Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates his 4-yard fourth quarter touchdown run with receiver Hines Ward in the 2006 AFC Championship against Denver. The Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XL with a win over the Broncos and surprised nearly everyone by beating Seattle to win their fifth NFL championship.

Joey Cheek grabbed a seat at the head table after the greatest race of his athletic career, very much aware that all those folks in front of him, with their cameras and microphones and notepads, would be hanging on his every word.

What did Cheek do with his moment in the spotlight at the Turin Olympics? Let's spice things up with a multiple-choice quiz:

A) He jumped on top of the table and unleashed an obscenity-filled rant about being the greatest speedskater in the history of the world.

B) He used the time to rip a rival, rattling off all sorts of perceived slights that showed a lack of respect.

C) He screamed out a shameless marketing ploy that lined his wallet with a wad of Benjamins. "Hey, everyone, I'm going to Disney World!"

And the answer is ... none of the above.

Instead of those tried-and-true tactics, Cheek announced to a stunned gathering that he was giving away his Olympic bonus — all $25,000 — to help refugees of a devastating war in Africa.

"I do a pretty ridiculous thing. I skate around in tights," he said. "But because I skated well, I have a chance to bring exposure to bigger things."

In this era of self-aggrandizing, where every act seems calculated to land a spot on "SportsCenter" (did someone say T.O.?), Cheek's selfless act might have been the biggest stunner of the year.

Not that there weren't plenty of surprises across the sporting landscape. The Pittsburgh Steelers rode a Bus all the way to a Super Bowl title. The Atlanta Braves failed to make the baseball playoffs for the first time since Dubya's daddy was president. The University of Florida — deep in the heart of football country — won a national championship in men's basketball, of all things. The New Orleans Saints inspired their hurricane-ravaged city to get back on its feet, returning to the Big Easy in time for an unexpected run to the NFL playoffs.

As always, the games and those who play them found plenty of ways to veer away from the projected script, which makes it a little easier to comprehend how the World Series could include the Detroit Tigers, just three years removed from a 119-loss season, and not the New York Yankees, whose bloated payroll and all-star roster was only good enough to earn a first-round exit from the playoffs.

Even those who surprised got a chance to see how the other half lives. After reaching the Fall Classic for the first time since 1984, the Tigers suddenly took on the look of a favorite. Alas, Detroit was shunted aside in five listless games by the St. Louis Cardinals, who barely made the playoffs and wound up having the fewest regular-season wins (83) of any Series champion.

"I think we shocked the world," Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds said.

The Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl title with a group that hardly matched up to their first four champions — the Steel Curtain dynasty, with its roster full of Hall of Famers.

Other than Jerome "the Bus" Bettis, the running back whose next stop is Canton, Pittsburgh was a largely anonymous, working-class team that fit right in with its Terrible Towel-waving faithful and that iron-jawed coach, Bill Cowher.

The Steelers had to win their last four regular-season games just to make the playoffs. Then, they beat the NFL's top teams: Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver and Seattle, all away from home. The 21-10 triumph over the Seahawks made Pittsburgh the first No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl.

For Bettis, it was a poignant farewell. He finally won his first title — in his hometown of Detroit, no less — then retired to the broadcast booth as the league's No. 5 career rusher.

"This is why I started 13 years ago," Bettis said. "Along the way, I amassed a lot of yards and a lot of Pro Bowls, but none of that was significant because it wasn't the team goals. The team goal has always been to win a championship, and now I have a championship."

The Braves have plenty of championships, though most of them are of the regular-season variety. Beginning with the worst-to-first season of 1991, they put together an amazing run of 14 straight division titles — unmatched in any of the four major sports.

The streak ended with a resounding thud in 2006. Atlanta didn't even get a chance to do its usual postseason flop, plodding to the finish in third place, 18 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

"It does feel as bad as I thought it would," said John Smoltz, the only guy who was there from the first division title to the last. "Not the fact that we're not in. It's the fact that we're not even close."