Endings need work in Jersey

Sunday night’s season opener marked the beginning of the end for one of the most successful franchises in recent memory, “The Sopranos.”

It’s too early to tell how Tony Soprano will finish his television career as a New Jersey crime boss. But he might want to invest in a Kevlar wardrobe and extra bodyguard support if the state’s sports history is any indicator.

Here is how two of New Jersey’s sporting greats brought the curtain down:

* Scott Stevens: The longtime Devils captain scored 196 goals in his career, but only three in his last season, 2003-2004. One year after winning the Stanley Cup, Stevens and the Devils were eliminated in the first round of the 2004 playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, four games to one.

* Dennis Rodman: The NBA’s all-time hair-frosted flake was born in Trenton in 1961. Thirty-eight years later, he signed on to torment the Dallas Mavericks for the 1999-2000 season. He lasted only 12 games, being released after accumulating six technicals and two ejections.

He has since spent his post-NBA days appearing on bad TV shows and a few bad basketball teams, from the Tijuana Dragons to the Brighton Braves to Torpan Pojat of the Finland basketball league, Korisliiga.

Historical footnote: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Dick Button was born in 1929 in Englewood, N.J. Most of America knows Button as an outspoken figure skating expert. Tony Soprano, proud New Jersey native, prefers to refer to him as the state’s first Button man.

Wanted: quick fix

Tony Soprano is a Seton Hall man, logging in with an infamous semester and a half on the Orange, N.J., campus.

Seton Hall canceled football in 1982 -- no conclusive evidence Tony had anything to do with it -- and is best known for its basketball program. But in 2006-07, the basketball Pirates slumped through a 13-16 season, finishing 4-12 in the Big East.

The program could use some fixing before next season. Tony would like to help, but that’s not what he does. His specialty is fixing games.

Trivia time

Where was the first intercollegiate football game played?

Heads roll after Kaiser coverup

Back in June 2005, legendary German soccer player and coach Franz Beckenbauer was caught by a speed camera driving 45 mph in a 20-mph zone in Munich.

Three officials in the local traffic police decided the man known as “The Kaiser,” who won World Cups for Germany as a captain and coach, should get a break. So they claimed the car was an unmarked vehicle used by traffic police, a ruse that would have enabled Beckenbauer to avoid a one-month driving ban.

Another city official, however, recognized the “policeman” behind the wheel as Beckenbauer. As a result the two policemen and a senior inspector were fired from their jobs.

Beckenbauer eventually got off scot-free. The statute of limitations had expired by the time the scheme was discovered.

Trivia answer

New Brunswick, N.J., where on Nov. 6, 1869, Rutgers University defeated Princeton, 6-4. Rutgers is considered “The Birthplace of College Football.”

And finally

Believe it or not, a website called FireHowland.com now exists.

Before you go to the site, the initial thought is, “Two Final Four losses to the eventual champion. Tough crowd.”

But when you reach the site, you quickly realize it’s a prank. Against a baby blue background, gold type spells out a simple message: “Welcome, all Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Pac-10 fans!!! We are sorry to inform you that coach Ben Howland will be at UCLA for a while. So get used to it!”

mike.penner@latimes.com