Photo of Sara Palin dropping the ceremonial first puck between New York's Scott Gomez and Philly's Mike Richards by AP/Tom Mihalek Rangers 4, Flyers 3: The Rangers, 4-0, are off to their best start in 25 years after defeating the Flyers on Saturday. New York got all their scoring done by the end of the first period and backup goalie Stephen Valiquette held off Philly in his first start of the season. With the......

Things are going well in Jets land. Eric Mangini's wife had a baby. The child has the middle name of Brett and shares a birthday with the Jets' starting quarterback. The team is coming off a bye its biggest offensive output in recent memory. To make things better, the 0-5 Bengals that are coming to face them will be without Carson Palmer thanks to an elbow injury. So a team that made the Cowboys and......

Photograph of the Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky, right, firing a shot to score past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Brent Sopel (not shown) as defenseman Brent Sopel defends by Ed Betz/AP Rangers 4, Blackhawks 2: Jet lag didn't appear to be a problem for the Rangers, who won easily in their Stateside debut. Remember, they canceled the Lightning in two games in Prague last weekend. Wade Redden, Aaron Voros, Brandon Dubinsky and Nikolai Zherdev all scored for......

Red Bulls 1, Real Salt Lake 1: Who opens a stadium with three games to go in the season? Who puts the word "Real" before the location to make the team sound more European? Who plays in Sandy, Utah? Who drew the Red Bulls 1-1 on Thursday? The answer to all four of these questions: Real Salt Lake. Playing the first game in Rio Tinto Stadium, the Red Bulls used Dave van den Bergh's goal......

Mets fans hoping to scavenge Shea Stadium's dumpsters for memories are fresh out of luck, because the team is selling every nook and cranny of their old house at an online auction. Seriously, everything is for sale. Yankee Stadium has only sold off old seats so far, but plan on seeing more of The House that Ruth Built become a cash cow for the city at the end of October, when the remains are auctioned......

Photo, left, of Sinorice Moss celebrating with Amani Toomer after a third-quarter TD reception and photo of Giants fan at Giants Stadium, right by AP/Kathy Willens Giants 44 Seattle 6: New York took control of the game with their opening series and never looked back as they destroyed Seattle on Sunday. Starting with the ball on their own nine, it took only four plays for the Giants to lead 7-0 after Eli Manning connected......

Photo of Aaron Voros of the Rangers and Ryan Malone of the Lightning during today's game in Prague, Czech Republic by AP/Petr David Josek With baseball over and football only an once-a-week watch, New York sports fans may be staring at an empty October. But, there is a solution that sadly only a small number of fans in the area have found -- hockey. Take the speed of basketball, add the contact of football......

Photograph of New York Rangers' Paul Mara, left, confronting Tampa Bay Lightning's Mark Recchi, right, after the game by Petr David Josek/AP Rangers 2 Tampa Bay 1: Last season it was the power play, or lack of one, that did the Rangers in. In the first game of the 2008-09 season, it looked like that storyline would continue, despite the multitude of new faces for New York. With just over seven minutes left in......

The Giants went from a good team to the best team in the NFL without playing a game. With the Cowboys loss last week, all the experts are jumping on the New York bandwagon. Now the question is can the Giants live up to the hype? On paper at least, the Giants shouldn’t have much trouble with the Seahawks. Seattle is good at running the ball, but not good at passing it. That should change......

Photo of Martin Brodeur of the Devils stopping a shot by the slanders' Mike Comrie in a pre-season game by AP Photo/Frank Franklin II; Photo below of Henrik Lundqvist throwing a t-shirt by AP Photo/Petr David Josek The NHL season starts a little earlier than usual for our local teams. The Rangers are opening their season in Prague this weekend with two sold-out games against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders and Devils open......

New York may be going through its first October without baseball since 1994, but that isn’t stopping the local teams from handing out deals to their GM’s. Yesterday, the Yankees brought back Brian Cashman. Today, the Mets announced that they have extended Omar Minaya’s deal for three years through 2012. Minaya, who was signed through 2009 already, could be with the club though 2014 if two club options are picked up. It’s an odd move......

Brian Cashman is staying with the Yankees. Yesterday, Cashman agreed to a three-year contract extension that keeps him in the Bronx until 2011. And, Cashman will have his work cut out for him, as he needs to rejuvenate an aging lineup and rebuild his starting rotation. On the plus side, he has all the Yankees’ money at his disposal, $75 million in expired contracts, and with the move to the new Stadium the money should......

As the Knicks open camp at Skidmore College today, the focus is clearly on Stephon Marbury and what the Knicks will do with him. For his part, Marbury is “okay” if the team wants to cut him, "I have no problem with playing someplace else. Everyone knows I love New York, but now it's different because the business part of it is coming into play. If I'm not wanted here, then let me go." (Gee,......

Shock 75, Liberty 73: Not to be outdone by the Mets and the Yankees, the Liberty saw its season end one day after baseball's regular season. A furious rally couldn't make up for a disastrous first half, when the Liberty was outscored, 41-24. Janel McCarville led the way with 21 points, and Shameka Christon had 12. But Detroit shot 51 percent from the floor. Tough to win when opponents do that. Those trying to watch......

Florida 4 Mets 2: Where do you go from here? While 2008 is not as bad as 2007, the fact is the Mets blew a 3-1/2 game lead with 17 to play. For all the talk about the bullpen, or lack thereof, they managed only five runs during the final weekend series with the Marlins. Some changes have to be made, but it seems stupid not to officially hire the manager who led them to......

