Today's Calls: Rick Neuheisel vs. Skip Holtz, Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia, Adrian Beltre vs. Stephen Drew, Tom Brady vs. Joe Flacco, Fresno State vs. Utah vs. BYU, Man City vs. Man U. and More.

The Opening Pitch: So what did you miss during the long weekend?

College Football: Most impressive team? USC. Top Heisman contender? Pat White. Biggest storyline: Beanie Wells' foot. Biggest hilarity: The Tobacco Road sky-diving debacle.

MLB: CC Sabathia's "No No-No".

NFL: Chad Ocho Cinco. Only the greatest name in NFL history.

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson will have none of your Kyle Busch talk.

NBA: Monta Ellis didn't fake his injury –- just its explanation, apparently.

OK, now you're caught up. (No, wait: NOW you're caught up.) Let's get going. ...

CFB: U-C-L-A! Last night's win over No. 18 Tennessee may have been Rick Neuheisel's best single-game coaching job of his career.

Starting a 3rd-string QB against a Top 20 team (an SEC team, no less) under the spotlight of national TV, the Bruins pulled off an OT win.

Sorry, East Carolina: The most surprising result of college football's opening weekend came in its final game.

Meanwhile, Fresno State staked its claim as a BCS-buster, traveling all the way to New Jersey to shut down Rutgers.

Injury Watch: Beanie Wells was held out of practice, which is unsurprising; Jeremy Maclin might play Saturday, which is surprising.

MLB Instant History: Cliff Lee is a lock for the AL Cy. He became the first MLB pitcher to win 20, but more impressively, his 2.32 ERA leads all MLB SPs and his K-BB ratio is better than 5-1. And just for show, yesterday, he shut out the leader of the AL Central.

MLB Distant History: I'm fairly confident in saying that few living fans have ever seen what happened yesterday, when two players (Adrian Beltre, Stephen Drew) hit for the cycle on the same day for the first time since 1920.

Does Brewers GM Doug Melvin read this column? Probably not: It's simply good sense to suggest that MLB change their ludicrous policy around having the ruling of the hometown "official scorer" be final. (For those of you who missed yesterday, CC's no no-no was the lead.)

More: The only way the Red Sox can seem to gain on the Rays is by winning when the Rays aren't playing. ... Injury Watch: Ben Sheets (naturally). ... Milestones: Greg Maddux is tied with Roger Clemens for 8th on the all-time win list, and Carlos Delgado is tied with Jose Canseco for 31st on the all-time HR list. ... Walkoff Watch: John Baker hit a walkoff sac-fly for Florida. ... Too little, too late for A-Rod and the Yankees. ...

NFL: Tom Brady mocks your Web speculation that he isn't ready to start the season. He says he's ready to go; Belichick says nothing.

*The Ravens will start rookie Joe Flacco by default. He's the only healthy QB on the team. (They even tried out Joey Harrington.)

*Cuts? What cuts? RB Rudi Johnson almost immediately signs with the RB-light Lions; WR Ashley Lelie signs with the RB-heavy Raiders.

*Wait, why won't Ocho Cinco talk about his new name -- and what about the all-important question: Will it be on his jersey on Sunday?

*Travis Henry is the new Pacman: But while Adam Jones' lost year was about conduct, Henry's suspension was for a substance abuse violation.

*Though there is no official word yet, thankfully it seems like New Orleans and the Superdome may be OK to host the Saints' opener.

Soccer: Robinho isn't joining Chelsea after all. Manchester City, newly flush with UAE cash, paid a Premiership record US$58.5 million transfer fee to Real Madrid to snag the thrilling 24-year-old Brazilian forward. (Meanwhile, it was a busy day in Manchester, as United coughed up a club-record transfer fee for Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov.) European soccer teams mock your U.S. trade deadlines.

Crime Watch: Koby Clemens arrested. But was he "inkarcerated?"

Politics: I expect Baron Davis' blog endorsement of Barack Obama to become a pop-up trend among athletes heading into the final 60-ish days of the Presidential campaign.

The only question is whether the athletes will be asked their preferences by reporters, filtered through traditional media, or announced on the athlete's own platform, like a blog.

The Last Word: Yes, the NFL season starts in two days. Get the shallowest preview available anywhere starting tomorrow right here (storylines) and capping Thursday with predictions.

Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.

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