COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

It was only a matter of time before Bobby Valentine returned to a major league dugout. One of the game's most coveted managerial candidates over the past number of years since his firing from the New York Mets in 2002, Valentine brings his disciplinarian approach to Bean town. Met fans always wanted to see Valentine return to the Mets; some even felt he was the scapegoat in a bitter "he-said, he-said" with then general manager Steve Phillips. Valentine resurrected his career in Japan, winning a Japanese World Series and, basically, re-inventing how the game was played in the Land of the Rising Sun to point that he earned cult status, and his own documentary the Zen of Bobby V . No manager knows how to get more out of his players than Valentine. In New York, Valentine took scraps like Benny Agbayanni, Matt Franco, Todd Pratt, Jay Payton, and Rick Reed and turned them into key contributors to a team that had veteran All-Star talent in Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura, Edgardo Al...

It appears the Jets season now has hit a brand new low. Days after the Jets survived a sure defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, Jets safety Jim Leonhard and head coach Rex Ryan felt it was necessary to rip Jets fans for booing quarterback Mark Sanchez during the quarterback's lack-luster performance on Sunday. First it was Leonhard, who, on his weekly spot on WFAN's Beningo & Roberts show, blasted Jets fans for booing the struggling QB, stating: “ I think, probably for one of the first times, I was kind of disappointed. Our starting quarterback gets booed in introductions. As players, you kind of turn to each other and say, "You know what? I guess we’re in this one today by ourselves. We can’t rely on the crowd to give us that energy because it’s already started off on a bad note ." Leonhard was apparently upset that Jets fans loudly booed Sanchez when he was introduced in pre-game and throughout the contest as Sanchez misfired with overthrows and underth...

SAINTS 49 GIANTS 24 Justin Tuck said after the Giants loss to the Eagles, that the season could spiral out of control if the team didn't pick it up. Consider the wheels off, and the sparks flying. The Giants didn't bother to show up in their Monday night clash with the New Orleans Saints, watching Drew Brees and company roll up 49 points on the Giants soft defense, as New York fell to 6-5, with a colossal task against the unbeaten Green Bay Packers on the horizon. The Giants defense, which has been battered by injuries all season, and even watched as Osi Umenyiora left this game with an injury that could sideline him for a while, yielded 577 total yards to the Saints, 300 of which came in the first half alone as the Saints built a 21-3 halftime lead. The Saints made things look easy, as Drew Brees connected with all of his receivers with great ease. In the second quarter alone, Brees threw three touchdown passes, two to Lance Moore, and one to soon-to-be pro bowl ...

JETS 28 BILLS 24 Here is what the optimistic Jets fan, who likes to wear blinders while driving, will say Monday morning when he wakes up from his hangover. "Yo man, Mark Sanchez threw four touchdowns, he's amazing!" Here is the reality. In spite of throwing four touchdowns, Mark Sanchez was truly awful as the New York Jets offense barley mustered 318 total yards, and Sanchez threw for only 180 yards and completed only 17 of 35 passes, which is less than 50 percent competed. He was bad; truly awful, as he under-threw, overthrew, and threw behind his wide receivers for a better part of the afternoon; but the big reason the New York Jets won this game had more to do with one bone-headed play after another by the Buffalo Bills, who clearly should have won this game going away. After the Bills grabbed a 14-7 lead, thanks to a Mark Sanchez interception, that he threw right into the hands of Drayton Florence, the Bills did two incredibly stupid things in a row. First, Stevie ...

Well ladies and gents, the NBA is back in business. Thank God! In what became a horrific and unending stalemate between the the owners and players union, filled with nasty bickering, little progress and fear that the entire 2011-2012 season would be lost, the lockout finally ended late Friday night when the owners and players tentatively agreed to a new CBA at 3 a.m., meaning that training camp will start as soon as December 9, if the majority of the owners (29) and the players (450) agree to vote on the new legislation. If the NBA training camp season begins in two weeks, there is still a chance that the season will open on Christmas Day in a truncated 66 game regular season, highlighted by the Knicks hosting the Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat paying a visit to the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals. After disbanding as a union and filing an antitrust suit against the NBA, the Players Association needs to reform as a union and hold a vote to ratify the deal. The ter...

