PITTSBURGH -- The comeback James Conner never doubted, not once, officially ended with an unremarkable 1-yard loss.And while the Pittsburgh running back picked himself up and quietly headed back to the huddle early in the first quarter against Villanova on Saturday, thousands inside Heinz Field rose to their feet for a standing ovation that had nothing to do with football and everything to do with perseverance.There will be plenty of time for Conner to nitpick his performance in Pitts 28-7 season-opening win. Just not Saturday. Conners well aware of the significance of his familiar No. 24 jersey sprinting onto the field for the first time in 364 days, a layoff that began with a knee injury last September against Youngstown State then became something far more harrowing when he was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma around Thanksgiving.The road back included months of chemotherapy treatment, sessions that left him drained but undaunted. He soldiered through spring practice wearing a mask during drills to protect his depleted immune system, all the while hoping his example would resonate with those facing similar battles. Its a role he never envisioned having to fill, but one hes willingly embraced.Its why the stands were filled with family members, the medical staff that helped restore him to health and hundreds of friends from back home in Erie, Pennsylvania. Conners two-touchdown performance was as much a testament to their support as it was his resolve. At the same time hes only too happy to put this chapter -- the first chapter anyway -- behind him and get back to football and not the disease that temporarily brought the 2014 ACC Player of the Years blossoming career to a halt.Its not my first game, Conner said. I know its a comeback game but its felt like a regular season football camp really. My battle was already won, beating cancer. Everything else was a reward.There was rust to be sure. There were also signs that hes going to be just fine. The proof came in the second quarter when Conner took a handoff and raced around the left end, stiff-arming a Villanova defender before crossing the goal line to give the Panthers the lead while the teammates who elected him as one of Pitts three captains raced to congratulate him.That first touchdown couldnt be any better, stiff-arm into the end zone right into the student section, quarterback Nate Peterman said. It was an emotional moment.Conner was at it again just before the half, hauling in a 9-yard score by making a difficult grab in traffic over the middle. He finished with 53 yards on 17 carries and added three receptions for 16 yards as Pitt avoided an embarrassing slip-up a week before a highly anticipated showdown with Penn State.Im sure as we watch the tape were going to have a lot of corrections for him, coach Pat Narduzzi said. Mainly that hes looking for a touchdown every play instead of hitting it up there for three or four yards and be happy with it. Its been a long time since he stepped on the field in a game situation. He made plays when he needed to.Quadree Henderson returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a score to break things open. Peterman completed 19 of 32 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, including a pretty 16-yard lob to Jester Weah with six minutes to go. Still, the Panthers managed just 211 total yards.The Wildcats controlled play for portions of the first half, but three straight drives into Pitt territory failed to produce any points, giving the Panthers time to get going. Rob Rolle returned a Peterman fumble 3 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter for Villanovas only score.THE TAKEAWAYVillanova: Coach Andy Tally said entering his 32nd and final season the Wildcats will have to rely heavily on their defense. Theres reason for optimism as Villanova stayed within striking distance, keeping Pitts running game in check for the most part and preventing big plays.Pitt: The Panthers will need the passing game to develop quickly if they want to make noise in the crowded ACC Coastal Division. Villanova stacked the line of scrimmage and dared Peterman to throw it, which he did with only middling success.UP NEXTVillanova: Host Lehigh in their home opener.Pitt: Resumes its rivalry with Penn State after a 15-year hiatus when the Nittany Lions visit Heinz Field.---AP College Football site: www.collegefootball.ap.org Discount Vans Trainers . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Cheap Vans Shoes China . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. http://www.cheapvansdiscount.com/ . PAUL, Minn. Vans Shoes Cheap Onlne . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Cheap Vans Shoes For Sale . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont.Whilst our governing bodies continually tinker with formats, a common perception which holds true right across the North American sporting landscape: All-Star Games are meaningless and are bereft of substance or relevancy. Time now for a serious rethink. What occurred at Sporting Park Wednesday night was so much more than a lopsided game. When MLS announced Sporting KC would host this seasons All Star Game in early January we didnt even know who the opponent would be. With what we know now it is not an exaggeration to state we are in the initial throes of a tipping point for Major League Soccer, one whose origins are traced back to January 2007. David Beckham was the game changer then and injected an accelerated pathway of unprecedented growth both on and off the pitch for a league which came into being as a requirement of FIFA awarding the 1994 World Cup Finals to the U.S. He may have left the MLS pitch but Beckhams legacy on the league can only be truly measured following the full passage of time. The 2013 All-Star Game may have come and gone but the events and news which started as soon as MLS entire stakeholder group began arriving in Kansas last Sunday and on through to well