While the Browns try to figure things out (still), elsewhere in Cleveland sports, one team heads up while the others heads down.

Like two elevators passing in the night.

Or some other lyrical comparison.

The lesson from both: Teams never define themselves with starts or portions of a season … they define themselves over a full season.

Way back early in the Cavs season folks were pretty pleased. Kyrie Irving made a big impression, and the team was sniffing a playoff spot. Tuesday night, though, things hit bottom.

There are reasons the Cavs are stumbling to the end. Irving and Anderson Varejao are hurt, and the team has not had time to build the depth to replace them. But there is nothing but embarrassment for a team trailing another really bad NBA team by 50 points after three quarters. For the Cavs to be down 100-50 to Detroit is  a lesson in humility, and reality.

As good as Irving has been, and as positive as his future seems, the Cavs have a ways to go.

The Indians, meanwhile, got torched by a lot of folks after the first series. Count me among those who probably jumped the gun about their hitting.

Because since they’ve been on the road they’ve been mashing the ball like it’s nobody’s business.

Tuesday night, while the Cavs were wallowing their way to a 50-point deficit, the Indians were coming back from a 7- 1 deficit to win in Seattle.

Among the notes sent out by the team are these:

—The Indians are hitting .333 in the four road games, with 11 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 41 runs scored.

—They are two games behind Detroit, and over .500 (heading into Wednesday’s game).

—They’ve gotten a hit from every starting position player the last three games.

—Shelley Duncan is hitting, Casey Kotchman seems to have found his missing swing and Travis Hafner is driving the ball.

—The Indians are second in baseball in runs scored and tied for third in home runs.

The hitters will not average 10 runs per game all season. If they did it would be historic.  But the Indians are playing in a way that makes a person wonder whether Johnny Damon was worth it. Really, you’d kind of wonder that even if they weren’t hitting. The Indians are not as good a hitting team as they’ve been on the road, but evidently they weren’t as bad as they looked at home either.

The lesson learned?  Seasons are long. Things balance out.