Or, in the case of head coach Mo Cassara’s game night wardrobe choice, it’s sometimes better to change nothing at all.

The Hofstra Pride may be a mediocre 6-7 so far this season, but Cassara’s suit is a perfect 4-0 after his team forced 18 first-half turnovers, built a 19-point second-half lead, and held on down the stretch for a surprising 83-75 upset victory over the Iona Gaels (10-3) before 4,258 fans at the Mack Sports Complex on Thursday night.

After a 2-1 start to the season, the Pride lost six of its next seven games. Hofstra’s only win in that stretch was ten-point victory over talented Cleveland State (12-2), during which Cassara sported a dark gray suit with a white shirt and yellow tie.

Some coaches go back to the drawing board after results like that.

Cassara however, consulted his closet, and out came the same ensemble for Hofstra’s next two games – a 20-point domination of Binghamton and a 23-point thrashing of Colgate, each at home.

Naturally, Cassara went back to his strong suit again, this time, to beat Iona, the preseason Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference favorite.

“I’ve worn this suit the last three games,” a relaxed Cassara confessed after the win. “I actually wore it for the Cleveland State game. Same socks, same shoes, same shirt. I’m actually excited to get it dry cleaned because that means we’re starting to play pretty well [again].”

Hofstra did, on Thursday night, to the dismay of Iona, which came out flat and sloppy, committing a season-high 23 turnovers, 18 in the opening half, when the Pride held a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers to build a 43-28 lead by intermission, after closing the final 8:32 of the half on a game-turning 21-6 run.

The Pride scored the first four points of the second half to extend its advantage to a game-high lead of 47-28 (matched twice later) on a jumper by senior guard Mike Moore, who rebounded from a poor 1-for-6 start from the field, to finish 8-for-17 from the floor (including 4-for-9 from three-point range) and lead all scorers with 24 points.

Unlike in some of the Pride’s losses this season, Moore this time, had enough help, especially from a pair of players – senior guard/forward Nathaniel Lester and junior forward David Imes – whom the Pride had counted on as being the second and third scoring options to Moore, but who had largely disappointed this year.

Eclipsing 13 points for just the third time this year, Lester added 21 points (14 in the second half) on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and ten rebounds, and Imes (16 points, game and season-high 15 rebounds) finished well above his season averages of 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Cassara knows he’ll need that type of production from his forwards if Hofstra is to continue its turnaround, and he’s hoping that a win over the Gaels this year will have the same effect that a humbling 25-point loss was to Iona exactly a year ago.

“Last year at Iona was a turning point for us,” Cassara said. “From that point on, we played very well for the rest of the season.” In Cassara’s rookie year as a Division I head coach last season, the Pride went on to its highest finish (tied for second place) in the Colonial Athletic Association.

This time, performing so well against Iona might be just what Imes and Lester needed to help Hofstra get hot again.

“It’s a big confidence booster,” Imes said. “I needed that.”

Lester, who entered the game shooting just 36.9 percent from the field for the season, added, “Seeing the ball go through the basket helps [my] confidence, it puts confidence in my teammates, and [can] help us get on a roll.”

Senior point guard Dwan McMillan also outplayed former high school (St. Benedict’s Prep, NJ) teammate and Iona star Scott Machado (who entered with 14.3 points and 10.4 assists per game).

With junior point guard Stevie Mejia sitting out for the fifth time in six games with an injury, McMillan played the entire game, scoring ten points, handing out nine assists, and committing four turnovers.

Machado meanwhile, scored just five points and committed a game-high six turnovers despite posting a game-high ten assists before fouling out with 2:37 left.

The Pride maintained as much as a 13-point lead until Harlem, NY product and University of Arizona transfer Lamont “Momo” Jones, who scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, helped keep Iona in the game. The Gaels closed to within seven points on five separate occasions in the final 7:46, but could get no closer.

Both Jones and head former C.W. Post (Division II) head coach Tim Cluess (who was passed over by Hofstra when the Pride hired Cassara) each admitted that some Iona players were more concerned about their families and friends in attendance, and finally getting to play near their own New Rochelle, NY campus again, after a starting a road swing 6-1, at mostly much further locales than Hempstead.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Jones said. “I think we were too happy to be [near] home, not really taking this game as we would have, naturally, on the road [further from home].”

Cluess added, “I knew we were in a little bit of trouble when it became more about tickets for the game than about the game itself.”

He also thought his team was complacent from its earlier season success and some resulting media publicity, while praising Hofstra.

“I thought they played a heck of a game right from the get-go,” Cluess said. “They came with more energy than us, [and] they played harder than us, right from the start. It looked like it meant more to them than it did to our guys… I think our guys were drinking the Kool-Aid a little too much… way too many second-chance opportunities. I think 45 of their 83 points were handed to them.”

The first-year Division I head coach was referring to Hofstra 26 points off of turnovers, 13 second-chance points, and six fast break points. In contrast, the Pride gave the Gaels 33 easy points, including 18 points off of 16 Hofstra turnovers and ten fast break points, but just five second-chance points.

Powerful star senior forward and Bronx native Mike Glover (20 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field), who scored six of Iona’s first ten points on three dunks, chimed in on the intensity shown by the Gaels’ opponents, saying, “I think they were very hungry.”

Reflecting on his team’s other big win this season, Cassara said, “Probably on paper, the two best teams that we’ve played this year are Cleveland State and Iona, RPI-wise, record-wise, everything-wise, personnel-wise, and we’ve beaten both of them, so we certainly have the capability to be very competitive.”

As for the lucky suit?

Cassara didn’t say if he’d wear it for Hofstra’s next game, on Monday night at 7 pm ET, when Hofstra (0-1 CAA) hosts last year’s Final Four participant Virginia Commonwealth (10-3, 0-1 CAA), as the calendar turns to 2012 and the schedule focuses exclusively on conference play (except for a February non-conference Bracketbuster game) for the remainder of the regular season.

Being able to wear a lot more post-victory smiles however, would suit Cassara just fine.

* * *

Notes: In attendance, were well-known WFAN (New York) sports radio talk show host Mike Francessa (opposite the Hofstra bench) and to the left of the Iona bench, along the west baseline, former NBA player Wally Szcerbiak (who starred at nearby Cold Spring Harbor high school) and his father and ex-ABA player Walter Szcerbiak.

Yet, even for a team which has become used to exceeding expectations this season, the Pride’s latest win – rallying for an exhilarating 92-90 overtime victory over CAA rival James Madison (15-6, 5-4) before 2,324 fans at the Mack Sports Complex on Monday night – provided another revelation about the grit, determination and growth which has thus far propelled Hofstra (14-6, 8-1) to this point in the season.

Like the early part of season, which saw the Cassara regime stumble to a 1-3 start with only a lone win over Division III Farmingdale State, much looked lost for the Pride against JMU on Monday night.

The team that lost two head coaches (one to another head coaching job, another to a drunken driving charge), two all-CAA rookie starters (who subsequently defected to other schools), and another key player to an injury during the offseason blew early leads of 7-0 and 13-5, and led just 17-16 with 10:44 left in the opening half.

A three-pointer by junior guard Mike Moore (14 points, 7 rebounds) pushed Hofstra’s lead back to 22-16, just 1:01 later. But, the Dukes closed the half on a 25-6 run to lead, 41-28, at halftime, and JMU extended that margin to a game’s largest advantage, 43-28, just 27 seconds into the second half.

Leading the way for JMU to that point were senior forward Denzel Bowles (team-high 27 points, 10 rebounds) and junior forward Julius Wells (23 points), who combined to outscore Hofstra themselves in the first half (Bowles scored 15 points and Wells had 14 points before halftime).

Bowles gave the Dukes a 52-38 lead on a jumper with 14:47 left, but freshman guard Shemiye McClendon (14 of Hofstra’s 16 bench points) scored three points before and after Jenkins (game-high 35 points, 11-19 fg, 11-13 ft) scored five points during an 11-0 Hofstra spurt that pulled the Pride to within 52-49, with 11:22 left in regulation.

However, four different Dukes scored during a 17-9 run, to push JMU’s lead back to 69-58, with 6:34 remaining in the second half.

Hofstra though, began to move the ball nicely to get right back in the game again. Senior Australian point guard Brad Kelleher (10 points, team-high 5 assists, 1 turnover) made a three-pointer and a pair of free throws, and then nice skip passes by Moore and Kelleher on consecutive three-pointers by Jenkins and McClendon highlighted an 11-2 Pride run which cut the Dukes’ lead to just 71-69, with 3:33 left in the half, forcing a JMU timeout.

The Dukes would twice build a five-point lead, but two free throws from Jenkins and a layup by Moore pulled Hofstra to within 76-75, with 1:16 remaining in regulation.

Russian sophomore forward Andrey Semenov (10 points, 8-8 ft, off the bench) hit two free throws to extend JMU’s lead to 78-75 with 53.4 seconds left in the half, but a nice swooping layup along the right blocks by Kelleher trimmed JMU’s lead to 78-77, with 38.2 seconds left in the half.

Sophomore guard Devon Moore (13 points, game-high 8 assists) made one free throw but a lane violation by Semenov denied Moore a second attempt, and JMU led 79-78.

McClendon then made two free throws to tie the game, 79-79, with 17.6 seconds left in regulation.

Devon Moore drove along the left blocks looking for a game-winning basket, but sophomore guard Yves Jules (Brooklyn, NY), who only played four minutes, and whose only box score contribution was a single steal, typified what Cassara has been preaching to his team about the little things it takes to compete for a conference title.

Jules stripped Moore and time ran out, sending the game to overtime, with Hofstra riding momentum.

“I don’t think anybody in [the media room after the game] probably thought we’d be 8-1 [in CAA play] right now, including myself,” said Cassara. “But, this team is coming together as a group and as a family, and we believe in each other. One thing I’m really proud of is our bench is [mentally] into the game every game, and that’s the type of stuff that’s going to continue to help us win games…Yves Jules who didn’t play a lot of minutes, comes in and plays three great defensive possessions for us.”

Nicknamed “The Jury Box” by his teammates, Jules, who averages just 8.4 minutes per game, helps set the defensive tone in practice for the Pride.

