Good Morning, Stumpers!

Good Morning NEW YORK! The writing was on the wall, but it’s officially official, the Knicks have flipped the Eastern Conference on its head! Either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers will be in the NBA Finals…LUNACY! We had a loaded baked potato of a day yesterday, with basketball, golf, some WNBA, and a massive QB extension for Mr. Irrelevant! Let’s get down to business!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏈 Brock Purdy Just Got Paid!

• 🏀 Knicks Rout Celtics to Advance to ECF!

• 🤕 Aaron Gordon Status Up in the Air!

• ⛳️ PGA Championship MOVING DAY Today!

On This Day

On This Day…

⛳️ The 2019 PGA Championship

A little look back at Brooksy. Today we shuffle all the way back to 2019 when Brooks Koepka won his second straight PGA Championship.

On this day in 2019, he shot a 5-under to post a two day score of 12-under which was a 2 day low in a major! It also was the tournament record for a lead after two days (7 strokes). He tried his best to give it away on Sunday posting a +4, but he was able to get the win and win his second straight PGA Championship!

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: B/E. It was a tie! Brunson and Anunoby both dropped 23 points in the Knicks’ win over the Celtics!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• ⛳️ SI. WOO. KIM. ACE!!!!! What a celly!

• 🏀 The stage is set in the East…Still can’t believe this!

• 🟠 The moment it happened for NY! First since 2000!

• 🇨🇦 TORONTO forces a Game 7!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

New QB Deal

🏈 Is Brock Purdy Elite?

The next era of 49ers football is solidified, they have their QB for the long term.

There’s been skepticism over the last few years if Brock Purdy is going to be the guy for the 49ers or not, and whether the Niners would commit to him financially or not. On Friday, both of those questions were put to rest. The Niners put the money where their mouth was, agreeing to a five year, $265 million deal that includes $181 million in overall guaranteed money.

Purdy, the former Mr. Irrelevant as the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, has only earned $2.6 million dollars over the past three years due to his status as a 7th round pick. That would rank him as the NFL’s 76th highest paid QB over that span.

Under his new deal, he’ll earn more than that a week ($2.9 million). It’s undeniably a massive pay raise for Purdy, but is he worth the money?

2024 saw Purdy, and all of the 49ers, fall of quite significantly from the high level of production we’ve seen in recent years. A 6-11 record left San Fran asking a lot of questions. But one of them was never, “Is Purdy the guy?”. Right after the season, both GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan were adamant that Purdy is the unquestioned leader of the team.

While last season may have been a disappointment for Purdy, who was a pro bowler in 2023, had his worst season as a pro last year. But this can’t just be attributed to his QB play, The squad saw massive injury problems all year long for key offensive cast members, including Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams, George Kittle, and Deebo Samuel. It’s obvious that when these guys are all healthy, San Fran has one of the most potent offenses in the league. They need the right guy to lead them.

In my opinion, Purdy is the right guy. He’s got the charisma, confidence, and leadership qualities needed to keep all of his guys in check. In an offense full of big personalities, he’s not one. He’s consistent, smart, and has the savvy to play under Shanahan. Despite all the injuries, Purdy still managed to finish top 10 in passing yards, QBR, and yards per attempt. His problem was his clutch gene in cold weather situations and in late game comebacks. He’s still young, and he’s only going to get better. I think it’s an investment in a consistent future for San Fran, and there’s nobody I’d rather root for than a 7th round pick.

The Hot Stove

🏀 Knicks Advance, Crush Celtics

There you have it folks! The party rolls on in New York after the Knicks officially knock off the defending champion Celtics.

Ah, man, the New York Knicks. This team, and city, is just fun to watch. The Knicks may not be the flashiest team of all time, but they play winning basketball. They’re clicking at the highest level we’ve seen all year, all the pieces seem to be in place. They have an elite point guard who has the mentality to win in big moments, they have perimeter defends in Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart who can guard up anyone, they have a stretch big who can make plays beyond and beneath the three-point line, and they have a rim protecting center. They’ve also showed the ability to win in different ways, with their offense, their defense, and their mentality. They play hard, they believe in their culture, and they have leaders. Who’s going to stop them? Pacers up next.

⛳️ PGA Championship Day Two

Another day, another round of beautiful golf at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. Here’s our review of day two at the PGA Championship.

Johnny Vegas, baby! The Venezuelan takes a two-stroke lead into the weekend after an up and down day on the course, which included a double double bogey on the 18th hole. Behind Vegas there was some serious movement. Si Woo Kim and Matthieu Pavon went -7 and -6, respectively to get their names in a tie for second. Matt Fitzpatrick also had a strong day, -3, to enter into the tie for second at -6, two off Vegas. Max Homa tied the lowest round of the day to get himself into a tie for third, which is a great sign for a player who’s struggled all season long. Scottie was really up and down, he never really had full control of his game, missing some critical putts throughout the day. But a bad day for Scottie is not your average bad day, he still managed to go 3-under and tie Homa for third. There’s a whole host of guys at -4 and -3, including Bryson, Finau, JT Poston, and Bobby MacIntyre. The cut line settled at +1, with some prominent names on it: Rory, Sam Burns, Xander, Brian Harman, and Sergio Garcia. There are so many good storylines going into the weekend, it’s time to rock and roll everyone!

🏀 Gordon Status ‘IN DOUBT’ For Game 7

Oh boy. Not ideal. Not ideal at all.

The Nuggets have already been fighting an uphill battle all series, but things could get a lot tougher for Denver in a winner-take-all Game 7! The unsung hero of this team always has been Aaron Gordon. What he does on both sides of the ball in unbelievably GLUE. Despite the Game 6 win for the Nugs, the status of Gordon’s hamstring was a major concern after the game. Yesterday a report came out that his status was ‘in doubt’ for Game 7. Interesting choice of words here, it doesn’t say doubtful, but instead the ever so mysterious ‘in-doubt’.

We’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow to hear the final decision, but this would be a massive blow for Denver and would require the Superman cape to get much bigger for Nikola Jokic!

⬇️ Quick Links

• 🏀 Collier drops 34 in Pauge Bueckers debut!

• ⚾️ Juan Soto tips his cap to the boos in Yankees Stadium!

• 💥 Caitlin Clark’s thoughts entering Year 2!

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs - A day off???

• A day off from playoff basketball! That only means one thing…we’re getting down to the thick of it!

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• What to Watch: Mets @ Yankees (1:05 PM ET), Tigers @ Blue Jays (3:07 PM ET), Braves @ Red Sox (7:15 PM ET), Angels @ Dodgers (9:10 PM ET), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• ABC: Jets @ Stars (8:00 PM)

🏀 WNBA - It is time!

• ABC: Aces @ Liberty (1:00 PM ET), Sky @ Fever (3:00 PM ET)

• Storm @ Mercury (10:00 PM ET)

⚽️ Soccer

• MLS: CF Montreal vs Toronto FC (2:30 PM ET - Canadian Classique), New York City FC vs NY Red Bulls (4:30 PM ET - Hudson River Derby)

⛳️ PGA Championship Day Three! Here is the leaderboard!

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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