How’s that Lynyrd Skynyrd song go again. “SWEET HOME North Dakota! Where the skies are so blue!” Something seems off…I digress! Another day, Another Stump. Today we’ve got bowl games to report on, Caitlin Clark news, and a homecoming for Grant Nelson! I don’t want to freak you out but there’s about a 3% chance our glue guy is in your hand at this exact second!

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

🏈 On this day in 2010, the “Miracle at the New Meadowlands”. The Philadelphia Eagles trailed the New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, things looked bleak. The Eagles ripped off 4 touchdowns in the final 7 minutes.

This is most remembered by the incredible walk-off punt return for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson. It was an absolutely electric finish.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏀 A Homecoming for Grant Nelson

A lot of college programs try to take care of their elder players by getting them a game close to home for family and friends to attend, but in the case of Grant Nelson, it’s a little more complicated.

Every year, college basketball teams all across the country try to schedule non-conference games for their senior players to ensure they get a chance to play in front of family and friends one last time in college. In the case of Grant Nelson, the Alabama senior, his home game created an interesting trip for (6) Alabama.

Last night, Nelson and his Alabama squad headed to North Dakota, to take on the University of ND. Nelson is a native of Devils Lake, North Dakota, about an hour and a half east of the campus. This was perhaps one of the most interesting away games for a top-10 team in recent memory.

It is most likely the highest ranked opponent to ever visit North Dakota, as the team competes in the Summit League against schools like University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Denver, University of Missouri-Kansas City, among others.

Nelson spent his first two years at the OTHER major school in the state, North Dakota State University. He was one of the best players in the transfer portal after a 2023-23 season where he averages 18 points per game and 9 rebounds. He’s been a key piece to the Alabama roster the last two seasons, averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds this year.

Grant has nine siblings, all of which have their own families, and apparently just about his whole town was trying to get into to the game. North Dakota gave him a bunch of tickets to disperse, but the supply did certainly not met the demand.

From a off-the-court prospective, this must have been really different for a lot of the program’s members. Alabama is a MASSIVE brand, used to playing in huge stadiums, in front of large crowds, in big cities and college towns, and I’m sure they have top shelf transportation and lodging just about everywhere they go. I don’t know much about Grand Forks, North Dakota, but I have a feeling it’s not quite what they are used to. With a population of 58,821, Grand Forks is about half the size of Tuscaloosa, and U of Alabama is about 2.5 times larger than UND.

I’m sure for many of Grant’s teammates, it was a new experience for them, as it would be for a lot of us. I love the idea of a team like Alabama, the number 6 team in the country, traveling to Grand Folks, ND, it really spices up a random non-conference game in December. It not only is great for Grant Nelson and his family and friends, but it brings one of the best brands in basketball to a place that doesn’t really get a lot of basketball attention. It spreads the game, makes it a larger brand, and perhaps even the next Grant Nelson will be in attendance.

Quick Hitters

🎽 Former Iowa Women’s Basketball star Caitlin Clark will have her jersey retired by the Hawkeyes this upcoming year. The ceremony will take place on February 2, when the Hawkeyes take on USC. Clark finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in women’s and men’s Division 1 history and was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever.

🏈 The Ivy League will finally be featured in the FCS Football Championship. For years, Ivy League Championships were the only award that the schools could receive, but after a proposal from Ivy League student athletes went through yesterday, they’ll now be able to compete for a National Championship.

🤣 One week after Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb referred to their upcoming opponent Michigan Tech as “Nobody U”, he loses to them. That’s right, Green Bay men’s basketball team lost to Division II Michigan Tech, 72-70, for their eight straight defeat. Yeesh. He took to twitter to try and defend himself, but I’m not sure there’s much recovery to be had.

🏈 Bowl Games: James Madison secures its first bowl win since they became FBS over Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl. 0 turnovers for JMU, 3 for WKU was really the difference in the game, 27-17 JMU. LA Bowl: Well the season changed early for UNLV after their QB Matthew Sluka said he was going to sit out for the season to enter the transfer portal. They were able fight through that, make a bowl game, and secure the win! UNLV defeated Cal, 24-13! Their former backup Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 2 TDs despite going 5/18 on passing attempts.

Other News:

• 🏈 Wake Forest football hires their new head guy

• 🏀 NBA “looking into” 3-point shooting volume issues

• 🚫 Nolan Arenado blocks trade to Astros

• 🤐 Man pleads guilty to stalking Paige Bueckers

Top Performers:

• 🏀 UConn Duo: Tarris Reed and Hassan Diarra both have double-doubles

• ⚽️ Gabriel Jesus (ARS): Second half hat trick after subbing on!

• 🏀 PJ Haggerty (Memphis): 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists

• 🏒 Detroit Red Wings (NHL): 6 GOALS!

Stump Favorites

🔥 FAKE PUNT SHOVEL PASS

🏒 KAPPO KAKKO trade details!

🏀 Oh My! Is it MARCH yet???

🥲 Baby’s first hockey game

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NFL: Broncos @ Chargers (8:15 PM on PRIME) ; NCAAF: New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs Sam Houston

🏀 NBA: Thunder @ Magic (7:00 PM on TNT), Bulls @ Celtics (7:30 PM), Warriors @ Grizzlies (8:00 PM), Clippers @ Mavs (8:30 PM), Knicks @ Timberwolves (9:30 PM on TNT), Lakers @ Kings (10:00 PM), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: No top 25 on the docket, full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: (8) Maryland vs William & Mary (11:00 AM), Charleston Southern @ (2) South Carolina (12:00 PM), (5) LSU vs UIC (8:00 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Blues @ Lightning (7:00 PM), Kings @ Flyers (7:30 PM), Bruins @ Oilers (9:00 PM), Canucks @ Golden Knights (10:30 PM), full schedule

⚽️ English Carabao Cup: Tottenham vs Manchester United (3:00 PM) ; Coppa Italia: Inter vs Udinese (3:00 PM), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

D. 103 yards! In 1994, Los Angeles Rams return man Robert Baily took a punt 103 yards to the house against the New Orleans Saints.

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 sports news in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all…

Trees get chopped. Stumps hold strong 💪