We call him the “Jury Box” because he locks up with his defensive ability. He gets us going all the time and all his stuff starts on defense.”

That was an area that needed considerable improvement after halftime for Hofstra to be able to rally to victory. “I think we got complacent on defense,” Cassara said about his team’s ability to take “The Jury Box’s” cue and lock in defensively after Hofstra built its early lead.

But, a switch from an earlier zone defense helped turn things around. JMU shot 48.5 percent (16-for-36) from the field in the opening half, but just 37 percent (10-for-27) from the floor in the second half.

“The one thing we have to do is switch our defenses, said Cassara, “and once we did that, [it helped us] win. We went to man-to-man and that really helped us.”

In contrast to JMU, the Pride caught fire after halftime, outscoring JMU 51-38 in the second half and 13-11 in overtime. Hofstra shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) from the field after shooting 41.9 percent (13-for-31) in the first half.

A free throw and jumper by Jenkins, a three-pointer by McClendon, and a couple of free throws by Moore sparked an 8-1 Hofstra run that gave the Pride a 90-83 lead with 2:05 left in the extra session, but JMU scored the next six points on a three-pointer by Wells and a three-point play by Bowles, to cut the Pride’s lead to 90-89, with 53.1 seconds left in the game.

That’s when another freshman off of Hofstra’s bench, forward Stephen Nwaukoni (Queens, NY), came through for the Pride.

Like McClendon in the final seconds of regulation, Nwaukoni coolly hit a pair of free throws to extend Hofstra’s lead to 92-89, with 4.6 seconds remaining.

Cassara was especially proud that his two freshmen came through with the poise of upperclassmen in such big spots.

“You have two freshmen,” he said. “One hit two free throws at the end of regulation and one hit two free throws in overtime. I tell our guys every day in practice, free throws are going to win us [games].”

It was no accident that the two freshmen stepped up, especially Nwaukoni, whose effort was noted by Jenkins, an extremely hard worker himself.

“He’s always here an hour early, shooting free throws, working on his game,” Jenkins said of Nwaukoni. “Before he took those free throws, I told him, you worked too hard not to make these.”

Getting to the foul line was a particular point of emphasis for Cassara during intermission. “I jumped on our guys at halftime and told them [that] we only had one free throw in the first half,” Cassara said.

Actually, neither team shot many free throws in the first half (JMU was 3-for-5, Hofstra was 0-for-1), but the Dukes ended up 25-for-33 at the foul line, making 18 of 21 free throws in the second half. The Pride sank 15 of 16 second-half free throws and finished 21-for-23 at the foul line.

Rather than rely on a defensive stop, Cassara then elected to put the Dukes on the foul line. McClendon immediately fouled Wells near midcourt with 3.9 seconds left.

Wells made the first free throw, but missed the second. Jenkins pulled down his third rebound and time expired, giving Hofstra its third straight win following its only conference loss of the season.

Continuing the usual tradition after each home game, an appreciative Jenkins and his teammates visited the Lion’s Den, the Hofstra Student section behind the basket near the opposing team’s bench. “If my arms were big enough, I’d give the whole student section a big hug,” said a smiling Jenkins.

The contributions of senior forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) — who had 13 points and game-highs of 11 rebounds and 5 blocks – and the Pride getting Bowles running and fatigued helped Hofstra down the stretch.

“Greg Washington deserves a ton of credit,” said Cassara. “He just did a great job [defending Bowles down the stretch]. And, the one thing we wanted to do was get [Bowles] up and down the court and I think you saw in the last three or four minutes [of regulation] and in overtime, he was kind of laboring a little bit, and our plan worked.”

Cassara called the victory “a great win,” and said, “I’m just so proud of the way our guys hung in there.”

If half-year conference awards were given out, the first-half CAA Coach of the Year would undoubtedly go to Cassara, yet the rookie Division I head coach remains humble and hungry to make his team better.

“I’m a work in progress very much like [my players],” he said. “But, they believe in what I’m telling them and what our staff is telling them, and that’s half the battle. Once they believe in it, I think we can continue to execute even better.”

The key to Hofstra’s success to this point in the season has been focusing on the present rather than dwelling on all that the Pride had to overcome since last season.

“We have every excuse not to be successful,” said Jenkins, who once again played before several NBA scouts on Monday night. “We had all the odds against us. We’ve got a first-year head coach who lost all these players and we had all these things happen in the offseason, and our ability to just let everything go and just play basketball, is just starting to show… our guys are really buying in and playing hard.”

Jenkins’ second-highest scoring output of the season places him just 35 points shy of the Hofstra all-time scoring record of 2,276 career points (set by Jenkins’ former teammate Antoine Agudio, two years ago).

But, personal accolades have never meant much to Jenkins, the nation’s third-leading scorer and the country’s current active career scoring leader. Instead, his primary goal throughout a brilliant college career has been to get his team to the NCAA tournament.

“More importantly, my team is winning,” he said.

So, how satisfying has the winning been for a team that was picked fifth in the CAA and which is the only non-traditional CAA power that is currently positioned for a first-round bye in the CAA tournament with three other perennial CAA mainstays?

“I can’t say it’s satisfying yet,” said Jenkins. “We have a long way to go. If you ask me that question in March, maybe I’ll have a different answer.”

The next step toward finding that fulfillment will be a first-place showdown at Virginia Commonwealth (16-5, 8-1) on Thursday at 7pm ET, before Hofstra returns home to The Mack against Drexel, on Saturday at 4pm ET.

There have of course, have been many games on the Hofstra campus over that time, that were much bigger than the Pride’s non-conference meeting with the Wagner Seahawks at the Mack Sports Complex on Friday night.

But, for this Wagner, the matchup was personal.

Not only was it the 100th career game for senior guard Charles Jenkins, who maintained his pace to leave Hofstra as the school’s all-time leading scorer, but Friday’s game represented the all-important battle of Alma Mater vs. Namesake.

Okay, admittedly, I was pulling for the Hofstra Alma Maters all along, which is understandable, since Wagner (the writer) hasn’t followed Wagner (the college basketball team) that closely, while staying on top of just about every dribble of Pride, or Hofstra Flying Dutchmen, basketball since the early 1990’s.

Although, perhaps I should have been more in tune to the Namesakes (2-2) for a few reasons (shame on me for not).

For one, they’re headed by basketball royalty, including first-year head coach Dan Hurley (who helped build the legendary St. Benedict’s Prep, in New Jersey, into one of the top high school programs in the nation), and his older brother Bobby Hurley, the former St. Anthony’s high school (N.J.) and Duke University star who once had a promising NBA career as the seventh overall pick in the 1993 draft, until a bad car accident helped to eventually derail his professional career much too soon.

The older Hurley is now an assistant coach to Dan Hurley with Wagner, as is Luke Murray, the son of actor and comedian Bill Murray, who was rooting on his son, behind the Namesakes’ bench on Friday night.

One other big reason to have paid more attention to the Namesakes, is witnessing another New Jersey product, 6-foot-1 freshman guard, Latif Rivers (from Elizabeth, NJ), who  tried to almost single-handedly shoot down the Alma Maters, with an impressive 28-point night on 6 of 10 shooting from three-point range (6 of 13 overall) and a perfect 10-for-10 performance at the foul line.

But, of course, the Alma Maters (2-3) have Jenkins (last year’s Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year), and unlike his team’s previous three games (all losses in the Puerto Rico Shootout), Hofstra’s best player received the help he needed up front in a thrilling 67-63 victory before 2,542 fans in attendance.

You might say Hofstra won with rebounding from three players, including Jenkins (though his version of rebounding wasn’t done on the glass).

While senior 6-foot-10 forward Greg Washington had yet another disappearing act, the young forward duo of sophomore David Imes and freshman Stephen Nwaukoni were the prefect compliment to Jenkins, who scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.

Washington played only 15 minutes, scoring just four points and committing as many fouls, while failing to grab a rebound.

But, both Imes (14 points, 17 rebounds) and Nwaukoni (10 points, 13 rebounds) reached double figures in scoring and rebounding for the first time in their college careers, to give the Alma Maters their first multiple-player double-double game since forwards Dane Johnson and Darren Townes accomplished the feat on January 17, 2008, against conference rival George Mason.

Without their contributions, not even Jenkins could have come close to saving the night for the Alma Maters, as he did in the second half.

Together, Imes and Nwaukoni accounted for 30 of the Alma Maters’ 38 rebounds, as Hofstra held a 38-33 rebounding advantage over the Namesakes.

That proved to be huge, because in a game that came down to the final seconds, the Alma Maters dominated the Namesakes in second-chance points, 19-5.

While Imes and Nwaukoni were doing that, Jenkins (who had just 1 actual board), rebounded in a different way.

After a brutal start, in which he managed just two points on 0-for-7 shooting from the field (including 0-for-6 in the first half), Jenkins made 6 of his final 7 shots from the floor, to rally the Alma Maters.

Why the slow start for Jenkins?

Tryptophan, perhaps.

“That wasn’t me, that was Thanksgiving Charles,” he joked.

“[Wagner wasn’t] doing anything [defensively, to stop me], that was just me,” Jenkins said. “I was excited to get back on the floor [after the losses in Puerto Rico], and I was trying to make plays when they weren’t there. As soon as I got in the locker room, [head] coach [Mo Cassara] told me to relax and play my game, and that’s what I did in the second half.”

How dare you!

Sure, after all you’ve done for the program, you’re entitled to a bad half the night after a big Thanksgiving meal, and you did ultimately lead your team to victory with a superlative second half.

But Charles, this was for bragging rights, Alma Maters vs. Namesakes!

And, as much pride (no pun intended) as Wagner (the writer) has in his surname, the Alma Maters needed you from the start.

Well, since it is a day after Thanksgiving, Jenkins is forgiven for the first half, and thanks are instead given, for Jenkins’ second half.

Or maybe, it was all part of the plan. Let the Namesakes lead at the half, which they did, 35-28, but make sure the Alma Maters win the game.

Brilliant! So once again, on the day after Thanksgiving, thank you, Charles! Nice idea.

From a much different coach’s perspective without a namesake at stake, Cassara of course, didn’t see it that way, yet he remained confident that his team would come back after halftime.

