Good Morning, Stumpers!

A few things on the docket today. First of all we saw a quiet ride off into the sunset from one of the league’s most veteran safeties. After that we saw Venus Williams win a tour singles match at the age of 45! Anything else to report on? Oh yeah, the Clippers have assembled maybe the oldest team of all time and they might actually have a shot to do some damage! Stump time!

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The Rundown

🌄 The Quiet Retirement

🏀 Some more NBA Free Agency

🎾 Venus Williams Wins Singles Match at Age 45

🎩 A Quote from Teddy Roosevelt

On This Day

😇 Buehrle is Perfect

There have been 24 perfect games thrown in the history of Major League Baseball. No hits. No walks. No hit batters. No errors. 27 up, 27 down. Nobody reaches first base. It takes everyone.

On this day in 2009, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw the 17th perfect game in the history of the sport. He threw 116 pitches, 76 of them were for strikes. The perfect game was saved by a remarkable catch in center field by Dewayne Wise in the ninth inning, securing the game for the White Sox.

Today’s Trivia

Glue Guy of the Day

🌄 The Quiet Retirement

Look, I’m all for the “one last ride’ element that takes place in professional sports these days, but sometimes it’s overplayed. The retirement tours, the longwinded himing and hawing, the ups and downs of the media drama, it can get annoying. Sometimes, a good quiet ride off into the sunset can be just as lovely. We saw one of those yesterday.

When it comes to the career of Tyrann Mathieu, he might be one of the biggest glue guys in modern day NFL. He plays safety, the guy who keeps the defense together, he hits like a madman, he leads like a general, and he never wavered or put himself above the team. He was an relic in today’s game, and yesterday, he hung up his cleats.

He did it the way a glue guy would, no big retirement tour, no glitzy showering of congratulations, no standing ovation in his last game. He walked off the field, his head held high, and is now riding off into the sunset.

Mathieu played in 180 games over 12 years between time with the Cardinals, Texans, Chiefs, and Saints, recording 834 tackles, 111 sacks, and 36 interceptions, 4 of which he returned for touchdowns. Even in the twilight of his career, Mathieu was one of the most productive players on the Saints defense. He was the only player of the secondary to start all 17 games last year.

Mathieu was not only highly respected on the field, but also off. He worked tirelessly for the community, twice nominated for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. He also was one of the baddest dudes in the history of NCAA football during his time with LSU. A glue guy in the locker room and on the field, he went out the way glue guys should: quietly, off into the sunset.

The BIG Moments

🏀 NBA Free Agency Updates

The Stump Short Story: If you thought that the NBA free agency rush was over, you thought wrong. There’s some really strong signings that happened over the last couple of days, here’s the three that made headlines:

• Chris Paul → LA Clippers: Paul is reuniting with LAC for his 21st NBA season, a place he spent six seasons. The 12-time NBA All-Star was determined to play his last season close to home, his family is based out of LA.

• Josh Okogie → Houston Rockets: Houston adds another active wing to fill out their roster now that Kevin Durant slides into the starting lineup. In todays game, three and D players are more important than ever, and that’s exactly what Okogie gives you.

• Jonas Valanciunas → Nuggets: This one made news a couple weeks ago, but Jonas was back and forth about whether he was going to return to Europe to play professionally there. Instead, he’s BACK in the NBA with Denver. A huge move for the Nuggets as Denver has struggled to fill the backup Center position in recent years.

Why it Matters: Filling out the roster in the end of July and early August is the difference between a first round exit and a championship run. Don’t sleep on these moves, ladies and gentleman.

Read More: NBA Free Agency Tracker via NBA, Don’t Miss a Single Move

🎾 Venus Williams Wins Singles Match at Age 45

The Stump Short Story: The Williams sisters were not only the face of American Tennis, but just Tennis period for two decades. They burst onto the scene when Serena won her first major in 1999 and then Venus followed in 2000. If you crunch the numbers, that was 25 years ago! Just yesterday at the age of 45, Venus Williams won a singles match on tour against Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4, and became the second oldest woman ever to win a tour-level singles match. She now advances in the DC Open!

Why it Matters: Age is just a number! Right? We haven’t heard from the Williams sisters within the Tennis world in years, but now there was a firework. With a fresh wave of American women in the Tennis world, women like Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Emma Navarro, we can sometimes forget who laid the groundwork. It was the Williams sisters! Great to see Venus get a W!

Read More: Venus Williams Wins Singles Match at the Age of 45 (ESPN)

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🔗 Quick Links

❤️ A look back at Ozzie bringing the juice in an MLB game!

🏀 What do you think about this roster? How far do they go? OLD WOLVES!

⚾️ Brice Matthews has been a man possessed!

What To Watch

⚾️ There’s some national baseball over the next couple of days that you’re not going to want to miss…

• Today: Red Sox @ Phillies (7:00 PM on ESPN), Yankees @ Blue Jays (7:07 PM on Prime Video)

• Tomorrow: Orioles @ Guardians (1:10 PM on MLBN), Blue Jays @ Tigers (6:40 PM on MLBN), Athletics @ Astros (8:10 PM on MLBN)

🏌️ We’re getting going in the Twin Cities tomorrow, as the 3M Open gets going outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last years winner, Jhonattan Vegas, takes the tee along with a host of other players hungry for a piece of the $8.4M purse. Here’s the tee times for tomorrow

🏀 Two nationally televised WNBA games between today and tomorrow: Dream @ Mercury (Today at 10:00 PM on CBSSN), Aces @ Fever (Tomorrow at 7:00 PM on Prime Video)

Of! The! Day’s!

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