Good Morning, Stumpers!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because ANTMAN and Julius Randle combined for 21 points in a must win in the Western Conference Finals. That’s why. A bunch to go over from yesterday. We had the National Championship in Men’s Lacrosse, some puck, some ball, and a domination by the SEC. Let’s go over it all. And if anybody knows why that chicken did really cross the road, please let us know, it couldn’t have been just to get to the other side!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🥍 Cornell Wins Lacrosse National Championship

• ⛈️ OKC Thunder One Win Away from NBA Finals

• 🏒 Hurricanes Get One to Avoid the Sweep

• ⚾️ The SEC has Dominated!

On This Day

On This Day…

🐻 Halas Retires from Coaching

When it comes to NFL legends, there’s not many others who did more for the history of football than George Halas.

On this day in 1968, George Halas retired from coaching, finishing with 318 regular-season wins and 6 NFL titles. Halas helped organize the Decatur Staleys and helped found the NFL. The next year, he moved the team to Chicago and renamed the team the Bears. A player, coach, and owner, Halas did it all for the organization. The Bears are still in the family as Halas’ daughter Virginia Halas McCaskey is the principal owner.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: A. Thunder! This year it’s seemed to always be the Thunder! We’ll see how everything shakes out!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• ⚾️ Can anybody explain what’s happening on the mound here??

• 🏀 Almost a 40-point triple-double for the MVP!

• 🔵 Dodgers highlight. Guess what happened…

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

NBA

⛈️ Thunder One Win Away From NBA Finals!

The Timberwolves can complain about the calls, the fans can chant “free throw merchant”, but the fact is that the series is now 3-1 and the Thunder are one game away from the NBA Finals!

Last night was a pivotal Game 4. After dropping the first two, the Wolves came roaring back in game 3 winning be an unreal 42 points. SGA came out and said, “we got punched in the mouth.“

He was right, that’s exactly what happened. As Rocky Balboa once said, it’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. The Thunder took that punch and channeled it into an all around performance last night that went down to the wire.

The big three came to play. SGA ended with 40-10-9, J Dub had an impressive 34 (including 6/9 from three), and Chet had 21 and 7 on 9/14 from the field. They balled out!

On the otherside of the ball, it’s hard to say that ‘the others’ didn’t come to play. Jaden McDaniels had 22. NAW had 23. DiVincenzo had 21. Naz had 11 and Terrance Shannon had 9 points in 7 minutes.

Wait, so how could they have lost with numbers like those? Unfortunately it was the big dawgs who didn’t do quite enough for the home team. Ant Man ended with 16 points, and Julius Randle ended with 5. To be completely honest with you, and this isn’t any hot take at all, that’s just flat out unbelievable. In the biggest game of the season your two best players, the future ‘face of the league’, they combine for 21 points on 6/20 from the field??? Sheesh.

I get the point that everybody around them was balling out, and even in the fourth others were making shots, but man you gotta do a little more than that in a Western Conference Finals game!

For the second straight year the Timberwolves find themselves down 3-1 in the WCF, and tomorrow they will have a chance to extend the series back to Minnesota. The Big Dawgs will need to double their points total at the least to have a chance!

The Wolves fought hard, and they got the crowd hyped up late, but the Thunder got the win!

Thunder def. Timberwolves, 128-126 (OKC leads series 3-1)

The Hot Stove

🥍 Cornell Tops the Men’s Lax World

A lot has happened in the last 48 years, but one thing hasn’t: Cornell winning a national championship in men’s lacrosse. That drought is over.

Cornell topped Maryland, 13-10, to capture their first NCAA lacrosse championship in 48-years. It is the programs fourth all-time, their first coming in 1973, which just so happened to be the first NCAA men’s lacrosse championship. The Big Red were fueled by six goals from the nations best player, CJ Kirst. His final goal, scored in an empty net with less than a minute to go, tied an NCAA record for most goals in a season (82). Kirst is already the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, amassing a 247 in his career. The perfect exclamation point on an absolutely unreal career. Congrats, Cornell.

🏒 Hurricanes Get One on the Road!

The ECF could have been over last night, but instead the boys from Carolina buckled down and got a respect win!

This one has been all Panthers from the get-go! Yesterday the Hurricanes were able to hunker down and play some good puck to get in the win column. It was a defensive battle! Don’t let the score fool you, this one was 1-0 with 2 and a half minutes left in the game. Both teams played well all game, and then in the end the Canes got two empty netters to make it seem worse than it really was. The Panthers had a chance to get the sweep on their home floor, but now the series goes back to Carolina for Game 5!

⚾️ SEC Dominates NCAA Baseball Tourney

It really is the year of the SEC. After setting a record for the most teams in the men’s basketball tournament field, the conference did the same in baseball.

The conference officially advanced 13 schools into the 64-team field, a new NCAA record. Vanderbilt, a school with arguably one of the richest baseball histories in the NCAA, earned the number one overall seed in the tournament. The Commodores are in the tournament for the 19th straight season, the longest active streak in college baseball. The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals, winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those who move on from there will advance to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha beginning June 13. Here’s the full bracket.

⬇️ Quick Links

• ⚽️ Ronaldo hints at Al Nassr exit

• 💸 Raiders punter Cole now highest paid at position

• 🏀 Clark out at least 2 weeks with quad strain

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs

• Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks @ Pacers (8:00 PM on TNT)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• What to Watch: Dodgers @ Guardians (6:10 PM), Giants @ Tigers (6:40 PM), Braves @ Phillies (6:45 PM), Reds @ Royals (7:40 PM), Yankees @ Angels (9:38 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• West Final: Stars @ Oilers (8:00 PM on ESPN)

🏀 WNBA

• Wings @ Sun (7:00 PM), Valkyries @ Liberty (7:00 PM), Storm @ Lynx (8:00 PM), Dream @ Sparks (10:00 PM), Sky @ Mercury (10:00 PM)

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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