Shanoff's W.U.C.: LeBron, Signing Day, Duke

Today's Calls: LeBron vs. Kobe, Bama vs. Ohio State vs. LSU, Duke vs. Clemson, Wake vs. Oblivion, Oklahoma vs. Texas, Bernie Madoff vs. Sandy Koufax, Barry Bonds vs. the Feds, Derek Jeter vs. Joe Torre and More.

The Opening Pitch: I didn't think LeBron could top Kobe's 61 from Monday night. He did.

Kobe's 61 may have had the cachet of being the most points ever scored at Madison Square Garden — the most points scored by a single player this season, too.

LeBron out-did him.

Was LeBron's 52 more impressive than Kobe's 61? Not on its face. But putting up 62+ would have been inelegant. LeBron's version of can-you-top-this showcased why James is the superior all-around player — the best player in the NBA.

LeBron's triple-double made him the first player since Kareem in '75 to have 50 points AND a triple-double. (Kobe had a super-single: Sure, 61 points, but only 3 assists and 0 rebounds. The stats guys will crunch this better, but I suspect LeBron created more points than Kobe.)

Oh, and just in case you wondered if LeBron could score 60 — if he wanted to — James scored 20 in the first quarter, presumably to show he could easily top 61 — if he wanted to be a Kobe-style ball-hog and take all the shots himself.

(On top of all that, LeBron goes one-up on Kobe in one other way: Only LeBron and Michael Jordan have gone into MSG and scored 50+ more than once.)

Unfortunately, Kobe won't go back to the Garden until next season. But if he thought his "61" could stand for the season as the best performance ... it didn't even last 48 hours.

CFB: National Signing Day Insanity!

— Alabama has the No. 1 class! (Or is it LSU? Or is it Ohio State?)

Or is it the team, in four or five years, whose class has produced the most on the field? Bah: Delayed gratification wouldn't be any fun.) The fact is: The top recruiting ranking is meaningless; as long as a would-be national contender is in the Top 5 or Top 10, you're fine.

(That's why it is always so much fun to see the non-traditional programs crack the Top 25. This year, that would include UNC — consensus Top 10 class — and Stanford. Yes: Stanford! Question: Will Jim Harbaugh even be around to see this class through to their senior year?)

— Manti Te'o is going to ... Notre Dame? Qualify that as a surprise. I thought for sure that SN's HS P.O.Y. would stay closer to his Hawaii home by signing on the West Coast. Oh, and doesn't Te'o understand Notre Dame is terrible?

— The SEC rules recruiting: The conference put 10 teams — including surging Tennessee (which swiped two Florida commitments) and Mississippi State (27 commitments!) — in the Rivals and Scout Top 25s. Yes, there is a wealth of talent in the South, but SEC coaches are simply masters of recruiting.

SN's Brian McLaughlin has the other big storylines from National Signing Day to watch.

CBB Mania: Duke gets thumped, UNLV '90 style. If there were any sure things in the ACC, it was that Duke beats Clemson. It has happened 22 straight times. This Clemson team is pretty good, but so is Duke; there was no reason to think this result would be any different than the rest.

And yet: if it is possible for a team to redeem itself in one game to make up for nearly two dozen straight games of futility, Clemson pulled it off — they obliterated (yes, obliterated) Duke, delivering the Blue Devils their worst loss since that infamous Final Four pounding from UNLV in 1990.

More Bizarro ACC: Seriously, what's wrong with Wake Forest?! Mike DeCourcy credits Miami's sense of urgency. Shouldn't Canes fans have been focused on Signing Day?

Blake Griffin Double-Double Tracker: 16 and 14 (Griffin's 19th double-double in 22 games this season), and Oklahoma needed all of it to avoid being upset at home by Texas A&M.

Texas was not so fortunate: They lost their second straight game at home. Following Saturday's stunner to K-State, the Longhorns lost to Mizzou — with this season-defining win, the Tigers are suddenly crazy-unranked with 19 wins and a 6-2 record in the Big 12.

Bonds Watch: Most of us already figured Bonds was a cheater. The unsealed evidence is even more damning; the Feds are still a long way from conviction, but it feels closer.

NBA Injury Spotlight: Anthony Johnson. Without Jameer Nelson, the Magic were ... fine, actually. Replacement Anthony Johnson had a career-high 25 and the Magic crushed the Clippers by 29, in what seemed like a statement game as much as anything else. (The statement? No Nelson, no problem.)

Super Bowl Hangover: About Those Officiating Non-Calls ... NFL refs honcho Mike Pereira clarified a couple of things:

— Yes, Santonio Holmes should have been penalized for his "LeBron" celebration after his game-winning TD.

— No, Kurt Warner's final play wasn't an incomplete pass; it was a fumble — but it should have been reviewed by the ref anyway, even if he would have merely confirmed the call.

— If Larry Fitzgerald had tackled James Harrison short of the end zone on his 100-yard pick-6, the Steelers would have had one more play at the goal-line, because of the penalty on the Cards earlier in the play. As it was, Harrison made it into the end zone.

What does it all mean? Very little, although of any of them, it is easiest to say "What if?" about the Holmes TD penalty, which would have undoubtedly given the Cards much better field position from which to start their desperate last-second would-be game-winning TD drive.

NFL Coaching Carousel: Dan Reeves will not be joining the Cowboys after all. In a Tomlinized NFL universe, is there any room for the 65-year-old coaching Methuselah (started in '74) who has been out of coaching since 2003? Apparently not.

NFL Free Agency: Still three weeks away, but here's a starter list of the Top 10. (Psst, Titans: Mike Florio says you shouldn't be afraid to let Albert Haynesworth walk.)

Economy: One of Bernie Madoff's uber-Ponzi victims? Sandy Koufax. Say it ain't so, Sandy!

MLB Hot Stove: Want to see the epitome of delusion? Russell Martin. The Dodgers can be a playoff team without Manny? Ha, yeah: Good one. (How would the Dodgers' season have ended in '08 without Manny? Not in the playoffs.)

Torre Book Fall-Out, Cont'd: After the umpteenth straight day of being asked about it, at what point will the Yankees' so-called "captain" step up and criticize his old manager for throwing his current teammate under the bus? Supporting A-Rod isn't enough; where's the condemnation?

Readers in NYC: Varsity Letters Event Tonight! And it's a great one — Deadspin's Will Leitch reads from his book (now out in paperback, a must-have); L. Jon Wertheim on MMA; and David Harris on Bill Walsh. It's a free event. Get all the details here.

The Last Word: "It's something I am going to have to live with and something I'll have to grow from." — Michael Phelps, to the AP yesterday, about his adventure in recreational drug scandals.

"I know with all of the mistakes I made, I learned from them and that is what I expect to do from this. By no means it is fun for me, by no means is it easy."

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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