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.