COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

YANKEES 12 - INDIANS 3   The biggest punches in Cleveland Tuesday night weren't delivered by the hideous Presidential debate that took place down the street, but instead were delivered by the New York Yankees, as the Bronx Bombers pounded the Cleveland Indians 12-3 in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series. The Bombers, who came into the series having lost six of their final eight regular season games, and whose offense was mired in mediocrity broke out in a big way, combining for four homers and 15 hits as Cleveland's Shane Bieber had the worst outing of his entire season.  It didn't take long for the Yankees to send the message that the Bronx Bombers were indeed alive and well, and ready for some serious postseason action. On the third pitch he saw from Bieber, AL Batting Champion, D.J. LeMahieu ripped a fastball into right field to get the party started.  One pitch later, Aaron Judge took a Bieber fastball and crushed it into right field stands, handing the Yankees and star...

 A wild and wacky season now comes down to this. A best-of-three series in Cleveland to kick off the postseason for the first ever 16-team tournament -- a result of baseball in the world of COVID-19.  The Yankees come limping into the postseason having lost six of their last eight. If this scenario should sound familiar to Yankees fans, it should. Back in 2015 the Yankees lost six of seven down the stretch, before bowing out in the Wild Card game against Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros.  This is also the scene of the Yankees bitter, hard fought ALDS victory in 2017, where the Yankees came back from a 2-0 series deficit to win the series 3-2. New York was later eliminated in the ALCS by the eventual World Series Champion Astros.  Of course these two franchises know each other very well, even if they haven't played one another this season. This will mark the fifth postseason series between the two with each club having won a pair.  This time the series carr...

 On today's vlog I look back at the local action for Week 3 and it wasn't good. The Jets 36-7 loss to Indianapolis has put head coach Adam Gase firmly on the hot seat, while Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is going to face some questions after a rough outing against the 49ers. Oh, and up north, the Bills nearly channeled their inner Atlanta Falcons. Check it out...   

 COLTS 36 - JETS 7  Another day, another loss for the New York Jets.  All the catcalls the past few weeks that the Jets should tank for Trevor Lawrence will only get louder after quarterback Sam Darnold tossed three interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns in Gang Green's 36-7 meltdown against Indianapolis on Sunday.  Aside from a couple of early first half drives where the Jets offense looked competent, it was a total nighmare for Gang Green on Sunday. The Colts easily tore through the Jets defense, as Philip Rivers completed 17 of 21 for 217 yards and a touchdown pass.  Really, this game was over when the Colts answered the Jets lone touchdown drive when Mo-Allie Cox scored from one-yard out to make it 14-7.  But the Jets 36-7 loss wasn't the biggest story of the day. Earlier Sunday, reports surfaced from Chris Mortonsen of ESPN that Gase Watch is well underway at 1 Jets Drive, with executives looking closely at Gase's work over the ...

 49ers 36 - Giants 9   The San Francisco 49ers had every excuse on Sunday to not play well. They were missing about nine starters, including their starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, and their best pass rusher, Nick Bosa, and still found a way to dominate the New York Giants.  What was the Giants excuse? Saquon Barkley? Give me a break!  The Giants had no excuses, and played like a team that had never touched a football field before as the Niners did whatever they wanted to on Sunday.  Daniel Jones did not play well, in fact one has to wonder whether he is indeed fit to be the starting quarterback of this football team. Jones turned it over twice on Sunday, including on the Giants first drive of the day that led to a Niners field goal.    Just before halftime, Jones tossed another interception, his fourth of the year that set up another Niners field goal to make it 16-6.  Jones has now turned it over seven times through the first three gam...

 MARLINS 5 - YANKEES 0  After waking up in the middle innings on Saturday, the Yankees offense spent Sunday afternoon in complete slumber as the Marlins topped the Bombers 5-0 to end the 60-game regular season.   Clark Schmidt got the start for New York, allowing three runs over four innings, and D.J. LeMahieu pretty much stamped his claim to the AL Batting title with a pair of hits as the Yankees limp into the postseason having lost six of their last eight games. Even with the loss the Yankees caught a break as the Blue Jays, Astros and White Sox all lost, meaning New York will maintain its position as the number five seed in the American League playoffs. The Yankees will face the Indians on Tuesday in the first of a best of three series.  The Yankees are heading into the postseason, not exactly on a head of steam. Not only has New York lost six of their last eight, but they enter the postseason as one of the most confounding teams in baseball. When they are go...