On this edition of Open Mike, host Michael Cohen holds a special vigil for Jets fans to rant about the struggling franchise on Jets Freakout Friday after the team got Tebow'd by Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Michael welcomes from Triple Coverage co-host Dan Feuerstein, a life-long Jets fan, and John Silva, yes, a Patriots fan and host of Hudson Hockey, to the show to dissect the Jets struggles. Michael also welcomes a very special guest, North Bergen head coach Vin Ascolese, who is in his 39th year of coaching at North Bergen, and 50th year of coaching in Hudson County, NJ. Ascolese owns 359 career wins, seven state titles (6 in North Bergen, 1 in Hoboken) and will call it a career after this season. His Bruins are on an emotional run through the playoffs, highlighted by a thrilling 20-14 win vs. Passaic Tech, where his grandson scored the winning TD. The Bruins are heading to the North 1 Group IV title game on December 2. LISTEN HERE !!!

BRONCOS 17 JETS 13 Admit it, you could see it coming. The New York Jets have toyed with us all season long with inconsistent play from the offensive line, running game, quarterback, and defense. Yet 10 days ago they stood at 5-3 with a legitimate shot at the AFC East crown. In spite of all of their problems, and near losses to the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, the Jets could have made this 2011 season something very special, especially in an AFC where there are no true dominant teams. Yet, the Jets did what the same ole Jets always do, they find ways to lose. While last Sunday's 37-16 smack down to the New England Patriots wasn't totally unexpected, falling short to a really bad Denver Broncos team was inexcusable. Throughout the contest, the Jets played down to the level of their opponent, exchanging three and outs with a Denver Broncos team that couldn't muster any offense with the inaccurate Tim Tebow under center. Yet, the real story of this night was the ineff...

Maybe it is Rex Ryan who truly doesn't know when to, as he likes to say, "Shut the (BLEEP) up!" The Jets boastful head coach of Super Bowl proclamations and division championship dreams was caught red handed in a scene that might be good enough for a sequel of Hard Knocks. While coming off the field at halftime, and still seething from Mark Sanchez's knuckleheaded time out, a fan leaned over and told Ryan: "Hey Rex, Belichick is better than you!" Ryan, who was not looking in any particular direction as he entered the tunnel yelled back, " Shut the F --- up !" The foul language at the fan could cost Ryan a heavy penny, and the NFL is investigating the matter. Ryan was fined $50,000 for his middle finger display at an MMA event in Miami nearly two years ago. Bud Adams, owner of the Tennessee Titans was fined $250,000 for flipping the bird at Buffalo Bills' fans during a game in 2009; so the precedent has been set. Ryan apologized for his nasty to...

PATRIOTS 37 JETS 16 The New York Jets have nothing to left to be proud of. They are dead team walking. Sunday night's display of ineptitude was so disturbing and infuriating it is clear that the Jets need to do the rest of us a favor: shut up and sing! For an entire week the Jets squawked about how this would be the turning point in the division, that it was their time to become the beasts of the AFC East. Woody Johnson lauded about how raucous the Jets crowd would be as they stomped on the Patriots; Dustin Keller even guaranteed victory. Instead the Jets showed to the nation why they have been called and will always be called the Same Ole' Jets, because only the Same Ole' Jets could come up with the kind of stinker on a grand stage like they did last night. The night started with a 25-yard field goal attempt by Nick Folk that he pushed to the left, typical of any clutch kicks by this incompetent kicker who's history is to miss and miss badly before giving way to Mark S...

49ERS 27 GIANTS 20 A year ago on this date the Giants walked into Giants stadium with a 6-2 record in a match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. A victory in that game and the Giants would be in cruise control for the rest of the season. Of course the Giants lost that game in hideous fashion, and the game marked the beginning of the end of their playoff hopes. The Giants better hope that Sunday's hideous 27-20 loss to the 49ers doesn't spell doom once again. While losing to the 49ers is not embarrassing, the Niners are 8-1 for a reason; the Giants had every opportunity to win this game, and they couldn't do it. After a fairly uneventful first half that saw New York trail 9-6, Big Blue knew they had this game. San Francisco running back Frank Gore was out of the game with an injury after rushing for zero yards on six carries. Alex Smith had done nothing through the air, and Big Blue's defense had smothered the Niners ground game. Late in the third quarter, the Giants put to...

On this one-hour special pod cast of Open Mike, host Michael Cohen, put together this special pod-cast to discuss the fall out of the Penn State child abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State, and led to the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno. Michael then takes a glance at the big local football games for the Jets and Giants. The Jets host the New England Patriots on Sunday night, in a clash that could determine the AFC East. Meanwhile the Giants head west to the Bay Area to take on the rejuvenated San Francisco 49ers, in a renewal of an old rivalry. Michael will return next week with a LIVE broadcast on Friday November 18 from the studios at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting with a full show and guests. LISTEN HERE!

