FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it was Thursday Night Football between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.  This was a pretty dull game, with exception of Ben Roethlisberger getting hit hard and laying in the middle of the field convinced his leg was broken.  Fortunately, he was able to get up, and realize it was just a twisted ankle.  Most coaches would keep their star quarterback out of the game, but not Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.  He left Big Ben in the game, and in the 4th quarter, Roethlisberger connected with the ultra-speedy Antonio Brown for a 79 yard touchdown pass.  The Steelers are now 10-3 and trying to get that first round playoff bye.  Pittsburgh 14, Cleveland 3.

BASEBALL

The Albert Pujols sweepstakes are finally over.  The Cardinals said that they did everything in their power to keep Pujols as the key part of their organization.  But in the end, they just couldn’t make it happen.  So who was the lucky winner?  None other than the Angels of Los Angeles.  They signed the 2nd Highest Contract ever to make Pujols an Angel for the next 10 years (aka the rest of his career).  The deal is worth $252 Million dollars and should keep Pujols sleeping comfortably at night.  The Angels also added left-handed pitcher C.J. Wilson from the Rangers, and are clearly dead set on getting back into first place in the AL West.  All this spending most likely comes because of the woes of their cross town rival, the Dodgers.  The Dodgers are having ownership problems and it seems they probably won’t right the ship for at least the next few years.  This is a good time for the Angels to acquire a new younger fan base when they will have little competition.

BASKETBALL

Finally, the big news of the day came out of the NBA.  In a blockbuster trade, the Hornets agreed to send superstar Chris Paul to the Lakers in a 3-team deal.  The trade would send Paul to LA, who in turn would ship Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets.  Odom was completely shocked by the news, saying he didn’t even receive a phone call about it.  He felt disrespected by the Lakers, saying he thought he would be there for life.  But here’s the crazy thing — just 2 hours after the trade was executed, it was VETOED by David Stern.  This came from a protest by all the owners asking him to cancel the trade.  It remains to be seen why, but as of now, Paul isn’t reporting to either Lakers or Hornets camp.  This will most likely be settled soon, and when it is, it looks like the Lakers are back!  Now… can they get Dwight Howard?