COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Whether he intended to or not, President Donald Trump has managed to throw some serious mud all over the World Cup Tournament after USA Striker Folarin Balogun had his red card reversed by FIFA, a day after the President spoke with FIFA Presidnet Gianni Infantino to review the red card ruling.  On Sunday the ruling, which levied a one-game suspension of Balogun for stomping on the ankle of an opponent for the Bosnia-Herzgovina team was lifted and delayed f or up to a year after the tournament.  As one can imagine all hell has broken loose since. USA plays Belgium tonight, and Balogun is eligible to play in the Round of 16 game in Seattle.  Both Trump and Infantino t ried to put out the conspiracy theory flames to no avail.  Instead the controversy has only gotten bigger as fans, pundits, politicians, and even people who don't follow soccer ... er ... football throw their collective two cents in.  Said President Trump on Monday, "All I did was ask for a review. I...

 The New York Mets nearly authored one of the most revolting losses in a lost season one can imagine, as they almost blew a seven-run, ninth inning lead in a 10-9 squeaker down in Atlanta, Sunday afternoon.  The Mets held a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Interim manager Andy Green had Huascar Brazoban open the inning in what should have been a routine finish to a rare 'W' for the Metropolitans.  Instead it almost turned into another Metsie nightmare.  First there was the pick-off error by Brazoban that allowed Mauricio Dubon to score to make it 10-4. Then Brazoban proceeded to load the bases with singles by Austin Riley and a walk to Eli White. (ex-Met Dom Smith was already on base).  Then Drake Baldwin got into one, and launched a Brazoban fastball over the left field wall for a grand slam to cut the Mets lead to 10-8.  That was it for Brazoban as Green had no choice but to bring in embattled closer Devin Williams. And Williams nearly blew i...

 Talk about turning up the heat.  About the only good news for the New York Yankees right now is the fact that they hit the road tonight for Tampa Bay, therefore they will be sparred from having to hear the litany of screaming Yankees fans on the talk radio and podcast circuit.  Then again, Florida is like New York South ...  The Yankees dropped another series, this time to the Minnesota Twins by the score of 6-1. That's right, I said the Minnesota Twins; the same franchise the Yankees have dominated routinely over the past quarter century plus.  The Twins enjoy a day in the Bronx. Getty Images.  The last time New York lost a regular season series to Minnesota, you'd have to go back to 2023, the year the Yankees didn't make the playoffs.  If that was an omen of things to come in '23, one would hate to see what's in the cards now.   The Twins simply dominated the Yankees behind a stellar outing by Joe Ryan.  The 30-year old veteran pitche...

 There is no doubt that Steve Cohen loves the New York Mets, and wants to see the team succeed. His frustration over the Mets miserable 2026 season was on display in a very open and honest interview with the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.  However as honest as Cohen tried to be, and as careful as he tried to be at the same time in what he could say, it felt like a 40-minute diatribe where Cohen consistently contradicted himself, and even backed himself into a corner by endorsing embattled President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns.  "David is a thoughtful man, he's incredibly thorough," Cohen said. " There aren't answers where I walk away and say I don't agree with that. He knows what's he's talking about. Does he get any credit for 2024? Does that not count, we almost made it to the World Series. It's a mixed record. I won't say it's going great, but it's too early to make evaluations.   "If we burn and chu...

 So, can we panic now Yankees fans? Can we take this slump seriously?  The Yankees offense was once again limp, and Jazz Chisholm left in the fourth inning under concussion protocol as the Yankees lost to the lowly Detroit Tigers 7-3 at Yankee Stadium.   New York managed only three hits on Monday night as Tigers veteran pitcher Casey Mize matched a career high with 10 strikeouts as he totally bedeviled the Yankees the entire evening.  In the last four games the Yankees batting average has been .098.  They clearly miss both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, which is a heck of an indictment for a team that can't keep relying on two aging and brittle superstars.  Meanwhile the Tigers teed off of Yankees starter Ryan Weathers, who was charged with five runs (two earned) on seven hits over an inning and two-thirds of work.  What had to add insult to injury for the Yankees was the fact that Chisholm collided with outfielder Jasson Dominguez on a pop ...