After days and several hours of unrest and anger from people around the country regarding the sex abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State, the board of trustees didn't wait until Friday to make a decision on Joe Paterno. The board fired both Paterno and President Graham Spanier late Wednesday night sending the school into a tizzy. While Paterno wasn't guilty of hurting anyone, he is guilty of negligence in not doing something, anything to stop Jerry Sandusky from raping children in his locker room. All he did back in 2002 was notify the school's athletic director and vice president, both of whom were fired earlier this week, and washed his hands of it. It is not known whether Paterno ever confronted Sandusky, but considering the fact that the former defensive coordinator hung around the complex over the past decade, that included his own office space and hours, made it clear that Paterno looked the other way when it came to Sandusky's perversions. Paterno had it coming...

The Joe Paterno era is officially over. Paterno, once the gate keeper of family, friendship and victory at Penn State, became nothing more than an accessory after allegations that his long time assistant Jerry Sandusky sodomized boys over a 15 year period from 1994 to 2009; the report rocked College Station in western PA. As a result, Paterno has announced that he will resign as head coach of the Nittany Lions once the season ends after the school's bowl game in December; the news is a shame considering Paterno is the winningest coach in college football, and one of the most respected men in the game even at the his advanced age of 84. Reports surfaced that Sandusky was caught raping boys in the Penn State locker room on two seperate occasions in 1998 and 2002. Paterno was notified immediately in 2002 and the only thing he did was call the athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, to notify them; the three parties did nothing further to restrict Sandusky's ...

GIANTS 24 PATRIOTS 20 The New York Giants have done it again. They found a way to pull the rug right out from underneath the New England Patriots in the final minutes, sending Tom Brady home miffed and Bill Belichick bewildered. Box score . Talk about having a team's number; the Giants have proven to be too tough a match-up for the once mighty Patriots, as New York once again staged a late comeback, highlighted by terrific play by Eli Manning to beat back the Pats. If you believe in irony then here are some factoids for you: Jack Ballard, who caught the game winning touchdown pass for Big Blue is wearing number 85, the same jersey number worn by David Tyree when he had the "helmet catch" against the Patriots four years ago in the Super Bowl; also, New England was 18-0 entering that Super Bowl Sunday four years ago; today, New England entered the Giants game with an 18-0 record against NFC opponents in the regular season since 2002. The Pats also had a 20 game regular seas...

JETS 27 BILLS 11 Through seven games, the New York Jets looked destined for mediocrity. A season mired by a three game losing streak, really poor play from the quarterback and running game, spotty play by the defense, and, including apparent rifts in the clubhouse early in the season, had many worried that this was a team doomed to fail. On Sunday the Jets put together their most complete effort, dominating a very good Buffalo Bills team from pillar to post 27-11 to improve to 5-3, putting themselves in a virtual three-way tie for first place in the AFC East, with a showdown against the New England Patriots set for Sunday night. The first half was ugly as neither offense could get anything moving. Mark Sanchez had the Jets poised for a first quarter touchdown that would have capped a nine minute drive, but Sanchez threw an interception in the end zone, right to Jarius Byrd, killing the Jets drive. Box score . But it wasn't like the Bills were doing anything offensively; the Jets de...

On this edition of "Open Mike," host Michael Cohen welcomes Don Bosco Prep head coach Greg Toal, that's right, the H.C. of the number one team in the State of New Jersey, to talk about his unbeaten Ironmen as they continue their quest for a national title. Don Bosco is 7-0 this year and have won 42 straight games. LISTEN HERE!! Michael also welcomes back Mike Sanfillipo (in what is becom ing a weekly spot) to discuss the Jets and Giants critical match-ups this weekend against the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots. Mike and Mike also turn up the Hot Stove with MTR's Bill Zeltman as the trio talk about the future of Jose Reyes and the Mets, as well as the National League landscape for 2012. NOTE : Open Mike will not broadcast live on Friday November 11 for studio maintenance at CSB. Michael returns with "Open Mike" on Friday November 18!!

Well the Yankees didn't have to wait long for CC Sabathia to sign on the dotted line. A day after filing for free agency the Yankees and Sabathia agreed to a brand new five year extension worth $122 million. In short Sabathia gets an additional $30 million on his old deal. Sabathia and his family have grown attached to the area over the past few seasons; this coming from a guy who once wanted to move to the west coast after his deal with the Brewers concluded in 2008. Sabathia will return as the team's ace, and now New York will look to bolster a rotation that is shaky at best. Notable free agents include C.J. Wilson (who had a horrible playoffs with the Rangers), Roy Oswalt, and Mark Burlehe. Burlehe is probably the safest bet of the bunch, a reliable left-handed veteran with post season success. As good as Oswalt was, he's not what he used to be, and will probably remain a Philadelphia Phillie.