed to beat. The offense hasn't scored less than 28 points in the first five games and against Washington, Arizona ran for 256 yards and gave up just 63 yards rushing on 2.3 yards per carry.

Here's what I have to say now:
It figures Arizona lost. Every time the Wildcats have a chance to be relevant, they lose. They lose when the opponent isn't intimidating but when the game matters. Like the loss to ASU that would have put them in a bowl. And this loss to Stanford when they had a chance to have the best record since the Desert Swarm just doesn't surprise me.

I bet my buddy Buller 10 bucks that Jordan Farmar would not be drafted by the Lakers a few years back. I lost. I figured there was no way the Pacers would pass him up when they clearly needed a point guard with the oft-injured Jamaal Tinsley being their starter. Instead, they took Shawne Williams and look how that's turned out. The Pacers traded Williams to the Mavericks for a bag of peanuts.

I may be wrong on Andrew Bynum. I thought it would take some time for the Lakers center to get back to last season's form. Here's a kid who's biggest knock coming out of high school was that he didn't love the game. The concern was that he wouldn't put in the time to get himself in shape. But he has. And thus far in the preseason, he's looked terrific. He put up 15 and 8 in 20 minutes in the first game and then six points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes in game 2. More importantly, he didn't lose the physical progress he made last offseason.

And 1
I don't like to mention politics on the Empire because I'm cynical about politicians actually following up on the millions of promises they make. Plus the Empire is neutral like Switzerland and doesn't want to affect opinion on this matter in any way.

Also, in no way am I proponent of Barack Obama but I do want to give him brownie points for mentioning Latvia in the second debate. Shout out to my home country.

Just had to throw that out there.

I love LA

For the first time since I was three years old and living in Latvia, the Dodgers advanced to the National League Championship series.

I guess it was a fitting end to my time in Los Angeles. The Dodgers pulled out three of their finest performances of the season and perhaps the past two decades.

And at the same time, they're not done. Still eight games to be won. An underdog for the entire playoffs, they'll have to do work on the road before they can return home. That's how I feel. I need to do work and hopefully, I'll one day return.

Words are powerful, but these last few days they have escaped me. It's been difficult to put the gratitude I feel into my vocabulary.

"You never know what happens when you leave some place you've been," Joe Torre said after the win.

I'm anxious and excited and at the same time somber. I've shared a lot of laughs and memories recently with a lot of people who mean a lot to me. I've listened to a lot of kind words and received generous going away presents, including a sick Tony Romo jersey.

I'll miss the city, but I'll miss the people in the city more.

I can only hope to do as well at my job as the Dodgers did this week. The way Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Kuroda dazzled their way past the vaunted Cubs lineup.

The Cubs, who led the NL in runs, scored just six runs in the three games.

I can only hope to have the kind of success James Loney had. Loney had six RBIs including the tone setting grand slam in Game 1.

I can only hope to have the kind of fun Manny Ramirez has had since he traded in his Red Sox for Dodger Blue. Manny wasn't too shabby either, hitting .500 with two home runs.

It's been a great ride. Now the next chapter awaits. For the Dodgers, it's the winner of the Phillies/Brewers.

For me, it's a new job at ESPN and a new coast, the East. A new home and a new lifestyle.

It's unchartered territory but the future appears bright.

Here's to both returning home victorious.

High Times

Three of the highest athletes in our history made headlines this week. Not surprisingly, two of them had drug related issues. We'll start however with one player, who's a failed drug test away from being banned from the NBA.

And the honor goes to...

Lamar Odom

The Lakers forward has been rumored to be relegated to a sixth man role. So here's what he had to say about the situation.

"He must have woke up and bumped his head. He probably hit his head on something -- boom," Odom said of Jackson. "To start off like that, you've got to be out of your . . . mind."

While he was rolling papers and texting Smush Parker to ask for another baggie, Odom went on to say...

"Everybody knows on my team I'll do whatever for the team," Odom said. "If you want me to be the mascot, whatever you want me to be. I'll be the doormat, the rug, whatever you want me to be."

Or in other words, I'll sit on the bench all game if you let me smoke the ganja.

Next up is...

Ricky Williams

The Dolphins running back is having a tough time right now. I mean it was his bye week and he had nothing to do. Ricky says it's hard to stay off the pot. Give the man a break.

"He said he successfully combated the latest urge to smoke by meditating instead, which gives him the same 'feeling of being free' as marijuana, according to the Miami Herald.

Don't fret pot fans, Ricky isn't giving up just yet.

"I'd be lying if I said I'm never going to do it again after I'm done," he said.

"I don't know. I don't spend much time thinking about it," he added as he licked his lips and stared at the green plants near the Dolphins practice facility.

"Oh, the possibilities," he thought.

And last but certainly not least is...

Darius Miles

The Celtics forward was so out of it he didn't even know why he failed his drug test. Seriously.

"I wish I knew. I really do wish I knew, but [Celtics president] Danny Ainge told me 'leave it alone,' so I left it alone," Miles said.

Ainge was actually telling D-Miles to leave (the bong) alone, but your boy was too busy taking another load.

By the way, Miles isn't appealing his 10-game suspension. Hmmm... That's a lot of free time. Maybe he should get together with Ricky and Lamar.