Jets extend contracts of Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum

In a surprising move, the Jets extended the contracts of both Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum.

18 months ago, Tannenbaum was in danger of losing his job after Eric Mangini and Brett Favre sunk the Jets 2008 campaign. Now, Tannenbaum gets a five year extension. Such is the reward for his very aggressive style in free agency and the draft that has netted the Jets the likes of Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes and LaDanlian Tomlinson.

As for Ryan, whose original contract was to expire in 2012, got two more years added on to it, that will keep him as the Jets head coach until 2014. Ryan's optimistic and jovial personality has put the Jets on a national scope as never seen before. Now he has to win...

Jets Re-sign Laveranus Coles to Contract

Guess who's coming back to the Jets?

No not Chad Pennington. Not Herman Edwards. Not Vinny Testaverde, or Curtis Martin.

Lavernaus Coles will return to the Jets for third time, in his on again off again relationship with the Jets.

After the 2008 season, Coles was released after pouting the entire season that he never wanted to play with Brett Favre; but I guess all the hype around the Jets now was too much for Coles to pass up.

Coles will now join a stacked Jets receiving corps. that already has Jerricho Cotchery, Braylon Edwards, Brad Smith, and Santonio Holmes. There is so much talent to go round the Jets offense, that Mark Sanchez won't have enough footballs to throw to them.

Yankees Close To Deal For Berkman

In attempt to bolster their bench, the Yankees are close to a deal that will bring Lance Berkman to the Bronx via the Houston Astros.

The Astros dealt their ace, Roy Oswalt on Thursday to the Phillies, now trade their last legitimate star in Berkman.

Although Berkman is not the hitter he used to be, he should figure to be a valued bat off the bench, since he is a switch hitter. He will also get a chance to DH, if Jorge Posada needs to rest his body, which has been battered with injuries.

This year Berkman has 13 homers and 49 RBI. He already own 321 career homers and 1,009 RBI.

Terrell Owens To Jets? It Could Happen

ESPN is reporting that the Jets are exploring the possibility of signing disgruntled wide receiver Terrell Owens to a contract to join the large corps of star obsessed wide receivers.

The Jets have established a pattern of signing the biggest buffons on the planet this off-season. They have already brought in a washed up LaDainlian Tomlinson; Jason Taylor who has made a career of ripping the Jets, Jet fans, and New Yorkers in general in the papers; and Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromarite, both of whom have legal issues.

T.O. is the king of team and quarterback killings. His summer of discontent with Donavon McNabb and the Eagles in 2006 became must see TV, and he whined his way out of San Fran. and Dallas, because he felt he wasn't getting the ball enough, and respect from Jeff Garcia and Tony Romo respectively.

The fact that the Jets are even considering this shows the lack of class that this franchise has developed. If someone is the worst human being and teammate on the planet, it doesn't matter for Rex Ryan and the Jets, they will bring 'em in.

It is clear that this team is more concerned about being the biggest television circus not named "Jersey Shore" when the Jets star in HBO's Hard Knocks next month.

Keith Bullock Signs With Giants

It has been a pretty quiet off-season for the New York Giants.

With the Jets dominating the headlines for the past six months, Big Blue hasn't made much noise in the off-season, yet this is a big year for the Giants.

Many believe, and I am NOT one of them, that coach Tom Coughlin could be in trouble if the Giants miss the playoffs for the second straight fall. It doesn't make sense since the Giants won the Super Bowl going on three years ago, but, so is life in the NFL.

Over the weekend the Giants signed former Titans linebacker Keith Bullock signed a one year $2.5 million deal with the G-Men to be their middle linebacker. He will replace Antonio Pierce who was released in February.

Bullock who grew up in Suffern, was a dominant figure for the Titans for the last 10 years. He had five straight years of 120 plus tackle seasons from 2002-2006. At 33, he is coming off an ACL injury, and has something to prove.

He's not a sack machine, only 18 in his career, but is great in coverage with 19 interceptions in his career.

Bullock should provide the kind of leadership that the Giants need in the middle of their re-tooling defense.

Omar Minaya Supports Mets Coaches

After a disasterous 2-9 road trip, the Mets are on the brink of watching their entire season go down in flames.

Yet it is not enough for Omar Minaya to declare that the Jerry Manuel tenure is over. Minaya came out in support of Manuel before the Mets played the Dodgers on Thursday, and now is coming out in his defense and the coaches again.