“I told our guys at halftime, we gotta calm down a little bit, take a deep breath, relax,” Cassara said. “We’re in the game, we’re gonna chip away at this thing.”

The Alma Maters shot just 32 percent (8-for-25) from the floor compared to the Namesakes’ 44 percent (11-for-25), including a perfect 4-for-4 by 6-foot-11, West African freshman center Naofall Folahan, who was limited to an ineffective 0-for-1 from the field in the second half, by Imes.

“He’s bigger than me,” Imes said of Folahan, “But I’m stronger, so I just [had] to use my body to get him out of the paint as much as possible.”

Imes’ 6 points and 11 rebounds and Nwaukoni’s 5 points and 7 rebounds in the opening half kept the Alma Maters in the game, but as Cassara noted, “In the first half we missed a couple of [defensive] assignments. In the second half, I thought we really did a good job. We contested a lot of shots… also in the first half, we just missed a lot of free throws, and in the second half, we made some free throws, and ultimately, it closed the gap.”

The Alma Maters had to shoot free throws well in the second half to keep pace with the Namesakes, who made all ten of their free throws after going 9-for-13 from the foul line in the opening half.

In comparison, Hofstra made 12 of 15 second-half free throws and 21 of their final 24 after missing their first seven.

Cassara also told the Alma Maters at the half, that the second half would be a great test for a team that he said “was feeling sorry” for itself after Puerto Rico, one that Cassara was happy his team passed. “We have to learn how to win,” he said. “We took a step forward tonight,” he said.

The biggest step toward Friday night’s victory was Jenkins getting back to his old self after halftime.

With Hofstra trailing 42-34, more than four minutes after the Namesakes took the game’s largest lead (at 40-30), Jenkins made six consecutive shots and scored 15 points during a 26-12 run that gave the Alma Maters their biggest lead, 60-54, with 4:15 remaining.

During the run, after another Rivers three-pointer brought the Namesakes to within 45-41, with 10:56 left, Jenkins reeled off nine straight Hofstra points to keep the Alma Maters in front.

“He made some real big shots for us,” Cassara said of Jenkins. “We knew Charles, at some point, was going to get going. He just needed to get a little bit of a rhythm.”

When Jenkins finally did miss again, coming up short on a runner in the lane, Imes was there to rip the ball out of the hands two Namesake defenders, and follow with a huge layup to extend an already-slim Alma Mater lead to 64-61, with 1:07 to go.

Junior guard Tyler Murray (14 points), by way of Toronto, then turned the ball over, but nearly tied the game on a shot which most in the building thought was a three-pointer.

Receiving the ball off of a steal and a quick push ahead, Murray buried a left-corner jumper with 18.5 seconds left. But, he didn’t get both feet behind the three-point line on a two pointer that pulled the Namesakes to within 64-63.

Cassara saw the play clearly. “I actually saw his feet,” he said. “I thought they called it a three, and I knew it was a two. I did see his foot on the line. I had a really good angle on it.”

Perhaps it was destiny, so the Alma Maters could prevail.

Jenkins then made two free throws, to give the Alma Maters a 66-63 advantage, with 14.7 seconds left.

With a great name like Wagner though, you knew the Namesakes wouldn’t go down without a fight, and they almost tied the game again, in the final seconds, as Rivers came off of a curl and had a good look at a right-wing three-pointer.

But, Rivers’ attempt fell short, and order triumphed.

Nwaukoni secured yet another rebound and made one of two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, to end the scoring, as the Alma Maters grabbed the offensive rebound after Nwaukoni missed the second free throw. The Alma Maters had won!

Cassara appreciated both Imes and Nwuakoni growing up before his very eyes. “For David Imes to go out there and get 17 rebounds and for Stephen Nwaukoni to get 13 rebounds, that’s really just a tribute to how hard they work,” the proud couch said.

It was obvious that the two overcame the lack of confidence that sometimes comes with inexperience.

Imes said, “[My] coaches said that I need to start asserting myself and [be] more aggressive. I took that as, this [was] my opportunity, why not go out there with some confidence and see what I could do?”

“My first couple games, I was nervous,” Nwaukoni admitted. “Today, I was just really happy that I performed well and did what I had to do.”

He also noted, “I know that when [Washington] is in foul trouble… I have to step up and rebound. Coach told me that I have to go out there and rebound, and that’s exactly what I did.”

To which the elder statesman Jenkins added, “That’s a very good answer, Stephen.”

And, Cassara chimed in, “That’s your first official answer. We’re proud of ya.”

In the end, it was a perfect night.

The Namesakes won a half, and the Alma Maters took the game, with their star playing the role of the main hero, in an exciting contest that went down to the wire.

Now, with my middle name of Jay, if I can just get the City University of New York Athletic Conference’s John Jay College to drop the ‘h’ for one night and see that team travel to Staten Island, to play Wagner.

Then, I could cover the Jon Jay-Wagner game.

NEW YORK – For at least a while, the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (3-1) had plenty of reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving eve night in New York City.

VCU, which entered the evening averaging 86 points per game on 49 percent field goal shooting, was held to just 22 fist-half points and hovered under 30 percent from the floor for most of its National Invitation Tournament Season Tip-Off semifinal game with 24th-ranked Tennessee (4-0) at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Yet, despite their horrid shooting, hurt in part, by an injury to their leading scorer, the Rams remained fortunate enough to battle a Top 25 team to the end, with a good chance to win down the stretch.

Ultimately though, junior guard Scotty Hopson’s first career double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) and key contributions from a pair of local New York products returning home for the holiday – freshman forward Tobias Harris (15 points) and center Brian Williams (13 points, 9 rebounds) – led the Volunteers to a 77-72 victory before a sparse crowd of 6,746.

Harris was an early force inside, scoring the game’s first points and making five of his first six field goal attempts (all in the paint) to lead all scorers with ten points while helping the Volunteers to the game’s largest first-half lead, 23-14, with 9:17 left in the opening half.

That set the tone for the rest of the game, as Tennessee dominated in the paint, where the Volunteers outscored the Rams, 48-16, tallying 18 second-chance points on the strength of just as many offensive rebounds.

Out of VCU’s first time out, the Rams made ten free throws (six by senior forward Jamie Skeen, who scored 12 points, going 8-for-9 from the foul line, despite making just 2 of 10 field goal attempts) to key a 15-5 run and grab their only lead of the game, 29-28, with 1:47 to go before halftime.

A Hopson dunk with 1:13 left in the half regained a 31-29 lead for Tennessee, which took a 33-32 lead into the locker room, shooting just 39.4 percent (13-for 33) from the floor, making just 2 of 7 shots from behind the arc.

VCU shot a chilly 23.7 percent (9-for-38) in the first half, including 3-for-18 from three-point range, but the Rams hung in the game, making 11 of 15 free throws compared to Tennessee’s five, in nine first-half attempts.

Rams’ head coach Shaka Smart admitted that his team was affected by playing on ESPN in the 43-year-old program’s first-ever trip to world’s most famous arena.

While Smart appreciated his team’s fight, he noted that VCU didn’t always play in the sprit of his namesake. “I really can’t fault their effort, [we] really fought until the very end of the game,” he said, but added, “We didn’t play as smart as we usually do. I don’t know if that had to do with some nerves or being the first time in Madison Square Garden, playing on national TV. We made some mistakes particularly on the defensive end and even executing our offense, that are unlike us. The way we shot the ball for the first thirty minutes of the game obviously made it tough.”

Skeen credited the Volunteers’ defense, saying “They switched everything so they made it hard for us to catch [the ball]. So, when we would run our plays, we had places we wanted to be at. They took us out of places we wanted to be.”

Like his coach, Skeen acknowledged the venue being a factor for VCU, hailing from the Colonial Athletic Association, saying “It’s much different, [a] bigger atmosphere” than playing on the campus of conference rival Hofstra, on Long Island. “I just wish we had better results,” Skeen added.

Hopson scored Tennessee’s first six points of the second half to help the Volunteers to a 39-34 lead, but the Rams tied the game, 41-41, as two free throws by Skeen and a layup by junior guard Bradford Burgess (9 points, 5 rebounds) were sandwiched around a three-pointer by senior guard Brandon Rozzell (game-high 23 points), who after a poor-shooting first half, kept VCU in the game with a hot-shooting second half.

After going just 1-for-6 from the field while failing to make a three-pointer in four first-half attempts, Rozzell made 6 of 9 second-half field goals, including a torrid 6 of 7 from three-point range.

With Long Island, NY’s Harris doing just the opposite (missing his final nine shots after a strong start), Tennessee needed to find other offensive options.

The Volunteers regained a 51-41 lead on an 10-0 run as Williams (a Bronx, NY native) scored four points, Tennessee native, senior forward Steve Pearl, (the son of Volunteers’ head coach Bruce Pearl), scored two of his four points, and senior guard Melvin Goins (8 points) added a three-pointer on a pass from Pearl.

Rozzell made a three-pointer to start a 5-0 VCU run that cut Tennessee’s lead to seven points, but Pearl scored on a fast break layup in between a jumper and two free throws from redshirt junior guard Cameron Tatum (9 points, 8 rebounds) which gave the Volunteers the game’s largest lead, 57-46, with 8:30 left.

The Rams weren’t done yet, however, as Rozzell made back-to-back three-pointers, the second, assisted on by senior guard Ed Nixon, who scored 16 points.

After Rozzell’s three’s, senior point guard Joey Rodriguez made a left-wing three-pointer (assisted on by Rozzell) to cap an 8-0 VCU run that pulled the Rams to within 57-55, with 5:49 remaining.

It was the only field goal of the game though, for Rodriguez who was significantly hampered by an earlier ankle injury which he aggravated late in the first half.

Rodriguez, who had led the Rams in scoring with 18.3 points per game while leading the nation with 10.3 assists per game, scored just five points on just 1-for-10 shooting from the field, including only 1-for-5 from three-point range, while handing out only two assists and committing three turnovers.

Smart said Rodriguez “had a hard time getting by his man” and was “probably at 60 to 70 percent of where he normally is.”

