Is December finally over? Is it really 2008? Thank goodness, not to wish our lives away.

Has there ever been a crueler month to the Pittsburgh sports teams?

I'm not talking about broken hearts and shattered dreams. The agony caused by Sid Bream's slide in October '92, David Volek's goal in May '93 and Neil O'Donnell's interceptions in January '96 won't soon be equaled, although they might argue that point in West Virginia after the December they just had down there. I'm talking about broken bones and shattered ligaments. It was a crippling month, both literally and figuratively.

In December, the Steelers lost their best defensive player, their Pro Bowl running back who was leading the NFL in rushing and their best pass blocker.

In December, the Pitt men's basketball team lost its best player and a steady senior who had started 48 consecutive games.

In December, the Penguins lost their franchise goaltender, a top-two defenseman and their emotional leader.

Injuries happen every day in all sports, but that's just ridiculous.

How ridiculous is it, you ask?

So ridiculous that I'm sitting here this morning in a dense fog with a painful hangover that has nothing to do with New Year's Eve imbibing and everything to do with trying to figure out what was worse -- the night of Dec. 20 when the Steelers lost running back Willie Parker with a broken right leg and Pitt lost senior forward Mike Cook with a torn left knee ligament, or Saturday night, the 29th, when Pitt lost heartbeat Levance Fields with a broken left foot and the Penguins lost gritty Gary Roberts with a fractured left fibula.

How are you supposed to pick between those two awful nights?

It's terrible what has happened to the Steelers. Their defense has been burned almost beyond recognition since defensive end Aaron Smith went out for the season with a torn biceps Dec. 9 at New England. Now they must play Jacksonville in a first-round playoff game Saturday night without Parker and offensive tackle Marvel Smith, who had back surgery last week?

It's hard to think it won't be terrible what has happened to Pitt. The huge win Dec. 20 against Duke and the even better football win Dec. 1 at poor West Virginia were tremendous, but, apparently, somebody at Pitt made a rotten deal with the devil to get them. The football team lost All-Big East Conference wide receiver Derek Kinder before the season and quarterback Bill Stull in the first game; now the basketball team has lost Cook and Fields -- its treasured point guard -- within a 10-day period. That's two-fifths of the starting lineup gone, just like that. That's not right.

The Penguins would seem to have the best chance of hanging on, at least until goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury comes back -- presumably in late January or early February -- from his right high-ankle sprain, which happened in a game Dec. 6 at Calgary. It won't be easy, though, not without defenseman Mark Eaton, who had the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee torn Dec. 23, and now Roberts, who, despite being 41, brings so much energy to the team with his feistiness and his maniacal workout regime.

The games will go on, of course. Don't they always go on? You might have heard something about the outdoor hockey game they are scheduled to play in Buffalo this afternoon. Certainly, you will hear plenty about the Steelers-Jaguars game this week. And Pitt opens its Big East season on the road against tough Villanova Sunday afternoon after first trying life without Fields against Lafayette at home tomorrow night.

As Steelers coach Mike Tomlin put it so well after Parker's injury on the turf in St. Louis, "We're not going to throw a pity party. Nobody cares about our problems. They're probably glad we got 'em."

The Steelers, Penguins and Pitt have plenty, thank you very much.

There's just one more thing to say:

Good riddance, December. We're so glad to see you go.