 It's just been that kind of season for the Yankees. Nothing has come easy for the Bronx Bombers, who find themselves in the midst of a battle over seeding for the American League Playoffs. On Saturday, the Yankees overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Miami Marlins 11-4 at the Stadium to move within one win of moving up in the standings to get a better seed, possibly the fifth seed.  Behind the Yankees victory was D.J. LaMahieu who had a four-hit, three-RBI game to bring his average up to .359, putting him in the drivers seat for the AL Batting crown. Meanwhile, Luke Voit's three-run blast in the seventh inning, gave the Yankees first baseman his 22nd homer of the year, putting him in firm position to be the AL Homer Champion for 2020.  Ironically all of the Yankees power Saturday was sparked by Tyler Wade's two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Marlins lead to 3-2. Giancarlo Stanton, who had been mired in a 1-for-21 slump, tied the game on a double to center...

 In this week's NYC-NFL recap, I talk a look at what was a difficult week for the locals as the Jets lost to the San Francisco 49ers 31-13, and the Giants fell to the Chicago Bears 17-13.  The Jets are in trouble. At 0-2, it looks like they are destined for a disastrous season, and ownership has yet to hold head coach Adam Gase accountable. Meanwhile, the Giants lost Saquon Barkley for the season with a ACL tear in his knee, putting a ton of pressure on quarterback Daniel Jones to get the job done moving foward.  Check out the podcast!! 

 It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but the New York Yankees are going to the playoffs.  In a season that was shorted to 60 games due to COVID-19, and in a year where the Yankees, at one point, lost 15 of 20 before rattling off 10 straight wins, the Yankees are back in serious October baseball.  The Bombers punched their ticket to the postseason thanks to the Seattle Mariners 7-4 loss to the San Diego Padres. With the win, the Padres also clinched a spot in the playoffs in the National League.  The Yankees' 10-game winning streak did end Sunday in a 10-2 loss to the Red Sox, but it didn't matter by Sunday night.  The questions now facing the Yankees are 1) seeding, 2) pitching, and 3) lineup consistency. Two and three have been issues all year, as well as health.  The Yankees are 3.5 back of Tampa for the AL East title, but with a week to go, it's not likely they will catch them. That makes seeding important. The Yanks are just a game back o...

BEARS 17 - GIANTS 13  When running back Saquon Barkley rolled awkwardly on his left arm and appeared to at least badly hyper-extend his elbow, Giants' fans couldn't help but take a deep breath and hope their star running back would be alright.  As fate would have it, that was only the tip of the iceberg.  When play resumed at the start of the second quarter, Barkley was back on the field for the Giants, and Big Blue quickly went back to him on a hand-off to the right for six yards. As he was tackled Barkley landed poorly, rolled over clutching his knee. It did not look good, and the prognosis even worse.  The Giants fear that Barkley, who had to be carted off the field, suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. This coming off a week where the former Pro Bowler had just six yards on 15-carries in week 1. The Giants were hoping to get Barkley going against Chicago, but to no avail.  The loss of Barkley put added pressure on quarterback Daniel Jone...

 49ers 31 - JETS 13  Leave it to the Jets to find a way to not only lose, but get destroyed by a football team that suffered five critical injuries in the process as the 49ers dismantled the helpless Jets 31-13.    Just days after Jets CEO praised head coach Adam Gase, calling the embattled coach "Brilliant," one has to wonder what the Jets front office is thinking now.  The Jets were noncompetitive, and played unmotivated over the course of 60 minutes. It was really a game between the 49ers and the MetLife Stadium turf, with the Jets just there to keep things interesting.  Raheem Mosert's 80-yard touchdown less than 30 seconds into the ball game punctuated what was a horrible day for the Jets as the Niners took the early 7-0 lead. They never looked back.  Before leaving the game with a high ankle sprain, Jimmy Garopollo torched the Jets defense, completing 14-of-16 passes and 131 yards, including leading two scoring drives with a pair of touchdown pas...