If VCU was thankful to stay in the game shooting so poorly as a team (21 of 68, for 30.9 percent from the field) and playing with an injured Rodriguez, Coach Pearl felt perhaps even more grateful for not having to deal with VCU’s talented point guard at full strength.

“He was not 100 percent,” Pearl noticed. “They’re really good with him on the floor [at] 100 percent.”

The Volunteers responded to VCU’s charge with an 8-0 run as Hopson scored four points and Harris and Williams each added two points, to extend Tennessee’s lead to 63-55.

A four-point play by Rozzell made it 65-62, and two free throws by Nixon drew VCU to within 67-65, with 2:52 left, but six free throws (three from Williams and two from Harris) pushed Tennessee’s lead to 73-66 in the final minute.

The Volunteers won the game amidst controversy swirling around their head coach. Pearl, who will miss the entire first half (eight games) of his team’s regular season conference schedule due to a Southeastern conference-imposed suspension for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators regarding alleged recruiting violations, commented on continuing a solid New York-Tennessee connection.

After the game, Pearl waxed poetic about former University of Tennessee stars Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, and Allan Houston, all of whom later gained fame either playing for the New York Knicks, being an integral part of the Knicks’ front office, or both (Houston is still in the Knicks’ front office with rumors that he’s being groomed to be the club’s general manager in waiting).

“Allan Houston was sitting right behind our bench,” Pearl gushed. “Ernie and Bernard grew up here [as] high school legends,” he added.

Pearl mentioned of the trio of ex-Tennessee stars, “They are all very involved in our program. [They] attend our games, they stay in touch with our players and kids. [I] wouldn’t mind coming back and keeping that thing going.”

A bit earlier, Pearl said, “I’m listening to the starting lineups in Madison Square Garden and the first two kids, [Harris and Williams], that trot out there are from New York. So, it was special.”

The victory moves Tennessee into Friday night’s season-opening NIT final against seventh-ranked Villanova (5-0), back at the Garden, following the tournament’s third-place game between VCU and UCLA (3-1).

Villanova 82, UCLA 70

NEW YORK – The doubleheader nightcap was decided over the final 4:31 of the first half, when seventh-ranked Villanova (5-0) broke open a close game with a 14-2 run, the difference of which, proved to be the final margin of victory in an 82-70 win over UCLA (3-1).

The Wildcats continued their strong play behind 6-foot-10, 250-pound West African center Mouphtaou Yarou, who scored 13 points while grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds, and a trio of guards who combined for 61 points.

Entering the game as Villanova’s leading scorer, senior guard Corey Fisher shot just 6 of 19 from the field, but led all scorers with 26 points (13 in each half), making 14 of 15 shots from the foul line, where Villanova held a decided advantage.

Field goal shooting was even for each side. UCLA made 24 of 59 shots (40.7 percent) from the floor, including 4 of 15 from three-point range. Villanova meanwhile, shot 40.3 percent (25-for-62) from the field while making 4 of 14 shots from behind the arc.

But, with Fisher leading the way, the Wildcats made 28 of 34 free throws to the Bruins’ 18 of 24.

Fisher also got his team started fast, scoring six straight points to give Villanova an 8-0 lead just 78 seconds into the game.

Stokes later made a three-pointer to put the Wildcats up, 30-21, with 7:42 left in the opening half, but junior guard Jerime Anderson scored four of his six points to cap a 6-0 run that brought the Bruins to within 30-27, setting the stage for Villanova’s game-deciding run.

UCLA went almost the next four minutes without a field goal attempt, turning the ball over five times in that span (the Bruins finished the game with 13 turnovers, while the Wildcats committed just seven).

Fisher meanwhile, scored the next six points and totaled eight points during the half-closing stretch during as Villanova made six straight shots to take a commanding 44-29 lead at intermission.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright had counted more on UCLA staying within striking distance in the second half than his team building such a large halftime lead.

“I was more surprised we were up fifteen at the half. I knew that team was not going to go away. They grinded it. They did a good job. They stuck with their stuff, they never lost their personality. That’s a sign of [UCLA head coach Ben Howland’s] teams… that’s why I feel good about this win [and] about our team.”

Four points from junior guard Malcom Lee (team-high 13 points, 7 of 8 from the free throw line) scored four points and a three-point play by sophomore forward Reeves Nelson (10 points, team-high 13 rebounds) keyed a 9-2 UCLA run to open the second half, bringing the Bruins to within 46-38.

But, a three-point play by sophomore guard Maalik Wayns (19 points) pushed the lead back to 54-42 with 13:06 left in the game.

A layup by junior guard Lazeric Jones (12 points) pulled UCLA to within 54-46, but Villanova maintained either a nine or ten-point lead for the next three minutes, until freshman center Joshua Smith (10 points) made a layup to get the Bruins to within 58-52, with 7:56 remaining.

Reeves later scored three straight points to again bring the Bruins to within six points, 62-56, with 5:44 left, but UCLA could get no closer.

Senior guard Corey Stokes (16 points) got free underneath for a dunk, to put Villanova up 74-63, with 2:13 left, to end any further hope for UCLA.

Howland credited Villanova while lamenting some defensive lapses for his own team, saying of his opponent, “They’re a very, very good team. I thought we did a good job coming back, fighting back… we have a very young team, we have to learn from this… our foul trouble hurt us tonight. We did a better job defensively in the second half… [but] we ended up having 28 fouls, which is a lot of fouls… they got to the line 20 times in the second half, which is a lot.”

UCLA will be back at MSG to meet Virginia Commonwealth (3-1) in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at 2:30pm EST, while Tennessee and Villanova will play afterwards on the same floor, for the tournament championship.

LAST WEEK:             9-7            84 points (out of 136)

SEASON:                18-14           89.0 pts/week (out of 136.0)

16 NEW ENGLAND (1-1) over Buffalo (0-2)

The Patriots have beaten the Bills 13 straight times and have won all 8 games played between the two teams at Gillette Stadium. There’s no reason why those trends shouldn’t continue. Division games always have potential of springing surprising upsets, but this is one of the AFC’s best hosting one of the AFC’s worst. Throw in the Pats being mad over losing to the Jets last week, and this one has the makings of an easy rout for New England.

15 BALTIMORE (1-1) over Cleveland (0-2)

On one hand, the Ravens have only managed 10 points in each of their two games, winning one, while losing the other. On the other hand, they’ve yet to give up a touchdown, allowing 8 field goals in those two game. The Browns meanwhile, blew 14-3 lead to lose in Tampa, and managed to lose to the Chiefs at home despite not allowing a defensive touchdown. Baltimore finally gets the offense going at home and rolls to an easy win for the “old Browns” over the “new Browns.”

14 NEW ORLEANS (2-0) over Atlanta (1-1)

The Falcons figured it all out at home last week, crushing Arizona, after a lackluster loss to the shorthanded Steelers in Pittsburgh. The Saints haven’t looked like the defending champs yet, but they’ve found a way two go 2-0. Reggie Bush is a big loss for New Orleans, but it’s lessened in this matchup by the loss of Atlanta’s Jerious Norwood. Drew Brees, who has completed 74.3 percent (55 of 74) of his passes this year, should get the Saints’ passing game rolling and the Superdome rocking.

13 Cincinnati (1-1) over CAROLINA (0-2)

The Bengals will look to tee off on rookie QB Jimmy Claussen, who will make his first NFL start. Other than in garbage time at New England in Week 1, Cincinnati’s offense has struggled thus far. It might benefit from a short field a few times if the Bengals’ defense can rattle the untested Claussen early and often.

12 MINNESOTA (0-2) over Detroit (0-2)

The Lions have fought well and should really be 1-1, so they’ve shown improvement from their dreadful play over the past few years. The Vikings season could be on the line though, and the prospect of going from Super Bowl contenders for a second straight year to a second straight loss at home and a disastrous 0-3 start should be enough motivation to spark Minnesota to its first win.

11 Green Bay (2-0) over CHICAGO (2-0)

A great old school matchup for Monday Night Football. No NFL teams have met more than these two. The Bears will be wearing their throwback 1940’s uniforms to honor the Monsters of the Midway. Unfortunately, the Bears’ defense won’t play that way against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who looked very sharp against the Bills last week. Green Bay simply has more talent than Chicago, which is lucky to be 2-0 (they should have lost to Detroit). The Bears come back to earth a little bit and the Packers take their rightful control of the NFC North.

10 HOUSTON (2-0) over Dallas (0-2)

Jerry Jones’ dream of hosting Super Bowl XLV in Dallas with his Cowboys as a participant already seems to be slipping away. Dallas gave away a game in Washington and then played uninspired football in losing to Chicago at home. The Cowboys now have to travel to undefeated Houston to face the NFL’s top-ranked offense. Ouch. Interesting stat: for all of the passing that Matt Schaub and the Texans’ offense did to win in Washington last week, the Texans over the past three seasons, are 20-2 when they rush at least 30 times and 2-23 when they rush less than 25 times. They were all rushing against Indianapolis, all passing against Washington. They’ll need to find better balance. A hunch says the Cowboys play a lot more sound than they have the first two weeks, but the Texans, at home, who will want to stake claim as Texas’ number one team over Dallas, will make enough plays on both sides of the ball to go 3-0 for the first time in their history and send the Cowboys to their first 0-3 start since 2001.

9 Philadelphia (1-1) over JACKSONVILLE (1-1)

Andy Reid finally decided to go with Michael Vick over Kevin Kolb (after he went with Kolb over Vick earlier in the week). He might have made that decision after looking at the Jaguars’ Cover 1 defense and the potential for Vick to gain some serious rushing yards if his receivers are covered downfield. A dangerous number for a less than strong road pick in the Eagles, but the Jaguars, after a solid home win against Denver, showed what we might see more of from them last week, in San Diego.

8 NY GIANTS (1-1) over Tennessee (1-1)

The Titans have won 9 straight against the NFC and 4 in a row against the Giants. Those trends will continue if the Giants can’t contain RB Chris Johnson, who is the type of athletic and speedy back who had given the Giants’ defense fits in recent years. Johnson should be highly motivated after being held to just 34 yards against Pittsburgh last week. He’ll get his yards against the Giants, but QB Eli Manning and his wide receiver corps, along with RB Ahmad Bradshaw (both rushing and receiving) should be able to make enough plays to counteract what Johnson will do for Tennessee, while the Giants’ strong secondary will make it tough for QB Vince Young to throw down field.

