COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 Baseball is back baby!  And what a way to open the season than to have one of the game's biggest free agent signings from this past winter have an immediate impact.    In his first game in Baltimore Orioles attire, former Mets slugger Pete Alonso cracked a two-run homer in Baltimore's 2-0 spring training victory over the New York Yankees.    The homer was Alonso's only hit of the day in three trips to the plate. But the impact of the slugger in the Cresent City is already being felt. Meanwhile the Mets are running with basically a platoon at first between Jorge Palonco, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty. This should be a storyline we will follow all year.  Heck even social media was having a field day!   As for the Yankees they were held to three hits on the afternoon. Jazz Chisholm (1-for-1) and Austin Wells (0-for-3) were the only notable Bombers in action on Friday afternoon.   

 MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark is expected to resign from his position amid a federal investigation that was opened last year by the Eastern District of New York regarding using licensing money or equity to enrich themselves, according to the New York Times and The Athletic .  The Department of Justice opened an additional investigation in October, according to the Times.  Clark who played from the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets and Yankees in his career has been the head of the players union since 2013.    This news comes at a wild time for baseball as the league is starring down the prospect of a work stoppage in 2027.  The Time cites a statement from MLBPA executive subcommittee member Brent Suter (a pitcher of the L.A. Angels of Anaheim) that bargining sessions were expected to start this summer, and hopes to keep things stable toward that end.  It is not known who will serve officially as Interim Executive Director, b...

 Mets owner Steve Cohen was prickly in his opening press conference of the year, sounding more like George Steinbrenner in his prime as he sounded off on the Mets 2025/26 off-season, losing out on top flight talents, the financial rivalry with the Dodgers, missing the playoffs, and naming a captain. Let's just say the Mets boss left plenty of missives that feel he's calling on his team to figure things out and get back to the playoffs this year.  "We haven't won. I really want to win," Cohen said emphatically. "Each year that goes by I get more annoyed.  "It's hard to know when to make those changes, but the other side is we have a sharp management and they were prepared and had alternatives. Saying good bye is tough, but saying hello is kinda fun. "I get frustrated. I am committed to this team. I know how much the fans care. I know we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1986, but that is far too long. I want to put myself in a positio...

As green and blue confetti spewed into the air at Levi's Stadium to celebrate the Seattle Seahawks 29-13 victory over the punchless New England Patriots in one of the worst Super Bowl game's ever played, the night belonged seemingly, and inexplicably to one man: Sam Darnold.  Sam Darnold with the Lombardi. Getty Images.  The former quarterback of the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, and Minnesota Vikings, had done the unthinkable. He won it all.   In one of the most bizarre seasons we have ever seen, it was fitting in a way that it had one of the most bizarre endings we've ever seen. And unironically, of the four former employers Darnold once played for, one in particular has drawn the ire of the national media and fans alike: the New York Jets.  If 2025 can be summed up succinctly it is this: "LOL Jets!"   Because ever since Seattle's 38-37 overtime victory over the L.A. Rams on a Thursday night in late December, it became more a...

 The New York Jets got their man. Gang Green officially hired former Colts and Panthers Head Coach Frank Reich as their new offensive coordinator on Wednesday.  Reich, a former back-up quarterback with the Jets and Buffalo Bills in the early to mid-90s was teammates with Jets Head Coach Aaron Glenn back in 1996, the year the Jets infamously went 1-15. Reich returns to the Jets 30-years later with Glenn firmly on the same hot seat Rich Kotite was on. Despite that infamous dose of irony, Reich brings plenty of experience with him. He was the offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-2017, including the year Philadelphia beat New England in the Super Bowl. Still Reich didn't call plays on those teams, that was in the hands of head coach Doug Pederson.  Reich parlayed his short stay in Philly into a head coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts. For the most part, Reich was doing ok. His offenses were consistently in the top 10 in his early years with the C...

 The New York Giants finally have a offensive coordinator in place with the hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs O.C. Matt Nagy. A surprising hire to some, Nagy does have connections to Giants Head Coach John Harbaugh through Andy Reid. Harbaugh served as Reid's special teams coach with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2007, before Harbaugh took the head coaching job with Ravens.  Nagy has been a long time assistant for Reid at both the Eagles and Chiefs. There was a four year run where Nagy was the Head Coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018-21 that produced mixed results. While Nagy got the Bears to the playoffs twice, his offenses were consistently poor in Chicago. It didn't help matters that his quarterbacks were Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields.  Still just the fact that the Giants get Nagy can be viewed as a positive, considering his work with Patrick Mahomes in recent years.  Mahomes skill set is very similar to that of Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. The hop...