COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Well it appears that Rex Ryan's bravado has finally gotten the better of him. The fiery Jets coach, flipped the bird to a group of Miami Dolphins fans when he was put on the jumbo-tron of a MMA event. Ryan was at the event, enjoying himself, until he was put on the TV, and vociferously booed by the Miami crowd. Ryan reacted by flipping his middle finger, a la Brian Cox style to some Dolphins fans who were giving him a hard time. “It was stupid and inappropriate. I wouldn’t accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere,” Ryan said in a statement released by the team. "I’d like to thank everybody here in Miami. I know they love me,” Ryan said This is not the first time Ryan has butted heads with the Fish. Earlier in the year he got into a verbal spat with Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder during the off-season, in which Crowder challenged...

The New York Jets will have a hard time signing free agents this spring. No it has nothing to do with how people may feel about playing in New York; instead it has everything to do with the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) , which is coming to an end this year. The NFL owners and players are working on a new agreement, with the hope of preventing an uncapped year in 2010, and preventing a possible work stoppage in 2011. According to the Star Ledger: "The final eight playoff teams can’t sign an unrestricted free agent unless they lose one themselves, and the money has to match, much like in NBA trades. That player must have an expired contract and be in the league six or more years. "Also, more than 200 players that would’ve been unrestricted free agents, such as Jets WR Braylon Edwards and RB Leon Washington, will be restricted free agents under the current CBA. "However, if a veteran player gets cut by a team, he can be signed by any team on the open market...

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is considering surgery on his left knee to stabilize a patella ligament, according to the Star Ledger . This is not the same knee that Sanchez hurt in a game against the Buffalo Bills in December, in which he dove head first on an attempted first down. If Sanchez has the surgery he will be sidelined for two months, which will take the quarterback to April, meaning he would miss the clubs' off-season program in March. However, OTA's are not until May and June, and he is expected to be ready by then. Sanchez is still developing as a young quarterback, and the off-season program would be benificial to his development, but making sure his knees are healthy are more important to the franchise right now. Sanchez is better off getting this surgery done now, since the Jets are seven months away from training camp.

Earlier this past week the Yankees finalized a one year $2 million contract with Randy Winn, formally of the San Francisco Giants. The move means that Johnny Damon's run as Yankees left fielder will come to an abrupt end, after both sides failed to come to terms on a contract. Winn is not as good a hitter as Damon is, but he is a serviceable stop gap for whomever the Yankees will target permanently for left field come 2011. Winn hit .262 with the Giants in 2009, hitting only two homeruns and driving in 51 RBI. His best season came in 2005, while splitting time with the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants, Winn hit .306, corked 20 homers and drove in 65. However, he has never come close to matching that kind of productivity since. As for Damon, he played a very large roll in the Yankees World Series Championship last season, and his presence at the top of the Yankee order will definitely be missed. Damon has yet to find another suitor, but there are rumors he could go back to ...

COLTS 30 JETS 17 It just wasn't meant to be. The last time the Jets were in the AFC Championship game, they held a 10-0 lead on the Denver Broncos in the third quarter in 1998. They then went ahead and turned the ball over six times, as Denver stormed back to win 23-10. Sunday was something of a replay, minus the hideous turnovers. The Jets held a 17-6 lead on the Colts approaching the two minute warning in the second quarter. Then Peyton Manning woke up from his slumber, figured out the Jets blitzing 46 defense and led Indy on a huge comeback. Manning hit Austin Collie for 18 to move the ball to the Colts 38. Then he hit Collie again from 46 yards out to put the ball deep into Jets territory. Finally, Manning hit Collie again for a 16 yard touchdown to cut the Jets lead to 17-13 at halftime. Even though Gang Green had the lead, the game was over, Peyton Manning had the Jets right where he wanted them. The Jets, as we have seen from this franchise for 41 years found ways to kill th...