7 Washington (1-1) over ST. LOUIS (0-2)

Last week, Donovan McNabb gave his new team exactly what they wanted when the Redskins traded for him… except a win, that is. But, that had more to do with the Redskins’ normally very solid defense collapsing against Houston while blowing a 17-point second-half lead in an overtime loss to the Texans. Sam Bradford has been fairly good in his first two NFL games, but he simply doesn’t have the team around him. Washington is the better team here and McNabb, along with Clinton Portis, and Washington getting back to normal Redskin defense, will keep the 2010 top draft pick waiting at least another week for his first NFL win.

6 San Francisco (0-2) over KANSAS CITY (2-0)

The 49ers looked a lot better against the Saints than when they laid an egg in Seattle, but they’re still seeking their first win. The Chiefs meanwhile, failed to reach 10 first downs or 200 total yards against San Diego, and went without an offensive touchdown in Cleveland, yet they’ve started 2-0. Look for things to get back to what was expected here. The Niners finally get their first win while the Chiefs fall back down to earn a little bit as they find it tougher to win yet again with a struggling offense.

5 ARIZONA (1-1) over Oakland (1-1)

RB Beanie Wells, injured earlier in the week, will play for a Cardinals team that finally gets to play its home opener after flying out to St. Louis and then across the country to Atlanta to split its first two games on the road. But, Oakland is stout against the run, so even a healthy Wells won’t help much. Cardinals tough. Offseason acquisition Jason Campbell will remain benched for the start of this one in Bruce Gradkowski, who seems to give the Raiders a lift at home, but almost never on the road. Same here. If in Oakland, the Raiders would be the pick. But, in the dome in the dessert, home opener for the Cards, Arizona will get by.

4 Indianapolis (1-1) over DENVER (1-1)

The Colts must have felt a little like Mark Twain. After setting the record for the most consecutive seasons with at least 12 regular season wins, reports of Indianapolis’ demise were greatly exaggerated after a season-opening loss in Houston. Of particular note, the Colts’ running –- yes, running game, not only their passing game –- keyed a win over the Giants during which the Colts never broke a sweat. Peyton Manning will hurt the Broncos’ pass defense enough to overcome one of the better home field advantages in the NFL, as Denver looks to put together two straight good efforts at home after opening with a road loss in Jacksonville.

3 San Diego (1-1) over SEATTLE (1-1)

Week 1, the Chargers were disappointing in a loss while the Seahawks surprised with an easy win. Last week, San Diego kicked it into high gear with an easy win while Seattle stepped back with a bad loss. Now you know why this one is only a score of 3 (tough to tell what to expect in this league). But, QB Phillip Rivers should have a second straight solid performance and much like Peyton Manning helping the Colts overcome a tough home team in Denver, Rivers should help the Chargers get by a Seattle team that’s the good Jekyll at home and the bad Hyde on the road.

2 NY Jets (1-1) over MIAMI (2-0)

It’s an absolute disgrace that WR Braylon Edwards is playing in this game 562 days after he was out drinking with Donte Stallworth the night Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in Florida. Edwards learned nothing from Stallworth’s crime, but thank the overprotective CBA for not allowing the Jets much leeway to appropriately discipline Edwards instead of waiting for the NFL to take care of that. Hopefully, head coach Rex Ryan has the conscience to bench Edwards for most of the game and Edwards isn’t a factor. If Edwards wanted to do the right thing however, he could ask out of the game and Ryan could oblige that way. Don’t expect that, though. All of that drama aside, QB Mark Sanchez played well with the reigns taken off of him last week, and the Jets’ defense shut out New England on the second half without shutdown CB Darrelle Revis, who will miss this game with a hamstring injury. Though the Dolphins have yet to lose, they’ve also yet to score that much. And, although Miami’s defense will again be tough, Sanchez will find enough receivers and TE Dustin Keller (as he did last week) to move the ball, and RB LaDainian Tomlinson should make at least a couple of big plays. If RB Shonn Greene can also produce and keep the ball off the ground, it will be even easier for Gang Green, which after a distracting couple of weeks, tries to put the focus back on the field, instead of off of it.

1 TAMPA BAY (2-0) over Pittsburgh (2-0)

Who would have thought that this would be a fascinating Week 3 matchup between a pair of 2-0 teams? Yet, that’s exactly what it is, with the Steelers going with fourth-string QB Charlie Batch, trying to find a way to win yet again on nothing more than defense and guts, and virtually no offense (see last week’s 127 yards of total offense while winning in Tennessee). The Bucs meanwhile, haven’t been tested (with wins over Cleveland and Carolina). This one might be 6-3 with the way these two defenses can play, and with the offensive issues each team has. Thanks to injury though, the Bucs have the better quarterback, they’re at home, and the Steelers can’t win every game with out Ben Roethlisberger, can they?

CORRECT, WEEK 1:  16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 4 ,1

WRONG, WEEK 1:    10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2

WEEK 1 RECORD:    9-7              WEEK 1 SCORE:       94 (of 136)

SEASON RECORD:    9-7              SEASON AVERAGE:  94.0

Not a great start to the season in terms of picking winners. Only 9-7 in the opening week, and I should have been 8-8. However, 4 of the 7 I got wrong were among the 6 lowest scores, and I still pulled out a score of 94, thanks in part to a horrible rule that kept me from rightfully losing 15 on Chicago. The way the Niners played shocked me, and I didn’t think the Chiefs would be that tough at home. I had my suspicions about the Cowboy offense, but I thought that unit would do a little more than it did. I thought the same about Atlanta, and Buffalo was worth the risk at 2 even though I knew Miami was better. But, that’s the fun of picking e NFL. So, send in you Week 2 picks and see if you can beat me this week!

-Jon

Oakland at Tennessee               Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

After the disastrous 0-6 start to the season last year before finishing 8-2, a home game against the improved yet still mediocre at best Raiders should get the Titans off on a winning note, especially with Vince Young –- and Kerry Collins, who’s not what he used to be –- starting things off for Tennessee this season.

Pick: Tennessee Confidence Score: 16

Detroit at Chicago                     Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Joe Paquette, Jr., a 63-year-old Lions’ fan with two arthritic knees easily became the NFL’s most devoted fan when he walked 450 miles over 17 days, from his home in Michigan to the Lions’ practice facility, just to tell the Lions in person that they needed “sisu,” a Finnish term meaning “strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.” Unfortunately for the Lions, sisu alone, sans enough talent, won’t be enough to break a 20-game road losing streak in Chicago, against a Bears team which is at home, and simply a better team than Detroit.

Pick: Chicago Confidence Score: 15

Carolina at NY Giants                Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Hosting the Panthers has been a nightmare matchup for the Giants, who became the first NFL team in 26 years to be shut out while hosting a playoff game when they lost to Carolina, 23-0 in 2006. Last year, with a playoff berth on the line, playing for the final time in the old stadium which bared their name, the Giants were again embarrassed by the Panthers, 41-9. This time should be vastly different. The Giants still have a myriad of issues to address as the season progresses, but the early season schedule appears favorable, including their opener against a Carolina team that should be far less dangerous than in years past, after an offseason veteran purge, leaving the Panthers with the NFL’s youngest roster.

Pick: NY Giants Confidence Score: 14

Cincinnati at New England         Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Tom Brady emerged unharmed from an early Thursday morning auto accident and he should be fine by Sunday. And, he gets back his favorite underneath target in Wes Welker, who makes the Patriots’ offense significantly more dangerous. That, along with opening at home should be enough to overcome the Bengals, even with Cincinnati’s own wide receiver addition of Terrell Owens to compliment Chad Ochocinco the way Welker will compliment Moss.

Pick: New England Confidence Score: 13

Minnesota at New Orleans         Thu 9/9        8:30pm EST

The 2010 NFL season kicks off with a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game, which the Vikings should have won, if not for some costly turnovers. They outplayed the Saints last January, but with New Orleans brimming with pride and confidence after taking home its first Super Bowl title, and with Brett Favre hurting for wide receiver weapons, the Saints should be able to win easier this time.

Pick: New Orleans Confidence Score: 12

Green Bay at Philadelphia         Sun 9/12      4:15pm EST

A game featuring two teams moving in opposite directions. The Eagles have moved on from the Super Bowl contending Donovan McNabb era to that of Kevin Kolb’s with questions if Philadelphia is even a playoff contender. Meanwhile, the Packers are a serious Super Bowl contender and Aaron Rodgers is a legitimate MVP candidate. This would figure to be an easy win at Lambeau, but anything can happen on the road in the NFL. Still, the Packers should open with a win at The Link.  

Pick: Green Bay Confidence Score: 11

San Diego at Kansas City           Mon 9/13      10:15pm EST

The Chargers usually start out of the gate slowly, but probably not here, not even on the road. Their talent advantage over the Chiefs should help them spoil the first Chiefs’ home game on Monday Night Football since 2006 and the unveiling of what Kansas City is billing as the “New Arrowhead” after a $375-million makeover.

Pick: San Diego Confidence Score: 10

San Francisco at Seattle            Sun 9/12      4:15pm EST

Head coach Pete Carroll makes his Seahawk debut as former Eagle Brian Westbrook tries to show if he’s got something left in the tank to compliment RB Frank Gore. The Niners appear to be the clear cut favorite in the NFC West, and even on the road, where they only went 2-6 last year, they should send an early message to a fellow NFC West foe that they are the new team to beat in the division. 

Pick: San Francisco Confidence Score: 9

Arizona at St. Louis                   Sun 9/12      4:15pm EST

Two new quarterback eras begin in this contest, one starts with a veteran, the other with a top-picked rookie. Derek Anderson takes over the Cardinals for Kurt Warner and Sam Bradford makes his first NFL start. Bradford looked good in the preseason, but he will have a tough job making a team that didn’t win a home game last season be more competitive, especially for a roster that includes nine 2010 draft picks and five undrafted free agents. Even without Warner, the Cardinals are the better team and should get the road win.       

