The Wizard of schnoz

METS PITCHER Jon Niese nose he looks different, and he's got former teammate Carlos Beltran to thank for it.

The lefthander showed up for spring training yesterday sporting a new schnoz.

Niese said he got the idea for a nose job from Beltran who - before being traded to the Giants last July - jokingly said, "We need to get you a new nose."

"He wanted me to have a new nose," Niese told reporters yesterday. "So he offered to pay for it. I was just like, 'All right.' Then it turned into seeing doctors and to getting it fixed."

Niese said he may still send the bill to Beltran. He also said that he not only looks better, he breathes better, too.

"It's helped a lot with my running," Niese said. "It helps with my working out. As far as the mound, I'm not sure."

Not a week goes by that there isn't news about former Sixers star Allen Iverson.

Will he return to the NBA? Will he play in Europe? Will he play soccer?

Soccer?

The Rochester Lancers, of the Major Indoor Soccer League, have offered Iverson $20,000 a game and an additional $5,000 for each goal he scores.

This is either a nice gesture - a way to help a financially struggling Iverson - or a shameless public relations stunt.

We pick the latter, especially considering the team only has two regular-season games left.

Iverson was a phenomenal basketball player. And he was a great quarterback in high school. Apparently, the Lancers are willing to overlook the fact that he doesn't play soccer.

"Allen Iverson is one of the premier athletes of our time," Rich Randall, the Lancers vice president, said in a statement. "With his athleticism and competitive hunger, I think he can be a great fit with our team . . . "

Randall is right, Iverson is a great athlete. But to become a decent soccer player A.I. would have to practice - and we all know how he feels about that.