The Mets could not dig up one more miracle at Shea this afternoon and will not be going to the playoffs after losing to the Marlins 4-2 in what will be the stadium's final game. At one point in the day about halfway through their respective games, both the Mets and the Brewers were both down 1-0 and there had to be Mets fans hoping the team could just find a way to limp into......

Photo from wallyg on flickr Shea Stadium is perhaps most famous as a venue for a memorable Beatles concert and that is a shame. While it certainly doesn’t have the history that Yankee Stadium did and it is an eyesore, Shea has been a witness to plenty of memorable moments. Start with the Mets and you start with the miracle of October 26th, 1986, that ended with one of the most famous plays in......

Mets 2 Florida 0: Johan Santana delivered a legendary start on Saturday. Pitching on three-days rest after throwing 125 pitches, Santana dominated the Marlins allowing only three hits and striking out nine. His 117-pitch complete game was truly pitching at its best. And the Mets needed ever pitch because the offense barely scratched out two runs. Jose Reyes led off the game with a single, stole second and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. Ramon......

A fan on the popular Seattle Seahawks message board "Seahawks Huddle" has created a stir in his attempts to goad NY Giants fans before the two teams' matchup next week by posting a collection of 9/11 jokes. The post has naturally been taken down, but not before it raised the ire of many, including today's Daily News where they call the author "a lunatic" and share a link to his email address. The jokes were......

Florida 6 Mets 1: The Marlins jumped out in front in the first scoring two runs and they never looked back. Despite that, the Mets headed into the seventh down only 3-1with a chance. You can guess what happened from there as the bullpen couldn’t keep Florida off the board and the Marlins cruised to the win. The Mets’ loss coupled with the Phillies’ and Brewers’ wins put New York in a precarious position. They......

The Yankees just won’t go quietly into the offseason. Last night controversy erupted between Joe Girardi and the press corps over the status of Mariano Rivera, who had left the team yesterday to return to New York for a checkup. Girardi insisted it was just a end of year physical while Brian Cashman told the press Mariano had felt something in his shoulder and was having a MRI. The press conference included Girardi banging his......

Hank Steinbrenner won’t like it, but Don Mattingly thinks the Yankees missed Joe Torre this year. Mattingly told reporters, "You listen to them talk, and I don't think they realized what Joe did for them for so long [12 playoff appearances], how special he is at what he does." Mattingly also added, "I think they sort of took him for granted, didn't realize all the things he brings to the table as a manager. You've......

Mets 7 Cubs 6: The Mets are anything but boring. One night after perhaps their worst loss of the season they rebounded with perhaps their best win. Jerry Manuel pushed his luck with Pedro Martinez and paid the price with Martinez allowing the first two runners to reach in the seventh and then Ricardo Rincon came in and gave up a three-run homer. That put Chicago ahead 6-3 and you could sense the despair setting......

Cubs 9 Mets 6 (10 innings): Jerry Manuel took all the questions after the game, but he didn’t have any answers. The Mets jumped out to a big lead and then saw it disappear as they lost one of their biggest games of the year. Don’t blame the bullpen. They held the Mets in the game inning after inning, it was the offense that blew this one. Time after time, the Mets couldn’t get the......

Who says a bye week needs to be boring? The Giants announced today that they have suspended Plaxico Burress for one game, meaning the star receiver will miss the game against Seattle on Oct. 3. Burress apparently missed a team meeting on Monday and then failed to return “several” phone calls. He met with Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese this morning and was told he was suspended. Because the Giants have a bye week, Plaxico......

Maybe Mets’ ownership is taking lessons from the Knicks? How else do you explain the news that Omar Minaya is getting a four-year contract extension with the season hanging in the balance? Minaya has done a solid job while running the Mets, but if they do not make the playoffs this year he will have presided over two September collapses. Doesn’t that warrant waiting on a new deal until the season ends? And, if Minaya......

Mets 6 Cubs 2: This is why the Mets had to get Johan Santana. After last September’s collapse, the Mets needed an ace they could give the ball to when they absolutely had to win the game. Santana delivered Tuesday with an 125-pitch effort that lasted eight innings. Santana struck out ten and scattered seven hits. But, Santana’s heroics almost went for naught as the Mets were kept off the scoreboard through the first four......

Chargers 48, Jets 29: Talk about blown out of the water. David Barrett's interception return gave the Jets a 7-0 lead. Then the Chargers got a field goal and another quick touchdown before Antonio Cromartie returned a Brett Favre interception -- one of two on the day -- for a touchdown. The Jets errors in this game included a lost fumble, a missed onside kick and generally sloppy defense. The final score reflects a wide-open......

When ESPN secured this game for Monday Night Football, the network couldn't have dreamed that it would be a Brett Favre showcase. It also wouldn't have bet that the Chargers would be 0-2 after losing two of the most heart-wrenching games possible. The 1-1 Jets will be facing a team that all but needs a win to keep its season alive. Eric Mangini's club looked just good enough in Miami in Week 1 and more......

The Yankees closed Yankee Stadium last night with a star-studded pregame ceremony that ranged from poignant to super cheesy. Dressing up actors as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other deceased Yankees was ridiculous, but seeing Yogi Berra standing at home plate and wearing his uniform was great. Don Larsen and Whitey Ford helped themselves to some dirt from the pitcher’s mound and Willie Randolph ignited the crowd by sliding into second base. The Murcer family......