Pick: Arizona Confidence Score: 8

Dallas at Washington                 Sun 9/12      8:20pm EST

The Cowboys start their 50th anniversary season hoping it ends with them hosting the Super Bowl in their brand new “Dallas Palace.” The Redskins, meanwhile, start the Donovan McNabb regime, looking to turn things around after last year’s 4-12 season. A dangerous opener but one the Cowboys should win if they’re on their game.     

Pick: Dallas Confidence Score: 7

Atlanta at Pittsburgh                 Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Pittsburgh would be the clear favorite with Ben Roethlisberger, or perhaps even with a healthy Byron Leftwich. However, with Dennis Dixon making just his second NFL start (playing in only his third NFL game), and with the once-proud Steelers’ offensive line and rushing game both on the decline, the Falcons might be going into a usually tough place to play at just the right time. With more offensive weapons with which to work, Atlanta should come away with a nice road win to start its season.

Pick: Atlanta Confidence Score: 6

Indianapolis at Houston             Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Are you ready for some football? Well, how about a key AFC South divisional game, right from the start of the season. Over the past few years, the Texans have been the trendy pick each season to make their first trip to the playoffs. But, each year, they come up a little short. And, each year, all the Colts do is win during the regular season. This should be a tough test for each side, but until we see different, the wise move is to cautiously err on the side of history, especially with the ultra-competitive Peyton Manning itching to go this year after losing in Super Bowl XLIV.

Pick: Indianapolis Confidence Score: 5

Baltimore at NY Jets                 Mon 9/13      7:00pm EST

Story lines abound. Monday Night Football. The Jets play their first regular season game at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Rex Ryan against his old team, which like his current one, is a Super Bowl contender. Will the Jets in fact get one step further than the AFC title game they reached last year, or will they be more like the team that went 4-7 after a 3-0 start a year ago? And, is Baltimore poised to go further after winning soundly at New England in last year’s playoffs before adding Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmanzadeh to bolster the only part of its game that was really lacking. It’s tough to go against the Jets opening on Monday night with their defense and with Ryan pumping them up, but the Ravens are talented enough to barely win what should be a terrific, physical, old school football game. 

Pick: Baltimore Confidence Score: 4

Denver at Jacksonville              Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Kyle Orton has slowly been putting to rest earlier criticism during his career that he wasn’t even close to an NFL-caliber quarterback. While he’s being pushed by the quickly popular Tim Tebow for the starting job, Orton is likely to get the nod in Jacksonville and should remain the starter as long as his solid play continues. The defection of Brandon Marshall to Miami will hurt however, and RB Knowshon Moreno could miss the game with a hamstring injury. The Jaguars though, have their own problems offensively, and in a game that could be low scoring and close, the kickers could come into play. The Broncos get the edge there, with Mike Prater, who was 30 of 35 last year, including 10 of 13 from 40 or more yards away. In contrast, Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee was just 10 of 16 from the same distance and only 3 of 7 from 40-49 yards.

Pick: Denver Confidence Score: 3

Miami at Buffalo                       Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

An AFC East game with each team featuring new defenses. The Bills made the switch from the Tampa-2 to the 3-4 while the Dolphins revamped much of their defense to compliment the addition of big play receiver Brandon Marshall. Miami is the better team on paper, and Buffalo could be a bad team this season, but a hunch says it takes a few games for Chad Henne and Marshall to gel while RB C.J. Spiller, who gets the starting job as a rookie after an impressive preseason, will do enough to start the Bills off with a mild upset of Miami at home.

Pick: Buffalo Confidence Score: 2

Cleveland at Tampa Bay            Sun 9/12      1:00pm EST

Not even Joe Paquette might want to see this unappealing game if he were either a Browns or a Bucs fan. If he were the latter, Paquette wouldn’t be able to watch the game on TV as it will mark the first regular season blackout for a Bucs’ home game since 1997, the year before Tampa Bay moved into Raymond James stadium. Cleveland begins its Mike Holmgren and Jake Delhomme era while Tampa looks to stride forward after a rocky start with head coach Raheem Morris and quarterback Josh Freeman at the helm. In the battle of attrition been two of the NFL’s weaker teams, go with the home team, barely.

Pick: Tampa Bay Confidence Score: 1

Oakland at Tennessee                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

After the disastrous 0-6 start to the season last year before finishing 8-2, a home game against the improved yet still mediocre at best Raiders should get the Titans off on a winning note, especially with Vince Young –- and Kerry Collins, who’s not what he used to be –- starting things off for Tennessee this season.

Pick: Tennessee Confidence Score: 16

Detroit at Chicago                           Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Joe Paquette, Jr., a 63-year-old Lions’ fan with two arthritic knees easily became the NFL’s most devoted fan when he walked 450 miles over 17 days, from his home in Michigan to the Lions’ practice facility, just to tell the Lions in person that they needed “sisu,” a Finnish term meaning “strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.” Unfortunately for the Lions, sisu alone, sans enough talent, won’t be enough to break a 20-game road losing streak in Chicago, against a Bears team which is at home, and simply a better team than Detroit.

Pick: Chicago Confidence Score: 15

Carolina at NY Giants                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Hosting the Panthers has been a nightmare matchup for the Giants, who became the first NFL team in 26 years to be shut out while hosting a playoff game when they lost to Carolina, 23-0 in 2006. Last year, with a playoff berth on the line, playing for the final time in the old stadium which bared their name, the Giants were again embarrassed by the Panthers, 41-9. This time should be vastly different. The Giants still have a myriad of issues to address as the season progresses, but the early season schedule appears favorable, including their opener against a Carolina team that should be far less dangerous than in years past, after an offseason veteran purge, leaving the Panthers with the NFL’s youngest roster.

Pick: NY Giants Confidence Score: 14

Cincinnati at New England         Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Tom Brady emerged unharmed from an early Thursday morning auto accident and he should be fine by Sunday. And, he gets back his favorite underneath target in Wes Welker, who makes the Patriots’ offense significantly more dangerous. That, along with opening at home should be enough to overcome the Bengals, even with Cincinnati’s own wide receiver addition of Terrell Owens to compliment Chad Ochocinco the way Welker will compliment Moss.

Pick: New England Confidence Score: 13

Minnesota at New Orleans         Thu 9/9         8:30pm EST

The 2010 NFL season kicks off with a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game, which the Vikings should have won, if not for some costly turnovers. They outplayed the Saints last January, but with New Orleans brimming with pride and confidence after taking home its first Super Bowl title, and with Brett Favre hurting for wide receiver weapons, the Saints should be able to win easier this time.

Pick: New Orleans Confidence Score: 12

Green Bay at Philadelphia         Sun 9/12         4:15pm EST

A game featuring two teams moving in opposite directions. The Eagles have moved on from the Super Bowl contending Donovan McNabb era to that of Kevin Kolb’s with questions if Philadelphia is even a playoff contender. Meanwhile, the Packers are a serious Super Bowl contender and Aaron Rodgers is a legitimate MVP candidate. This would figure to be an easy win at Lambeau, but anything can happen on the road in the NFL. Still, the Packers should open with a win at The Link.  

Pick: Green Bay Confidence Score: 11

San Diego at Kansas City                  Mon 9/13         10:15pm EST

The Chargers usually start out of the gate slowly, but probably not here, not even on the road. Their talent advantage over the Chiefs should help them spoil the first Chiefs’ home game on Monday Night Football since 2006 and the unveiling of what Kansas City is billing as the “New Arrowhead” after a $375-million makeover.

Pick: San Diego Confidence Score: 10

San Francisco at Seattle                  Sun 9/12         4:15pm EST

Head coach Pete Carroll makes his Seahawk debut as former Eagle Brian Westbrook tries to show if he’s got something left in the tank to compliment RB Frank Gore. The Niners appear to be the clear cut favorite in the NFC West, and even on the road, where they only went 2-6 last year, they should send an early message to a fellow NFC West foe that they are the new team to beat in the division. 

Pick: San Francisco Confidence Score: 9

Arizona at St. Louis                  Sun 9/12         4:15pm EST

Two new quarterback eras begin in this contest, one starts with a veteran, the other with a top-picked rookie. Derek Anderson takes over the Cardinals for Kurt Warner and Sam Bradford makes his first NFL start. Bradford looked good in the preseason, but he will have a tough job making a team that didn’t win a home game last season be more competitive, especially for a roster that includes nine 2010 draft picks and five undrafted free agents. Even without Warner, the Cardinals are the better team and should get the road win.       

Pick: Arizona Confidence Score: 8

Dallas at Washington                  Sun 9/12         8:20pm EST

The Cowboys start their 50th anniversary season hoping it ends with them hosting the Super Bowl in their brand new “Dallas Palace.” The Redskins, meanwhile, start the Donovan McNabb regime, looking to turn things around after last year’s 4-12 season. A dangerous opener but one the Cowboys should win if they’re on their game.     

Pick: Dallas Confidence Score: 7

Atlanta at Pittsburgh                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Pittsburgh would be the clear favorite with Ben Roethlisberger, or perhaps even with a healthy Byron Leftwich. However, with Dennis Dixon making just his second NFL start (playing in only his third NFL game), and with the once-proud Steelers’ offensive line and rushing game both on the decline, the Falcons might be going into a usually tough place to play at just the right time. With more offensive weapons with which to work, Atlanta should come away with a nice road win to start its season.

Pick: Atlanta Confidence Score: 6

Indianapolis at Houston                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Are you ready for some football? Well, how about a key AFC South divisional game, right from the start of the season. Over the past few years, the Texans have been the trendy pick each season to make their first trip to the playoffs. But, each year, they come up a little short. And, each year, all the Colts do is win during the regular season. This should be a tough test for each side, but until we see different, the wise move is to cautiously err on the side of history, especially with the ultra-competitive Peyton Manning itching to go this year after losing in Super Bowl XLIV.

Pick: Indianapolis Confidence Score: 5

Baltimore at NY Jets                  Mon 9/13         7:00pm EST

Story lines abound. Monday Night Football. The Jets play their first regular season game at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Rex Ryan against his old team, which like his current one, is a Super Bowl contender. Will the Jets in fact get one step further than the AFC title game they reached last year, or will they be more like the team that went 4-7 after a 3-0 start a year ago? And, is Baltimore poised to go further after winning soundly at New England in last year’s playoffs before adding Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmanzadeh to bolster the only part of its game that was really lacking. It’s tough to go against the Jets opening on Monday night with their defense and with Ryan pumping them up, but the Ravens are talented enough to barely win what should be a terrific, physical, old school football game. 

