NEW YORK -- Jonathon Niese had retired 15 straight batters as Sundays game reached the seventh inning, and anticipation at Citi Field was building. Could this be the first no-hitter in the New York Mets 51-season history? Then Dan Uggla worked out a 10-pitch walk, and Atlantas Freddie Freeman singled cleanly to right on the next pitch. The Mets wait reached 7,191 games and counting. No matter, Niese was smiling when it was over. New York completed a season-opening sweep with a 7-5 victory over the Braves. For the first time in 27 years, and only the third time ever, the Mets are 3-0 while the Yankees are 0-3. "Were going to surprise some people this year," Niese said. New York is 3-0 for the first time since opening with four wins in 2007. The Mets have a .320 batting average and a 1.67 ERA. "Were excited -- 3-0, man. You cant draw it up any better than that," Daniel Murphy said. Atlanta, hoping to rebound from Septembers 9-18 collapse, is 0-3 for the second time since losing its first 10 games in 1988. The Braves are hitting .151 with seven runs and 14 hits. "Its never good to come into the season and get swept," Brian McCann said. "Nobody in here is thinking about last year." Same with the Mets, coming off their third straight losing season and overshadowed in New York by the glamorous Yankees. Pitching for the first time since the Mets gave him a $25.5 million, five-year deal, Niese (1-0) allowed just two balls out of the infield through six innings. Freeman singled on his 99th pitch, a fastball that was up. Mets manager Terry Collins doubted Niese would have pitched the ninth, even if the no-hitter was within reach. Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen had decided on a 115-pitch limit, and the manager recalled how he took out Sid Fernandez from a Class-A game for Vero Beach in 1982 when the pitcher had a no-hitter and 21 strikeouts through seven innings but had thrown 130 pitches. "You dont sacrifice his health for an inning," Collins said. Niese, overpowering Atlanta with a 93 mph fastball, had been thinking about a no-hitter since "I guess the first inning." He was pretty sure the pitch count wouldnt have prevented him from going for it. "Id have ran back out. It would have been hard to take me out," he said in front of his locker, where an unknown prankster taped up a paper that read "Niese-ter bunny" with a photo-shopped picture of the pitcher in a white rabbit suit, holding a large carrot. He allowed four runs -- two earned -- and two hits in six-plus innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. It also was his first outing since a $10,000 off-season nose job -- paid for by former teammate Carlos Beltran -- to correct a deviated septum. Nieses 2011 season was cut short Aug. 23 when he strained an intercostal muscle. Niese lasted just two more batters after Freeman. Right fielder Lucas Duda, looking into a sunny, cloudless sky, dropped Matt Diazs fly ball for a run-scoring error that made it 7-1, and Jason Heyward chased Niese with a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jack Wilson added a sacrifice fly off Manny Acosta. New Yorks Ruben Tejada had a career-best four hits, and Frank Francisco became the first Mets reliever with saves in his first three games. "This means everything," Collins said. "Weve done a lot of talking in spring training about getting ready to compete, getting ready to prepare to compete. I told those guys in our first meeting: Youre professional baseball players, and there are expectations in this town and in this clubhouse." Mike Minor (0-1), who impressed the Braves by throwing 14 consecutive scoreless innings in his first four spring training starts, gave up six runs, six hits and four walks in five-plus innings. Before a crowd of 27,855 on Easter Sunday, more than 14,000 short of capacity, sacrifice flies by David Wright in the first and Duda in the fourth built a lead. Murphy hit a two-run double in the fifth, and the Mets made it 7-0 in the sixth on Scott Hairstons RBI double against Cristhian Martinez and Tejadas two-run double. McCann, who had been 0 for 10 in the series, homered in the eighth over the newly pulled-in fence in right, a ball that likely would have been a flyout in previous seasons at Citi Field. "Were fine," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Four or five of those hits together, and well be fine." NOTES: San Diego (6,846) is the only other big league team without a no-hitter. ... Niese pitched a one-hitter against San Diego on June 10, 2010, allowing Chris Denorfias leadoff double in the third. ... The Mets also opened 3-0 while the Yankees went 0-3 in 1973, according to STATS. ... Wright has 728 RBIs, five short of Darryl Strawberrys club record. ... The highlight of the Mets three-game series against Washington figures to be Wednesdays finale, with Johan Santana pitching against Stephen Strasburg. New York is selling $2.50 tickets for that game, to be played on the 50th anniversary of the Mets debut. Casey Hayward Packers Jersey . LOUIS -- Shelby Miller turned things around against his nemesis -- with some help from his friends. Mike Neal Packers Jersey . Falcao will have major surgery to repair the damage in coming days, and typically rehabilitation from such injuries takes many months. The World Cup in Brazil starts on June 12, and Colombias first match is on June 14 against Greece. http://www.authenticpackersteamshop.com/Clay-Matthews-Packers-Jersey. Hillis said Monday he has no regrets about sitting out Clevelands game Sept. 25 against Miami with strep throat, a decision -- reached with advice from his agent -- that fuelled speculation he missed the game to protest not getting a contract extension from the Browns. Dave Robinson Packers Jersey . Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban, who is black, was targeted for racial abuse on social media in the wake of his winning goal in Thursdays thrilling 4-3 double-overtime playoff win over Boston. C.J. Wilson Packers Jersey . And his fourth quarter was a beauty. Bledsoe, who missed 10 of his first 11 shots, scored the final 14 points for Phoenix, topping it off with a 3-pointer with 0.Sometime in the not too distant future... After a thorough 12-month development process, the Canadian Soccer Associations board of directors approves their new five-year strategic plan. The board gives the CSAs General Secretary the green light to begin the strategic activities laid out in the plan, setting in motion a flurry of activity. The CSAs Technical Director immediately convenes a video conference with the Technical Directors from each of the provincial branches of the CSA. (Provincial associations were deemed an unnecessary complication long ago, and were replaced by provincial branches of the CSA. These branches are staffed by CSA employees, and there is no provincial branch board of directors hindering operations). The provincial branch Technical Directors then