Wednesday, 19 December 2012 06:59

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Steelers/NFL

-Mike Tomlin downplayed Ben Roethlisberger's (above) frustrations with Todd Haley's offense.

-Remember when the Steelers had a running game ... earlier this season?

-The Steelers placed Willie Colon (knee) and DeMarcus Van Dyke (shoulder) on injured reserve and signed former Gateway/Penn State cornerback Justin King.

The Browns placed safety T.J. Ward (knee) and linebacker James-Michael Johnson (knee) on injured reserve.

-The Bills signed former Steelers guard Kraig Urbik (right) to a four-year contract extension worth $15 million.

-Buffalo placed wide receiver Donald Jones (calf) on the non-football/illness reserve and linebacker Arthur Moats (ankle) on injured reserve.

-Broncos center Quentin Saulsberry was suspended four games for violating the league's performance enhancement policy.

-The Dolphins claimed cornerback Dimitri Patterson off waivers from the Browns.

-The Chargers placed wide receiver Malcolm Floyd (ankle), running back Ryan Mathews (clavicle) and former South Park/Clairion tackle Reggie Wells (ankle and toe) on injured reserve.

-The Jets benched quarterback Mark Sanchez in place of Greg McElroy.

-The Bears placed running back Michael Bush (ribs) on injured reserve.

-Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz visited the family of Michael Pinto, one of the 20 children killed in Friday's mass shooting in Newton, Conn. Pinto was a fan of the Giants and Cruz.

Penguins/NHL

-"Being home for that long over the holidays, I might put on a few pounds." - Sidney Crosby (right) on having an extended holiday vacation due to the lockout.

-Crosby won't make a decision on potentially playing in Europe until early next month.

-According to Hannes Biedermann of derStandard.at, an Austrian news site, Dustin Jeffrey (right) has left Medvescak Zagreb of Austria's EBEL for the holidays but extended his contract with the team provided the lockout continues. He is scheduled to to rejoin Medvescak Zagreb Jan. 4.

-After scoring six goals in his first nine games of the season, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Paul Thompson has gone cold with only one score in the following 13 games.

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins released former Mercyhurst goaltender Ryan Zapolski from his professional tryout agreement.

-Chris Barton scored two goals for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-1 win against the Greenville Road Warriors. Cody Chupp added a goal and an assist for Wheeling while teammate Luke Pither recorded two assists. Peter Delmas made 20 saves in the victory.

College Basketball

-Pitt faces Delaware State tonight.

-Duquesne guard Derrick Colter plays on despite a heavy heart.

-Kendrick Perry scored 15 for Youngstown State which lost to South Florida, 72-54.

-Mark Lyons had 14 points for No. 4 Arizona in a 89-64 defeat of Oral Roberts.

-No. 7 Kansas got 21 points from Deshaun Thomas which defeated Winthrop, 65-55.

-Jeff Withey (right) score 17 points for No. 9 Kansas in a 87-59 rout of Rchmond.

-No. 18 San Diego State got 17 points from Xavier Thames in a 76-49 win against Point Loma Nazarene.

-Gary Harris and Denzel Valentine each scored 12 points for No. 20 Michigan which beat Bowling Green, 64-53.

Lorenzo Brown posted 24 points for No. 25 North Carolina State in a 88-79 win against Stanford.

College Football

-Pitt will likely enter the BBVA Compass Bowl without a full-time defensive coordinator.

-Kent State promotes defensive coordinator Paul Haynes to head coach.

Pirates/MLB

-The Rays signed pitcher Roberto Hernandez to a one-year contract.

-The Athletics signed Japanese all-star shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima to a two-year contract.

(Photos: Roethlisberger-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette; Urbik-Al Bello/Getty Images; Crosby-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Withey-Orlin Wagner/Associated Press)