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Good Morning, Stumpers!
I want to start out by saying our On This Day today is a flashback to 1860! Yeah…we went there! Yesterday we had two brutal play-in games, some Champions League drama, a new development for Nico Iameleava, and a Miami Heat GLUE GUY! On a scale of bad nachos to good nachos, if we had to rank how much sports action we have on today, it’s tough. I’m thinking movie theater style chips and cheese whiz nachos. Yeah. Not great. Anyways, let’s get to the Stump!
Today’s Rundown
What’s in today’s edition?
🏀 The State of the Play-In Tournament
⚽️ Champions League…Down to Four!
🏀 There’s a GLUE GUY in Miami
🏈 Nico lands in his new spot!
On This Day
On This Day…
🥊 Worlds First Title Fight
The history of humans fighting each other in hand to hand combat for sport goes back probably just as far as human existence does. But when was the first world title bout to crown a champion?
On this day in 1860, the Champion of England Tom Sayers took on American John Heenan in a ring near Farnborough, England. The fight was absolutely brutal and lasted a total of 2 hours and 27 minutes. It was so bad that police had to step in and call the fight a draw.
Today’s Trivia
🧠 Test your sports knowledge…
NBA Playoffs Trivia: Which player holds the record for most points scored in a single playoff game with 63 points? |
Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: D. Shai! SGA led the NBA in scoring this year and currently sits as the front runner for NBA MVP.
Before We Dive In…
👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s
🔍️ Stump Spotlight
Let’s Talk Ball
🏀 NBA Play-In! Good or Bad?
So this play-in format. Let’s talk about the two games from last night, and then just this format in general.
I wanted to a nice double feature here about the two games last night. On paper they were supposed to be close games. My goodness were they anything but. If you woke up yesterday and really wanted two absolute SNOOZERS on primetime TV…you got your wish.
We started with Heat vs Bulls in Chicago, and the Bulls have some good pieces. Coby White and Josh Giddey have come on strong, and Vucevic has been an above average big man. But that being said man they didn’t look like they were on even the same level as the Miami Heat. That’s the crazy thing about sports…there’s levels to this. The Heat were lightyears above the Bulls, and now they could very well get blown out by the Hawks on Friday, who could then get absolute pulverized by the Cavs on Sunday. It’s just the way the league works.
This all being said, the play-in has been meant to give these teams, 7-10, more of a reason to play hard at the end of the season, and make the viewer experience more fun.
Just to touch on the second game last night. It was a blowout. The Mavs ran the Kings out of their own stadium. There was nothing fun about that one, except for maybe Klay hitting 4 straight threes in the second quarter.
I get both sides of the play-in debate. One side says why should the 7 or 8 seeds have to re-earn their spot into the postseason, after already having a Top-8 seed in their conference. Yesterday did not help the play-ins case, because we had two UGGO games on. What I will say however. is how can you not love more meaningful games. The last two weeks of the regular season were way more meaningful for way more teams because of this format, and now we’re set for two more good matchups on Friday.
Yesterday was tough, but I’m still IN on the play-in tournament!
The Hot Stove
🏀 Florida Lands Princeton Transfer
Sometimes the rich just keep getting richer.
In the case of Florida men’s basketball, the national champions are reloading for their title defense. Princeton stud transfer Xaivian Lee committed to coach Todd Golden and his Gators program. Lee took visits to Florida, St. John’s, and Kansas, but decided to join Florida to fill Walter Clayton Jr.’s spot in the rotation. The 6’4” Canadian is a two-time All-Ivy league selection and is a dynamic guard who can shoot, pass, and play defense. A big time get for the Gators to land one of the most sought after players in the whole transfer portal.
🏈 Champions League Semi’s are Set
With Arsenal and Inter Milan’s wins yesterday, the semifinals in the UEFA Champions League are firmly cemented, and it’s going to be pure entertainment.
This years Champions League has been full of big time upsets and shocking results, but when tournament favorite Real Madrid officially was bounced from the tournament yesterday things got even more interesting. There’s only four teams left now as the plot continues to thicken: Inter Milan will take on Barcelona, Arsenal will go up against French super squad Paris Saint Germaine. The matches will take place on April 30th at 3PM eastern time. Arsenal was the squad that was able to eliminate and even dominate Real Madrid, they’ve in turn been rewarded with a spot in the final four. Inter and Bayern Munich battled it out in Germany, but Inter outlasted the star studded squad.
🏈 Potential Suitor for QB Iamaleava
The whole Tennessee and Nico Iamaleava situation is bizzare. He asked for more NIL money, Tennessee said no, he refused to practice, a stalemate ensued, and now Nico is officially in the portal and looking for a new home.
Now that some of the smoke has settled in the case of former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava abrupt break up, the schools that are interested in his services are now starting to become clear. Nico requested $4M in NIL from Tennessee, but it looks like he will not get that on the open market either. UCLA has been the one who has openly discussed their interested and offer to Nico, but they are content playing the “wait-and-see” game. Besides UCLA, there hasn’t been a lot of early buzz on what schools are offering up a roster spot. Nico is an interesting talent, he’s obviously extremely talented but struggled mightily against top tier SEC opponents through out the year, including in their College Football Playoff game against Ohio State. As his suitors become more clear, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
⬇️ Quick Links
What To Watch
🏀 NBA Basketball on hold for the day…
⚾️ Major League Baseball
FS1: Royals vs Tigers (6:40 PM)
Prime Video: Yankees vs Rays (7:05 PM)
More To Watch: Mariners @ Reds (12:40 PM), Giants vs Phillies (4:05 PM), Guardians @ Orioles (6:35 PM), Cardinals @ Mets (7:10 PM), full schedule
⛳️ PGA Tour is BACK. The Masters is hard to follow up, but the RBC Heritage always seems to somehow put on a big time show. Live from Hilton Head Island, SC, at the beautiful Harbour Town Golf Links. Here’s the leaderboard
🏒 Last Day of the Regular Season in the NHL
ESPN Double Feature: Capitals @ Penguins (7:00 PM), Flames @ Kings (9:30 PM)
ESPN+: Red Wings @ Leafs (7:00 PM), Lightning vs Rangers (7:00 PM), Islanders vs Blue Jackets (7:00 PM)
⚽️ Europa League
Tottenham vs Eintracht Frankfurt (3:00 PM), Manchester United vs Lyon (3:00 PM)
The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For
Glue Guy OTD Erik Spoelstra Miami Heat HC I get that he may be one of the best coaches of all time, but what he does for this Miami franchise is insane. He’s a magician. | Quote OTD “The only thing that overcomes hard luck in hard work.” Harry Golden Keep going. | Song OTD Nothing Can Change this Love Sam Cooke Deep cut from a legend. |
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