Good Morning, Stumpers!

A quick shoutout to those of you who enjoyed that Bohemian Rhapsody reference there. Not the song of the day today but it very well could be. Last night was Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals and the Thunder made a statement! Yesterday we also found out that NFL players might be heading to The Olympics for flag football! Lot to unpack today! Let’s go!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏈 NFL Players Coming to the Olympics?

• 🏀 WCF Game 1! Thunder Stay Hot!

• 🐊 Gators land another one!

• 🥖 A MID-DAY GLUE GUY!

On This Day

On This Day…

⚾️ Epic Champions League Finals

The Champions league is arguably the biggest soccer tournament in the world, especially in the world of professional soccer. It pits the best of Europe against each other, and it almost always provides some unreal drama.

On this day in 2008, Manchester United defeated Chelsea. 6-5 on penalties after scores tied at 1-1 following extra time. It was the first time in the storied tradition of the tournament that two English franchise’s competed in the final. A young Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal for Man U.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: D. 1973! It’s been a MINUTE since the Knicks took home a NBA Championship, is this the year?

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• 🏀 Leaving this one here. Is this a foul?

• 💥 Hockey! A quick tilt in the ECF! WOOOOOOOO!

• ⚾️ Yamamoto was DEALING!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Western Conference Finals

🍿 Game One - Thunder are THUNDERIN’!

Just when you thought it looked like the Timberwolves had a shot, the Thunder came out from the half with a FIRE! And where there’s fire…there’s THUNDER!

…That’s definitely not the saying but it kind of plays!

Coming off of a Game 7 Sunday afternoon, the Thunder dropping this Game One against a well rested Timberwolves team would have been completely understandable. The first have seemed ugly for the Thunder yet they went into the break only down 4! It was Julius Randle with 20 first-half points (including 5/6 from 3) leading the way for Minnesota. He has been an animal all postseason and nothing changed in the first-half.

The Thunder seemed a little out of sorts in the first half. They came back from the locker with JUICE. SGA had 20 of his 31 points in the second half. J Dub and Chet each became aggressive, and it was all-around way too much for Minnesota to handle. The Thunder outscored the Timberwolves 32-18 in the third quarter. The fire from Julius Randle fizzled, and there was no ‘other’ who really stepped up when they needed to. Randle ended with 28 and ANTMAN ended with 18 (which is definitely not going to get it done), after that no other player had more than 9! That was Donte DiVincenzo who went 3/14 from the field (3/12 from 3).

Just a tough showing all around for the fellas. The Thunder continue to show why they are who they are and their crowd continues to be a force! When the momentum starts to shift in that arena, you can feel it through the screen.

If only there was another place that was like that. Maybe. Maybe some sort of Garden…

BIG GAME TONIGHT!

Thunder now lead 1-0.

The Hot Stove

🏈 NFL ‘OKs’ 2028 Olympic Flag Football

Oh baby, we’re getting the band together. You thought the 1992 Dream Team was stacked? Imagine the squad that the NFL is going to put together for the 2028 Flag Football Olympic team.

While this may seem a little dangerous, there is some limits. Only one player per NFL team on each national team and the schedule does not “unreasonably conflict with an NFL player’s league and club commitments. What if they get injured? The NFL thought of that, too. The league is purchasing leaguewide insurance protection for any player injured while participating, a salary cap credit for any player injured, and an expectation that Olympic flag football teams will establish medical staffs and field surface that comply with NFL minimum standards. In short, the NFL has their guys covered. This is no guarantee that players will make the team, as their is tryouts, but you can’t tell me if Tyreek Hill shows up, he’s not making the squad. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about Lamar Jackson tossing the rock to Ja’Marr Chase and Travis Kelce and others. Talk about an absolute electric factory.

🏀 Boogie Fland Lands at Florida

After exploring the NBA Draft and participating in parts of the NBA Combine, former Arkansas PG Boogie Fland has found a new home.

The former five-star recruit and McDonalds All-American, Fland exited the NBA Draft process last week and decided to pursue the transfer portal from Coach Cal and his Arkansas program. ESPN ranked Fland as the 42nd overall prospect in the draft, but had him as one of the most desired transfer in all of the nation. A native of New York, Fland averaged 15.1 points and 5.7 assists in his first 18 games at Arkansas, but suffered a hand injury that kept him out until the NCAA Tournament. He played a small reserve role in the postseason as he tried to play through the pain. After significant buzz around his recruitment, it seemed pretty obvious from the jump that he’d end up as a Gator. This is the second addition to Florida’s backcourt this offseason, as UF added Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee a few weeks back. These two additions should sure up a strong roster for Todd Golden as the Gators look to defend their National Championship.

🏒 The Champs Stay Hot! Panthers Rout Hurricanes in Game 1

Well the home-ice advantage for the Carolina Hurricanes came and went quick! The Champs came to play last night!

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals may be tonight in the NBA world, but it was. last night in the NHL world! The reigning champs just got taken to the brink by the Maple Leafs, and it seems like they want nothing to do with close games anymore. They set the tone early with 2 first period goals.

Sebastian Aho gave the Carolina crowd something to cheer for when he cut it to 1, but the champs scored the next three, raising the lead to 5-1. A garbage time goal gave us a final score of 5-2. Sergei Bobrovsky was solid in goal all night for the Panthers, totaling 31 saves. Despite the blowout, this very well could still be a long series. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday where the Canes still are the betting favorites!

⬇️ Quick Links

• ⚾️ Walker Buehler ejected in Red Sox win

• 🏀 Dream get the very close win over the Fever!

• 🏈 Burrow talks about another night game in Baltimore!

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs

• Eastern Conference Finals: Pacers @ Knicks (8:00 PM on TNT)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• TBS: Mets @ Red Sox (6:35 PM)

• Amazon Prime: Rangers @ Yankees (7:05 PM)

• What to Watch: Astros @ Rays (1:10 PM). Guardians @ Twins (1:10 PM). Tigers @ Cardinals (1:15 PM), Royals @ Giants (3:45 PM), Padres @ Toronto (7:07 PM). DBacks@ Dodgers (10:10 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• West Final: Oilers @ Stars (8:00 PM on ESPN)

🏀 WNBA

• Wings @ Lynx (8:00 PM), Mystics @ Valkyries (10:00 PM), Sparks @ Mercury (10:00 PM)

⚽️ Soccer

• Europa League: Tottenham @ Manchester United (3:00 PM)

• US Open Cup: DC United vs Charlotte (7:30 PM), Minnesota @ St. Louis (7:30 PM), NY Red Bulls @ Dallas (7:30 PM)

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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