The Mets may have found a temporary replacement for Carlos Beltran. Friday morning the Mets agreed to trade reliever Brian Stokes to the Anaheim Angels in exchange for Gary Matthews Jr. , once one of the Angels prime hitters. Matthews Jr. once played for the Mets in 2002, and got only one at bat in the regular season before the Mets released him. Matthews Jr. went on to become a All Star caliber player for the Texas Rangers. In 2006, Matthews Jr. hit .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBI earning a All Star berth. In 2007, he signed on to become the left fielder with the Angles, joining Tori Hunter and Vladimir Gurrero. He played 140 games that year, hit .252 blasted 18 homers and drove in 72. However, injuries in the last two years, and the addition of Bobby Abreu in 2009, cut into Matthews Jr.'s playing time. He played in only 103 games last year. Jr. will be asked to become the Mets everyday center fielder until Carlos Beltran returns from knee surgery, which he had last week. Beltran ...

Four weeks ago the Indianapolis Colts pulled off a stunner when Jim Caldwell, on orders from team President Bill Pollian, pulled Peyton Manning and the rest of the Colts starters on offense and defense in order to rest them for the playoffs. The game was against the Jets, and when the Colts starters left, Indy held a 15-10 lead on Gang Green. The Jets took full advantage of the Colts shocking move, putting up 19 unanswered points to beat the Colts and end their unbeaten season, 29-15. Since that time a firestorm has been brewing. Thousands of people have called out the Colts as cheating the game of football for pulling that stunt and not even trying to stay perfect. They have also criticized the Jets for taking bows after the win. The Jets claim that they would have beaten the Colts no matter who was on the field, even Peyton Manning. That is heck of an insult to the only player to win four MVP awards. The Jets have had a terrific run. They beat the Bengals in back-t0-back weeks, and s...

Who knew that Brett Favre had anything left when he left the Jets stranded after a disappointing finish to the 2008 season? Well as it turns out Favre and his torn right shoulder healed pretty quick as the 40 year old quarterback led the Vikings all the way to the NFC title game. Favre had one of his best seasons throwing for 4,202 yards 33 touchdowns and a career low, seven interceptions. So much for having nothing left when he was with Gang Green. Throughout the year, Favre has developed a terrific on-field relationship with receiver Sidney Rice, with Rice becoming Minnesota's number one deep threat. Rice had a career year with 83 receptions for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns. The Vikings pass offense has been so impressive this year, that dynamic running back Adrian Peterson had a down year for him, rushing for 1,383 yards with 18 touchdown! And this was a down year for Peterson who averaged only 4.4 yards a carry on the ground. Expect Minnesota to put up some numbers on the S...

So anybody know of a guy who can play catcher please contact the Mets. In what has been a nightmare off-season for the New York Mets , just got a whole lot worse, when their number one target for catcher, Bengi Molina re-signed with the San Francisco Giants to a one year deal worth $4.5 million. The Mets had initially offered Molina a two year deal worth over $5 million, but the catcher rejected wanting a third year. He lowered his price tag to two years, but that was not enough for him to agree to come to the Metroplitans, instead opting to stay in San Fran. Now the Mets not only have a gapping hole at first base, center field, and 4/5 of the starting rotation, they now have a gapping hole at catcher, a position of need. The Mets will have to rely on Omir Santos and Josh Thole to battle it out in Spring Training, or hope that veteran's signings like Chris Coste and Henri Blanco pan out. In short 2010 is starting to sound and look like another year to forget for the Mets.

JETS 17 CHARGERS 14 Rex Ryan predicted his team should have been the favorites to win it all when the playoffs started a couple of weeks ago. Well, so far, it is two down and two to go for Gang Green. The Jets are 60 football minutes away from a trip to Super Bowl XLIV, after they outplayed the San Diego Chargers 17-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Jets found a way to hang around all afternoon with the Chargers, keeping the game scoreless in the first quarter and holding a powerful Chargers offense to seven points through three quarters. The Jets got a couple of breaks in this game, as, for example, when Charers kicker Nate Kaeding missed three straight field goals to cost San Diego any chance of winning this game. Add that to the fact that Phillip Rivers was constantly harassed in the pocket all day, and he was sacked twice and picked off twice in the loss. Much had been made about the match-up between Jets corner back Darrell Revis and Chargers receiver Vincent Ja...