Pick: Baltimore Confidence Score: 4

Denver at Jacksonville                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Kyle Orton has slowly been putting to rest earlier criticism during his career that he wasn’t even close to an NFL-caliber quarterback. While he’s being pushed by the quickly popular Tim Tebow for the starting job, Orton is likely to get the nod in Jacksonville and should remain the starter as long as his solid play continues. The defection of Brandon Marshall to Miami will hurt however, and RB Knowshon Moreno could miss the game with a hamstring injury. The Jaguars though, have their own problems offensively, and in a game that could be low scoring and close, the kickers could come into play. The Broncos get the edge there, with Mike Prater, who was 30 of 35 last year, including 10 of 13 from 40 or more yards away. In contrast, Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee was just 10 of 16 from the same distance and only 3 of 7 from 40-49 yards.

Pick: Denver Confidence Score: 3

Miami at Buffalo                           Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

An AFC East game with each team featuring new defenses. The Bills made the switch from the Tampa-2 to the 3-4 while the Dolphins revamped much of their defense to compliment the addition of big play receiver Brandon Marshall. Miami is the better team on paper, and Buffalo could be a bad team this season, but a hunch says it takes a few games for Chad Henne and Marshall to gel while RB C.J. Spiller, who gets the starting job as a rookie after an impressive preseason, will do enough to start the Bills off with a mild upset of Miami at home.

Pick: Buffalo Confidence Score: 2

Cleveland at Tampa Bay                  Sun 9/12         1:00pm EST

Not even Joe Paquette might want to see this unappealing game if he were either a Browns or a Bucs fan. If he were the latter, Paquette wouldn’t be able to watch the game on TV as it will mark the first regular season blackout for a Bucs’ home game since 1997, the year before Tampa Bay moved into Raymond James stadium. Cleveland begins its Mike Holmgren and Jake Delhomme era while Tampa looks to stride forward after a rocky start with head coach Raheem Morris and quarterback Josh Freeman at the helm. In the battle of attrition been two of the NFL’s weaker teams, go with the home team, barely.

Pick: Tampa Bay Confidence Score: 1

That was tough enough for New York Knicks fans to take (although not nearly as difficult as it was for Cleveland Cavaliers fans to watch).

But, if you happen to be a New York fan of the orange and blue in both basketball and baseball, ESPN probably annoyed you even further on Monday night.

The New York Mets had the night off after limping home with an awful 2-9 road trip and Met fans like myself were trying to forget about the western excursion which might have ended the Mets’ season by taking in ESPN’s broadcast of the Detroit Tigers at the Tampa Bay Rays.

So, with Detroit’s Max Scherzer and Tampa Bay’s Matt Garza locked in a scoreless, dual no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth inning, what did ESPN do?

Well, the network which sold out to give “LeBrat” his platform to further sell his “LeBrand” eighteen days earlier, decided to cut away from the no-hit duel in Tampa to celebrate the pursuit of admitted steroid abuser Alex Rodriguez’s chase for 600 career home runs in Cleveland.

Rather than see Scherzer attempt to hold Tampa Bay at bay and keep up with Garza’s no-hit bid, we witnessed a player stuck on 599 career homers — some legitimate, many illegally aided — uneventfully and weakly ground out.

If a Met fan wanted to see that, he or she could have joined Yankee fans (not very likely) and tuned into the YES network to see A-Roid try to finish cheating his way to 600 home runs. I don’t know about other Met fans, but I preferred to stick with pitching history attempting to be made, especially knowing Tampa Bay had been one of just three franchises (including the Mets) never to have thrown a no-hitter.

I only missed one out, and it was long before Scherzer lost both his no-hitter and his shutout on a Matt Joyce grand slam.

However, as a not only a baseball fan but a fan of what’s right, I was disgusted at the attention ESPN paid to the Yankees’ charlatan.

How many homers would A-Fraud have been going for on Monday night had he not cheated himself and the sport that made him famous? Would it have been 400? 450? Whatever the number, it certainly would have fallen far shy of 600. Yet, ESPN cut way from the shot at real history to the attempt at artificial history as if every one of the first 599 Rodriguez homers were honestly earned.

We of course know that Rodriguez is by no means the only major leaguer ever to cheat his way into the record books. But, when a network as big as ESPN sells out and rewards that type of player with that kind of coverage in the hunt of a phony milestone, it sends a severely wrong message to the future fans of the game growing up with baseball today.

It tells kids (and the rest of us), “It doesn’t matter whether it was accomplished legitimately or through dishonest means, it will be celebrated and honored just the same.”

Of course, it got even tougher for Met fans later on, as Garza completed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history (which goes back 36 years less than Met history), leaving only the San Diego Padres and the Mets as the only two major league franchises without a no-hitter.

But, that would have happened regardless. Making it tougher for Met fans though, was seeing ESPN sell out and paint the cross-town rival Rodriguez as if he was truly trying to accomplish something meaningful instead of the sham that it is.

For the second time this month, ESPN chose the wrong thing over the right one, all in the name of money.

And, why? Because fans make it so. Fans tuned into James’ “Decision” in droves, and made fans like myself be among the minority for wanting to see a no-hit battle over A-Roid’s fake chase to 600.

Until most fans finally stick up for what’s right, huge media outlets like ESPN will be there waiting to pounce and make money with no conscience at all.

Scrap World Series Home Field Advantage

A result of quite possibly the absolute dumbest rule change in the history of sports, awarding home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league in the all-star game was purely a reactionary rule change rather than something born out of necessity. We, of course, wouldn’t have to endure such a ridiculous thing if Commissioner Bud Selig wasn’t so clueless and unprepared at the end of the 2002 all-star game in Milwaukee, which ended in a 7-7 tie, after being halted by Selig in the bottom of the 11th inning.

I never quite understood all of the public outrage over that conclusion. Sure, a tie was unsatisfying, but it’s an EXHIBITION game! It’s SUPPOSED to just end when it ends, win, lose, OR DRAW. Manufacturing artificial meaning to the game was never even remotely a good idea. Whatever happened to player pride and professionalism and trying to win simply in the spirit of competition? Why do players need the incentive of home field advantage in the World Series to try to win an all-star game?

By the same twisted logic, why doesn’t MLB just award the World Series advantage to the league which had the better interleague mark in spring training, since you know, those are exhibition games, too?

Obviously, that too, would be a terrible idea. But, it would make as much sense as not simply awarding the World Series home field advantage to the World Series participant with the best regular season record. Unbalanced schedules or not, that’s the way it should be done.

Even if MLB had balanced schedules, there’s no guarantee that everything would be even anyway, due to injuries, trades, call-ups, playing at the same opponents when they’re hot or when they’re cold, and many other reasons. There are just too many factors and different variables to argue that giving the World Series home field advantage to the World Series team with the best record is not the best thing to do.

Awarding the home field advantage to the World Series participant based on that team’s own body of work over 162 games of REAL baseball makes MUCH more sense than basing that designation on a single exhibition game involving other players from that team’s league, in a game that could often be decided by players who may never even sniff the playoffs.

Plus, picture these three scenarios:

1) You thought there was outrage in 2002? Well, this season, we’ve already seen a bad call cost a pitcher a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning. Imagine the backlash if during a similar scenario at the end of a game, a bad call awarded the wrong league home field advantage.

2) Suppose a player hits a walk-off homer run in the bottom of the ninth or in extra innings to take a victory away from one league and give it to his own. And, let’s say that same player then gets traded to the opposite league and ends up making the World Series. That player would have just cost himself and his new team home field advantage in the World Series by doing something positive in the all-star game. There is absolutely no logic to that.

3) We’ve already seen the 2008 all-star game go scoreless for 6½ innings before it was decided in the bottom of the 15th. Although the rosters have since been expanded with extra pitchers and rule changes have been made for very limited re-entry with catchers and for other players only in the case of injury, it’s quite possible teams could still run out of pitchers if the all-star game goes long enough. Now, honestly, how much sense would it make if the New York Yankees, who are on pace to win 103 games, end up as the only team to post triple digit wins and DON’T have home field advantage if they make the World Series simply because current Yankee outfielder and first baseman Nick Swisher (who’s pitched in a blowout before) might be forced to pitch in a tie game, and he gives up a game-winning hit in the top of the 18th? You think there might be just a few complaints over that one, which might rival the 2002 tie? And, if it’s a 100+ win team facing an 82-win wild-card team in the World Series, there’s absolutely nothing that should happen in the MLB all-star game that should occur, which should award that wild-card team home field advantage in the World Series. If that did happen, why should there not be more outrage over that than an all-star game tie? You just have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes!

The bottom line is quite simply this. The NBA finals were so close this past season, that home court was probably the difference. If Game 7 were in Boston, chances are, the Celtics would have won the NBA title. As it was, it was the Lakers won it all hosting Game 7 in Los Angeles. And yet, the Celtics and Lakers played very different regular season schedules. But, it doesn’t matter, the NBA still does it right, giving home court to the teams with the best records, regardless of who won or lost the NBA all-star game. MLB needs to follow suit and realize that as an exhibition, the mid-summer classic should have nothing to do with the fall classic.

Player Selection Changes

I’m a little torn on the next two points I’m about to make. Here I am discussing the all-star game for the pure exhibition that it is, and yet, I’m about to argue for taking the fan vote out of the equation. On one hand, I remember how much fun it used to be going to the park and filling out the ballot, or seeing my own guys, my New York Mets, represented in the all-star game.

But, that’s wrong. The fans simply can’t be trusted any longer to get it right. They’ve made it a popularity contest and have rewarded too many players who don’t deserve to make the team (don’t feel so bad, baseball fans, the same thing happens annually with the NBA all-star game).

