81 and 66

On Sunday, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points (55 in the second half) to lead the Lakers past the Raptors.

On Tuesday, Mario Lemieux retired from hockey.

Bryant's performance is the second earthquake he's caused this year just by playing awe-inspiring basketball (he had 62 and SAT OUT the fourth quarter in a game against the Mavericks). He is the best player in the game and is currently playing Michael Jordan (1988-1993) quality ball. Every opponent come into a game against the Lakers with one defensive goal: limit Kobe. The Raptors stink, but they led by 14 at halftime, knew where the ball would go and had no chance to stop Bryant. The Mavs do NOT stink, knew where the ball would go and had no chance to stop Bryant.

The tragedy of Bryant is that he's a narcissistic fool who rankled in the shadow of Shaquille O'Neal despite winning three NBA titles (Shaq won the MVP of each of those title series but Kobe had the single most important performance -- putting the Lakers on his shoulder in OT of game 4 against the Pacers in the first of the three Lakers' titles), who forced a trade from Charlotte to assuage his ego, and who is intelligent enough to manipulate those around him. Worse, he cares little for his image. Jordan polished and protected his image and ALWAYS took care with how he appeared to outsiders in general. Bryant seems to finally have matured a bit this year, but his greatness will always be tainted by his malevolent arrogance.

Lemieux is the contrast. A professional who transformed a backwater franchise into a champion, the six-time scoring champion, 3-time MVP and 2-time playoff MVP (same number of Conn Smythe trophies as Gretzky, despite fewer titles). Lemieux was the anti-Gretzky and Gretzky junior all in one: huge, strong, physically intimidating unlike Gretzky, but incredibly skilled as a skater, goalscorer and passer. Unlike the 1980s Islanders and the 1980s Oilers, the Pens lacked a cavalcade of future Hall of Famers, but they won a pair of Cups before a shocking loss to the Isles in 1993 ended their nascent dynasty and Lemieux chronic injuries took their next set of tolls. Lemieux is beloved because he played hard, battled back from injury (1991 playoffs), fought cancer and serious athletic ailments (back problems, mainly) that pale in contrast to his Hodgkin's Disease, rescued the Penguins when the franchise went bankrupt and dedicated his career to his team and his teammates. He should go down in history as the second-greatest hockey player ever.

If only Kobe could take lessons in class from Super Mario, his greatness wouldn't come with the Ty Cobb asterisk -- yeah, but he was a real SOB.