Good Morning, Stumpers!

Yesterday in sports had EVERYTHING! A Buzzer-Beater in college, a GLUE GUY scoring a career-high 44 on primetime, am NFL trade, an NHL trade, a John Cena moment, and some clutch buckets in the NBA! It had everything! That being said we want to highlight some WALK-ON’s in today’s Stump! 30 seconds for the rest of their lives. Great Stump for ya today!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏀 No Such Thing as Garbage Time…Continued!

• 🦊 Swipa Calls Game for San Antonio!

• 🏈 Deebo Traded to Washington Commanders

• ✍️ A quote that defines the MONTH!

On This Day

On This Day…

🤕 NFL’s Bountygate Exposed

The NFL began investigating the New Orleans Saints in 2010 in response to allegations of deliberate attempts attempts to injure players, but the investigation stalled until after the 2011 season. It was on this day in 2012, that the NFL announced some of the harshest sanctions in it’s history.

The NFL announced it had evidence that Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams created a “slush fund” of type that rewarded players and paid out bonuses for injuring targeted players on other teams. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year without pay, DC Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, the Saints were ordered to pay $500,000 and forfeit two years of second and third round picks, and further suspensions were given to assistant coaches and GM Mickey Loomis.

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: (C) Glen Rice! His 184 points during the 1989 NCAA tournament helped lead the Michigan Wolverines to a National Championship!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Here’s Yesterday’s MUST-See’s

• 🟠 MADNESS! Oh my god!!!!

• 🏀 De’Aaron Fox just called game!

• 🖐️ Invisible guy just turned HEEL!

• 🎙️ 3 minute vid of Bill Raftery saying ONIONS!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

NBA

🏀 30 Seconds in Providence

The other day, we wrote an article about the importance of garbage time in the NBA, a time in the game where many overlook the players that take the court. Many turn the game off, change channels, or just kinda zone out. But in college basketball, this point in the game could mean some players are getting the opportunity to step on the court for the very first, and maybe last, time in their careers. For today’s first edition of the ‘Stump Spotlight’, we turn to the final thirty seconds of “garbage time” in Providence yesterday.

Providence welcomed the UConn Huskies to town yesterday for their final home game of the season. With that, comes senior day festivities. Families and players are honored for their dedication to the program for the duration of their time there. For many players, loud applauds shake the stadium as they get their flowers. But for a few players, some fans are left looking at each other in the stands and thinking, “who?”.

Those are typically the walk-ons. On senior night, coaches typically try to somehow get every senior some playing time. Providence was in striking distance of the Huskies for almost the whole second half, so Providence head coach Kim English kept in his guys to try to make a late push, leaving the walk-ons on the bench. With less than a minute left, the Huskies stretched the lead to above 10, and Providence went to the end of their bench.

With about 30 seconds left in the game, the buzzer sounded and in stepped Kieran O’Haire and Luke Fonts. Two Providence walk-ons playing in the last games of their career, neither of whom had ever recorded a point. Fonts, a Portsmouth, RI native has always loved Providence basketball. His brother was also a member of the program. Providence basketball is in his blood. O’Haire, a native of Menands, NY, just outside of Albany, hadn’t scored a basket in a real game since winning the state championship in high school.

So when these two stepped onto the court, you can’t sit there and tell me that these 30 seconds don’t matter.

It was a storybook ending for these two, as Fonts got the ball immediately and drove to the rim. Airball. But, a FOUL! Fonts went to the free throw line and BANG, knocks the first one down. In the stat book.

Providence got the offensive rebound and immediately gave the ball O’Haire. Turnaround jumper with a hand in his face. BANG! In the stat book.

An absolutely beautiful ending to an otherwise poor performance for Providence. These guys worked 4 years just to get a shot at putting their names in the scoring column. All the long days, long nights, hard workouts, days on the scout team. All worth it. It was 30 seconds for the rest of their life.

Congratulations to Luke Fonts and Kieran O’Haire. You deserved to be in the stat books. No matter what, you ARE Providence Basketball.

