COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

The New York Mets will keep the face of the franchise around through the rest of this decade. David Wright and the Mets agreed to a seven-years $122 million extension, Friday morning that will keep the third baseman in Flushing through the year 2020 . The deal will also include Wright's $16 million option for 2013, bringing the total of the deal to $138 million. This was a deal that the Mets had to get done. With all of the bad PR that had enveloped the franchise thanks to the actions of Fred and Jeff Wilpon, losing David Wright one-year after allowing Jose Reyes to walk away without a substantial contract offer would have led to a total mutiny at Citi Field. Wright, who has been encouraged through out his career to take more of a leadership role with this franchise, will now have to become the leader of the Mets whether he likes it or not.  He is the lone star on a team of fringe major league players, if the roster remains virtually unchanged from 2012. How Wright perf...

Yankee fans, its time to cue up "Enter Sandman." Mariano Rivera is on his way back. When Mariano Rivera fell to the warning track of Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium clutching his leg, everyone associated with the Bronx Bombers held their collective breaths. Rivera was lost for the season. While Rafael Soriano did a terrific job in Rivera's stead, there is only on Mariano. And Yankee fans will get an opportunity to see him return to the mound, possibly, one more time. The Yankees and Rivera agreed to a one-year $10 million deal. The deal, financially is a little excessive for a 43-year old pitcher coming off a season ending injury, but Rivera's resume speaks for itself. He is the greatest closer in baseball. Whether he can return to his old form at 43 remains to be seen, but lets remember that Rivera has found ways to defy Father Time in the past.

Give kudos to the New York Mets. For the first time in several years they are going to make an effort to try to keep one of their more productive stars on the ball club. After years of embarrassment and total buffoonery by ownership, the Mets are rumored to by offering third baseman David Wright a lucrative eight-year $137 million contract to remain with the Mets for the rest of his baseball playing career. The contract would make Wright the highest paid player in Mets history if he indeeds signs it. The question though, should Wright sign the contract? If David Wright puts pen to paper then Sandy Alderson must have done a yeoman's job of convincing Wright that the Mets are willing and able to make moves to become a contending team rather than the inept-average bunch of losers the club has become the past five years. He will have to be assured that the Mets are going to surround him with legitimate major league players who can make plays. That means building a winner ...

Apparently the Yankees just can't get enough of old age, or Old Timer's Day for that matter. The Yankees are reportedly close to inking lefty Andy Pettitte to a brand new 1-year contract worth $11 million, according to ESPN. The amount of money the Yankees are willing to throw at a 40-year-old pitcher who missed most of the season on the disabled list speaks volumes about how little the Yankees care about money or even payroll for that matter. Pettitte is a known quantity; one of the best pitchers in the history of the postseason, but that alone should not warrant an $11 million contract. Last season, Pettitte came out of retirement to pitch for the Yankees, and did fairly well posting a 5-4 record with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts. Not bad for someone who took a year off in 2011. Pettitte will rejoin an already shaky Yankees rotation that has only two stalwarts in CC Sabathia and newly re-signed Hiroki Kuroda. While having Pettitte's name on paper looks nice, it also ...

NETS 96 KNICKS 89 The Knicks had their shot. With :04 seconds remaining the Knicks had a golden opportunity to pull out a victory from the rejuvenated and revamped Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks had made a spirited comeback, trailing by as many as five points after Brook Lopez nailed a two-point jumper to send the Barclays Center into a frenzy; the Knicks rebounded and looked poised to reclaim New York as their own. A huge three-pointer by Carmelo Anthony cut the Nets lead to two, before hitting a free-throw shot to cut the Nets lead to 81-80 with 2:45 to play. The Knicks had the momentum; a shooting foul on Lopez and bad passes by Joe Johnson and Deron Williams quieted the Nets offense. The Knicks made their shots count: a jumper by Raymond Felton put New York on top 82-81. Tyson Chandler's dunk added two more for good measure. However that is where the good feeling ended for the Knicks as Brooklyn rallied back to tie the game on a layup and foul shot by Lopez when the fourt...

Add Fireman Ed to the long list of fed up Jets fans. The long time "mascot" of the Jets, who made a second career for himself leading the famous "J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!" chant during Jets home games, will no longer patrol the lower bowl of MetLife Stadium to lead the Jets fans in their ritual chant. Ed Anzalone, (his real name), wrote an editorial that was published for Metro New York , in which he stated that he had had enough of the back-biting from fellow Jets fans at the ball park. Anzalone, who, for whatever reason decided to go to games wearing a Mark Sanchez jersey, left Thursday nights debacle against the Patriots because of "confrontations" with other Jets fans. "This is an indication of how society has lost and is continuing to lose respect for one another. The stadium has become divided because of the quarterback controversy as well. The fact that I chose to wear a Mark Sanchez jersey this year and that fans think I am on the...

GIANTS 38  PACKERS 10  Throw out all of the scenarios that have the Giants crumbling in the NFC East, only to watch either the Dallas Cowboys or Washington Redskins catch them for the division title. The Giants took a major step toward their second consecutive NFC East title on Sunday when they blew out the Green Bay Packers 38-10 at MetLife Stadium. The Giants entered Sunday's game with lingering questions about their offensive line, their defensive front seven, and the quarterback; but, Big Blue answered each question in bold caps and exclamation points. THE GIANTS ARE ALIVE AND WELL!! From the onset the Giants quickly put away any doubts that this offense can get it done as Eli Manning looked crisp for the first time since mid-October. He led Big Blue on a snappy six-play, 74-yard touchdown, highlighted by a 59-yard screen pass to Ahmad Bradshaw that almost went to the house. After Green Bay tied the game on a 61-yard bomb from Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson, th...