COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

It really sucks to be a Knicks fan. For months all we heard about was how the Knicks would get Zion Williamson in the NBA draft, and then sign Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, or Kawhi Leonard in July when free agency opened up. Oh how cruel reality can be! As we all know the Knicks missed out on Williamson, who was drafted first overall by the New Orleans Pelicans. Then, they lost out on Kyrie Irving who is set to sign a four-year $141 million deal with the crosstown Brooklyn Nets. Now, they have watched the Nets do it again. Kevin Durant, considered by many to be the best player in the NBA when healthy, is heading to Brooklyn to join Irving. Should he sign with the Nets, Durant will make $164 million over four years. This is both a huge boon and gamble for the Nets. On one hand they have two of the top 10 talents in the NBA now on their roster, and immediately leapfrog the Celtics and Raptors as the favorite in the Eastern Conference. At the same time time, this could be a com...

YANKEES 12 - RED SOX 8 The New York Yankees wrapped a historic weekend in London, England by smacking around the Boston Red Sox 12-8 on Sunday, highlighted by a huge 9-run, seventh inning as the Bronx Bombers dominated their division rivals for the second straight day in Europe. After giving up three Boston home runs in the bottom of the first, and trailing 4-2 for much of the day, the Yankees tore apart a Red Sox bullpen that could join the Mets as one of the worst units in all of Major League Baseball. In the top of the seventh inning, the Yankees sent 14 men to the plate, recorded six hits, four walks (two of which were to Aaron Judge) and nine runs -- one of their biggest single inning outputs of the season. Enjoying the most fun Sunday were Gary Sanchez and D.J. LeMahieu. Sanchez who was noticeably silent on Saturday night, put the Yanks out in front for good on a sharp single to left, scoring Aaron Hicks and Judge to give New York a 5-4 lead. Three batters later, Gio Ur...

Former Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics all star guard Kyrie Irving is close to calling Brooklyn his new home. Irving and the Brooklyn Nets are closing in on a four-year, $141 million max contract, as the Nets begin a bold competitive rebuild of their roster. The goal for Brooklyn is to outbid the Knicks and Clippers for injured All Star Kevin Durant, who is coming off Achillies Tendon surgery. More on Durant in a moment. Irving has been linked to the Nets for a number of weeks. Growing up in West Orange, New Jersey, and attending high school at Montclair Kimberly,  Irving was very familiar with the Nets during their days in Jersey, and has been rumored to have been a fan. This is a great opportunity for Irving to come home. A six-time All Star, the Nets are getting one of the games most talented players, who averaged 23 points per game last year with the Celtics. As talented as he is, Irving took a number of PR hits last season during a tumultuous season where his di...

YANKEES 17 - RED SOX 13  It was a score more reminiscent of an NFL football game. For the people of London, England who are not used to watching a baseball game, don't get used to it. Most baseball games usually end 4-2, 2-1 or 1-0. But on Saturday, the Yankees and Red Sox flexed their offensive muscle, giving Londoners a taste of the most bitter rivalry in baseball complete with both teams putting up multiple innings of six runs a piece, and a ballgame that lasted nearly five hours. Neither starter lasted very long in this one. Rick Porcello lasted only a third of an inning, before Alex Cora had to remove him after the Yankees slapped six runs on the Morristown, New Jersey native. Even jumping continents and a five hour time difference wasn't enough to slow down the Yankees vaunted offense, which look as good as ever. Luke Voit's double down the left field line drove in DJ LeMahieu with the games first run was only the beginning. Didi Gergorius ripped a double ...

WFAN host Mike Francesa tore into the New York Mets as Edwin Diaz gave up the game winning homer to Philadelphia's Jean Segura.  It was an epic meltdown in the only way Francesa can deliver.

The  New York Mets  trailed 1-0 for pretty much the entire afternoon. They watched as  Philadelphia Phillies  starting pitcher  Aaron Nola  dance around a no-hitter through five innings en route to a one-hit masterpiece over seven innings of work. As the Mets sat there down 1-0 in the top of the ninth inning, the thought had to come to the mind of Mets fans everywhere: 'At least the bullpen didn't lose this one.'  Oh, how the tables turned. For one shinning moment in the top of the ninth,  Todd Fraizer  stuck his bat out in front of a  Hector Neris  fastball and slapped it over the left field wall to give the Mets a shocking 2-1 lead. The Mets would tack on an insurance run on a groundout by  Amed Rosario ; anything to make what would come all the more excruciating.  Edwin Diaz  came into the bottom of the ninth and blew it big time. What else is new?  Diaz gave up five runs and two homers as th...

One thing that every sports personality is told about New York, don't pick a fight with the media. Well that is exactly what happened to New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway and pitcher Jason Vargas. According to multiple reports Callaway got into a verbal exchange with Newsday reporter Tim Healey, 15 minutes after being grilled by reporters for another bullpen meltdown in the Mets 5-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.  Callaway reportedly called Healy a M-Fer a number of times, and told him not to be a "smart-ass." According to Daily News Reporter Deesha Thosar , Callaway's tirade against Healey was due in part to four words: "See you tomorrow, Mickey." Those four words were enough for Callaway to turn around and call Healey a smart-ass and a mother-F-er. "“Shut the f--k up, get out of my face. Get out of here,” Callaway said as Healey attempted to explain he did not mean to slight the manager in any way." Thosar wrote in here report.  The emb...

