Good Morning, Stumpers!

In preparation of the Final Four matchups we are about to have both on the Men’s and Women’s side of the brackets, we had a little NIT Championship appetizer last night, and man was it a classic! We’ll go over that, a Freddie Freeman incident, some NFL contract stumpdates, and then a look back at a school day GLUE GUY! Everybody remembers his name! Happy Friday!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏀 Chattanooga wins NIT Championship DRAMATICALLY!

• 💨 OLD MAN RACE! On This Day…

• 🚿 Freddie Freeman Shower Slip

• 📓 Substitute Teacher. So so so GLUE!

On This Day

On This Day…

🏃 OLD MAN RACE

In the baseball world, Connie Mack and Clark Griffith are two legends. Both of them are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and had immense effect on the game of baseball. But did you know that the two actually raced one another from home to first?

On this day in 1948, an 84-year old Connie Mack challenged a 78-year old Clark Griffith to a race from home to first base. Putting it all on the line, Griffith agreed. The race ended in a tie, but I can’t imagine it was very pretty. I mean, 84 and 78 was OLD back in the 1940’s. Shoot, it’s old now!

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: B. George Halas! Halas not only PLAYED for the Chicago Bears, coached for the Chicago Bears, but also become the owner of the team (then called Decatur Stanleys) in 1921.

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• ⚾️ Yankees bats are ON ONE! ALL RISE!

• 😲 JA MORANT GAME WINNER

• 🏀 I like this tweet by Jay Williams. Good stuff JW!

• 🏒 Family affair for the Snuggerud’s! First NHL Point!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Madness…

🏀 NIT Championship Game! WOW!

The Chattanooga Mocs weren’t given a chance heading into the NIT. Last night, they defied the odds!

If you weren’t watching Chattanooga - UC Irvine last night, I’m not really sure what you were doing. The NIT Championship happening on a Thursday night just makes so much sense. 40 minutes were not enough to decide this one! Heading into OT, the starting 5 for UC Irvine had 72 of their 76 points in regulation. Close to a similar story for Chattanooga!

I’ll tell you what, there were some good shots in the extra period, but man could you tell this was the NIT. Missed free throws, passing up wide open shots, gritty glue guys on the court, but man was it electric.

With two seconds left in OT, Chattanooga found themselves up by a single point. After an exchange of timeouts, UC Irvine threw a full court heave of a pass, which someone resulted in a WIDE OPEN LAYUP FOR THE WIN!

You got to see this finish to believe it! The layup was NO GOOD!

Watch the highlights HERE!

With everyone focused on March Madness, it’s nice to look at some of the other action across the basketball world!

The Hot Stove

🚿 Freddie Freeman’s Shower Slip

We’ve all been there, a slip in the shower can get a little ugly and even embarrassing. The only problem is that when it happens to a guy like Freddie Freeman, everyone finds out about it. The first ball MLB Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Dodgers first basemen hasn’t played since Saturday, as Freeman took a spill in the shower on the Dodgers off day Sunday. The incident happened at home and his wife had to drive him to Dodger stadium on Sunday for treatment and X-Rays on his right ankle. The team announced yesterday that they would put him on the Injured List, retroactive to Monday, meaning Freeman is due to miss some more time. This is the same ankle that Freeman injured in the postseason last year, but gritted it out on his way to a memorable run. Freddie, I’m sorry we all have to know about this. How bout some adhesive ducks on the bottom of the tub?

🏈 NFL Contract Updates

It was the MLB on Wednesday, the NFL yesterday. Two big time deals got done in the National Football League, both just so happened to be by west coast squads.

Geno Smith, QB, Las Vegas Raiders: One of the breaking points between Geno and his former employer, the Seattle Seahawks, was the franchises refusal to extend Geno before he entered the last year of his contract. Well, Las Vegas had no problem doing so. Smith, 34, agreed to a two-year extension, worth up to $85.5M when you add incentives. There is $66.5M in guaranteed money. This keeps Geno in Vegas through the 2027 season. Over the past three years in Seattle, Smith has solidified himself as one of the premier starters in the NFL, including providing an extreme veteran presence that Vegas needs in their new regime under head coach Pete Carrol.

Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals: If you haven’t followed much Arizona Cardinals football over the last couple years, then you’re missing out on McBride. The Cardinals broke NFL history yesterday by making him the highest-paid tight end to ever play the game. The two sides reached an agreement on a four-year, $76 million extension that keeps him in Arizona until 2029. McBride is entering his fourth season, and his 221 career receptions is the most by a tight end in his first four seasons in NFL history. He eclipsed George Kittles record of 216 in the last game of the 2024 season. His Pro Bowl nod last season was the first by a Cardinals TE since 1970.

⬇️ Quick Links

• 💪 Giannis makes history with 35-17-20 game

• 😶 Man who conned Dwight Howard gets 12 years in prison

• 🤝 Flau’Jae Johnson to return to LSU

• 🎾 Top Tennis athletes ask Grand Slams for more money

What To Watch

🏀 The NCAA Tournament…

• Men’s Final Four: One. More. Day.

• Women’s Final Four: Texas vs South Carolina (7:00 PM on ESPN), UConn vs UCLA (9:30 PM on ESPN)

🏀 NBA Basketball - NBAtv Double Header!

• NBAtv: Suns @ Celtics (7:30 PM), Nuggets vs Warriors (10:00 PM)

• More to watch: Cavs @ Spurs (8:00 PM), Thunder @ Rockets (8:00 PM), Mavs @ Clippers (10:30 PM)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• Schedule: Cardinals @ Red Sox (2:10 PM), Padres @ Cubs (2:20 PM), Blue Jays @ Mets (3:10 PM), Yankees @ Pirates (4:12 PM), Dodgers @ Phillies (6:45 PM on AppleTV), Rays @ Rangers (8:05 PM on AppleTV), full schedule

🏒 The NHL on ESPN+

• ESPN+: Hurricanes @ Red Wings (7:00 PM), Blackhawks @ Capitals (7:00 PM), Wild @ Islanders (7:30 PM)

⚽️ Soccer from England!

• Premier League: Chelsea vs Tottenham (3:00 PM on Peacock)

⛳️ The tournament BEFORE the Masters! The Valero Texas Open has it’s cut day! Live starting this morning from TPC San Antonio in, you guessed it, San Antonio, Texas. Here’s the leaderboard…

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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