COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The 2026 season isn't even over, and moves are already being made for 2027.  The New York Mets have removed the interim label from Andy Green, naming him the full time manager of the club with a brand new three-year contract extension.  Green who took over a brutal situation in late June with the Mets all but out of contention following the firing of Carlos Mendoza, settled things down to the best of his ability. He got the team to play better, got the most out of many of the young players like AJ Ewing and Carson Benge, and as a result the Mets went 37-38 in the 75 games since June 26.  "I think Andy brings to us an ability to connect the organization in ways that very few people could," Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns told the media in Texas on Tuesday.  Green was serving as the Mets VP of Player Development with a specific focus on the Mets farm system, when he was asked to step into the managerial role in late June to take over for Men...

 The prognosis for quarterback Jaxson Dart is not good. Dart, who was injured on the seventh play of the Giants opening drive on Monday night in Los Angeles, could miss the entire season, or at least an extended period of weeks, as tests revealed the damage to Dart's left knee is worse than anticipated.  Dart got hurt when he was sandwiched in mid air between Rams linebackers Byron Young and Josiah Stewart. Dart then fell to the ground in a heap, while holding his knee. He left the game and didn't return, although reports early Monday indicated that he wanted to come back in, and was seen on the sideline in street clothes moving around just fine.  There was also ESPN, incidentally, capturing a member of the Giants training staff mouthing to Head Coach John Harbaugh what many assumed was him saying Dart could miss four to six weeks. Of course that was never confirmed.  Harbaugh did not reveal any diagnosis following the Giants 28-6 loss to the Rams, and then declined...

 Not only did the Jets blow a 17-7 lead on Sunday, and lose to the Green Bay Packers, 20-17, but they did something that hadn't been done in the NFL since 1941, and that is they held Green Bay under 200 yards, had a plus-one turnover margin, and Green Bay was flagged for over 100 yards, and still the Jets managed to lose.  The loss reminded us all what its like as the Same Old Jets.   

 Legendary New York Mets broadcaster Howie Rose called it a career Sunday in his final radio broadcast as the Mets lead play-by-play voice.   Rose who covered the Mets for 39 years beginning in 1987, built a lasting legacy as one of the many great local voices to lend his pipes to the Amazin's. When you think of the Mets and broadcasters, Rose is right up there along with Gary Cohen, Bob Murphy, Lindsay Nelson, and Ralph Kiner.  Rose began his career as the host of the Mets pre and post game shows in 1987. By 1995 he moved into the broadcast booth as the voice of the Mets TV telecasts, first on Sports Channel, and then on Fox Sports Net New York.  In 2004, he took over the slot vacated by Murphy when he retired, sitting alongside Gary Cohen for two seasons, before Cohen switched over to TV and SNY.  Since 2006, Rose has been the lead voice of Mets radio broadcasts joined by a cast of different broadcasters from Eddie Coleman, Wayne Hagen, Josh Lewin, Wayne ...

 Pete Alonso wouldn't admit it when asked about the emotions of this moment when he returned to Citi Field as a member of the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, but this was personal, and he had to love every minute of it.  Nine months ago Alonso said good bye to the city he called home for over a decade, when he signed a five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, after the Mets front office, led by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, decided against going into an aggressive bidding war for his services.  In fact, the Mets didn't even make an offer last winter.  How could they do that?   Alonso is the Mets All-Time Home Run Leader. His bat alone catapulted the Mets onto an incredible postseason run in 2024 when he launched a Devin Williams fastball over the right field wall in Milwuakee to send the Mets past the Brewers in the wild card.  Alonso was a home grown Met; one of the franchise's best overall players (even if he wasn't fleet afoot at fi...

 Behind a three-run bomb by Aaron Judge, the Yankees clinched a spot in the 2026 postseason in an 8-3 win over their favorite whipping boys, the Minnesota Twins.  Judge, who was 3-of-20 since coming off the I.L. after missing most of the season with a rib injury, launched a pitch into the second deck, signifying the Yankees slugger was finally back!  Judge wasn't the only one to go long. Both Jose Caballero and Austin Wells went long for the Yankees as they blew away the Twins in the later innings.  Now as far as that postseason thing is concerned the Yankees have a lot of work to do, and need some help.  They still trail the Rays by 3.5 games. Tampa has been in first place seemingly everyday since mid-June.  Can the Yankees catch them? We are running out of days. The Yankees are six games ahead of Boston for the top wild card, meaning New York will have home field in the wild card series, but for the second straight season, the Yankees are starring down fa...

