COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

CUBS 3/ INDIANS 2 CLE leads 3-2 The Chicago Cubs avoided elimination on Sunday night by defeating the Cleveland Indians at their own game, by sending out their closer for two-plus innings in order to nail down a Game 5 win, and send this best-of-seven World Series back to Cleveland. In what has already been a tremendous fall classic, full of tense moments, and clutch pitching at the most opportune times, it was time for Chicago to finally let loose. Their backs to the wall down 3-1, they needed this one in the worst way. Had the Cubs lost Game 5 at home, at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, it would have spoiled all the good they had accomplished in winning 103 games this year. The Cubs faithful had waited four games to finally have something to truly cheer about, and when Kris Bryant's 387 foot home run to left just cleared the wall to tie the game up at one, cheer they did. The fans had seen their beloved Cubs get shutout twice against the Indians, and had just seen ...

JETS 31 / BROWNS 28 The Jets proved one thing on Sunday afternoon, you can play well for only half the game and still win, especially when the opponent is the Cleveland Browns. For an entire first half the Jets played like a team that was totally disconnected and unprepared for the Cleveland Browns. They were out-gained, out maneuvered and out coached at times in the first half against a desperate football team. Cleveland built a 20-7 halftime lead on the Jets, and it could have been much more had the Browns not stalled at the Jets 10-yard line in a goal-line situation with 47 seconds to go before the half. The Browns could have easily put the Jets away with a touchdown that would have made it 24-7, but, no, these are the Browns after all. They gained only one net yard inside the ten and kicked. Earlier in the half, Cleveland tore up the Jets defense on three long scoring drives. The Browns opened the game with an eight play 75-yard scoring drive as Josh McCown was zipping the ...

INDIANS 6 / CUBS 0 CLE leads 1-0  The Cleveland Indians know full well that they are the underdog to the Chicago Cubs in this World Series. They don't care either. The Indians dominated the Cubs 6-0 in Game 1 of the 2016 World Series in a game that wasn't even that close. The Indians are for real, and if you have missed most of this postseason with them, you're in for a surprise. If you have seen the Indians in their series wins over Texas and Toronto, you would know this team is ready to kick some serious tail. Over nine innings, the Cubs had only one real glimmer of hope, in the top of the seventh inning when they loaded the bases against Indians reliever Andrew Miller. Miller, who gutted out two incredible innings with 46 pitches under his belt, got out of the pickle when he jammed Wilson Contreras on a fly out, and struck out both Addison Russell and David Ross to get out of the inning. Miller's two innings of brilliance was another pelt on the wall for a...

Josh Brown's Giants career is now over. The New York Giants officially released the kicker after revelations about alleged abuses of his ex-wife came to light last week. The release of Brown isn't surprising at all. The diary containing Brown's admittance to having "abused his wife," and the detail of how he "physically, emotionally and verbally" abused her were too much to bear. The Giants apparently knew of Brown's transgressions from the charges that were levied in Kings County, Washington in 2015, to the alleged abuses at a hotel at the Pro Bowl, yet they still tried to justify bringing him back on a two-year contract extension this past offseason. " We believed we did the right thing at every juncture in our relationship with Josh," team president John Mara said in a statement. "Our beliefs, our judgments and our decisions were misguided. We accept that responsibility. "We hope that Josh will continue to dedicate hims...

So much for the quarterback controversy developing in Florham Park with the New York Jets. On Monday it was reported that Jets quarterback Geno Smith tore his ACL during Sunday's action against Baltimore when he was tackled by Matt Judon. As a result, he will undergo season ending knee surgery to repair the ligament tear. This is the latest, and possibly final chapter of misfortune in Smith's Jet career. From being treated like a proverbial human yo-yo under Rex Ryan in his battle with John Idzik to getting punched in the face by a teammate last August, and showing incredible immaturity both on and off the field, it is bizarre and disturbingly fitting that his time in New York could end like this. Smith was never going to be the Jets starting quarterback again. That shipped sailed away for good when the Jets fired both Idzik and Ryan and hired Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan. They held on to him, albeit reluctantly, because of his contract, but he never blossomed enough to...

JETS 24 / RAVENS 16 As the old refrain goes, only the Jets could put cold water on their own victory. The Jets defeated the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday 24-16 in a game that featured a nice return to the running game and a defense that finally found its groove. Yet, nobody was talking about that a few hours after the game had concluded. The talk was all about Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith. The Jets quarterback quandary got worse, not better on Sunday afternoon. It all started when Smith was injured on a tackle by Ravens defensive lineman Matthew Judon when the quarterback was trying to scramble out of the pocket. Insert Fitzpatrick, the man whom Smith replaced four days earlier. And it was Fitzpatrick who led the Jets to a come-from-behind victory. Oh, the irony. While Fitzpatrick played well, he was 9-for-14 for 120 yards and a touchdown, it is what he said after the game that shook Jetland to its core once again. "The biggest thing in the this game in order to last is to...

