New York Sports Fan Blog

The obscene gesture for which Jets coach Rex Ryan was fined $50,000 came in reaction to a fan’s heckling that included spitting, according to FoxSports.com’s Jay Glazer.

Ryan, who this season led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in his first year as an NFL head coach, “showed the greatest restraint,” Glazer said Thursday on New York radio station WFAN.

Glazer said he saw the incident that occurred Saturday night at a mixed martial arts event in South Florida.

Ryan was caught in a widely circulated cell-phone photograph extending his middle finger, presumably at the heckling fan.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

After missing most of the 2009 season with persistent leg injuries, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is ready and raring to go for 2010.

Reyes, who appeared in only 36 games last season, showed off the progress he’s made in regaining his health on Monday, running sprints at a Long Island athletic training facility and pronouncing himself ready for spring training. He said he’s been running at full speed without pain for several weeks and feels great.

“I’ll be ready in 2010. Be there, it’s going to be a show,” he said, according to the New York Post. “I can do everything I did before on the field … I can’t wait to hit a triple.”

Reyes was hampered last season by what was at first believed to be tendinitis in his right calf, which forced him out of a game against the Atlanta Braves in May. The injury was later diagnosed as a torn right hamstring tendon.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

It’s done. For better or worse, Olli Jokinen is a Ranger.

The deal, announced in the wee hours Eastern time, had had been held up for a couple of days while Kotalik played Hamlet, pondering whether to waive his three-team no-trade clause that included the Flames.

Jokinen and Prust, who both played in the Flames’ 3-0 loss to the Flyers in Calgary last night before the transaction was announced — how bizarre is that? — are expected to join the Blueshirts for tonight’s game against the Kings.

The key player in the deal for the offense-challenged Blueshirts is Jokinen, the very talented 31-year-old center who has scored 34 goals or more in four seasons, but who also has a terrible reputation around the league as a selfish player who also is a bad teammate.

GM Glen Sather did well to move Kotalik, whom he signed to a three-year, $9 million free-agent contract over the summer who but fell quickly out of favor with head coach John Tortorella and became a shell of himself over the last month.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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The slumping Islanders couldn’t get a shot past Tomas Vokoun, who must be sorry to see January end.

Jordan Leopold and Keith Ballard scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of 11. Rick DiPietro made 23 saves for the Islanders, who have lost five straight.

Vokoun had four shutouts in January, with his previous one coming Jan. 23 against Toronto, when he made 39 saves in a 2-0 win. His seven shutouts this season are a career high.

Vokoun and the Devils’ Martin Brodeur are tied for the NHL lead in shutouts.

“We played pretty well and we got the two points, so that’s all you can ask for,” Vokoun said.

The Islanders were left scratching their heads.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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The Devils experienced something they never see in New Jersey.

The team will experience another oddity Tuesday night when Yann Danis starts in goal for the Devils against the Leafs in place of Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur, who had started the last 33 games and played in 40 straight, couldn’t remember the last time he did not start a game in Canada.

“It’s been a while,” Brodeur said. “Especially here. I don’t know where I’m going to sit. I have to ask the trainer.”

Nov. 6 against the Islanders was the last game this season in which Brodeur did not see action either as a starter or in relief of Danis.

“There are a lot of games coming up. This is a great time for me to rest,” Brodeur said. “We’ve got two days off after this game. After that it’s a full week of playing games every couple of days. This will give me time to rest and work on my game.

Click here to read the full article – By Newark Star-Ledger

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Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez had his right knee examined by Dr. James Andrews, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Sanchez visited Andrews on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., but it was not immediately certain if the quarterback will need surgery. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not commented publicly on Sanchez’s visit.

Sanchez missed one game after suffering a mild sprain of the posterior cruciate ligament against Buffalo on Dec. 3 in Toronto. He had no apparent signs of injury during the last several weeks of the season, as he helped lead the Jets to the AFC championship game.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Manhattan is now Revis Island — at least for a few days.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg unofficially renamed Manhattan after Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis during a rush-hour pep rally for the team on Thursday in Times Square.


The Jets face the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game in Indiana for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Thousands of Jets fans roared their approval when Bloomberg unveiled a large municipal-style sign printed “Welcome to Revis Island” with the team’s logo in one corner. Revis regular guards the opponents’ best receiver one-on-one, and the Jets call being put on Revis Island.

The sign will be posted in Times Square as long as the Jets are in the playoffs.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

The New York Mets have acquired outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels, a baseball source confirmed to ESPN.com on Friday.

Matthews will combine with Angel Pagan to hold down center field while Carlos Beltran recovers from offseason knee surgery.

It’s believed the Angels will pay most of the two years and $23 million remaining on Matthews’ contract with the Angels.

SI.com was first to report the completion of the trade.

It’s not immediately known who the Angels will receive in return for Matthews, but a source told ESPN.com that it will be a low-salaried pitcher off the major league roster.

Matthews, 35, is a .258 hitter in 11 big league seasons. His best year came in 2006, when he hit .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBIs for the Texas Rangers.

Click here to read the full article – By Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com

Nate Robinson says he’ll be defending his slam dunk title at All-Star Weekend because he’s required to do so under NBA rules.

LeBron James won’t be trying to unseat the champion, and it’s not clear why he changed his mind.

Less than a month before the NBA holds its signature event, Robinson threw a potential monkey wrench into the All-Star festivities when he declared Monday he’ll be participating in the dunk contest because “the champion has to go back.”

“The NBA, they asked me: ‘Do you want to do it?’ And at first I wasn’t sure. This is my fourth time doing it, so I know people probably get sick of seeing me dunk, but like I said, the champion’s got to go back,” Robinson said after scoring 27 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 99-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

“And I guess, hopefully, I mean if I don’t win it, it’ll be good because I don’t want to go back no more. But if I do [win], and they want me to go back again, I guess so. Keep going until I lose,” Robinson said.


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com

The rookie coach who declared his team Super Bowl favorites after he figured out they were still in the playoffs, is just a game away from being hailed for his psychic powers.

His Jets are still playing.

Rookies Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene led New York to a stunning 17-14 upset of San Diego in the divisional playoffs Sunday, each providing a touchdown in the fourth quarter that marked another Chargers postseason pratfall.

The jovial, rotund Ryan isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind, and his players are taking his lead as they head into the AFC Championship Game against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com