 The Mets might have a new skipper, but it doesn't mean they are exempt from further embarrassing themselves. Quiet the contrary, as the Mets bumbled their way to a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays up in Ontario.  New York has now lost three of their last four since Andy Green took over on an interim basis. What fun!?! The Jays scored in the opening frame when George Springer lined a base hit that bounced off the turf and past Juan Soto and skipped to the wall. A.J. Ewing then bobbled the ball on the relay throw, allowing Spring to touch 'em all. Springer was credited with a triple, and scored on the error by Ewing. There was no inside the park homer.  Toronto tacked on another run later in the contest to make it 2-0, before Francisco Lindor cracked his first home run since returning from a long stint on the Injury List in the seventh inning to make it 2-1.  MEANWHILE... Former Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez, who has made no bones about having no love for Mets Presi...

 One of the major contributors to the Knicks NBA Finals run this Spring will be back long term, with an eye at potentially repeating next season.  Landry Shamet and the Knicks came to terms on a four-year $24 million deal a day before free agency opened up in the NBA.    This signing is HUGE for the Knicks. Shamet averaged six points per game in the playoffs and shot around 47.5 percent from downtown. He proved to be a valuable piece off the bench for the Knicks in the playoffs, and knocked down several important three-pointers during their run. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Shamet connected on 11-of-12 shots from beyond three.  Shamet is the second Knicks bench player to re-up with the team. The other being Jose Alvarado who resigned over the weekend.  The question is going to be what will the Knicks do with Mitchell Robinson. He is expected to hit free agency, and chances are he is going to cash in on a major contract.    Knicks owner James ...

 There is something wrong with these 2026 New York Yankees.  No, it's just the fact that Aaron Judge has been missing from the lineup for over a month.  It's much deeper than that.  While the crosstown New York Mets have been in the short-hairs of the New York media's wrath this season, which kicked into high gear this week with the firing of manager Carlos Mendoza, the Yankees have basically gotten away free of heavy criticism.  Again, we get it, it's the Yankees. It's about October.  But if this weekend's series up in Boston proved anything, it's that nobody fears this Yankees team.  And there is no greater indictment of a team when the teams in its own division look at the Yankees as an opportunity to put together a winning streak.  The Red Sox are pretty much left for dead in the AL East race, but as far as the wild card is concerned? After their sweep of the Yankees this weekend, they are very much alive and well. Boston won all four games ag...

 Can't say nobody saw this one coming.  The New York Mets fired embattled manager Carlos Mendoza amid the team's current six-game losing streak, highlighted by a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.  When a team is as bad as the Mets are, which is 13-games under .500 (34-47), and 10 games out of a wild card and 16 out of the division, the manager, typically is the one that goes first especially if that team has a payroll as high as the Mets.  While you can debate Mendoza's lineup strategy, or his earnestness to run to the bullpen at the drop of a pop-up, this debacle that was the 2026 season was not his fault.   Mendoza was a decent manager (206-199), and a better man. He deserved a better fate, and hopefully for him he can land elsewhere as a bench coach and rebuild his rep. In many ways he's the lucky one as he departs with the seventh highest winning percentage a mong Mets skippers , and is one of seven managers to take the fra...

 The New York Knicks are back on top of the basketball world.  After 53 long years; five decades of broken promises and shattered dreams, fans of New York's preeminent basketball team were allowed to shed some tears.  Tears indeed. But tears of joy.    As they have seemingly all series long, and all postseason long, the Knicks fell behind by double-digits to the young, athletic and potent San Antonio Spurs in the early stages of the first half, only to storm back by the fourth quarter to snatch away victory by a score 94-90 while capturing the franchises first title since 1973.  Leading the way was Jalen Brunson, an easy MVP recipient on this night, because he put his team on his back when it needed him the most.  Sure it would be easy to shrug at a loss in Game  5. The Knicks were up 3-1 in the series, and who wouldn't want to celebrate a championship in front of the home fans. Only thing is don't tell that to these Knicks, and don't tell that to...

 As Al Michaels once said, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"  The New York Knicks just had one of those rare seminal moments in sports that will forever be etched in time, never to be forgotten, and ingrained in the memory and DNA of all fans in and around the Tri-State area.  Think of Mookie Wilson sending a ground ball down the first baseline of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The ball hugs the first baseline, and somehow, miraculously slides under Bill Buckner's extended glove and rolls into the outfield. Ray Knight scores the winning run! Mets win! Mets win!  Think of Stephan Matteau i n the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals of the NHL, when he swung around the net and got the puck past Devils Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur for the game winning shot that sent the Rangers to the Finals, a finals they would win over Vancouver.   Think of Eli Manning heaving a pass downfield that somehow by the grace of God,  David Tyree pins up against his helmet ...

