FOOTBALL

Oh my, oh my, oh my.  Thursday Night Football featured an inter-division match-up between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns have been awful this season, marked by a confused offense.  However, nobody expected the Browns to be any good, so this comes as no surprise.  The Steelers, on the other hand, are the defending Super Bowl champions.  People expected the world.  Pittsburgh has been on a losing streak lately, and if they wanted to make the playoffs, they needed to nab the easy victory against a 1-win Cleveland team.  Could they do it?

Well, it was a blistery cold night in Cleveland, and in these conditions it’s sort of anybody’s games.  Even the adrenaline and body heat of the players couldn’t alleviate the affects of the weather.  And boy did the Browns take advantage of that.  Their defense came out fierce, and intended to destroy the Steelers.  Mission accomplished.  Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked, count ’em, 8 times by the Browns. They smothered him.  Brady Quinn was horrible too for the Browns, but they got a rushing touchdown and two field goals to edge the victory.  Wow.  With this upset win, the Steelers playoffs hopes are almost certainly over.  Cleveland 13, Pittsburgh 6.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Boston Celtics looked to nab their ninth straight win. They would take on an unpredictable Washington Wizards team in the nation’s capital.  The Wizards have had an odd season.  Sometimes they get crushed by bad teams, then they show up two nights later and take a title contender to the wire.  Last night was no different, as the Wizards came out ready.  Their star Gilbert Arenas was in true form again with 25 points and 8 assists, and the game came down to the closing minutes.  But, good teams are good for a reason, and the hero of the night was the Celtics Rajon Rondo who slammed home a game-winning dunk.  The Wizards had one last chance, but Arenas couldn’t hit the final shot, and the Celtics extend their win streak to 10 games.  Boston 104, Washington 102.

And in college basketball, another nine game streak was on the line as undefeated #6 Syracuse took on #11 Florida.  However, unlike the Celtics, Syracuse is protecting a perfect record.  Well, their star, Rick Jackson, helped them get the job done.  He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and the Syracuse Orange keep their streak going too.  The good news for Florida — they have a strong team again after a 2 year absence from owning college basketball for two straight seasons.  Syracuse 85, Florida 73.