conference in their regional Technical Directors. (Districts were also deemed an unnecessary complication long ago, and were replaced by regional branches of the CSA. Likewise, these branches are staffed by CSA employees, and there is no regional branch board of directors.) The CSA technical director informs his staff on the video conference that the latest instalment of the CSAs training curriculum is available for all members on the CSAs website. Grassroots coaches across the country need only to log onto the CSA website with their user name and password (which they receive when they register for a CSA coach education course) to download age and ability specific session plans and video demonstrations for their respective age groups. Online resources are freely available for coaches to continue their education through the CSA. On the CSA website, coaches can also book mentoring sessions with CSA coach educators, who are dispersed throughout the country working at the provincial and regional branches. There are three levels of play within the CSAs player development pathway: Recreational (formerly known as house league); Regional (formerly known as "rep" or "competitive" soccer, with travel occurring within a provincial region); and High Performance (the highest level of the development pathway, where training and competition takes place at high performance organizations that work in partnership with the CSAs network of coaches and coach educators across the country.) Each level of play is standards-based; if your club or academy (because the CSAs development pathway is open to ALL organizations) meets the standards set by the CSA for recreational, regional or high performance competition, your organization has the opportunity to participate at that level. Clubs and academies do not fight each other for players. Instead, they put the needs of the player ahead of their own. If a players ability exceeds the level at which his or her organization currently competes, the player is encouraged to move to the nearest organization that competes at the appropriate level for the player. Clubs and academies offer a variety of programs throughout the year, including futsal and technical skill development courses, all delivered by trained, professional coaches. Many of these coaches only coach part-time, as the program costs are kept to a minimum. But they all receive the same access to learning opportunities through the CSAs coach education program. This program is free of charge, as the CSA has signed a long-term sponsorship contract with one of Canadas major corporations to offset what the CSA considers to be the single biggest factor in developing better players - developing better coaches. When I register my daughter to play soccer for the Oakville Soccer Club, I simply navigate to the CSAs website where, through a series of drop-down menus, I choose Ontario (province), Peel Halton (region), Oakville SC (club), Girls (gender), Recreational (program). I pay the registration fee online, and the payment is instantly distributed from the CSA to the appropriatte recipients.dddddddddddd The largest portion goes to the club, who naturally bear most of the financial cost of delivering the program, but a percentage also goes to the regional and provincial branches of the CSA, who oversee player, coach and referee development in those areas. The CSA retains a portion of the fee itself, so that it may operate its national team programs accordingly. Within five days, I receive a laminated registration card for my daughter in the mail. It has her name, photo (because I uploaded her picture when I registered her online) and registration number displayed on the front of the card. This registration card serves as her player identification card for the upcoming season, which she brings with her to every game. On the back of the card is a list of all of the CSAs corporate partners. Presenting this card entitles me to a 20 per cent discount on any merchandise I purchase from any one of those partners. So, at the beginning of the year when I purchase my daughters new soccer shoes, I simply do my shopping at the preferred CSA partner, where I receive my discount... This sounds great, doesnt it. Its almost utopian, its so simple. It makes you wonder why it hasnt been this way all along. This isnt fiction, though - I didnt make this up off the top of my head, trying to build some crazy, idealistic vision of how soccer in Canada should function. This could very well be what soccer in Canada looks like in the not too distant future. I took some artistic license, yes. My frustration at the inane bureaucracy that has plagued our game for decades prompted me to eliminate provincial and district boards in the scenario I just described. That isnt going to happen. The best that we can hope for is that all provincial and district members of the CSA mirror the national bodys governance structure - something that is written into the new strategic plan. Some of the other ideas are not as far from becoming reality as one might think, though. The concept of a registration card for each and every one of the CSAs 850,000 members - including the idea of direct access to discounts through the CSAs network of corporate partners - is very real, and is also written into the strategic plan. It falls under the pillar of "professional governance of our sport" as "building a national database." Remarkably, despite having 850,000 members, the CSA has no database of information about its membership. There are no names on a list, no email addresses neatly filed away on a server somewhere - because the CSA has never had a mechanism to centralize its registration process. That is all going to change under the new strategic plan. Direct access to the CSAs membership is a goldmine for the CSA, for its corporate partners and for its members. What company doesnt want to have a direct relationship with their customers? And what customer (CSA member) doesnt want to get a discount on merchandise? The simple step of centralizing registration will give the CSA tremendous marketing power, its corporate partners real value for their investment in Canadian soccer, and most importantly, its members a tangible benefit for registering with the CSA. The success of the CSAs plan will depend on a number of factors, not least of which is you. Will you support the CSA, get behind their ideas and strategic priorities (which, I have to say, were developed in part through your consultation) and do whatever you can to make these initiatives a success? Or will you do what so many have chosen to do in the past - stand on the sidelines and criticize, never once offering to help turn ideas into reality? Not all of the objectives listed in the CSAs strategic plan will be met in the years ahead. But if the most important ones can be achieved, we can all start looking forward to a much brighter future for soccer in Canada. ' ' '