👋Good Morning Stump Nation!

The long couple of days where it felt like there weren’t any sports is a thing of the past, cause boy oh boy is there a lot to choose from today. It always warms my heart when the schedule is a big box to end the Stump instead of a tiny-looking pathetic box. Strap in cause we got playoff golf, the WNBA is back, international soccer gets rolling, and baseball keeps doing its thing!

FEEDBACK FORM 

Podcast Links Below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

LETS. GET. INTO. IT.

THE DAILY STUMPED🔮

During Russell Westbrook’s 18-year (and counting) career in the NBA, which of these stars has he not played alongside?

• A. Kawhi Leonard

• B. Anthony Davis

• C. Domantas Sabonis

• D. Joel Embiid

• E. Bradley Beal

Answer at the bottom of The Stump!

OUR JUICE🧃

• Talked about the NFL Injury bug, the state of the Atlanta Falcons, some PATTY MILLS, and the FedEx Cup! A whole lot happening in the world of sports!

• Got the opportunity to interview UConn Point Guard, 2x National Champ, and reigning Big East 6th Man OTY Hassan Diarra! Check it out!

ON THIS DAY🗓️

On this day in 1970 —

Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman ever to play in a professional American football league.

Palinkas played the role of placeholder for the Orlando Panthers team of the then minor league Atlantic Coast Football League.

YESTERDAY IN SPORTS📰

Breaking News…

• 🏈Patriots trade Pro Bowl Pass Rusher Matthew Judon to the Falcons for a third-round pick

• ⚾️White Sox expected to lower their season ticket prices next season following this years historically bad turnout and record

• ⚽️Kevin Durant buys “a few million dollar” stake in Ligue 1 champs and French super club Paris Saint-Germain

• 🏈Vikings first round pick and future QB JJ McCarthy to miss season after undergoing knee surgery to fix a torn meniscus

• 🐛 INJURY BUG

  • Vikings WR Jordan Addison leaves practice with knee problems

  • Ravens TE Mark Andrews apparently “OK” after serious car accident

  • Rams QB Matt Stafford leaves practice with hamstring issues

Top Final Scores💯

• ⚽️ Real Madrid defeats Atalanta, 2-0 in Mbappe’s Spanish debut

  • Mbappe put one in the back of the bin in the 68th minute

• ⚾️ Red Sox blow 3-run lead going into 9th and lose 9-7 to Rangers

• ⚾️ DBacks crush the Rockies, 11-4,

• ⚾️ Mets win big over A’s, 9-1

• ⚾️ Yankees def White Sox, 10-2

• 🧢 Day one from Williamsport and the LLWS

  • Mexico defeats Aruba (2-0), Hawai’i defeats New Hampshire (3-1), Chinese Taipei defeats Canada (8-0), Florida defeats South Dakota (2-1)

What Caught Our Eye👀

• ⚽️Mbappe’s first goal for Real Madrid… a thing of beauty with a CLASSIC celly from the best in the world!

• 🏈Here’s 3:15 of Jameis Winston mic’d up in the last Browns preseason game, this guy is something else I’m telling ya!

• ⚾️Scoring from second base on a pop fly to the outfielder?? How the HECK does that happen? Only for the White Sox🤣

STUMP STORY OF THE DAY✍️

The FedEx Cup: What the heck is the PGA’s Playoff Format?

A lot of hate has been put on golf’s premier playoff format, so here’s it all laid out and you can decide for yourself…

Golf’s biggest star, Scottie Scheffler, made headlines yesterday when he called the FedEx Cup Playoffs “silly”. So what are the FedEx Cup Playoffs? Are they silly? Are they not silly? Perhaps, they’re goofy? I’ll do my best to explain the format and then you can decide for yourself…

The FedEx Cup Playoffs are the PGA Tour’s annual series of playoff tournaments consisting of three different events. All year long, players accumulate FedEx Cup points for their finishes in regular season play, and after the last tournament of the year, the top 70 point-getters advance for the first playoff tournament. That would be the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which starts tomorrow in Memphis.

Following the finish in Memphis, the top 50 point scorers advance to the second playoff tournament, the BMW Championship. Once scores are final at the BMW, the top 30 players (still based on FedEx Cup points) advance into the final tournament, the Tour Championship.

Here’s where it gets a little funky. The Tour Championship rewards players for their season-long successes. The top player will start the tournament at -10, then the next four at -9, next four at -8, and so on until the 26th-30th ranked golfers on the year start at even par.

The winner is based on total score under par including their starting position. So for example, if Scottie Scheffler starts the tournament at -10 because he was the top point-getter throughout the year, and shoots -10 on the week / weekend, he would finish at -20 even though he only shot 10-under.

To simplify, let’s use a 100 yard race. Imagine you have to go through qualifications, and the fastest qualification time got to line up 10 yards from the finish. The next fastest got to line up 15 yards, the next 20 yards, all the way until the slowest qualification time starts at the full 100 yards. That’s the Tour Championship.

Generally speaking, it is rewarding players for their consistently strong play throughout the year. Which, in theory, makes sense. However, it just seems odd for golf. A game that is so competitive at the pro level, it almost takes away that competitive edge for some players.

But I don’t really think you care about my opinion, I wonder what you’re thinking. Is this formal dumb? Is it “silly” as Scottie would say? Or is it right to reward players for their successes throughout the year. It’s almost like home field advantage on steroids for most other major professional sports.

JUICE STATION🧃

Quote of the Day

Song of the Day

Glue Guy of the Day

Defined: Glue Guy (Noun, Verb, Adj., etc.) - a person, thing, idea, or thought that holds together the larger group. Not the star, not the main character, but a hard hat and lunch pale type who knows its role. The GLUE of the group.

WHAT TO WATCH📺️

NFL🏈:

• Eagles @ Patriots (7:00 PM ET) on NFL Network!

MLB⚾️: Very light schedule today for MLB standards

• A’s @ Mets (1:10 PM ET), Dodgers @ Brewers (2:10 PM ET), Braves @ Giants (3:45 PM ET), Red Sox @ Orioles (6:35 PM ET), Nationals @ Phillies (6:40 PM ET), Twins @ Rangers (8:05 PM ET)

Golf⛳️: FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin!

• FedEx St. Jude Championship Round 1 live from Memphis, TN!

  • Scheffler & Schauffele (1:45 PM ET)

  • Theegala & Matsuyama (1:35 PM ET)

  • Homa & Poston (12:20 PM ET)

  • Morikawa & Rory (10:45 AM ET)

  • Aberg & Clark (10:35 AM ET)

Soccer⚽️: It’s happening…

• Spanish LALIGA (these games count!!!!)

  • Athletic Club vs Getafe (1:00 PM ET)

  • Real Betis vs Girona (3:30 PM ET)

WNBA🏀: We’re so back…

• Mercury @ Sy (8:00 PM ET), Mystics @ Lynx (8:00 PM ET), Liberty @ Sparks (9:00 PM ET on ESPN)

LLWS⚾️: Day Two In Williamsport

• Puerto Rico vs Japan (1:00 PM ET)

• New York vs Nevada (3:00 PM ET)

• Cuba vs Czechia (5:00 PM ET)

• Texas vs Pennsylvania (7:00 PM ET)