GIANTS 17 / RAMS 10 The only way the Giants could begin to put the Josh Brown fiasco behind them was to find a way to pull out a win against the Los Angeles Rams in London, England on Sunday morning. Give them credit, for a few hours anyway they succeeded, as Big Blue's defense came to play in a big way, dominating the Rams in a 17-10 win to push New York to 4-3 as they hit the bye week. Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, a one-time head coach of the then St. Louis Rams dialed up a game plan that flustered his former team in so many ways, and likely will push current Rams head coach to make a decision on quarterback Case Keenum. The Giants harassed Keenum all day. First they shut down his star running back Todd Gurley, holding him to just 57 yards on 15 carries, and made speedy receiver Tavon Austin a virtual non-factor with just 57 yards on 10 receptions. On top of that the Giants made the plays defensively they needed to because they were not getting any help...

CUBS 5 / DODGERS 0 Chicago wins NLCS 4-2 It certainly is "hard not to be romantic about baseball" as the movie Moneyball once said. For the Chicago Cubs fan, they had waited 71 years for this very moment, and for those who go beyond the last time the Cubs last represented the National League in the Fall Classic, it has been 108 long years since Chicago last won it all. While there is still work to be for these 2016 Chicago Cubs, they are heading back to the World Series for the first time since 1945. They will square off against the Cleveland Indians, who are gunning for their first World title since 1948. Two old school mid-western teams and one dream. The Cubs got the job done by relying on the right arm of Kyle Hendricks who out-dueled Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw with a performance that will go down in NLCS history as one of the best by a starter. It will most certainly be one of the top five efforts in Cubs history. Hendricks held the Dodgers scoreless ov...

The New York Giants should be disgusted with themselves. When given the chance to do the right thing back in August, Big Blue turned its back on the facts and allowed kicker Josh Brown to remain on the team. They allowed a man who (at the time) allegedly abused his wife to remain a part of the one of the flagship franchises in the National Football League. The NFL is equally culpable in this mess. When presented with the facts all they did was suspend Brown for one game, the season opener in Dallas.  Typically a domestic abuse case in the NFL would require a six-game suspension. Now the backlash is coming back at the NFL and the Giants, after a journal entry submitted by Brown's ex-wife, Molly to the Kings County (Washington) Prosecutors office, detailed the ugly truth, Brown abused his wife. He even went as far to say that he "physically, verbally and emotionally abused my wife Molly." The letters also document Brown's obsession with sex, and his history of ...

Oh, goodie Jets fans! Geno Smith is back under center for the miserable New York Jets, starting this Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Smith was named the Jets starting quarterback after wishy-washy head coach Toddy Bowles back tracked from comments he made following the Monday Night meltdown in Arizona. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw yet another pick, deserved to be benched, but Smith is not going to be a tonic the Jets need. Many have already pointed out that the decision by Bowles looks like it has Woody Johnson's fingerprints all over it. It was reported before the game on Monday that Johnson was displeased greatly with the Jets performance this season; understandable for team that is 1-5. Perhaps Johnson had a say, or maybe someone underneath him had a say on the Jets quarterback situation. On one hand the decision had to be made to bench Fitzpatrick. The Jets rank 26th in the NFL in total offense and dead last in the league in points per game with 15.5. On top of that F...

CARDINALS 28 / JETS 3 It has been well established for weeks now that the Jets chances of making the playoffs was slim to none. Now after a listless performance in a 28-3 meltdown in the desert, it is becoming abundantly clear that perhaps this 2016 New York Jets team has given up on the season. At least that is how it looked on Monday night in front of a national TV audience. There was no fight, no passion, no real discernible effort by the Jets on Monday night, and that falls at the feet of head coach Todd Bowles. They got blown off the football by the Cardinals on both sides of the ball, and failed to adjust to the flow of the game. In other words it looked like the Jets chalked up the L as soon as the got off the plane. They were outgunned 396 - 230. They had only 11 first downs in 10 drives and were a measly 2-for-13 on third down. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of penalties (10) that the Jets amassed over 60 minutes of painful football. Meanwhile, the Cardinals di...