Ideally, the voting should be left to the experts who know the teams the most, and it should be done based on each league, in the fairest way possible. Select two radio broadcasters, two television broadcasters, a select number of beat reporters for each team in each league, and the manager of each team. Let them all vote only for the league which they cover or manage in, and allow them to collectively select the entire roster for that league, starters first, followed by all reserves. That way, there’s a greater chance that only the most deserving players would be voted in correctly as starters and reserves, and that only the undeserving players would get snubbed.

To keep the fans engaged with voting, let fans instead vote in players to compete in skills competitions (which I’ll get to in a moment), whether that group of players would consist of those who would make the all-star rosters, or if they might be additional players to compete in skills competitions.

Next, get rid of the current rule that a player from each team must be chosen. Sorry, but it’s not kindergarten, where everyone gets a gold star for something. It’s Major League Baseball. You’re either an all-star level player or you’re not. Take only the best in the players league, irrespective of their teams.

Other than Yankee fans, no one wants to see a dozen or more Yankees in the all-star game. But, if they happen to have that many players who deserve to be selected over players from awful bottom feeders like Baltimore, Cleveland, or Seattle, they should go to the all-star game and simply marginally good players on terrible teams should enjoy the three days away from baseball.

Another consideration is that player’s contracts, in the form of bonuses and incentives, are tied to all-star games, so it’s important to get the selections right and choose only the players who deserve being selected, the most. Taking the fan vote away and taking only the best players regardless of the teams they play for, would accomplish that.

Count The Home Run Derby Fairly

Sorry again, but when you hit by far the most home runs, you should be the home run champion. What a disgrace it was that Josh Hamilton was easily the star of the show two years ago, and finished second. It made as much sense as the all-star game deciding World Series home field advantage.

During the 2008 home run derby at Yankee Stadium, Hamilton hammered 28 first-round homers, TWENTY more than anyone else in that round. After two rounds, he reached the finals with a very sizable 32-17 total margin over Justin Morneau, who outhomered Hamilton 5-3 in the finals to (in my opinion) very wrongly and unfairly take home the home run derby crown despite being considerably outhomered 35-22 by Hamilton, overall.

And, here’s another change that makes sense… With 10 outs per player, per round, it drags on for hours. When players sometimes wait around too long, and can’t get into any kind of rhythm, what’s the point? A perfect example was this year’s home run derby on Monday night. Milwaukee’s Corey Hart led all contestants with 13 first-round homers, as the only player in double figures during the opening round, including each of his final five blasts all going at least 450 feet. But, he was eliminated with no homers in round two after sitting around for 91 minutes between first-round and second-round swings.

Cut it in half, to five outs per player, per round, and use the extra time to…

Add Other Skills Competitions

Just a few ideas… Fielding and throwing to first base or to second base, for third basemen, shortstops, and second basemen; testing first basemen’s ability to pick balls in the dirt or to turn a 3-6-3 double play; testing the best outfield arms, such as the longest outfield throws and the most accurate throws to second base, third base, or home plate; see who the fastest runners are going from home to first, home to second, home to third, or first to third; or perhaps, test catchers crouching behind home plate with their accuracy for throwing out potential base stealers at second or third base.

The best baseball players are recognized as five-tool players, yet we only see one on display -– home run power -– during the all-star break. Hold a five-tool competition with each of those tools tested, making up 20 percent of a total score.

I’m not sure what could be done for pitchers. We don’t want to see them throwing out their arms trying to top each other on the radar gun, but perhaps technology could be used to test who has the best command and who can most consistently paint the corners of the plate.

At any rate, if fans had a vote for these types of activities, they might even be more interested to see such competitions rather than the all-star game itself (which often falls well short of the pre-game hype by the fifth inning) .

MLB, Hear Me Out And Improve The All-Star Break And World Series!

Alright, now that I’ve said my peace, I’ll step down and let Bud return as acting commissioner. But, Mr. Selig, for the good of the game, please make the above changes –- I’ll settle for the first two –- and we’ll all enjoy a much better All-Star break and World Series each year.

That phrase couldn’t have applied more to the United States men’s soccer team on Wednesday afternoon in Pretoria, South Africa, where a single goal meant moving on in the 2010 World Cup, and a lack of one meant going home.

Through 90 minutes of regulation time, the Americans had failed to find the back of the net (at least, not officially) in its final Group C match.

Desperation had set in with just four minutes of stoppage time added as the U.S. and Algeria were battling to a scoreless stalemate. The Americans knew that a victory meant advancing out of group play and on to the single-elimination knockout bracket, but a tie or a loss would end their World Cup stay.

It even appeared for a brief moment that Algeria would be the team to finally break through with a score when a close–range header from Algerian forward Rafik Saifi (who after the match, indefensibly slapped a female Algerian reporter across the face) was on target at the 90:33 mark.

However, U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard was there to snatch Saifi’s attempt out of the air along the post to his right, and touch off the perfect counter attack, resulting in one of the most monumental goals in U.S. soccer history, just thirteen seconds later.

The winning play developed in an instant as Howard fired a terrific throw to the perfect choice –- midfielder Landon Donovan, the greatest player in U.S. national team history, who took Howard’s toss at the midfield stripe and played the ball toward the Algerian goal. Donovan passed ahead, into the Algerian goal box to forward Jozy Altidore, who had streaked along the right side. Altidore took Donovan’s feed and sent a crossing pass into the middle of the box for midfielder Clint Dempsey.

Algerian goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi dove out to meet Altidore’s pass, deflecting it away from a charging Dempsey who tripped over M’Bolhi, before falling over the goal line. But, M’Bolhi’s attempt at snaring the ball was impeded by his own teammate, on Algerian defender Madjid Boughera’s sliding attempt to clear the ball to safety. Dempsey’s mere attempt to score was sufficient, as it helped create enough chaos to free the ball off of M’Bolhi’s hands, toward the middle of the goal box.

That’s when Donovan, the all-time leading U.S. scorer with 44 goals in 126 games, who was trailing the play the whole way, was there for the follow. He fired a shot into the low left corner of the net at 90:46, to fittingly score if not the most important, at least the most dramatic goal in U.S. soccer lore.

Donovan, the unquestioned heart and soul of the U.S. team, didn’t have a great game before lifting the U.S. to its stunning 1-0 victory. As great as he’s been over his U.S. career, Donovan has had a reputation for disappearing in big games, and he did that again for much of the second half on Wednesday. But, he more than answered those questions with some late game heroics that changed everything for the U.S.

One rebound. One shot. One goal. The difference between the U.S. (1-0-2) ending its World Cup hopes and not only advancing out of Group C, but becoming the unlikely winner of its group, ahead of clear group favorite England (1-0-2), which advanced to the knockout round as the Group C runner-up, with a 1-0 blanking of Slovenia (1-1-1) at the same time the U.S. was defeating Algeria (0-2-1). England, which lost the tiebreaker to the U.S. (scoring two goals in Group C to the four notched by the Americans), will next face Group D winner, Germany.

While there’s still much left to do for the U.S. in this year’s World Cup, Donovan’s goal already marked a good degree of significance for U.S. soccer. It wasn’t just that the U.S. captured only its second World Cup group win ever (its last was in the first World Cup, in 1930), but it was the way in which that feat was accomplished, with the resiliency, fight, and excitement that was on display throughout the three Group C games in which the U.S. competed –- all qualities which won’t exactly put soccer on the same level as major American sports like football, baseball, basketball, or ice hockey any time soon, but which figure to help the world’s most-watched sport gain popularity in the U.S. There may just be some young kids looking to be next Donovan now, instead of the next Peyton Manning or Kobe Bryant.

In its opening game against England, the U.S. rebounded from allowing a goal just 3½ minutes in, gaining a 1-1 tie aided by a lucky goal after a misplay from English goalkeeper Robert Green. In its second match, the U.S. rightfully pulled off a remarkable comeback after spotting Slovenia a 2-0 halftime lead. Donovan, as the undoubted face of U.S. soccer for nearly a decade, started that rally with a goal to cut Slovenia’s lead to 2-1. After the U.S. tied that match on a goal by Michael Bradley, the son of U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, the Americans had seemingly climbed the mountain in the second half, until rookie referee Koman Coulibaly waived off what should have been a winning goal by U.S. midfielder Maurice Edu in the 86th minute, off of a brilliant free kick into the box from Donovan.

On Wednesday, further excitement was provided and there was even more adversity for the U.S. to finally overcome.

Just 5:35 into the match, the U.S. barely survived a hard shot by Algerian forward Rafik Djebbour as it glanced off of the crossbar. At 19:53, another U.S. goal was mistakenly disallowed when Dempsey scored but was incorrectly called for being offside. Later, Altidore shot a loose ball just before Donovan, who had a better angle, could shoot from six yards out, but Altidore sailed the ball over the goal at 36:04. And, at 56:13, Dempsey bounced a shot off of the right post before missing a close follow-up shot wide to the left, two seconds later.

The tension and pressure mounted as the game wore on, with both the U.S. and Algeria each having several other chances. Knowing what was at stake, the 0-0 score didn’t deter any of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat anticipation.

And, when the main man of U.S. soccer came through with little time to spare, it was as if soccer, for at least one brief moment, became as popular in the U.S. as in the rest of the world.

That feeing is something that former President Bill Clinton is helping to continue. Clinton, who took in Wednesday’s match sitting next to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, is on the committee to help secure the U.S. as the World Cup hosts in 2018 or 2022. The former leader of the free world was impressed with how the U.S. team competed until the very end in the world’s biggest sporting event, saying “They have a good head and a good heart, collectively… and, they just kept playing.”

Similar to the way Donovan silenced his critics, the U.S. win over Algeria showed Americans back home that yes, even previously-thought boring 1-0 soccer matches can indeed be as thrilling as an NFL overtime win, a walk-off home run, or a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.

For the third straight game, the U.S. found a way. And, now we’ll get to see what Donovan and his band of Cardiac Kids can do for an encore. First up, will be a meeting with Group D runner-up, Ghana (1-1-1), which sent the U.S. home with a 2-1 victory over the U.S. in the Americans’ final game of group play in the 2006 World Cup.

For now though, it was enough for the U.S. to find one goal to further its quest of a much bigger one.

And, for at least one day back home, U.S.A. stood for Unbelievable Soccer Achievement.