COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

METS 9, YANKEES 4 ... And the 2013 Subway Series champions are... The New York Mets! (SAY WHAT!?!?!?!) That's right, the New York Mets, a team perceived as Dead Team Walking has won the Subway Series over the seemingly unbeatable New York Yankees. After taking the first two games of the series in Flushing, the Mets blew past the Yankees thanks to a five-run first inning en route to a 9-4 victory. Even though one game remains in this year's Subway Series, it doesn't matter, the Mets have New York bragging rights! The Metroplitans demolished Yankees' starter David Phelps, tagging him for five runs on four hits in just a third of an inning. After Ruben Tejada led off the game with a single, Daniel Murphy drove the speedy Tejada in with a long double to right to make it 1-0. Three batters later, John Buck broke out of his slump when he singled to shallow center field to drive in Murphy. After Phelps walked Rick Ankiel to load the bases, Marlon Byrd's Field...

It didn't take long for Rangers' fans to get their wish granted. After the team's underwhelming performance in this year's playoffs, and all season long for that matter, the Rangers decided to fire coach John Tortorella. Tortorella became better known for his fiery and controversial press conferences rather than winning. He was abrasive, to both his players and the media during his stay in New York -- and some are speculating that "jagged edge" could have done Torts in. According to ESPN , Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was "lukewarm" to the idea of signing a long term contract -- perhaps a sign that Tortorella was wearing thin on even the best player on the entire team. However one slices it, Tortorella had to go. This team came into the season with very high expectations and failed to match them at every corner. The Rangers added a high priced free agent in Rich Nash -- who was practically invisible in the playoffs. Not to mention the Ra...

METS 2 YANKEES 1 Saying that there hasn't much to celebrate for the New York Mets this season is the understatement of the year. New York has languished near the bottom of the National League all season, and with so many of its star players struggling, it has been easy to question the long range plans of the franchise. However over the last two nights, the Mets have put forth the kind of effort, zest and passion fans have been waiting for all season. On Tuesday night, the Mets won another nail-biter against the New York Yankees, this time off the bat of David Wright and Lucas Duda in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Greatest Closer of All Time, Mariano Rivera. Once Rivera entered the game, the Mets greeted the Hall of Famer rudely. Daniel Murphy, who has been red hot with the bat in recent weeks launched a ground rule double to left to start the inning. David Wright followed with a single, but the throw by center fielder Brett Gardner was air mailed, allowing Mu...

PACERS 93 KNICKS 82 Game 4 felt a lot like Game 3. In fact, Game 4 felt like the entire series, as the New York Knicks put forth another lifeless, gutless effort against the Indiana Pacers, as they walked away with a dominating 93-82 victory over the dilapidated Knicks. New York was never in this game. They took the court with no life, and left clinging to their playoff lives down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Indiana jumped out to an 11-3 with 7:16 to go in the first quarter, and you knew right then, that this game was over with a capital O. The Knicks missed eight of their first nine shots, and whenever they appeared to be coming back to life -- Indiana put them away with either a big time three by Paul George, or a big time jumper by George Hill. The Knicks did tie this game at 14 when Carmelo Anthony capped a 6-0 Knicks run with a bucket, but Hill answered with an 8-foot jumper and D.J. Augustin drove through the lane untouched for another bucket to make it 18-14. The...

RANGERS 5, Capitals 0  For six games Rangers' fans had plenty to complain about.  New York was horrible on the power-play, and the team's offensive stars and veterans were silent for much of the series. If it weren't for an incredible performance by goalie Henrik Lundqvist in Game 6, as the Rangers held off Washington 1-0, this series would have been long over. Yet in Game 7, the Rangers went from being gutless to resilient in virtually a New York minute. The offense that didn't exist for six games was alive and well in Game 7, as New York pulled off a 5-0 blowout win in D.C. to advance to the semifinals against the Boston Bruins. The Rangers wasted little time in setting the tone on this night as Aaron Ashman netted his second goal of the series on an assist from Chris Kreider--seven minutes into the first period. From there it was all Lundqvist as he made 13 saves on goal, and 26 total saves on goal through the games first two periods. Since giving up ...

In the first hour of the Open Mike program from Wednesday May, 8, Michael Cohen opens up his show discussing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semis between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. Michael breaks down the game, and what it could mean for the rest of the series. In the second hour, Michael welcomes in John Pielli of the Passed Ball Show, to discuss Matt Harvey's recent gem against the Chicago White Sox. Click on the link HERE . Then, hit the play button for each hour.

