Happy Wednesday! What if we treated this top section like the end of one of those medical commercials? “Side effects of The Stump include but are not limited to: More energy, confidence when talking sports, a laugh, a glue guy that you can brag about, a song of the day to listen to, a quote that makes you want to run through a brick wall, and much more. Talk to your local sports radio talk show host before subscribing to the Stump to let him know you will be listening to less of his show.” Huh, did we just find something?

We keep the feedback form active, so don’t be afraid to let us know what you think!

Today’s Trivia🧠

🏈 A little journeyman talk today! QB Josh Johnson holds the record for most teams played for in the NFL. How many teams has he played for?

• A. 8

• B. 10

• C. 12

• D. 14

• E. 16

(answer at the bottom of the Stump!)

On This Day…

🏏 In 1986, Australian Cricketer David Boon (Nicknamed Boony) his for his third career century! This is when a single player drives in 100 runs in one match! This was still very early on in Boony’s career as he would go on to have over 100 career centuries and had batted in over 45,000 runs!

A nice sprinkle of cricket for you today. Was this a little bit of an excuse just to showcase a top-5 mustache of all time? It might have been! But that’s neither here nor there!

What’s Worth Your Time

⚽️Champions League Day One

Let me tell you, soccer is ALLLL the way back. The Champions League had 6 matches yesterday and the boys wereeeee buzzin! Here’s a little breakdown of the best from the day.

Bayern Blow Out - The boys from Munich showed up and showed out. Bayern put up a Champions League record NINE GOALS! Harry Kane himself put up four goals, Olise scored two goals, and a few other boys filled in the rest! An absolute elite showing for Bayern!

Liverpool Comes Back - After Captain America, Christian Pulisic, opened the scoring 3 minutes into the match for Milan, it was all Liverpool from there. Konate, van Dijk, and Szoboszlai all scored to get Liverpool up and to stay up. Liverpool was unreal from set plays and managed to handle the Italians.

The Favorites Roll - The first few rounds of the Champions League can be tough, especially when the big dawgs come rolling in. Juventus, Aston Villa, Real Madrid, and Sporting CP all came into the first game and handled business.

🟠A 10% Talent Fee in Knoxville

When it comes to college athletics, there aren’t many programs that match the level of talent that the University of Tennessee has across the board. There’s so much talent, that the school is implementing a “talent fee”. What the hell is a talent fee?

The University shared the news that they are going to raise ticket prices by 10% for all sports to help pay athletes. In addition to the 10% increase on all tickets, Tennessee will add an average increase of 4.5% on all football tickets.

Now that the University is experiencing success on the field, the fans are going to have to ante up off the field. It’s becoming a trend in college athletics now that NIL is so popular, fans across the country have to pick up the bill for a lot of players if they want to see on-field success.

Whether you agree with the new college athletics rules or not, it’s happening. And people are going to have to pay.

⚾️ One of the Most Disrespectful At-Bats You’ll EVER See

Talk about mental warfare! In a 7-0 lobsided victory for the Mariners over the Rangers, Randy Arozarena had a moment I’ve never seen before on a baseball diamond. It’s a ‘you have to see it to believe it’ type of at-bat but the pitcher had to be in absolute shambles after this 4 pitch at-bat! Worth the 1 minute watch ⬆️ 

The Mariners are two games back of the final Wild Card spot and 4 games back from the AL West leading Astros. Although the division may seem out of reach with 12 games to play, the two teams do have a three game series coming up to end the regular season. We’re approaching that time…playoff baseball is almost here!

🏈Pretender or Contender: 2-0 NFL Edition

Sorry if we hurt some feelings here, but I could totally be wrong. Been wrong before, will be wrong again. So don’t quote me on any of this. Or do, whatever floats your boat.

Obvious Contenders: Kansas City & Buffalo - The two beasts in the AFC, they are obvious contenders. Any time you have Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, you got a chance. These two will probably see each other in the playoffs at some point. It is written.

Contenders: Tampa & Houston - I love what both these teams are doing. Tampa is so fun to watch and they have surrounded Baker with elite talent. To go along with a strong defense and a culture of winning, Tampa is a contender. Houston is full of young talent and proved last year they are here to compete and challenge the best in the AFC, I see none of that changing this year.

Pretenders: Seattle, New Orleans, LAC, Minnesota - Yeah, I’m aware this is a hefty list. I just don’t think these teams have enough. Seattle will struggle on offense, New Orleans just feels like a first round exit, LAC is a year away, Minnesota just won’t have enough on both sides of the ball for season long success.

How are they 2-0: Pittsburgh - C’mon. These guys will end up 9-8 and we all know it.

⚾️Bobby Witt: The Star Who Isn’t Talked About Enough

Witt may be the best shortstop we’ve seen in baseball in years, but I feel like I don’t see his name as much as I should. Witt, the present and future of the Kansas City Royals, did something yesterday that no shortstop in MLB history has ever done before.

In yesterdays game, Witt became the first shortstop to have multiple seasons of at least 30 home runs and 30 steals. This year, he has 31 homers to go along with 30 steals. Last year, Witt hit 30 home runs and had 49 steals. Nuts.

An absolutely rare mix of power and speed, Witt was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft and signed the biggest deal in Royals franchise history this past offseason, 11-years, $288,777,777.

Witt has led the Royals to a strong season, a surprise to pretty much every baseball analyst out there. They are firmly in the AL wild card with an outside chance of winning the division. A team that lost 106 games a year ago now has the chance to win the division, and Witt is the leading factor.

Yesterday, but the Good Stuff❗️❗️ 

⚾️ Amazing story about the humanity of the 2024 Chicago White Sox

⚾️ The Mets have a GRIMACE seat at Citi Field now…

🏈 Nine 2-0 teams left! Here are the ones left standing!

⚽️ All NINE Bayern Goals

⚽️ ICONIC Mbappe Celly

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

⚾️ Red Sox @ Rays (6:50 PM ET), Nationals @ Mets (7:10 PM ET), Yankees @ Mariners (9:40 PM ET), full schedule

⚽️ Champions League: Man City vs Inter Milan (3:00 PM ET), Club Brugge vs Borussia Dortmund (3:00 PM ET); MLS: Atlanta United FC vs Inter Miami (7:30 PM ET)

Trivia Answer:

D. 14! Josh Johnson was drafted in 2008 and has played for 14 teams! He’s still in the league today and is a Raven! Who knew?! A guy who’s been good enough to be in the league for all these years and has always been ready if his number was called.

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 sports news in their life, send them this link! It would go a long way! Appreciate the hell out of you all!

They can chop down the tree but the Stump will never leave!