Good Morning, Stumpers!

Once in a while, there comes a very special newsletter edition that changes the course of all newsletters for the rest of time. I’m not sure if this is that edition. But that’d be pretty cool if it was. Today, we’ll talk about a young woman who takes ‘two-sport athlete’ to a whole new level, along with the good stuff from yesterday’s life in the sports world. Don’t worry, once you finish this one, there’s another one coming tomorrow.

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏆️ She wins everywhere she goes, no matter the sport

• ⛳️ Arnold Palmer Day One review

• 🏈 Hendrickson and Bengals finally agree on something

• 😡 George is getting upset.

On This Day

On This Day…

🤠 The Sherriff Hangs it Up

“I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve finished my football race, and after 18 years it’s time.”

On this day in 2016, Peyton Manning officially retired from the NFL. The two time super bowl winner retired after a Hall of Fame career with the Colts and Broncos. At the time of his retirement, Manning held numerous records: career passing yards (71,940), touchdown passes (539), fourth quarter comebacks (43), game-winning drives (54), career wins as a starting QB (200), and more. One of the absolute 🐐.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: (D) Mike Krzyzewski! With 101 career NCAA Tournament wins, Coach K is the record holder!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Here’s Yesterday’s MUST-See’s

• 👨‍🍳 Inject these Steph Curry highlights into my veins

• 🍳 Rory McIlroy fried egg fun!

• 🤑 Stephen A. signed a new deal wroth HOW MUCH?

• 🔥 OT Winner in Dallas!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Two-Sport Athlete

🏆️ Alyssa Long: Winner.

Playing one college sport is hard, playing two is even harder, but winning in both? Unreal. Some say that certain athletes are just better winners than others, they bring the positive winning energy, juju, good vibes, whatever it may be, to wherever they go. That’s the case with Alyssa Long, an All-American lacrosse player who’s now living out her hoops dreams.

When Alyssa Long finished her lacrosse career at the University of North Carolina, she had plenty of high-level accolades to look back on. A four-year contributor, third-team All-American, and a 2022 National Champion. For many, that would be an incredible way to walk away from college athletics and into the next part of their life. Whether that may be a job, more school, professional athletics, or any other typical next step. But Alyssa Long is anything but typical.

When Alyssa officially left Carolina Blue, she took about a month off. But that was just about all she could take of not being a part of a team. So, with some eligibility remaining and the desire to get a graduate degree, Alyssa got to looking. But not for lacrosse, for basketball. A four-year player at her high school and two-time captain, basketball was Long’s first love. A Division one education, scholarship, and experience, drew her to lacrosse as time went on, but basketball was always in her heart and on her mind.

Pat Spencer, an All-American lacrosse player at Notre Dame who transferred as a grad student to play basketball at Northwestern, was her inspiration. If he could do it, why couldn’t she?

In steps Immaculata University. Alyssa’s brother attended the grad program in education there, the same program she was looking for. So she hopped on the phone with head basketball coach Brittany Whalen, and soon thereafter, she was a college basketball player. Immaculata competes at the Division Three level in the Atlantic East Conference. One of their primary colors? Carolina Blue.

Long has been coming off the bench this season, averaging just about 20 minutes per game, but provides high-energy defense and rebounding off the bench. Immaculata went a perfect 10-0 this season in conference play and finished with an overall record of 22-3. They did not lose a game at home all season long.

Alyssa and Immaculate brought home the Atlantic East Tournament Championship this week, and earned an automatic bid into the Division Three NCAA Tournament. No matter where she goes, she wins.

Division three, or Division one. It doesn’t matter. To change sports in the blink of an eye is beyond impressive. What’s even more impressive is how she adapted to a different role. Going from a D1 starter and All-American in one sport to a D3 role player cannot be an easy transition. That tells you how great of a teammate she must be.

We’ll continue to follow Alyssa and her Immaculata team’s run in the tournament.

