Good Morning, Stumpers!

How quick things can change! Last night the Celtics took care of busniess at home against the Knicks, suddenly the pressure all shifts on to New York in a pivotal Game Six! In the other series the Timberwolves were able to best the Curry-less Warriors and advance to their second straight Conference Finals! On top of all this…the PGA Championship gets underway today! What a time to have a time! Let’s tango!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• ⛳️ PGA Championship Gets Underway

• 🏀 Timberwolves Advance! Celtics Force a Game Six!

• 🏈 NFL Schedule Release! Top Games of the Year…

• ✏️ Glue: The guy who said King Kong ain’t got sh*t on me! You know that guy?

On This Day

On This Day…

🤝 World Powers Catch a Ballgame

There‘s a strong tradition United States Presidents to go to sporting events, especially baseball, and engage in some sort of crowd pleasing activity. It was when two one president took it to the next level that heads really turned.

On this day in 1991, US President George H. W. Bush took Queen Elizabeth to an Oakland A’s and Baltimore Oriole game. How about that? Two world powers just catching a ballgame. I don’t think there’s anything more American than that.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: B. 1999! The Knicks lost to the Spurs in five games.

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• 🩸 Hang this in the Josh Hart Personal Louvre! WOW!

• ⚾️ Two walkoffs in a row for the Detroit Tigers!

• 🏀 Jaylen Brown with the hustle play of the SERIES! WOW!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Golf! Golf! Golf!

⛳️ PGA Championship Storylines

Welcome, to one of the best weeks in golf. The PGA Championship is finally here, and we’re writing this one for you to get everything you need before play gets underway at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC today.

The Favorites: It’s pretty obvious where this is going to go, we have two guys who are pretty much the slam dunk favorites. First, we have Scottie Scheffler, who seems to come into just about every tournament he plays in. That is true again this week, as Scottie comes in as the slight betting favorite. Despite not winning a tournament thus far, he’s been remarkably consistent. Is this the week he breaks through? The other notable favorite comes in the form of Masters Champion Rory McIlroy. He comes into this week as the hottest player in the world, already winning three times on tour this season. Rory also gets the benefit of playing at one of his favorite courses, a place where he has won four times. A recipe for a good week for Rory.

But wait, who else?: There’s going to be some hot takes in here, but then again, anything can happen on a stage as big as this. This golf course loves people who can hit the ball a longgggg way with the driver. So where does my mind go? Yep. Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson loves the big moments, and his driver is one of the best in the game. Another name to watch out for is Justin Thomas, and that is not just due to my love for him. Thomas is playing his best golf in years as of late, and it hasn’t been just a flash in the pan, either. He’s been consistently striking the ball well over the past few tournaments, and he will surely be fired up to perform this weekend. Other names to watch out for are last years champion Xander Schauffele.

The DARK horses: I have two names for you. TWO! The first is a young man named Sepp Straka. The Austrian has already won twice on the tour this year, once at the American Express in January, and then once again last week at the Truist Championship. He’s only finished outside of the top-30 once all this season, at the Masters, but has been extremely consistent outside of that. The other name I’ll give you is Brooks Koepka. Despite his seeming anonymity on the LIV circuit, Brooks has been playing some solid golf recently, he also has a great driver in his bag. This is also a tournament he’s won three times, most recently in 2023. Something about this weekend makes him elevate his game.

The cool, but unlikely story: Every time the PGA Championship comes around we’re reminded of one man: Jordan Spieth. This being the last piece of the puzzle in his career grand slam, it has alluded him. His up and down play over the recent years has made it so that people often write him off, but I remember a Jordan Spieth who has the best magician in all of golf. Can he spark a little bit of that magic once again this weekend? If Rory can do it, why can’t Jordan.

The Hot Stove

🏀 Celtics Stay Alive, Wolves Close the Door!

One series gets pushed to a Game Six while another team punches their ticket to the Conference Finals for a second straight year! Let’s sort this all out.