METS 1, White Sox 0  In the first ever meeting in New York between the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox, Matt Harvey was nearly perfect. Harvey dazzled Tuesday night, baffling the White Sox for nine innings, giving up only one slow infield single by Alex Rios -- a ground ball that he barely beat out. Even though he lost the no-hitter, Harvey never lost his effectiveness. His pitch count was reasonable all night, he threw only 105 pitches, and struck out a career high 12 batters. If the Mets offense had only gotten Harvey a run, and had first base umpire Mark Carlson called Rios out, Harvey would have made history. This is the second time this year the Mets ace has flirted with a no-hitter. He flirted with one in Minnesota against the Twins on a cool Saturday afternoon in the Twin Cities. He carried a no-no into the eighth before it was ended on a home run by Justin Morneau. The Mets still won 4-2. Harvey didn't get the win on this night. The White Sox Hector Santiago, ...

KNICKS 105, Pacers 79 An offensive explosion thanks in part to their uncanny ability to convert turnovers into points keyed a 105-79 blowout in favor of the Knicks, as New York tied their best-of-seven series with the Indiana Pacers. After a sluggish Game 1 that saw the Knicks shoot horribly from the floor, New York made it a point to find as many ways to score as they could against the physical Pacers. New York forced 21 turnovers on the night for 32 points, which proved to be a mega difference in the victory. Right from the get-go the Knicks offense was on fire; jumping out to an 27-18 lead thanks to three-pointers by Iman Shumpert, Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith. The Pacers couldn't find their groove early on, and it stayed that way. In the first quarter, Indiana turned the ball over five times, and missed eight shots, as they struggled to keep pace after down nine after the first. The Knicks out-hustled them in every aspect of the game. Whether it was Keynon Martin; or J...

The game of musical chairs that is the Brooklyn Nets coaching situation has gotten bizarre ... yet again. Earlier this year, the iron fist of Mikhail Prokhorov put down the ax on Avery Johnson, ending his tenure just a week after receiving the coach-of-the-month honors for the Nets sizzling start in November. The reasoning behind it had a lot to with the fact that Johnson's schemes and game plan didn't mesh well with star player Deron Williams who had complained to management amidst a lengthy losing streak.  Now it is P.J. Carlesimo who has been shown the door by Prokhorov after leading the Nets to a 35-19 record during the season after taking over for Johnson. Yet, losing Game 7, and not being the right "fit" going forward was enough of an offense for the Nets' brass to can him. Carlesimo deserves better. He turned around a fledgling basketball team with a high payroll and higher expectations and made them into a playoff team. He got Williams and Joe ...

KNICKS 88, Celtics 80 For a period of 5:32 it looked that the Knicks hopes and dreams of winning this first round playoff series against the Celtics was going to come to a crashing and humiliating end. The Celtics had erased a 26-point deficit thanks to an incredible 20-0 run where just about everything the Knicks did went wrong, while everything the Celtics did went right. The Knicks, who flirted with disaster earlier in the game after allowing Boston to creep back into this game six in the second quarter, and had allowed Boston to creep back into this series with two embarrassing losses, couldn't hit the side of a barn in the fourth quarter.  After J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony missed two makable three-pointers, Boston began its run when Avery Bradley hit a 23-foot jump shot, and Jeff Green accounted for the next seven points for Boston, as the Celtics trailed 75-56. That was not all, as it went from bad to worse for the Knicks. Four consecutive turnovers thanks to bad...

NETS 95, Bulls 92  After blowing a 14-point lead late in Game 4, and losing that contest 142-134 in triple overtime, it appeared that the Brooklyn Nets were destined for playoff elimination in this first round series against the Chicago Bulls. The Nets were trailing three games to one, instead of being tied two games a piece after that Saturday matinee meltdown in the Windy City; their star player Deron Williams was in the midst of a terrible funk, and the only offense the Nets were getting on a consistent basis was from Brook Lopez, and occasionally from Josh Johnson. Plus this was a team not known for its spunk and grit. Hardly, when most think of the Nets in 2012-2013 they think of a team that gets easily complacent, plays inconsistent too often, and, yes, even got its coach, Avery Johnson, fired weeks after winning Coach of the Month to start the season. So nobody would have been stunned if the Nets went quietly against the Bulls, but this team is a lot different tha...

Capitals 3, RANGERS 1 This was not exactly how the Rangers drew it up. Then again, the way this season has gone for the Rangers -- nothing has come easy.  Leading the Washington Capitals 1-0 in Game 1 of their opening round playoff series, the Rangers watched the Caps catch fire in the second period scoring three unanswered goals to beat New York. After a solid finish to the regular season since the Marian Gaborik trade, that saw the Rangers catapult from being barely a playoff team to the number six seed in the Eastern Conference, many thought drawing Washington in the first round was a real boon to the Rangers playoff hopes. This was not the start they envisioned. After Carl Haglin's goal late in the first period the Rangers fell asleep at the wheel in the second period, committing three penalties, and watching the Captials play in three separate power play opportunities. It was not until Washington's third power play of the period, that they finally scored to tie ...