COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 It was a game that nobody could have foreseen coming from the New York Knicks.   With an opportunity to wrap up their opening round series with the pesky Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks put together a record breaking performance, dropping 140 points in one of the most lopsided games in NBA playoff history, a 140-89 throttling of the Hawks.  The 51-point spread was the biggest road victory in playoff history, and set the franchise record for largest postseason margin of victory. And to think this game was at one point a 61-point advantage for the Knicks.  New York stunned the Hawks right from the jump with a 40-point first quarter en route to a 83-36 halftime lead. That 47-point margin of victory broke a nearly nine year record once held by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who carried a 41-point halftime lead in a playoff game.  And leading the way was OG Anunoby who dished out 29 points on an 11-of-14 night from the floor in a dominant showcase as he carried the ballclu...

 Both the New York Giants and New York Jets addressed some big needs in the opening night of the NFL Draft out in Pittsburgh, and none bigger than adding a some edge rushers to the mix.  JETS PASS ON REESE, DRAFT DAVID BAILEY INSTEAD This was one of the most controversial picks of the night. Should the Jets select Bailey, a player by most accounts was one of the most dominate pass rushers in college football last season, or do they take the versatile Arvell Reese, who many believe could be an even better player than Bailey in the long term? Well, the Jets decided to go with Bailey who recorded 14.5 sacks last season at Texas Tech, and had an impressive 4.50 -40-yard dash at the combine. While he is considered "pro ready" to take the leap into the NFL, many scouts also feel his ceiling is not as high, and there are concerns about his ability against the run.  Many Jets fans were not pleased with the pick, some even going as far as to claim that the Jets drafting of Bailey ...

 HAWKS 109 - KNICKS 108 (ATL Leads 2-1)  Oh, boy Knicks fans!! This is definitely not what the doctor ordered. For the second consecutive game, the Knicks fell to the Atlanta Hawks by only one-point, this time 109-108 as they fall behind this best-of-seven opening round series two-games-to-one.  Can the Knicks actually choke this series away? A series they were heavily favored in, especially against an Atlanta team that doesn't feature Knick-killer Trae Young anymore?  Well, there is a new Knicks-Killer in the ATL, and his name CJ McCollum, who hit a fade-away jumper with 12.5 seconds to go in regulation to humiliate the Knicks for the second straight night.  McCollum didn't lead the Hawks in scoring on Thursday, he finished one point shy of the leader, Jalen Johnson, who had 24. Heck he didn't even have a double-double. But he hit the biggest shot that mattered.  With the Knicks holding on to a 108-107 lead, and after Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart both misse...

 Just like Manager Lou Brown said in "Major League" after his goofball Cleveland Indians won two straight games, "That's what we call a winning streak... It has happened before."  Well congratulations New York Mets, you have won two in a row. And yes, it has happened before. Even this season in fact.   A day after staging a late rally to stun the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Wednesday night, the Mets once again had to pull a rabbit out of their hats against Minnesota on Thursday, this time winning 10-8.  Ironically the Mets had built a 6-1 lead, but watched as the Twins slowly crept back into the game, pounding the Mets bullpen.  When Ryan Jeffers launched a grand slam homer off of Hoscar Brazoban to tie the game at seven in the eighth inning, you would be forgiven if you thought the Mets were destined to lose.  Instead Minnesota's bullpen of Andrew Morris and Anthony Banda chose a bad time to have a bad night for the Twins. The Mets loaded the bases before ...

 I guess it's fair to say that Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler just owns the Red Sox.  After shutting down Boston last October, the Yankees number 2 ace stymied the Bo-Sox over eight brilliant innings, as the Yankees swept the series with a 4-2 win on Thursday.  Schlittler was amazing, holding Boston to just four hits, with five K's, and all while keeping a very economical pitch count at 96 pitches. At 3-1, Schlittler's ERA is now at 1.77, and one can argue he is indeed the ace of this staff at the moment.  Offensively the Yankees scratched out enough runs for him in the later stages. With New York down 2-1, Cody Bellinger delivered a two-run single to left, scoring Jazz Chisholm and Trent Grisham to give New York a 3-2 lead.  A few batters later, a fielding error on Boston following an Aaron Judge single, allowed Jose Caballero to score to push the Yankees lead to two.  New York is red hot right now having won six straight to take a commanding three game le...

