Here was the original schedule for today: head into Manhattan, watch a taping of YES CenterStage with Chad Pennington and then, hopefully, chat with the quarterback after the
show, then go up toward Times Square to see a Reebok event with comedian Jim Breuer that center Nick Mangold was co-hosting.

Well, a scheduling conflict forced the Pennington shoot to be switched to tonight, too late for deadline purposes, so I settled for Breuer and Mangold. Nothing against Chad, but I was fairly entertained today.

Mangold was essentially left to hand out the T-shirts as the manic Breuer worked the sidewalk crowd. The slogan was Run Easy, a new Reebok line, and Breuer took it and, ahem, ran. I’ve always been a big fan of Breuer’s act anyway, so it was great to see him work in person. He called people hammer, he did the goat laugh, he stopped a lady walking who was talking on her cell phone, got the lady to give him the phone and continued the conversation for her.

Mangold just smiled as he took it in. He didn’t have to say a word. I got a few minutes alone with Mangold after the event and I’ll have a story in tomorrow’s paper. Most of the other writers will probably be writing Pennington.

There’s some football stuff in tomorrow’s story but one thing I couldn’t fit was asking Mangold who was funnier, Breuer or Laveranues Coles.

“It’s two, separate things,’’ Mangold said. “LC is funnier because when he’s in the locker room, he’s talking about things that are relevant to the guys in the locker room. Jim is able to talk about anything and pick out anybody and have a good time with them. They’re both completely different but they’re both pretty good. I wouldn’t challenge anybody.’’

Meanwhile, I also had a chance to chat with Breuer for a few minutes. He’s as cool in person as he is on stage, though he’s obviously much more low key with the microphone off. He did admit that, though he grew up on Long Island, he was a Cowboys fan, as many people of our age were – he turns 40 in June and I, of course, just hit the big 4-0. His real passion, of course, is the Mets, he’s a crazy Mets fan.

He hadn’t met Mangold before today and admitted he doesn’t get a chance to watch many Jets games. Anybody with kids – and Breuer has three – can understand why.

“Unless it has bright colors or it says Noggin, it’s hard for me to catch TV,’’ Breuer said.

I was joking with a PR guy before Breuer came over that while I didn’t want an autograph (which, of course, my job forbids me to solicit anyway), all I wanted was for Breuer to call me “Donkey.’’

But I couldn’t get myself to ask him to do so.

Not that I haven’t been called a variation of that animal a million times before.