GIANTS 27 / RAVENS 23 It was not pretty at the Meadowlands on Sunday, and when it comes to the New York Giants lately, it never is. After watching the Ravens dominate the first quarter by jumping out to a 10-0 lead, Big Blue worked its way back into the ball game, and soon outlasted the Ravens in a fourth quarter shootout. The star of the show? The same man who has become a lightening rod of controversy for the Giants this season: Odell Beckham Jr. In a lot of way's Beckham Jr's day was a microcosm of the entire afternoon. He started his day by fumbling the football on the Giants first play of the day. Baltimore quickly took advantage and punched it in for six points to make it 10-0. Later, Beckham Jr. was hobbled by a hip injury that forced him to miss the Giants lone scoring drive of the first half. Then, when the Giants took off, so did Beckham Jr. On the Giants opening drive of the third quarter, Eli Manning moved the Giants on an efficient 15-play 72 yard drive t...

Life can be extremely cruel. Former Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd who was best known for walking tall after suffering a career ending neck injury way back in 1992 passed away on Saturday when he was killed in a car crash on Saturday, October 15. He just turned 50 years old 11 days ago. Bryd was pronounced dead on the scene according to reports. His Hummer H2 was struck head on by a car that was veering on Highway 88 northbound in Oklahoma. The other driver was a 17-year old, who had a 12-year old passenger in the car. Both children are in critical condition. This is truly a sad day in Jets land, and in football in general. Byrd defied the odds. Late in the 1992 season in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Byrd collided headfirst with a fellow defensive lineman on an attempted sack of the quarterback. He suffered extensive damage to his neck and spinal cord and doctors had doubts he would ever walk again. He proved the doctors wrong. Within months he was walking again, and wo...

2016 was a rough year for the New York Mets and Terry Collins. Not only did he watch his Mets lose out in the National League Wild Card game to the San Francisco Giants, but the road just to get to the one-or-done playoff game was an arduous one. From losing David Wright to a season ending, and possibly, career threatening injury; to watching 3/5 of his starting rotation go down with season ending injuries, and having to trot out a minor league lineup every single night, yes, it is safe to say 2016 was not fun. This past week a story came out that Collins thinks 2017 could be his last in blue and orange. "I just need to re-evaluate at the end of this coming year what's going on, where I am, how I'm feeling," Collins told ESPN.com on Thursday. "I've always said a lot of it will be dictated by how I'm feeling. This was a tough year."  In June, Collins was hospitalized overnight in Milwaukee and missed the series finale against the Brewers at...

GIANTS 3/METS 0 The National League Wild Card game lived up to the hype. A game that featured two of the games bright young aces, Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard, was one for the ages. Yet at the end of the day, the San Francisco Giants won this one-and-done playoff game the same way they have won three World Series championships in their five previous seasons. The San Francisco Giants won because they got the most out of their players when it mattered the most, especially from the most obscure players on the roster, and, they won by riding the left arm of the game’s modern day Koufax in Madison Bumgarner. Through the game’s first four innings it was Syndergaard who was on top in this clash of titans. Syndergaard, or better known as “Thor,” was overpowering hitters with a heater that cracked 99 mph and a slider that hit 93. He was working away on hitters, establishing the outer half of the plate that was his canvas for much of the evening. When needed to, he woul...

The New York Mets will host a one-game playoff tonight against the San Francisco Giants in a match-up that will be all about pitching. Noah Syndergaard will get the ball tonight for the Mets against Giants ace, Madison Bumgarner. Both of these starters have their fair share of playoff experience, but it is the Giants' Bumgarner that comes into this matchup the heavy favorite. Bumgarner is 7-3 with a 2.14 ERA in 14 postseason games. Two years ago he put together one of the most historic postseason's in baseball history, pitching to a 1.02 ERA in 52.2 innings of work. That year in the World Series he absolutely dominated the Kansas City Royals en route to a World Series MVP and a second ring with the Giants. Some have said that he took a step back this season, but he still struck out a career high 251 batters. He is the ultimate intimidator. He will spend much of his time in the low 90s on his hard stuff, and will mix and match a 75-78 mph curveball just to keep hitters hon...

SEAHAWKS 27/ JETS 17 The Jets season might be on the brink of collapse. Nobody said it would be easy when the schedule came out with the kinds of opponents the Jets had to face this year. Going through Cincinnati, Kansas City, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Baltimore to start 2016 was not going to be easy. But as the old saying goes, it is how you play that determines the kind of season you'll have. So far at 1-3, it has been nothing but frustrating. Frustrating from the standpoint that New York lost three games that had they played better, they may have won. And once again Ryan Fitzpatrick was at the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. The quarterback threw three more interceptions on Sunday, two of them leading to the game clinching scores for the Seahawks as Seattle ran away with it 27-17. The three picks now gives Fitzpatrick nine interceptions in his last two games, which ties a Jets franchise record for interceptions in that span. The last man to do that w...