Good Morning, Stumpers!

If you asked me to rank some of the best names on the PGA Tour I think that list starts and ends with Sepp Straka! Only fitting he got the win this week! Yesterday we had some NBA Heartbreak, a Manager Firing in Colorado, and some big news for the Newcastle MAGPIES! Fired up to bring it all to you today! Let’s start cruising!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏀 What Goes Around Comes Around…

• ⛳️ Sepp Straka Wins Truist Championship!

• 🏃‍♂️ Looking Back at A Gatlin WR…Maybe?

• ⚾️ Rockies Part Ways With Manager Bud Black

On This Day

On This Day…

🏃 Gatlin Breaks Record, or Does He?

Justin Gatlin may be the best runner in modern United States history, and he was often overshadowed by the miraculous career of Jamaican Usain Bolt. But at one point, he was breaking world records, or was he?

On this day in 2006, American Justin Gatlin broke the 100-meter world record with a time of 9.76 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix. Amazing, right? Wrong. A week later the International Association of Athletics Federations announced a timing error, taking his record-breaking time from 9.76 to 9.77, which tied Asafa Powell’s world mark instead of breaking it. He would break that time in 2015, with a PR of 9.74. Bolt smashed that record, with a 9.58 second run in 2009.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: B. Dallas Braden! The Oakland Athletics legend threw a perfect game on Mother’s Day 2014, a memorable day.

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• ⚾️ First career hit…FIRST CAREER HOME RUN! Tim Elko!

• 🏀 These dudes just could not miss!

• 🏒 Again…this…was…insanity.

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Brutal Start = Job Loss

⚾️ Rockies Fire Black Amid Horrendous Start

Less than 24 hours after a brutal 21-0 loss to the San Diego Padres at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies have fired their manager Bud Black.

Even with their 9-3 victory over the Padres yesterday, the Rockies have the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. The Rockies currently boast a 7-33 record, after losing 2 out of 3 at home to the Padres and are coming off a eight-game losing streak until yesterday. The Rockies also fired their bench coach, Mike Redmond, and will now be lead by third-base coach Warren Schaeffer for the remainder of the year.

Black spent nine season at the helm of the franchise, finishing his tenure with a 544-690 career record. He is the winningest manager in franchise history.

Before yesterday’s firing and Saturday’s 21-0 loss, Rockies GM Bill Schmidt publicly backed Black, telling the Denver Post that he had full confidence the season still could be turned around. But apparently the last couple days have been the breaking point.

In a general sense, I feel bad for Bud Black. This franchise and team is simply just void of talent, and there has been little to no investment from the front office in recent years. Other than the investment into Kris Bryant, which has been extraordinarily disappointing, there’s not much on the roster to right home about. In fact, I looked at their roster, in depth, and I don’t know much about any of the guys on the roster.

Their one bright spot has been their young catcher, Hunter Goodman, who has been quite exceptional thus far, compared to the rest of the lineup. He’s batting .288 with 6 home runs and 24 RBIs. In yesterday’s win over the Padres, Goodman had 5 RBIs.

As it stands right now, they are projected to win less just 27 games this year, losing 135. Woof. Black made the playoffs in his first two years as the head man, but the team has endured six straight losing seasons and is pretty much guaranteed to have another this year.

The Hot Stove

🏀 Thunder and Pacers Get BIG Wins

Well two days the title of our Stump was “Cavs Win. Nugs Win. Huge.” What’s that saying? Going around once will be coming around twice? No no, What goes and comes around can come and go around? Yeah I think that’s it. Well it came around.

Thunder def. Nuggets 92-87 (Series tied 2-2): This game had one of the lowest scoring first quarters in NBA Postseason history with a whopping 17-8! It was an absolute slugfest all first half with both teams shooting 3/22 from beyond the arc. They started to get going late but it was the Thunder who made shots down the stretch! This one has now become a best-of-three!

Pacers def. Cavs, 129-109 (IND leads series 3-1): The cherry on top to break the hearts of Stump admins was right here. The Pacers had some magic serum in their powerade last night because they could not miss in the first half. They built a heinous 41-point lead at halftime and that was that! This series now heads to Cleveland where the Cavs look to stay alive in a get-right game! Lot of ball left!

⚽️ Newcastle into UCL, Barca to Top of LALIGA

Sunday is always a great day for Soccer, or Futbol, whatever you prefer to call it. We were treated to a bunch of great games, but two storylines reign supreme after all the action.

Madrid Opens Door for Barcelona to Win LaLiga: In an absolute epic El Clasico, Barcelona overcame a two-goal deficit to secure a crucial 4-3 home victory against their rivals Real Madrid. This is the fourth consecutive victory over Madrid for Barca in all competitions this season, and their second in less than a month. Both squads showed their electric offense and their defensive weaknesses, combining for the 7-total goals. Madrid got off to a blistering hot start, receiving a classic three-goal performance from their star Kylian Mbappe. It was a quick strike, with Madrid up 2-0 in the 14th minute. Barca responded quickly, with three goals in the next 15 minutes from Eric Garcia, Yamal, and Raphinha, who added another goal just before half. It was too much for Madrid to overcome, and Barca all but secures another LaLiga title.

Newcastle and Chelsea Battle for the Lucrative 4th Premier League Spot: With the two clubs tied for the 4th position in the Premier League table, the fight is on for who will get the last spot in the 2025-26 Champions League. So it was the perfect time, with just two matches remaining, for the clubs to meet. Newcastle got off to a hot start, almost blistering hot, when Sandro Tonali put home the first goal of the match in the 2nd minute. Chelsea took a major blow in the 36th minute, when Nicolas Jackson was awarded a red card, forcing Chelsea to play with just 10 men the rest of the way. Bruno Guimaraes took advantage of it in stoppage time for Newcastle, adding a second goal. With just one match for each left and Newcastle now up 3 points on Chelsea, all the Magpies have to do is draw or better against Arsenal and hope Man United can pull of a win over the lions.

⛳️ Sepp Slams Door Shut in Philly

In the battle of two European Ryder Cup teammates, Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry, the Austrian native pulled away on the last day.

The 32-year-old secured his biggest win on the PGA Tour thanks to a 2-under 68 and an even par round from his co-leader entering the day, Shane Lowry. This is Straka’s second win of the season, he also won The American Express in January. He and Rory McIlroy are the only two to have multiple wins this season on the PGA Tour. This win came after his regular caddie, Duane Bock, strained his back earlier in the week playing a round of golf of his own. Straka’s good friend, Drew Mathers, took up the bag and earned one hell of a check from it, as well. Mathers was supposed to attempt to qualify for the US Open this week, but instead chose to help out Sepp, seems like a good idea. Sepp opened the week with a 7-under score, and then plotted the rest of the week to play some extremely consistent golf and get the win. Congrats, Sepp!

⬇️ Quick Links

• 🏈 Jaylon Smith back in the NFL after sitting out 2024

• 💥 Josh Jung hits homer off of brother Jace

• 🙏 Miami LB injured in crash that killed 3

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs

• ESPN: Celtics @ Knicks (7:30 PM), Timberwolves @ Warriors (10:00 PM)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• FS1: Diamondbacks @ Giants (9:45 PM)

• More to Watch: Brewers @ Guardians (6:10 PM), Red Sox @ Tigers (6:40 PM), Cardinals @ Phillies (6:45 PM), Royals @ Astros (8:!0 PM), Yanks @ Mariners (9:40 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• TNT: Capitals @ Hurricanes (7:00 PM), Golden Knights @ Oilers (9:30 PM)

⚽️ Soccer

• Serie A: Atalanta vs AS Roma (2:45 PM)

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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