after they had all departed will ripple and flow through MLS forever more. It all got going Tuesday afternoon when one of the leagues charter franchises - the Columbus Crew - was sold for a record price. According to Forbes that figure now sits at $68 million. The original price paid for the Crew back in 1995 by one of MLS founding investors Lamar Hunt was a mere $5 million. Even if you throw in the approximate $30 million cost of constructing Crew Stadium, the original soccer-specific stadium built in the MLS era, that sale price represents a greater than six-fold Return on Investment. Not a shabby return no matter what metric you deploy or measure it against. No irony was lost in the fact that the news came with Kansas City as the backdrop, another of the charter franchises which was owned and operated by Lamar Hunt and the Hunt Sports Group. Though news of the sale may not have budged the mainstream needle, that collective shoulder shrug was surely replaced with wide-eyed amazement following the news which came during the interval of Wednesdays so-termed showpiece event. Ordinarily at the MLS Cup or the All-Star Game, Don Garbers halftime broadcast appearance is bereft of substance – a mere photo opportunity sans the baby kissing. Not anymore. Garbers main purpose during his appearance on ESPN Wednesday night - an appearance that was ultimately broadcast in well over 100 countries - was to advise a waiting world of Agenda Item Number One from that days Board of Governors meeting. Expansion. The needle moving type. One which will result in 24 teams taking to MLS pitches across North America for the start of the 2020 season. Major League Soccer on a scale not rationally believable when you consider just a short decade ago contraction was on everyones minds as both Florida-based franchises were sacrificed for the common long term good. Contraction bought the number of franchises at the time to just 10. The same number there was when MLS kicked off in 1996. The decision to contract was one the league had fretted anxiously over. It was not exactly the best message to be sending as at this exact time MLS was desperately short of hard cash, splashing about blindly in their search for broadcast and partnership deals. Whispers the league was on its last throes got louder after having already racked up over $250 million in debt and losses over these inttervening years.dddddddddddd That contraction now has a very legitimate chance of coming full circle. Flavio Augusto da Silva, the Brazilian owner of Orlando Soccer Club wants to bring Major League Soccer back to Florida. Orlando, who currently play in USL Pro, were invited to make a presentation during Wednesday mornings Board of Governors meeting. Adding fuel to the Florida fire is a widely held belief David Beckham will finally exercise his option to purchase an MLS franchise and will call Miami home. This was the destination Barcelona had in mind for the 2011 expansion. Ultimately that cycle resulted in the Whitecaps and Portland winning out. The Bolivian telecommunications billionaire Marcelo Claure who originally partnered with Barcelona and whose empire is headquartered in Miami is Beckhams dance partner. With the league fully aware of the immense values stemming from localized football rivalries and if we take their 2011 expansion business model into account, one can safely presume two of those four franchises will be located in the snowbird state. Considering the aggregate values returned to the league by the three Canadian clubs the migration and emigration of Canadians to Florida is likely not a point lost on the increasingly efficient league accountants based in Manhattan. Where, then, will the remaining two franchises be located? Well, forget speculating for now. Having already made a career legacy out of it - the master of flushing MLS prospects out of that very same woodwork goal posts and crossbars are made of - Don Garber must be grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the prospects line-up which will over time line up two-abreast outside his office door. They say bad news occurs in groups of three. Well this week for MLS the opposite has occurred. The third piece of good news stems from a random sighting, at a random US airport, by a random MLS Seattle supporter. The subject of that sighting, however, was anything but random. As the football world held its collective breath and obsessively fixated over a certain Tottenham Hotspur player unbeknown to all, it was another Spurs player quietly slipped away from training camp. Destination: Heathrow Airport. ESPN broke the news late Friday evening that Clint Dempsey - the U.S. captain still very much in the prime of his career - would be signing with the Sounders. Its not so much MLS Prodigal Son returning to a league he left back in 2007, but more a case - as we are now in the midst of a World Cup cycle – of one of the greatest footballers to emerge from the U.S. being convinced that MLS is on a football journey he very much wants to be part of after successfully exporting himself to one of world footballs best leagues. Seattle is reported to be paying Dempsey more than Beckhams base salary over a four-year term, with a total outlay running north of $40 million once the transfer fee has been factored in. This is MLS were talking about… a league where you could have purchased all 10 franchises for $50 million back in 1996. According to many, the Seattle Sounders unimaginable and unquantifiable success in large part is down to the fact the Emerald City is deemed the counter-culture capital of America. By 2020 MLS will be the counter-culture capital of world football. Over to you, FIFA. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at: Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel Tune into TSN 690 Monday evening at 6:00pm et - when we will speak with ESPNs Doug McIntyre about Clint Dempseys return to Major League Soccer. Also available at TSN.ca/Montreal ' ' '