This time, Howard Johnson, the Mets hitting coach could be on the chopping block. Since becoming the hitting coach in 2008, the Mets have had one of the weakest offenses in the game, and David Wright has been in and out of some extremely long slumps during his tenure.

He is a popular choice to get fired, but, it is not all his fault. Every facet of the Mets as a team have failed, whether it be starting pitching, bullpen and offense. All of the blame could go to Minaya for building a team built out of a deck of cards, that was so fragile to begin with that people feared what would go wrong in 2010.

The big question is will the Wilpons fire both Minaya and Manuel at the end of the year. Read this article from BLEACHER REPORT on their job security. Then take a look at this slide show of possible replacements for Manuel if he is fired.

Pettitte Out four 4-5 Weeks

Andy Pettitte's great 2010 season is in jeopardy.

On Sunday, in the Yankees 9-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Pettitte suffered a grade one groin strain that will send him to the DL for more than a month.

Pettitte, who is 38 years old, was defying father time this year with a 11-2 record and a 2.88 ERA. He was selected late for the All Star game, but he should have made it easily. Now, is career and season might be coming to a close.

He will need time to rest the leg, then he will need more time to get his arm working again for the Yankees October run to the World Series. The Yankees are not in dire straits for starting pitching; even without Pettitte, they have C.C. Sabathia (11 wins) Phil Hughes (11 wins), A. J. Burnett and Javier Vasquez. Sure, the Yankees failed attempt to land Cliff Lee looks bad right now, and you can never trust Burnett or Vasquez, but the Bombers have enough to win it all again.

Should the Yankees aquire another starter? No. Will they? Probably. The Yankees are about excess, and don't be shocked to see them get into the bidding for Dan Haren or Roy Oswalt.

Pettitte has been a great professional for the Yankees for 15 years, his mark on this franchise is among the greats, and who can forget that Pettitte won a three playoff clinching games, including Game Six of the World Series.

Now, it may be over.

Remebering George Steinbrenner

George Steinbrenner touched many lives. Some good, some not so good. Yet, everyone has to admit that Steinbrenner changed the game forever, and changed the way owners should carry themselves with their respective teams.

He brought a football mentality to a 162 game season. When the Yankees lost the 1976 World Series, Steinbrenner stated that it wasn't good enough. He went out and signed Reggie Jackson from the Oakland A's, and watched his Bronx Bombers win his first two World Series rings in 1977 and 1978. The rest is history.

With Steinbrenner, signing big name free agents became vogue for all GM's and owners. His aggressive nature in bringing in top talent helped make the Yankees the only franchise to exceed a salary cap with a payroll of over $200 million.

Derek Jeter said that Steinbrenner was a friend and father figure for him. Jeter added that he was planning on visiting Steinbernner in his Tampa home during the break, but that will not happen. Here is a link to the ESPN page on Steinbrenner, that has some great video tributes to the Boss, including a interview with Derek Jeter and Joe Torre. Listen to Darryl Strawberry's reaction to the passing of Steinbrenner.

Mike Francesa's reaction. LISTEN.

Yankee Owner George Steinbrenner Dies

Love him or hate. Controversial and successful.

George Steinbrenner was one extraordinary man. Steinbrenner passed away this morning due to complications of a heart attack. He was 80 years old.

Since 1974, Steinbrenner had been a focal part of the Yankees franchise. His take no prisoners attitude to winning at all costs, made him and his Bronx Bombers the most successful, most beloved and most vilified franchise in sports. Under Steinbrenner's watch the Yankees won 11 pennants and 7 World Series.

But that doesn't tell the whole story. Whether it be Steinbrenner's legendary fights with Billy Martin, or his investigating Dave Winfield which led to his banishment from baseball in 1990.

In the early years he was known as a control freak. 20 managers in 23 years. Trading young talent for veteran superstars. Steinbrenner was ruthless. When he returned his was more patient, and in 1996 after hiring Joe Torre as manager, watched his Yankees win four World Series titles in five years. Listen to Joe Torre interview.

Just last season, the Yankees won Steinbrenner's seventh World Series title, the last one he would ever see alive.

There will be more posts later tonight with video and radio interviews from the days remembrances of George Steinbrenner. Stay tuned...

Carlos Beltran Set to Return to Mets Order

Carlos Beltran will finally make his 2010 season debut, when the Mets resume baseball activities on Thursday in San Francisco.

