Good Morning, Stumpers!

The First Four started with an absolute BANG last night! If you saw the ending of (16) Alabama State vs (16) Saint Francis, you saw everything that is right with this month! ENDING HERE! After that, we had UNC bludgeoning as well! We’ve got a great story for you today that features a Yankees catcher’s journey from being an UBER driver to getting to the big leagues! Let’s dance!

🏀 SGS Bracket Challenge 🏀 

In the spirit of the Stomping Ground Sports way, $250 will go to the winner, and $250 will be donated to a Club, Charity, or Organization of your choice! A $500 total prize fund!

It’s free to join, and takes less than 30 seconds. Watch March Madness with us!

The goal: 1,000 entries. Send to everyone you know with a pulse. Everybody!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🚗 From Uber Driver to Yankees Catcher

• 🏀 First Four Starts off March with…..hmmm….MADNESS!

• 🐶 Glue. Guy.

• 🏀 Indiana with a new Head Guy!

On This Day

On This Day…

🐐 Jordan. Is. Back.

You know how Michael Jordan left the basketball world to try and make it in the Major Leagues of Baseball? Well, that dream ended on this day in 1995.

Jordan suited up for the Chicago Bulls again on the 19th of March in 1995. The Bulls took on the Indiana Pacers that day and it was absolute chaos. The whole stadium was in a frenzy and security was doubled up. I can imagine that was an operational nightmare, as the Pacers were given less than 24 hours to prepare for the biggest sports star in the world to return to playing basketball in their arena.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: (D) Stanford! The Harvard Crimson defeated the Cardinal in the 1998 Women’s NCAA tournament to become the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed.

Before We Dive In…

👀 You GOTTA see these!

• 🏀 Alabama State HEAVE! REBOUND! SCOREEEE!

• 🧔‍♂️ Ageless! Timeless! NEED A BETTER BEARD EMOJI!

• 🏒 Bedard sneaking one THROUGH! Cheeky!

• ⚾️ Another season begins!

• 💸 Another bracket challenge to earn some BREAD! Join em all I say!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Major League Baseball

⚾️ From Uber Driver to New York Yankee

If you were being driven by a baseball player as your Uber, would you know? Many in the greater Miami area had that question, and the answer was always no. But now, this Uber driver is on the brink of making the opening-day roster for the New York Yankees.

Selected by the Orioles in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, this isn’t the first time JC Escarra has been on the edge of making the big show. He made his way all the way to Triple-A Norfolk as a power-hitting first baseman for Baltimore, but no further. He was released in April of 2022. To keep his dreams alive, JC signed with independent Kansas City Monarchs, and then played some winter ball in Puerto Rico. But this time around, he decided to change his position.

JC moved to catcher, but while he tried to climb back up the minor league ladder, he and his wife still had a mortgage to pay. His independent league ball didn’t pay much, almost nothing. In steps a black Lexus and a little app called Uber. He drove pretty much every single day, doing everything he could to help pay the bills. But not even Uber was enough. He added substitute teaching, food delivery, contracting work, and youth baseball coaching. He estimates he added an extra $3,000-$4,000 a month through these odd jobs.

While they were living from paycheck to paycheck, Escarra was doing his best on the diamond to hold up his end of the bargain. He played for the independent Gastonia Honey Hunters, the Mexico League, and in Puerto Rico. The Yankees caught notice in ballparks worlds away from the Bronx. He signed a Minor League contract in early 2024.

He started in Double-A, but was eventually promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he was one of the most consistent hitters on the roster in his 52 games there. Then this past winter in the Dominican Winter League, JC won the batting title, and with that, a promotion to the 40-man roster of the New York Yankees.

Now, he’s battling out for the second catcher spot behind Austin Wells for the opening-day roster. A spot he’s all but locked up this spring, showing his offensive prowess and cannon of an arm from behind the plate. In yesterday’s spring training game against the Red Sox, JC threw out two base runners on steal attempts in the same inning.

From Uber driving, substitute teaching, delivering groceries, running youth baseball clinics, or whatever he and his wife did to pay the bills, to the verge of being a New York Yankee. JC Escarra is a name to root for this year.

The Hot Stove

🏀 Welcome to the Dance: UNC

I mean, this one was a lock, right? All week, the only thing people could talk about was how North Carolina making it in the Tourney was the biggest fraud of all time. Obviously, they would beat the brakes off of San Diego State, 95-68! As an 11-seed, they will now face off against (6) Ole Miss in the first round. Whatever they say, the exact opposite will be happening in March, that’s the beauty of the Month. The Tar Heels showed up last night and looked ready to go for the Madness! Feel bad for the Aztecs man, they’ve gotten a tough draw to end the year a couple of seasons in a row now!

🤯 Bama State Wins it in Final Seconds

The madness didn’t take long to get going, as the first official NCAA Men’s Tournament game ended just about how anyone could’ve wanted. Tie ball game with about 5 seconds left, the ball is at the opposite baseline for an inbound for Alabama State, so the Hornets throw it deep. The ball hits just about everyone’s hands and then falls into the lap of Amarr Knox right below the rim. An easy layup. Bang. 70-68 Bama State, their first tournament win in program history. The SWAC champions now get a date with the overall number-one seed Auburn Tigers. The two schools are just a 55-minute drive from one another. Safe to say a LOT of Alabama natives will be making the trip to see this one. Shoutout Saint Francis, who was literally one play away from advancing.

🤮 Anyone Else See Tracy Morgan Puke at MSG?

The comedian and known New York Knicks superfan is a regular in the courtside seats at Madison Square Garden. But this past Monday, Morgan was seen throwing up in his seat and on the court, eventually being wheeled out of the stadium. The game was halted for more than six minutes while the stadium attended to the situation, but the Knicks went on to win the ball game over the Miami Heat. Morgan took to Instagram to let fans and interested parties know that he was fine and was apparently dealing with a bout of food poisoning. He was released from the hospital after testing! Here’s the video of Morgan getting wheelchaired out!

🏀 Indiana Has New Head Man

The Indiana Hoosiers and former head coach Mike Woodson parted ways at the end of the season, so one of college basketballs most historic jobs opened up early in the hiring cycle. Yesterday, the Hoosiers named West Virginia head Coach Darian DeVries to be the next man in charge of the program. He was only with WVU for one year, leading them to a 19-13 record. Before WVU, DeVries was the head man at Drake for six seasons, making three NCAA tournaments and putting together a record of 150-55. This program is in desperate need of some longevity from a coach, who’ve had three different head coaches in the last eight seasons. If you can win there, you can win anywhere.

What To Watch

🏀 The NCAA Tournament.

• Women’s First Four: Princeton vs Iowa State (7:00 PM on ESPNU), Southern vs UC San Diego (9:00 PM on ESPNU)

• Men’s First Four: Mount Saint Mary’s vs American (6:40 PM on truTV), Xavier vs Texas (9:10 on truTV)

• Men’s NIT on ESPN2: FAU vs Dayton (7:00 PM), UNI vs SMU (9:00 PM), Loyola vs San Jose (11:00 PM), full schedule

🏀 NBA Basketball, on the ESPN Network!

• ESPN Double Header: Pistons @ Heat (7:30 PM), Nuggets vs Lakers (10:00 PM)

• More to Watch: Mavs vs Pacers (7:00 PM), Rockets vs Magic (7:00 PM), Grizzlies vs Trail Blazers (10:00 PM)

⚾️ Spring Training Full Schedule

🏒 Some NHL hockey on the TNT Network!

• TNT: Avalanche vs Maple Leafs (7:00 PM), Kraken vs Wild (9:30 PM)

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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