I want to start with Minnesota here. With another win last night, they officially closed the door on the Golden State Warriors and have won the series, 4-1! The asterisk on this series will of course be the Steph Curry injury in Game 1, that sidelined him the rest of the way, where Minnesota rattled off 4 straight wins. The Timberwolves are no doubt a great team, but one can only wonder what could have been!

They now go to their second straight Western Conference Finals, and look to have a better result than their underwhelming gentlemens sweep against the Mavericks last year. They will no doubt be ready after some experience under their belt last year! They are 8 wins away from winning an NBA Championship, and turning the NBA on it’s head!

Now we ship up to Boston! This one was a showcase of heart, and no, no just Josh Hart. The heart I’m talking about was displayed by the Celtics. They very easily could have caved after the crushing news of their leader being gone for the forseeable future, they did no such thing, they used their next man up mentality and absolutely took it to the Knicks. Jaylen Brown ended with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists (career high). Their spark plug was none other than Derrick White, who had a game-high 34 points which included 7 bombs from deep! The pressure has now instantly flipped back on New York. The series now heads back to the Garden and the Knicks are no longer playing with house money, they are the ones who are expected to now close out the deal, and they are playing a team with nothing to lose. That’s dangerous. Celtics def. Knicks, 127-102 (Knicks lead series 3-2)!

🤑 King Henry Cashes in with Ravens

In one swift deal, the Baltimore Ravens secured the future of their running game through the 2027 season.

Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens agreed to a two-year, $30 million contract extension yesterday to keep Henry in Baltimore through the 2027 season. Henry was heading into the last year of his two year deal he signed before last season. He’ll receive $25 million in guaranteed money, and can earn a total of $37M over the next three years. This is a significant increase, as he was due just $7M for the next season. Combined with Lamar Jackson, the Ravens run game flourished last year. Henry accounted for 1,921 yards, which was the most by a player 30 years or older in NFL history. He also averaged a career-best 5.9 yards per carry and set a Ravens franchise record with 18 total touchdowns. Doubts creeped in last offseason if Henry was finished, or if he had lost a step, but he proved all of that wrong. Congrats, King.

🏈 NFL Schedule Release! The Big Ones…

Here’s the most intriguing games and the big days in the NFL to look forward to…

Opening Game (9/4/25 @ 8:15 PM): Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles

Thanksgiving Day on FOX: Packers @ Lions (1:00 PM), Chiefs @ Cowboys (4:30 PM), Bengals @ Ravens (8:20 PM)

Christmas Day on Streaming: Cowboys @ Washington (1:00 PM on Netflix), Lions @ Vikings (4:30 PM on Netflix), Broncos @ Chiefs (8:15 PM on Prime)

The Top Grudge Matches:

• Vrabel vs. The Titans: Pats vs Tennessee (10/19)

• Darnold Revenge Game: Vikings @ Seahawks (11/30)

• DK vs Seattle, Pickens back in Pitt: Seahawks @ Steelers (9/14)

• Allen vs Mahomes: KC vs Buffalo (11/2)

• Fields vs Steelers, Rodgers vs Jets?: Steelers @ Jets (9/7)

• Super Bowl Rematch: Eagles @ Chiefs (9/14)

⬇️ Quick Links

• 👏 Reds Celebrate Pete Rose day in Cincy

• 😲 USC loses top football commit

• 😥 Nike’s Phil Knight not interested in buying Trail Blazers

• 🤣 Each teams schedule release meme’s

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs

• ESPN: Thunder @ Nuggets (8:30 PM)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• MLB Network: Nationals @ Braves (12:15 PM), Astros @ Rangers (8:05 PM)

• What to Watch: Twins @ Orioles (12:35 PM), White Sox @ Reds (12:40 PM), Rays @ Blue Jays (3:07 PM), A’s @ Dodgers (10:10 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• TNT: Hurricanes @ Capitals (7:00 PM), Stars @ Jets (9:30 PM)

⚽️ Soccer

• LaLiga: Espanyol vs Barcelona (3:30 PM)

Oh, yes, it’s the PGA Championship. It’s time, ladies and gentlemen. We are LIVE from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. Here is the leaderboard!

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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