 The Yankees are one of the few franchises that refuse to tinker with tradition.   While most teams are willing to change the look and feel of their uniforms in order to bring it up to "modern" times, the Yankees have been steadfast, and rightfully so, in remaining keen on tradition. Pinstripe whites at home, and greys on the road.  Really outside of the while pipping that used to exist on the Yankees road jersey's there have been few changes to a uniform that has stood the test of time for over 100 years. Winning 27 World Championships can do that.  But it appears that the Yankees players want to make a change. According to reports there is a popular thought around the clubhouse about switching things up a bit and throwing in the Yankees navy blue spring training jersey's in as a regular alternate with the road greys.  Basically the jersey is the inverse of the normal threads, with a navy top with New York written in grey lettering.  It's not the wor...

 Former Giants defensive end Dexter Lawrence got his wish on Sunday when he was dealt to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th overall pick in this week's NFL draft.  The move ends a stunning frayed relationship between the G-men and arguably it's best defensive player, creating a huge hole in the middle of John Harbaugh's defense. Now Harbaugh and GM Joe Schoen must use every opportunity before them, whether it be with the fifth overall pick, and, now, the 10th overall pick to address this issue.    In a way it was surprising to see Lawrence take it this far.  With a new head coach in place who carried a resume of Super Bowl success with the Baltimore Ravens, one would think that Lawrence would want to be a part of it.  But according to reports Lawrence wanted either a new contract or a trade. He had grown frustrated with years of losing in  New York, and wanted to cash in.  As ESPN reported, the Giants felt that Lawrence was coming off his worst...

 The 2026 New York Mets are an abject disaster and it is only April 20.  We are 22-games into the season, and the Mets are tied with the Kansas City Royals for the worst record in all of baseball at 7-15. That's right the team with the highest payroll in baseball of $381 millions, $30.25 million of which is due to players no longer on the roster, is dead last in the National League East, and dead last in the National League.  And they play and look like dead team walking.  And we got 140 games still to go.   You can blame manager Carlos Mendoza all you want, but the facts remain that all the blame shouldn't be shouldered by one man. In fact, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, and owner Steve Cohen should shoulder plenty of responsibility as well.  Those two men built this mess of a team. They allowed former stars like Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz, and Jeff McNeil either leave via free agency, or pushed them out via trade. Stearns...

 Speaking of five game losing streaks, we present you the New York Mets.  The Amazin's lost their fifth in a row in a 1-0 loss to the Sacramento/Las Vegas A's on Sunday afternoon at Citi FIeld, as New York suffered its first ever sweep at the hands of the Athletics.  Not to mention former Met Jeff McNeil feasted on the Mets all weekend, going 6-of-13 with an RBI, and some great work at second base defensively.  But hey, the Mets traded Brandon Nimmo (also scorching right now) to Texas for McNeil's replacement last off-season in Marcus Semien who is hitting a wondrous .190 on the year.   The Mets were nonexistent on Sunday against the A's . They managed only four hits, all of them singles, and were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. It's as if they didn't even care.  When Bo Bichette grounded out on the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning, boos reigned down from the stands at Citi Field as if the season had collapsed, and it's only April....

 So much for that 8-2 start to the season.  The New York Yankees are in the midst of an early season slump after taking their fifth straight loss in a 5-4 decision to the Rays in Tampa on Sunday. The loss obviously completed a three-game sweep for Tampa Bay, who suddenly swings into a three-way tie for first place in the AL East.  It's been that kind of week for the Yankees. Every single loss has been close, with four of the five consecutive losses decided by one run.  Despite Aaron Judge's two-run bomb in the ninth inning that cut the Rays lead to 5-4 it was not enough for a Yankees squad that managed five hits prior to the ninth inning, and were a measly 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.  The Yankees offense has really been a problem of late. They are hitting .170 over their last seven games with only Ben Rice and Amed Rosario providing any consistent offense of late.  So even with a vaunted top of the rotation led by Max Fried and Cam Schlittler,...

 On Thursday night amid the Mets 7-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, someone in the stands yelled that the Mets were New York's B-Team. While there is no disrespect on our part to the New York Yankees, who look every bit the part of baseball's best team 9 days into the 2026 season, the Mets flexed some serious muscle out in the Bay this weekend.   Check out the vlog!