Beltran who has been out since mid-January with resconstructive knee surgery is ready to rock and roll in the middle of the Mets order. Beltran batted .367 with no homers and five RBI in Port St. Lucie.

His return will be boon for the Mets, who have watched Jeff Franceour and Jason Bay struggle in the middle of the Mets batting order. The Mets are lucky that Ike Davis has been such a revelation as the cleanup hitter for this team, or they would be in big trouble right now.

Beltran returns to little fan-fare amongst Met fans, who want to see rising star Angel Pagan play more often. They may get their wish. While Beltran will play center field, a position that he is being paid $119 million to play, Pagan will platoon with Bay and Franceour.

Jerry Manuel has confrimed that Franceour will be the one to sit out ... i.e. he is sitting because he is making less money than Bay, who was paid $68 million in the off-season to be a major bust in left field.

Last season, Beltran got off to a red hot start, hitting around .340 with 10 homers and 40 RBI. Then the injuries to his knee hit and his season was runined last summer. It will be interesting to see how fast Beltran recovers and returns to his old form.

Voice of Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard Dies

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Yankee Stadium." Those words that echoed from Bob Sheppard's mouth beat through the heart and sole of Yankee fans for more than five decades. His voice was so magical and special that it was once considered the voice of God.

Today that voice was silenced. Bob Sheppard has died.

He was 99 years old. Cause of death is unknown, but Shepard was sick for several years. He retired from calling Yankee games after 2007. He also called Giants games from 1956 - 2006.

His absense from the new Yankee Stadium had been pronounced, now he will be missed forever. For fans who remember him, they were witnesses to a special human being.

Knicks GM Donnie Walsh Not Retiring

Knicks GM Donnie Walsh denies reports that he will step down as the GM of the fledging basketball franchise because of health problems.

Walsh recently had back and neck surgery and is temporarily in a wheelchair. Walsh has a year remaining on his contract and promises to fulfill it.

In the end LeBron Choses Miami over Cavs and Knicks

Just to update our blog here at Cohen's Corner; the LeBron James saga is finally over.

After all of the speculation the last two years, culminating in a weeks worth of rumors James announced on ESPN that he would "take his talents to South Beach" to join the Miami Heat. It wouldn't have been possible without Dwayne Wade resigning with the Heat, as well as former Raptor Chris Bosh signing in FLA as well.

It had been rumored by Stephen A. Smith of ESPN before free agency ever began that this trio wanted to be together, and now they got their wish.

'The Decision' as it was called on ESPN dragged millions of people through the dirt, especially the city of Cleveland, whom James is a native of. Instead of staying loyal to his fanbase, and family, James decided that winning a title as a supporting cast member was more important than winning a title for Cleveland, a city that hadn't won a pro sports championship since 1964.

I think Cavs owner Dan Gilbert put it fittingly:

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank (Yahoo Sports).

Talk about vendetta. LeBron better move out of Cleveland and fast, because it is a war zone over there. People were photographed burning James' jerseys in the streets as the announcement came. This has to be the biggest hit to Cleveland since Art Moddell moved the original Browns to Baltimore.

As for New York. Lets face it, LeBron never wanted to be on a loser like the Knicks and Nets. I am surprised that some New Yorkers feel like James stabbed them in the back too. The guy never ever wanted to be here. Admit it already.

In the meantime, James will form the next Big Three in Miami, and already the Heat are a favorite to win it all.

Nets Are A Serious Player For LeBron James

For much of the past six to seven months, the New York Jets have been touted as New York's newest and biggest sensation with their brash coach, Rex Ryan, and promising future with young players, i.e. Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene, Darrell Revis and Nick Mangold.

If New Jersey Nets owner Mikahl Prokorov gets his way, and quickly, that could all change.

It started with a mural painted on 34th street near Madison Square Garden, that reads "The Blueprint for Greatness" with pictures of Prokorov and rapper Jay-Z on the facade. The Nets are ready to make a leap and become the hottest team from tabloids to the business section and eventually the back page, with their brand of international marketing.

According to a column on Yahoo.com, Prokorov could get everything he wants if he can begin to convince a Godzilla sized free agent in LeBron James to come to New Jersey to play in Newark for two years, before the Nets move to Brooklyn in 2012. The columnist believes it could happen, James could become a Net, and he makes a convincing argument. Read here.

If James does become a Net, it will make the Nets, a team that won 12 games all year, the biggest ticket not named the Yankees.