The playoffs are all about cashing in on opportunities. After a thrilling 24-14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, the New York Jets will have to prepare extremely well for, arguably, the toughest test of their 2009 season, the 13-3 San Diego Chargers . The Chargers are football's hottest team, having won 11 in a row, including victories over the Dallas Cowboys , Bengals, and Philadelphia Eagles , three teams that qualified for this year's tournament. The turning point in the season for San Diego came in Week Nine when the Bolts stormed back late in the fourth quarter from a six-point deficit to beat the New York Giants 21-20 at the Meadowlands. Philip Rivers hit Vincent Jackson in the corner of the end zone with 21 seconds remaining, shocking the Giants. At that moment, the Charg ers graduated from a good team that could never seem to put it together into a juggernaut. The Chargers never looked back after that day, and the once 6-0 Denver Broncos fell a...

To quote Al Pacino from "Godfather Part III", "Just when you thought you were out, they pull you right back in." Nothing ever gets better in the land of the New York Mets. Coming off one of the most bizarre season's in memory, when almost every starting player on the Mets roster missed time due to serious injury, the New Year brings more trouble. According to ESPN, Carlos Beltran will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to re-repair the knee that he injured last season. The Mets said that Beltran suffered "worsening of osteoarthritis" in his knee during the off-season,"according to the ESPN report. Beltran will miss the next three months; he probably won't be ready for opening day on April 5 when the Mets play host to the Florida Marlins. Beltran will have to undergo a strict rehab regimen before he returns. The report states that Beltran will miss only a few weeks in April, but last year the former All Star center fielder missed 81 games w...

JETS 24 BENGALS 14 For the past two weeks, it appeared that the Jets were gifted with a win when the Indianapolis Colts pulled their starters, thereby allowing Gang Green to enter the post season. Back then, detractors didn't give the Jets any credit for blowing away the Bengals 37-0 at Giants Stadium a week ago, claiming that Cincy would pack a huge punch for Saturday's wild card playoff game.That was then; this is now. In hindsight, perhaps the biggest mistake the Colts and Bengals made might prove to be allowing the Jets to enter the playoffs in the first place. Adding oratorical fuel to the fire, Rex Ryan, as appears to be his wont, was heavily criticized for speculating that his team could win a Super Bowl. Lo' and behold, a solid defense, a good running game, and an effective passing attack is all the formula a team needs to make such a thing happen. And, if recent history is any indication, whenever a team gets a break here and there down the stretch, good things...

Bill Sherridan is no longer the Defensive Coordinator of the New York Giants. After his unit struggled all season to stop Giant opponents, surrendering the third most points in the NFL, 427, including five games in which the Giants surrendered 40 or more points in a game, Sherridan got the ax on Monday afternoon. Sherridan spent only one season as the Giants' D coordinator after replacing Steve Spagnolou who left the team last March to coach the St. Louis Rams. Spagnolou was credited for creating one of the best defenses in the NFL, one that pounded the number one offense in football during the 2007 regular season, in the New England Patriots during Super Bowl XLII. Sherridan's group never came close to matching the intensity and fire of Spag's units from the 2007 and 2008 seasons. You can't blame everything on Sherridan, considering he was missing the likes of Kenny Phillips, Antonio Pierce, and Jay Alford for much of the season. The Giants had numerous injuries to the...

JETS 37 BENGALS 0 What a way to open up a new calendar year! With a win-and-they're-in playoff scenerio on the line, the Jets crushed the Cincinnati Bengals 37-0, in front a rapid and cold Jets crowd in the final game ever at Giants Stadium. Unlike last week, where the Indianapolis Colts mailed in the game, allowing the Jets to win, the Jets earned this time arou nd against the Bengals starters, who couldn't handle the Jets running attack, and couldn't handle their blitzing defense. The Jets harassed quarterback Carson Palmer all night, holding the All Pro to 1 for 11 passing for zero yards. Chad Ocho Cinco, who mouthed off all week about how he would put up big numbers on Pro-Bowl corner back Darrell Revis, was held to zero catches. Meanwhile, it was the Jets running game that broke this game wide open. Brad Smith, who returned a 106 yard kick return for a touchdown last week in Indianapolis, took the snap from center, and ran right up the gut, past the Bengals defense for...