 Hockey season in New York is over. At least until sometime in December.  The Islanders valiant run through the Eastern Conference playoffs in the bubble north of the border, went all the way through the Conference Finals. It was a run that not many had expected, but the Islanders perceived through COVID and everything else to get to this point. It ended Thursday night in a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The Lighting will face the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals.  The Islanders got off to a fast start in Game six, a goal by Devon Towes to give New York an early 1-0 lead, but that would be as far as the momentum from Game 5's triumphant overtime win would carry them.   Tampa tied it two minutes later on Victor Hedman's ninth goal of the postseason. Both teams remained deadlocked at one until the late stages of overtime when Anthony Cirelli scored on an assist by Barclay Goodrow and Alex Killron to win it.  For his efforts, Islan...

 You can take the comments offered by Jets CEO Christopher Johnson one of two ways.  Either A) Johnson is a complete fool and can't see his football drowning under the leadership of Adam Gase, or B) Johnson just gave Gase the dreaded 'vote of confidence' that over the course of 16 weeks soon swings the other direction and the coach is fired by seasons end. We'll see by December. But as was widely reported by the likes of Rich Cimini of ESPN and Brian Costello of the New York Post, the Jets boss endorsed Adam Gase as head coach moving forward after Sunday's listless 27-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills. "I have full confidence in Adam," Johnson told the Jets beat reporters. "I think he has a lot more in him as a head coach than some of our fans are giving him credit for. And I understand they want to see success. I think that they will," (ESPN).  Johnson continued ... "Look I think he can work with and develop quarterbacks. I do continue to thi...

 Yankees 13 - Blue Jays 2  Remember when the Yankees were a .500 team and couldn't get out of their own way? Well that was so last week. Behind big nights from catcher Kyle Higashioka and second baseman DJ LeMahieu, the Yankees pounded the Toronto Blue Jays 13-2 for the Bombers seventh straight victory. Once on the precipise of potentially not making the playoffs, the Yankees are looking like the Yankees again. They dominated the Orioles in a weekend sweep, and have scored a combined 33 runs in their last two games against Toronto, including Tuesday night's 20-6 thrashing of the Blue Jays. On Wednesday, Higashioka went yard three times, while LeMahieu hit a pair of homers in the victory. Even Luke Voit and Clint Fraizer got into the action.  Most of the power came in succession early and often. LeMahieu got things started with a lead-off homer in the bottom the first, before Higashioka corked a two-run blast in the bottom of the third to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. ...

 STEELERS 26 - GIANTS 16  It was a step in the right direction, but it wasn't enough to lock a crooked number in the win column.  Thanks to a pair of costly turnovers by quarterback Daniel Jones, and just too much Big Ben in his return from elbow surgery, the Giants lost 26-16 on Monday night.  It's not like Big Blue didn't have opportunities to do something big.  Right from the onset, the Steelers were doing everything they could to give the Giants the game. A muffed punt return by Pittsburgh gave the Giants the football at the Steeler-three yard line. However, Big Blue could do nothing with it.   Daniel Jones tried to force the ball to Saquon Barkely twice, overthrowing him once and hitting him for only one yard on third down. The Giants were forced to settle for three points, when seven points would have sufficed.  Later in the first half, Jones orchestrated a nifty seven-play 75-yard scoring drive that gave New York the lead when he found Dari...

 It's time to celebrate Mets fans . The days of the Wilpon's inglorious reign is coming to an end.  The Wilpon's and their business partner Saul Katz, Sterling Equitites agreed to sell the Mets to Cohen for $2.45 billion. The Mets television network SNY is not included in the deal. The next major hurdle that Cohen must clear to officially finalize his purchase of the team is receiving approval from a consortium of the MLB owners, or 23 of 29 remaining owners around the league. If eight owners do not approve of the sale, it will fall through. Cohen can be viewed as controversial in some respects. He is being sued for gender discrimination, and his corporation SAC Capital was involved in insider trading back in 2013. Still, Cohen's deep pockets made him an attractive buyer to the Mets, and Mets fans.  Unlike the Wilpon's, who built a reputation of being unscrupulous when it came to spending money on the franchise, Cohen has promised that he will spend big money. His r...

