Never-say-die guy
LI’s Cohen survived wreck, makes inspirational movies
Long Island native Rick Cohen knows about persevering.
In 1994, he was driving down the 101 Freeway in Sherman Oaks, Calif., when his life nearly came to an end. Driving his Mustang convertible, Cohen slowed down behind some traffic, only to have a semi-truck plow into his car from behind, latch onto the car and shove it across the freeway. Cohen needed surgeries to correct, among other things, a smashed left orbital bone, along with shoulder, abdominal and thumb injuries.
“My car actually lit on fire and blew up with me in it,” Cohen told The Post’s Tim Bontemps. “I don’t know how I made it out of there.”
But Cohen did make it out of that car, and the former actor has gone behind the camera and become a documentary filmmaker. His first film, “Faded Glory,” is about his over-35 amateur baseball team’s winding road to the 2007 National Amateur Baseball Association World Series.
He screened the film Wednesday at TriBeCa Cinemas and is looking for investors for broader release.
Cohen, from North Woodmere, had begun playing amateur baseball shortly after graduating in 1987 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played both football and baseball. He and his teammates, many of whom have overcome adversities ranging from drug addiction to major medical conditions, formed the first amateur team to play out of Manhattan in the Men’s Adult Baseball League, and played their games at DeWitt Clinton Park on West 54th Street and 11th Avenue.
“The grass was splotchy, and the field had Coke cans on it, smelled of urine, crack vials . . . it was really horrible,” Cohen said.
After playing in various leagues around the country in ensuing years, Cohen eventually decided to make a film about trying to put a team together for the 2007 NABA World Series. The long shot squad stunned the field, eventually bowing out in the semifinals with a heart-breaking 10-8 loss, Cohen said it was a proper ending for his award-winning film “because it was all about the journey.”
Now Cohen, 45, is working on his second documentary, “Season of a Lifetime.” It will chronicle the 2010 season for the Greenville Patriots, a high school football team in Greenville, Ga. The main character in the story is the team’s coach, Jeremy Williams. The former defensive back at the University of Memphis took over a downtrodden program and built it into a Georgia powerhouse, going 10-0 last season before losing to the eventual state champions in the playoffs all while suffering from ALS.
“There’s so many layers to this story, it’s unbelievable,” Cohen said. “It tells itself . . . it’s a guy given a death sentence and refusing to die, who wants to win a championship.”
Mahut’s marathon donation
Nicolas Mahut, who battled John Isner in a record-shattering 11 hour and 5 minute match at Wimbledon that spanned three days, personally delivered memorabilia from “The Match” to the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. as he competed in Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. It was Mahut’s first match since the Wimbledon epic and received a standing ovation from the Newport fans.
Though Juan-Martin Del Potro has yet to play a tournament since right wrist surgery last May, USTA officials still are hopeful he will try to defend his U.S. Open title. . . . Fordham men’s tennis and squash coach Bob Hawthorn has retired from coaching after 54 years, ending the longest tenure of any coach in school history. He started in the fall of 1956, when the tennis courts were clay and the squash team had to travel daily to the New York Athletic Club to practice and play its matches.
Blueshirts bus tour
Rangers great Adam Graves assumed the role of tour guide Wednesday night as he and Rangers 2010 top draft pick Dylan McIlrath boarded a Gray Line Sightseeing bus for a scenic ride around New York City. They were joined by 10 fans who won the “Manitoba Meets Manhattan” contest. After seeing iconic NYC locales such as Engine #7 fire station and the Canyon of Heroes, the group headed to John’s Pizzeria in Times Square where they had a surprise run-in with Bill Guerin of the Penguins before enjoying a classic New York pie.
Thierry Henry, meanwhile, was given a police escort when leaving his press conference at Red Bull Arena last week and then hopped into the Red Bull NASCAR, “Dukes of Hazzard” style, to get to his taping of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on time. Henry took the PATH train for his debut at Red Bull Arena on Thursday, and excited fans began to swarm around him and his friend, new Knick Ronny Turiaf, on their way to the game.
Liberty honors
The Liberty will celebrate their annual “Inspiring Women Night” Tuesday vs. San Antonio at the Garden. At halftime, the Liberty will honor 19 women who lead critical efforts that empower women and inspire young girls. . . . Bruce Beck, fill-in host for NBC’s “Mike’d Up,” will have on tonight at 11:30 p.m. three guys with lots to prove this season — Jets’ Jason Taylor, Giants’ Brandon Jacobs and Devils coach John MacLean. Not a bad late-night lineup.
Duke fan lovin’ Lavin
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin has been making his mark from coast to coast, and he truly impressed one of the city’s movers and shakers, Steven Starker, founder and managing partner of trading firm BTIG. But Starker won’t sway his loyalties from Duke. He’s been a repeat camper at K Academy, Mike Krzyzewski’s fantasy basketball camp. Participants must be 35 years old.
“It’s the best basketball camp in America for short, white, old, bald men that can’t jump,” quipped Starker. Starker, a huge hoops fan, said he’ll root for the Red Storm against every team in the country — except Duke.
New ending for ‘Henry’
One of the biggest questions for longtime George Steinbrenner executive aide Ray Negron at Yankee Stadium has been, “What happens to the animation ‘Henry & Me’ now that The Boss is no longer here?”
Negron’s response: “Don’t fool yourself, The Boss will always be here and I will give the animation a very appropriate ending with the help of my friends Richard Gere and Chazz Palminteri. ‘Henry & Me’ is still scheduled to premiere this fall.”