With throngs of celebrities including President Donald Trump, Mayor Zorhan Mandami among others packing into Madison Square Garden for the first NBA Finals game in 27 years, the New York Knicks laid an egg, and now find themselves in a series after the San Antonio Spurts answered their 2-0 series lead with a 115-111 victory over New York on Monday night.  The game itself will best be remembered probably as the Flagrant Foul Game, as twice the Spurs could have been called for Flagrant One Fouls that left Knicks guard Jalen Brunson peeling himself off the court, but they were not called.  Then there was the moment when Spurs guard Julian Champagnie tripped over his own two feet, which just so happen to be under Brunson's stretched out legs. Champagnie sold it as Burnson stepping on his ankle and was rewarded as Brunson was called for a Flagrant foul.   Brunson would have to spend much of the fourth quarter on the bench with four fouls on the night as the Knicks went s...

 There are games, and then there are games that can redefine careers an era, and in this case an NBA Finals.  The New York Knicks were enjoying a 14-points with six minutes to go in Game 2 before Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs rallied off 14 consecutive points to tie the game at 97, and even briefly took a 104-102 lead with 57 seconds to go on Wembanyama's lay-up and free throw shot.  If the Knicks had lost this game, it would have gone down as an inexplicable and painful way to watch a 12-game winning streak come to a screeching halt.  The Knicks had been in foul trouble all night, and despite missing some big shots early in the game, had rallied themselves back from a 12-point deficit to take the lead at the half.  A dominant third quarter had New York giddy at the prospects. Blowing it all could have been devastating.  That is when things drastically changed.    First Jalen Brunson tied the game on a 13-foot jumper with 39 ticks to go, setting...

 The New York Yankees 2026 season is going to take a huge hit.  It's pretty inevitable after word came down that Aaron Judge would miss 4-6 weeks, and possibly as much as two months after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right rib.  Judge, who was hitting .248 with 17 homers and 38 RBI this season, says he doesn't want to put any timetable on the injury, and his return. "You never know what's going to happen," he said.  According to The Athletic, Judge had been playing with the injury since late April when he landed awkwardly while diving for a catch while trying to avoid a teammate in Houston on April 26. Writes Brandon Kuty of the Athletic: "Since the end of the series in Houston, Judge has hit .263 with seven home runs and a .888 OPS in 31 games. But his production fell off a cliff after May 10, and he batted .206 with a home run and a .613 OPS since then." How will this affect the Yankees season is anyone's guess at this point. Th...

 The Knicks trailed by 13 points, 63-50 with 8:02 to go in the third quarter after San Antonio's Stephen Castle connected on a tip shot. At that point the Spurs had a 90.6 percent chance to win Game 1 of these NBA Finals, while sending a huge message to the Knicks and the rest of the league that these Spurs have arrived.  Then, the Knicks woke up.  Maybe it was because the Spurs opted to give their big man Victor Wembanyama a few minutes off, but once the 7-foot-4 giant who tortured the Knicks on the boards, even if he wasn't shooting well on the night, was out of the way New York settled down.  Mikal Bridges 11-foot jumper got it started, cutting the deficit to 12. That bucket was the first of an 11-0 run by the Knicks as they sliced the deficit down to six points 67-61.  Then Landry Shamet, who struggled all night long, finally connected on a big three-pointer to cut the Spurs lead to five. Then Karl Anthony Towns did his thing over the next handful of possess...

 As if the NBA Finals didn't have enough juice going into it, this angel certainly helps.   Becky Hammon, a former WNBA star, and current head coach of the Las Vegas Aces once questioned the Knicks chances of winning an NBA title with Jalen Brunson as its main star because of his height.  " “If your best player is small, you're not winning" Hammon said on ESPN back in 2023. Adding New York doesn't have that gigantic 1A player to help out.  When pressed about those remarks recently, Hammon doubled-down .  "Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the Finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I'm up for being proven wrong.  "That's the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson's a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I'm speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don't know why everybody's so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. I stand by it."   Of course the Knicks did add Karl Anthony Towns tw...