 It has been 17 years since the last time both the New York Football Giants and New York Jets opened a season winning their season openers.  17-years.  Rex Ryan and Tom Coughlin were the head coaches. The Giants were - at that time - two years removed from winning Super Bowl 42.  The Jets were beginning a new era under Rex Ryan that would take them to the first of back-to-back trips to the AFC Title game.  It's truly been that long since both teams have been good in this town. And for the first time in seemingly forever both teams appear to finally be heading in the right direction.  The Giants dominated the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 on Sunday night. It wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Giants had 396 yards of offense in the game, and Jaxson Dart absolutely ate the Cowboys lunch tossing for 250 yards and three touchdowns. He even added 54 yards on the ground on 11 carries.  Cam Skateboo chipped in 81-yards and a score himself.  The Giants loo...

 25 years ago, radical terrorists tried to take away our freedoms, filling us with nothing but fear when they hijacked four planes on a crisp Tuesday, September morning. Two of those planes as we known crashed into the World Trade Center; another was driven right into the Pentagon, and, thanks to the heroics of the passengers aboard United Flight 93, the last plane wound up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.  2,977 people were killed.    I shake with sadness and anger because it's just too horrifying to think about, let alone type into words.  September 11 changed everything in our Nation and around the world.  Not only did radical Islamic terrorists try to take away our freedom, they declared war on it, and led us down a path toward seemingly never ending wars in Afghanistan and later, Iraq.   Moreover our way of life changed forever.  Security checkpoints at airports changed; even security at big social gatherings like stadiums and...

 Let's get this bad boy started!  The 2026 NFL season is upon us, and it all begins this evening when the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots. It will be a rematch of last season's Super Bowl, and it's only the second time since the NFL implemented the Thursday night opener begin with the reigning champion taking on the same team they defeated in the Big Game.  The last time that happened was 2016 when the Broncos faced off with the Panthers in a rematch of Super Bowl 50.   Chances are good the Seahawks, led by quarterback Sam Darnold will crush a Patriots team that has had an off-season full of distractions. We'll see.   Meanwhile back here in New York City, the Jets and Giants are preparing for Sunday's games, with moderately high expectations for the upcoming season.  Can John Harbaugh turn around the Giants? Will Jaxson Dart come into his own? Can the Giants stay healthy offensively? Will Arvell Reese...

 A couple years ago the Athletic published an article about the dysfunction within the New York Jets. New York had just fired its head coach, Robert Saleh following a disappointing trip to London, England, in which they lost to the Minnesota Vikings 23-17 to drop to 2-3 on the season.  When Saleh was fired, many pundits and fans, including myself, thought the move was abrupt. What followed was a scathing story that painted owner Woody Johnson as a meddling owner; detailed his fractured relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and dove into the idea that Johnson's own son Brick and Madden ratings.  It was wild.   Of course Jets fans pounded on Johnson for the handling of the Saleh situation, and the Jets failings over the past 15 years without a playoff appearance.  The media has dissected his every word -- when he does speak in public -- but we never really get HIS side of the story.  That was until now.  Fast forward to today, and The Athl...

 Aaron Judge is back.  At long last the Yankees MVP is back in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Rockies, in what the  Yankees hope is the beginning of a major run by slugger Aaron Judge.  Since landing on the IL on May 31 with a rib injury, the Yankees have bounced up and down all summer long, posting a record of 45-39 during the 84 games Judge was sidelined. New York clearly missed him. New York's run production dropped off considerably from 5.19 per game with him to 4.06 runs per game in Major League Baseball.  There have been points this summer where it felt like the Yankees were the on the precipice of fading. Not only did they not have Judge, but Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger have missed time. Bellinger returned to the lineup a couple weeks ago. Stanton might be done for for the year.  Winning five straight in mid-August which included a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles was really the Yankees saving grace. In addition, the team dominated th...

Odell Beckham Jr. is writing one heck of a redemption story right now with the New York Giants.  The star wide receiver made famous by his ridiculous one-handed catch against the Cowboys in 2014, only to see his star in New York fade quickly due to poor on field behavior, has returned some eight years later as a man on a mission.  Beckham earned his way onto the John Harbaugh's first 53-man roster as Head Coach of the New York Giants, hauling in 13 passes for 76-yards. Beckham said he was brought to tears when he was told by Harbaugh that he had made the team.  "I’m going to be here and I have an opportunity to rewrite some of the last bit of the chapter,” Beckham said after practice Monday. “Don’t know [if it’s my] last year, whatever it is, I just know I’m going to give my all" It's been a long time coming for OBJ. He even looks like a changed man. Gone are his dyed curles of blonde hair, instead he sports a buzz cut, and a nearly full beard that has little pat...