The Hot Stove

🏀 Quentin Grimes Answers The Call

Sixers guard Quentin Grimes dropped a career-high 44 points in a win over the Golden State Warriors. This snapped the Sixers 9-game losing streak and brings them one game closer to play-in contention. How the season plays out for Philly will be an under the radar storyline to watch for!

⛳️ Jake Knapp Remains in Lead

Mr. Tempo town himself, Jake Knapp remain in the lead at the Cognizant Classic. He put up a round 3 score of -3 to bring his total to -16. He has a one stroke lead over Michael Kim, with then a list of people within striking distance! Today we crown a champ!

🔴 St. John’s on Top!

There’s a turnaround in New York! With their win over Seton Hall last night, St. Johns clinched their first Big East regular-season title since 1985! Rick Pitino showed up in his bright white suit at the garden for the occasion. They improved to 18-0 at home and look as good as they have all year! This team. Is dangerous.

🦊 De’Aaron Fox Wins it for SAS

The official Welcome to San Antonio moment happened last night for De’Aaron Fox. It was all knotted up at 128 a piece, with the Grizzlies and it looked like OT was a no-doubter. This was until Fox broke the tie with a 20-footer with 2.6 seconds remaining! CLUTCH! Fox has arrived!

🟠 TENNESSEE BUZZER BEATER

Wow, wow wow, wow wow! On the FIRST DAY OF MARCH. We had MADNESS! The biggest ranked action of the day was between (5) Tennessee and (6) Alabama in Knoxville! It was a back-and-forth showdown all afternoon, and it was decided until the clock struck zeroes! It’s a see it to believe it ending. WATCH HERE!

Quick Links

• 🏈 49ers trade Deebo Samuel to Washington!

• 💨 Isaiah Bond runs 4.39 in 40-yard dash after high promise

• 🏒 Panthers acquire Seth Jones from Blackhawks!

What We’re Watching

🏀 Four nationally televised games today, FOUR!

• ABC: Nuggets @ Celtics (1:00 PM)

• NBAtv: Trail Blazers @ Cavs (3:00 PM)

• ESPN: Thunder @ Spurs (7:00 PM), Timberwolves @ Suns (9:30 PM)

• More to watch: Knicks @ Heat (6:00 PM), Clippers @ Lakers (9:30 PM)

🏒 TNT Triple Header!

• Maple Leafs @ Penguins (1:00 PM), Bruins @ Wilds (3:30 PM), Blues @ Stars (6:00 PM)

⚾️ Spring Training Schedule:

• Orioles vs Phillies (1:05 PM), Mets vs Red Sox (1:05 PM), Angels vs Giants (3:05 PM), Reds vs Cubs (3:05 PM), full schedule

🏀 College Basketball ranked action:

• Men’s: (11) Wisconsin @ (8) Michigan State (1:30 PM on CBS), Illinois @ (15) Michigan (3:45 PM on CBS), (18) Memphis @ UAB (4:00 PM on ESPN)

• Women’s: (25) Louisville @ (3) Notre Dame (12:00 PM on ESPN), Marquette @ (5) UConn (2:00 PM on FS1), (15) Kentucky @ (6) South Carolina (2:00 PM on ESPN), (20) Alabama @ (13) Oklahoma (2:30 on SECN), (12) Ohio State @ (19) Maryland (4:30 PM on FOX), (16) Duke @ (24) FSU (6:00 PM), (10) TCU @ (17) Baylor (6:30 PM on FS1)

⚽️ International Futbol!

• English FA Cup: Newcastle vs Brighton (8:45 AM), Man United vs Fulham (11:30 AM)

• LALIGA: Barcelona vs Sociedad (10:15 AM)

• MLS: Vancouver vs LA Galaxy (5:00 PM), Houston vs Inter Miami (7:00 PM)

• Serie A: AC Milan vs Lazio (2:45 PM)

⛳️ Day four of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, live from PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Here’s the leaderboard…

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily juice in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all!

Trees may get chopped. Stumps hold strong 🌴