As the late Yogi Berra once said, "it's deja vu all over again."  That will be the case when the New York Knicks tussle with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, a rematch of sorts via the 1999 Finals. Not only was that the last time the Knicks appeared in the Finals, it was the beginning of the Spurs dynasty as a young Tim Duncan won the MVP, and the Spurs thrashed the Knicks in five games.  That Spurs team was laden with veteran talent from Avery Johnson to Sean Elliot leading the front court. Former Bulls point guard Steve Kerr (who we all know would one day become a successful head coach in his own right), was a role player on that San Antonio team. But all the focus at the time was on David Robinson who was seeking his first NBA title after a storied decades long career.   Duncan, who at the time was in his second year in the NBA was the future star and face of the franchise back in '99.    Little did we know back then it was the first of five...

After 27 years the New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.  Thanks to another dominating offensive showcase, the Knicks blasted the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, assuring a sweep and plenty of rest before the Finals begin June 3.  For the long suffering Knicks fan who had witnessed year upon year of horrendous basketball, front office blunders, bad public relations, and even worse press, this is the moment you have been waiting for.  You have every right to be giddy.    If you witnessed the days when the Patrick Ewing era ended in a ECF loss to the Pacers back in 2000, which followed his trade to the Seattle SuperSonics that off-season, this is for you!  If you remember when an exhausted Jeff VanGundy resigned at mid-season in 2001; if you remember Antonio McDyess; heck, if you lived through the embarrassment of the Isiah Thomas era's (that's right era's), this one is for you.  ...

The New York Knicks are now one win away from the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals in 27 years.  Led by another outstanding offensive performance from Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks pounded the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.   The Knicks never trailed in the contest as Cleveland had literally no answer to stop the Knicks on the offensive boards. The Knicks did whatever they wanted to. From screens, to post-ups and open shots without any defensive pressure.  Hit the open man in the lane? Check.  Kick the ball out to an open man in the corner to hit a three? Check.  Drive through the lane with numbers? Check again.  It was a clinic by New York.  By the end of the contest it looked like Cleveland had totally given up as Brunson glided to the hoop uncontested for an easy layup that gave New York a 118-102 lead with 1:49 to play.  As the Cavs limped and staggered on the court, the chant...

 What would the Knicks do to follow up their virtuoso fourth quarter performance in Game 1? Well, how about finding a way to outlast the Cavs in Game 2.  Powered by Josh Hart's 26 points, and timely shooting from Jalen Brunson and Mikael Bridges (19 points each), the Knicks held off Cleveland 109-93 on Thursday night at the Garden.    It wasn't easy. Give credit to Kenny Atkinson's Cleveland Cavaliers. The former New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets Head Coach had his team ready to go on Thursday night.   The Cavs fought hard in Game 2 and showed no signs of a hangover from their devastating Game 1 defeat. Heck, Cleveland had a 27-24 lead after one quarter, and this games was tied at 53 in the third quarter before New York ripped off runs of 18-0 and 23-5 to all but put the game on ice.  Let's discuss it in our daily vlog!   

 If you had turned off the television set, or got up to do something else with at around 10 after 10 at night last night, nobody would have blamed you.  That's because the New York Knicks trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22 points with 7:39 to go in the fourth quarter. By all intents and purposes the game was over.  Then a miracle happened.  A sudden surge by Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, who couldn't hit the side of a barn let alone a basketball hoop, were charging back on an 18-1 run that was highlighted by Brunson's three with 3:30 to go cut Cleveland's lead down to just five points.  The Cavs who had a 99.9 percent chance to win four minutes earlier, saw their chances narrowed down to 85 percent. Still within reason.  But this was a different circumstance. The Knicks would not be denied. A 44-11 run by New York, including overtime pushed the Knicks to their greatest playoff comeback victory in franchise history.   When it was all said and do...

 Well here is a story nobody saw coming. Former Mets closer Edwin Diaz has been linked to a cockfighting ring in Puerto Rico thanks to incriminating social media posts, according to multiple reports.  Fox News reports that Diaz, who now pitches for the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, appeared in tournament graphics in "full Dodgers uniform." He has also been open about his families participation in the blood-sport, which is banned in the United States.  "  Diaz described cockfighting as a pastime he has followed since childhood and confirmed that his family entered four roosters into a recent tournament." Meanwhile, " Champion jockeys Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. were also identified in social media footage tied to the events. According to the report, the Ortiz brothers, who recently dominated the Kentucky Derby , appeared on video collecting cash bets at one of the alleged cockfighting gatherings ," according to the same report....