New York Mets rookie first baseman Pete Alonso keeps setting records. Alonso connected for his 26th homer of the year during Saturday's 10-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs, tying a club record for a rookie set by Darryl Strawberry in 1983. The only difference is Strawberry accomplished that feat in 122 games. Alonso needed only 76 games to tie the record. In short he is going to obliterate the club record by seasons end. In addition, Alonso is the fastest rookie in the National League to 26 homers before the All-Star break, shattering the record set by Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger, who had 25 by the break in 2017. Bollinger finished the season with 39. Only Mark McGuire and Aaron Judge have hit more homers as rookies before July 1. McGuire had 28 dingers at this time as a rookie in 1987. Judge had 29 at this point in 2017. The question is how far will Alonso go in his home run feats? He is on pace to crack around 52 homers, which would tie him with Judge for...

With the  New York Mets  coming off a listless performance in Atlanta this week, and starring at two nearly impossible series' against Chicago and Philadelphia coming up, the Mets decided to fire pitching coach  Dave Eiland  and Bullpen Coach  Chuck Hernandez . Eiland, considered by many in baseball circles as one of the best pitching coaches in baseball, was in his second season as Mets pitching coach. Hernandez was only in his first year with the Mets. When the  Wilpon 's hired Eiland, along with  Mickey Callaway  in November 2017, they hired two pitching coaches who helped guide the  Kansas City Royals  and  Cleveland Indians  to pennants in recent seasons. In the case of Eiland, he won the  2015 World Series  with the Royals against the Mets. A year ago Eiland watched Jacob deGrom put together a historic season en route to the  Cy Young Award . deGrom could have been the MVP. While many didn't give ...

With a week like this, the  Mets  are quickly and swiftly sealing their fate before July ever arrives, and perhaps, with it, the fates of both Manager  Mickey Callaway  and General Manager  Brodie Van Wagenen . To say it has been a frustrating season would be the ultimate understatement. The 2019 season has been beyond frustrating and disappointing, and with the bullpen imploding over the weekend against the  St. Louis Cardinals , and on Monday night in Atlanta, it is clear the Mets biggest Achilles heel is ultimately going to be their downfall. The sad truth is outside of  Seth Lugo  the Mets do not have any reliable relievers in their bullpen right now. In each of the last five games the Mets have watched leads disappear quickly in everyway possible as the team has dropped to four-games under .500, and a season high 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East. Last Thursday the culprit was  Edwin Diaz  who couldn’t hold a ...

METS 10 - YANKEES 4  Game 2 of 2  After watching the  New York Yankees  pound out 12 runs and three homers in the matinee, the  New York Mets  flexed their own muscles Tuesday night, downing the Yankees 10-4 at  Yankee Stadium . Leading the way, of course was none other than rookie first baseman  Pete Alonso . Alonso had the keynote of the night when he launched a  James Paxton  fastball over the center field wall for a three-run homer to give the Mets a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Mets spent the entire night roughing the Yankees lefty, pounding Paxton for six runs on seven hits over two-and-two-thirds innings of work.  The Mets terminated Paxton's night in the top of the third inning. A lead-off walk to Alonso, and a walk to  Todd Fraizer  was followed by a RBI single by  Michael Conforto  to make it 4-0.  Wilson Ramos  and  Adeiny Hechavarria  kept the conga line go...

YANKEES 12 - METS 5  Game 1 of 2  If you want to know the difference between the Yankees and Mets look no further than Tuesday's matinee between the local rivals as the Bronx Bombers pounded Zach Wheeler and the Amazin's 12-5 in the first game of a day-night double-header in the Bronx. It was looking good early for the Mets as the Amazin's took advantage of an error by Yankee shortstop Didi Gregorius in the top of the third to score four runs in the frame, highlighted by Jeff McNeil's three-run bomb into the Bleacher Creatures in right to give the Mets a 4-1 lead. Mashiro Tanaka who returned from paternal leave looked like he was on the ropes. Until he wasn't. Tanaka worked out of trouble in the top of the fourth inning before the Yankees brought out the thunder in the bottom half. With Kendrys Morales on first with a single, rookie Gio Urshela took the second pitch he saw from Wheeler and deposited it into the bullpens in left-center to tie the game at...

If you were looking for anything earth shattering, you didn’t get from new Jets General Manager Joe Douglas during a very matter of fact introductory press conference in Florham Park, New Jersey. With a commanding presence, the larger than life Douglas came across as both soft spoken, genuine and focused.   As Jets CEO and owner Christopher Johnson noted during his remarks, Douglas is a “consensus builder, who is not afraid to share his opinion.” In short, say hello to the anti-Mike Maccagnan. Or (at least fans hope) the anti-John Idzik. In so many ways, Johnson threw Douglas’s predecessor under the bus on several occasions Tuesday when he said Douglas shares Johnson’s vision for the entire organization. “He must be able to build and maintain a winning culture, including earning the trust of his colleagues,” Johnson said taking a direct slap at Maccagnan, who reportedly did not get along with Gase leading to the fractured relationship that Johnson couldn’t stand mu...