 BILLS 27 - JETS 17  Don't let the final score of 27-17 fool you, because this game was never this close. Never; not even once. Had Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen not fumbled twice down in the Jets red zone, and had kicker Tyler Bass converted on a couple of field goals, the Bills could have easily blown this horrible Jets team out of the water 47-10.    The Jets proved one thing on Sunday, they stink. They stink so bad that you might as well put them on the clock for the 2021 NFL Draft. And so begins the clock on Adam Gase's career as Jets head coach. The Jets looked unprepared, unmotivated and totally out of sync in Buffalo. All we heard this summer from the Jets was how this season would be totally different. How Sam Darnold was maturing as a starting quarterback. How the Jets offense would be improved -- even tough they were losing wide receivers all over the place. All we heard was how this offensive line - rebuilt by Joe Douglas would be vastly impro...

 BLUE JAYS 2 - YANKEES 1  Coming off a dispiriting 12-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night - a game that could easily be considered the worst loss of the season as the Yankees bullpen couldn't hold a 6-2 lead as late as the sixth inning, the Yankees had nothing in the tank on Tuesday night.  Even an edict by General Manager Brian Cashman wasn't enough to keep the Yankees from dropping their 15th game in their last 20 to fall to .500 at 21-21. The Yankees mustered only five hits on Tuesday, and one extra base hit - a double by Miguel Andujar, and were a combined 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.  The only run to score on Tuesday came on a sac fly by Mike Tauchman, who has really struggled in his own right, with his batting average dipping to .238. And to think that is actually a good batting average on this Yankees squad.  All of this against Taijuan Walker, who isn't to be confused with some of the best starters in the game. He's ok - average ...

 ORIOLES 5 - YANKEES 1  The Yankees are in big time trouble. With three weeks left in the 2020 regular season, the Yankees find themselves hanging on by a string to their playoff lives, two games ahead of the suddenly surging Baltimore Orioles, who took three of four from the Bronx Bombers this weekend.   The Orioles capped off their weekend with a 5-1 win over the Yanks after Mashairo Tanaka was yanked in the sixth inning down 2-1, having just allowed two men to reach base before the Yankee pen, once again imploded.  It just wasn't a good day for New York from the outset. A DJ Stewart two run homer to right got things started for Baltimore, who never looked back.  Offensively the Yankees had no answer for rookie Dean Kremer, who held the Bombers to just a single run on one hit over six innings, while striking out seven and walking three. The only time the Yankees scored it had to come on a fielder's choice.  New York's offense has been putrid these la...

 He will forever be known as "Tom Terrific." Tom Seaver, the man known for bringing the New York Mets baseball franchise into prominence in the mid to late 1960s, and was a key cog in their 1969 World Series title run, passed away Wednesday after a lengthy battle with dementia as well as COVID-19. He was 75.  In a 20-year Hall of Fame career that took him from Flushing, Queens, New York to the Queen City (Cincinnati) and later to the South Side of Chicago, and finally the harbor of Boston, Massachusetts, Seaver amassed 311 victory, still good enough for 18th all time in Major League baseball. His 2.86 ERA (126th), and strikeouts (3,640) is sixth all time.    He was easily one of the All Time greats. He led the NL in strikeouts from 1970-76, and his 16 opening day starts are still a Major League Baseball record.  In 1969, in only his third season in the Major's Seaver won 25 games, pitching to a 2.21 ERA with 18 complete games. Seaver along with Jerry Koosman, Ga...

Expectations are not very high for the New York Giants this year, but Big Blue doesn't care what the critics think. The Giants completed a one-year $7.5 million deal with veteran corner Logan Ryan, giving the Giants much needed veteran leadership on the back-end of their defense.  Ryan, a former Rutgers University student, played for the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans during the first eight years of his career, will join a Giants team looking for versatility in the secondary.   Big Blue is already without Deandre Baker who is out facing robbery charges. Sam Beal opted out due to COVID-19, and rookie Xavier McKinney fractured his foot and will miss most of the season, or 10 weeks. So to say the least the Giants needed a player, and they found one in a dependable veteran who knows what its like to play under the Bill Belichick tree.  Last season with the Titans Ryan collected 113 tackles, 18 passes defensed and four fumbles. However his shinning moment came ...