The Hot Stove

🏈 Bengals Letting Sack Leader Seek Trade

Is this deja vu? This is now the second straight year that Cincinnati Bengals star defensive pass rusher Trey Hendrickson has asked to seek a trade. This time around, the Bengals have granted him permission. Hendrickson, 30, is coming off the best two years in his career, racking up 35 sacks between the two seasons. That’s 4.5 more than any other player in the NFL. This news comes the day after the Raiders signed Maxx Crosby to the largest non-QB deal in league history. With the Bengals trying to lock down their star WRs Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase long term, it makes Hendrickson the odd man out. Here’s all of Trey’s sacks from last season.

🤝 Utah Legend Coming Home

You don’t often get the chance to return home to coach for your alma mater, and when you do, it’s hard to turn it down. Dallas Mavericks assistant coach, Alex Jensen, could indeed not turn it down. Jensen, a Utah native who won Mr. Basketball in the state in 1994, played his college ball for Utah and was the Mountain West Player of the Year in 2000. He was in the starting lineup when the Utes played in the 1998 National Championship game when the squad lost to Kentucky. Utah has not made the tournament since 2016. More on Jensen and his return to Utah…

🤔 Vladdy Jr. Details His Contract Demands

Rumors have been swirling around Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s contract demands ever since Juan Soto reached a nuclear 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. Negotiations between Vladdy and the Blue Jays stalled during spring training, setting him up to be a free agent come November. In an interview with ESPN, he releaved that his salary demands were not near what Soto demanded, actually, nowhere near it. According to the man himself, he wants similar years to Soto, but the last counteroffer his camp gave the Blue Jays didn’t reach $600 million. Vladdy is expected to have plenty of suitors coming this offseason. A good article from ESPN on the situation here

⛳️ Arnold Palmer Day One

If this course wasn’t hard enough already, try throwing in some pretty intense winds. The morning tee times really struggled, as the weather was not really cooperating with the players, but the afternoon groups saw some relief. Wyndham Clark finally had all of his game working at once, posting a -5 to give him a two-shot solo lead heading into the second day of the tournament. Only 14 players managed to finish the day under par in a field of 72. Here’s the full leaderboard and tee times for today.

Quick Links

• 🏈 Jags trade WR Kirk to Texans for 7th-round pick

• 👋 Auburn women part ways with head coach

• 🤑 Dodgers, Dave Roberts nearing big time extension to keep him in LA

• 🤝 Wagner, Commanders agree to 1-year deal

What We’re Watching

🏀 ESPN Double-Header:

• ESPN: Grizzlies @ Mavericks (7:30 PM), Suns @ Nuggets (10:00 PM)

• More to watch: Cavs @ Hornets (7:00 PM), T’Wolves @ Heat (8:00 PM), Spurs @ Kings (10:00 PM), Knicks @ Clippers (10:30 PM)

🏒 6-game slate in the EN EH EL!

• ESPN+: Jets @ Devils (7:00 PM), Red Wings @ Capitals (7:00 PM), Wild @ Canucks (10:00 PM), Penguins @ Golden Knights (10:00 PM), Blues @ Ducks (10:00 PM)

⚾️ Spring Training Schedule:

• Braves @ Twins (1:05 PM), Marlins @ Red Sox (1:05 PM), Padres @ Brewers (3:10 PM), O’s @ Tigers (6:05 PM), Mets @ Nationals (6:05 PM), full schedule

🏀 College Basketball ranked action:

• Men’s: (18) Purdue @ Illinois (8:00 PM on FOX), South Florida @ (18) Memphis (9:00 PM on ESPN2)

• Women’s: (14) UNC vs (22) FSU (11:00 AM on ESPN2), Vandy vs (5) South Carolina (12:00 PM on ESPN), (10) Oklahoma vs (12) Kentucky (2:30 PM on ESPN), A BUNCH OF TBDs AS OF ME DOING THIS

⛳️ GOLFFFF! Day 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational! The big names are there and ready to compete! Full leaderboard HERE!

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily juice in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all!

Trees may get chopped. Stumps hold strong 🌴