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🔥 Gainbridge Field-MAD-house
The Pacers are now up 2-1 in the NBA Finals...
Stomping Ground Sports
June 12, 2025
Good Morning, Stumpers!
The Indiana Pacers won a different way last night, they got to play with a lead. They dug in and were able to fend off the Thunder. GRIT! We’ll recap that game, and a whole lot more today. The U.S. Open⛳️ starts today! FIRED UP FOR THAT! Let’s go!
The Rundown
🏀 Gainbridge Fieldhouse GOES CRAZY! Pacers Up 2-1!
🏀 The Durant Suitors Have Been Revealed
🧑⚖️ Title IX Appeal House v. NCAA
⛳️ U.S. OPEN GETS UNDERWAY! LETS GOOOOO!
On This Day
⚾️ Connie Retires After LONG Career
There’s not anyone like Connie Mack in the history of the MLB. It was a terribly sad day when his reign came to an end.
On this day in 1950, Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack announces his retirement after FORTY NINE years in the role. His 3,731 career wins is just under 900 total wins more than the second in the history of the sport. Insanity.
Today’s Trivia
POLL TIME: The 2025 US Open is heralded as the toughest course in PGA Tour history, but will the winner score under par? |
Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: C. 4! DJ won with a score of 4-under after Shane Lowry had an epic collapse and dropped 6-shots on the final day to lose.
Glue Guy of the Day
🤝 Game 3
Glue Guy OTD: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
No ties to either of these two teams, and when it was first slated for this to be the Finals I wasn’t all that fired up. But this Pacers team has done something to me. These guys just fight, and they fight, and they fight.
Yesterday, every single big shot that was hit, and I don’t mean just fourth quarter shots. I’m talking about shots in the second quarter with 6 minutes togo. Every single shot that was made had the place going absolutely nuts. It was the first NBA Finals game in Indiana in 25 years, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse had fans that had a quarter century of aggression just stored in the tank.
This game was awesome, and it was the fans that really gave it that extra OOMPH.
There’s this quote from Rocky 2 that’s one of my favorite quotes of all time. Apollo’s trainer, Duke, says they shouldn’t fight Rocky again.
He says to Apollo, “I saw you beat that man. Like I never seen no man get beat before. And the man, kept, coming, after you! Now we don’t need that kind of man in our life.”
Pacers. That’s them. Fight, grit, T.J. McConnell and Benedict Mathurin, just everything. The Thunder really still might be the favorites, but man this has gotten fun quick!
Gainbridge Fieldhouse. House of ANIMALS! GLUE!
Yesterday’s Moments
🧑⚖️ Title IX Appeal House v. NCAA
The Stump Short Story: Just days ago, the House v. NCAA settlement sent shockwaves through the college sports world, officially ending the idea of amateurism as a pillar of the sport. Allowing direct school-to-athlete revenue sharing, roster caps, and codifying NIL payments brought on the revenue era of the sport, but a motion of appeal by eight female college athletes may put some of that on hold. The appeal comes as the settlement plans to pay $2.4B to former college athletes for missed NIL pay and opportunity.
Why it Matters: The lawsuit came to fruition after the $2.8B was divvied between men’s and women’s athletics, but only $102M of the total number going to former women student-athletes. The settlement used a formula to determine distribution based on revenue earned by sport during the window of opportunity for back pay (June 2016-Sept. 2024). There’s a whole bunch of stuff as to why this matters, from protecting and promoting women’s athletics, to ensure equal and fair opportunity under the law, to keeping the Title IX provisions alive. I encourage you to read more, please.
🌞 KD’s Trade Suitors Revealed
The Stump Short Story: The Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant’s business assosciate, Rich Kleiman, have met multiple times over the last week or two to work through trade scenarios. The teams that have expressed interest, according to Shams, are the following: Houston, San Antonio, Miami, Minnesota, and New York. While the idea that KD will be on the move this summer is not new or unique, it’s still crazy to think about the possible fits and trade scenarios that may be coming across Phoenix’s table.
Why it Matters: The KD-Suns experiment simply did not work, but the real problem here is KD’s trade value. The aging superstar is certainly still an All-Star talent, but there has to be questions about his long-term attrition. KD, despite being paired with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, failed to produce notable results in Phoenix. Now, KD is looking for a new home but will he attract the same market he once did? He hasn’t won much outside of Golden State, and I’m not sure a team is willing to trade away their future for him. But then again, I don’t get paid the big bucks to do this, so maybe someone will and I’ll look dumb. Either way, KD will NOT be in the land of the Sun next season.
Read More: Sources: Suns, Durant’s business partner weigh trade options (ESPN)
🔗 Quick Links
Today’s Top Three
⛳️ Day ONE of the 2025 US Open from the most challenging course on Tour, Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY ELSE!
🏒 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game 4: The Florida Panthers take a 2-1 series lead into the night as the Oilers look to rebound after two straight losses. 8:00 PM on TNT!
⚾️ An intriguing one on MLB Network at 7:40 PM ET, the New York Yankees and red-hot Aaron Judge storm into Kansas City to face Seth Lugo on the bump for the Royals…
Of! The! Day’s!
Song of the Day People Are Crazy Billy Currington Good up-beat tune as we head into Friday Jr. | Quote of the Day “GOOOOOOOOD MORNING, VIETNAM.” Robin Williams How I need to be woken up after watching all these west coast basketball games but living on the east coast… |
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