📰🏟️ Finals week, Verstappen suspension, & robot golfers

Good morning, and welcome to finals week (hope you studied). Some major storylines as the top teams in the NHL and NBA prepare to do battle for their leagues’ respective trophies:

Ratings are down: NHL playoffs viewership on ESPN platforms through the first two rounds was 28% lower compared to the 2024 playoffs, with viewership in the Conference Finals also down compared to last year. Over in the NBA—viewership of Conference Final games not including the big-market Knicks was not so great, raising questions among analysts about how a Finals matchup between the smaller-market Thunder and Pacers will perform.

Tax talk is prominent: In the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers, playing out of Florida, a state with no income tax, are facing off against the Edmonton Oilers, whose players also aren't privy to an income tax. The striking stat drawing debate—over the last nine years, there has been only one Final matchup between two teams from states/provinces bearing income taxes (Blues/Bruins in 2019). Meanwhile, the NBA Finals matchup between the Thunders and Pacers is the first in history where neither team is paying the luxury tax. 

The odds vary: The Oilers are slightly favored to win the Stanley Cup over the Panthers, according to FanDuel, while in the NBA the Thunder are among the most lopsided betting favorites in history.

—Peter & Kyle

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🗺️ Around the Horn

Three big things

⛳ Scottie learned how to putt (uh-oh). Scottie Scheffler notched a victory (and a cool $4M) at the PGA's Memorial Tournament this past weekend, his third #1-finish in four starts. It continues a stretch of dominance that in 2024 saw him win seven PGA events, the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and the season-long FedExCup title, en route to raking in enough cash to break his own record for most prize money won on the Tour in a single season. His secret weapon over this span? It’s all in the hips An improvement in putting. After switching from a blade putter to a mallet following the 2023 season, Scheffler has improved from 162nd on the Tour with -0.301 strokes gained putting—meaning he was giving away nearly a third of a stroke per round compared with the average putting performance—to 27th at 0.359, translating to a three-shot gain over the course typical tournament.

🥎 Get ready to see more softball highlights. Major League Baseball has reportedly acquired a more than 20% stake in the newly created Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), an unprecedented partnership for MLB with a women’s pro sports league. As part of the deal, valued in the eight figures, per Sports Illustrated, Major League Baseball has promised to help with sales and marketing efforts, which include extensive promotional support and broadcasts on MLB Network and MLB.com to raise the AUSL’s visibility. The softball league’s inaugural season, starting June 7 (Saturday), will feature four teams participating in a 12-city barnstorming tour.

🏀 Inside the NBA held its last broadcast on TNT. But the show isn’t going away—the Galveston hate will continue on ESPN and ABC next season with the same cast and production crew. The transition is occurring due to the NBA's new 11-year, $76B media rights deal with Disney (ESPN/ABC), NBC, and Amazon Prime video, which kicks off next year. TNT is losing its NBA broadcast rights as part of the new arrangement.

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📸 Snapped

Pics from the weekend

♟️ “The bang heard ‘round the world”: Gukesh Dommaraju, the 19-year-old defending chess world champion, took advantage of a rare blunder from world #1 Magnus Carlsen to seal his first-ever classical victory over the five-time world champion. Carlsen is known for staying calm and composed under pressure—but he stunned the crowd (and Gukesh) on Sunday by slamming his hand on the table after he was forced to concede, and also skipped post-match media duties. Despite the loss, Carlsen is still leading the Norway Chess 2025 tournament as it enters the final four-day stretch.

🏌️ Sweden’s Maja Stark says “show me the money”: Stark held off world #1 Nelly Korda down the stretch on Sunday to win the US Women’s Open by two strokes, securing her first major title and second career LPGA Tour win. As a result, Stark earned the largest-ever prize in women’s golf: a $2.4M check that nearly doubled the 25-year-old’s career earnings heading into the weekend.

🏎️ Max Verstappen is on the verge of suspension. The four-time world champ finished 10th at Sunday’s Spanish GP after receiving a 10-second penalty for colliding with Mercedes driver George Russell. The collision came after Red Bull asked Verstappen to allow Russell to pass him, fearing he might otherwise receive a penalty for leaving the track seconds earlier. Verstappen disagreed (and was later proven right), but appeared to cede the position to Russell—only to re-accelerate and collide with the Mercedes driver. The incident, for which Verstappen apologized a day later, took him to 11 penalty points over the past 12 months—one away from a single-race suspension—though two points expire on June 30, after the next two races.

📰 News

What else is happening

• Bill Belichick’s contract buyout changed on Sunday. Meaning—if he were wanting to make a move away from UNC, it’d now be a lot easier (though he’s given no indication of a desire to do so).
• Federal agents are contacting MLB and NFL players as part of an investigation related to a licensing firm.
• Eagles RB Saquon Barkley will appear on the cover of Madden 26. See behind the scenes of how the cover art was created.
• John Brenkus, creator and host of Sport Science on ESPN, passed away at 54.
• Paris Saint-Germain topped Inter Milan to win the 2025 UEFA Champions League title. Celebrations turned violent in Paris following PSG’s victory, with two killed and 500+ arrested.
• The Royals called up top prospect Jac Caglianone. He could make his MLB debut as soon as today.

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👀 Must See

Top plays

🥹 Elly De La Cruz hits emotional HR following sister’s death

🥅 Connor McDavid turns on the jets for breakaway goal

🥎 UCLA, down to last out, hits game-tying HR that shouldn’t have counted

🏀 SGA falls down and passes between defender’s legs for the three

⚾ Young Blue Jays fan misses home-run ball—but immediately gets a second chance

🔢 Facts & Figures

By the numbers

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

⚾ LSU Shreveport became the first college baseball team to ever complete an undefeated season, capping their 59-0 campaign with the school's first NAIA national championship in any sport.

🎾 Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul became the first American men to reach the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003.

🏒 The same two teams are meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals in back-to-back years (Panthers v. Oilers) for the second time in four decades, and 12th time in NHL history.

😳 The top-two overall seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament, #1 Vanderbilt and #2 Texas, were both eliminated in the regionals for the second time in history; this comes two weeks after Texas A&M became the first #1-overall seed to ever be eliminated in softball regionals.

📉 Rock bottom: The Colorado Rockies are the first team in baseball's modern era (since 1901) to reach 50 losses before 10 wins.

🤔 Trivia

This or that

Below you’ll find 10 events, presented in five pairs. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to determine which event in each presented pair happened first (by year).

1. A. The ABA merges with the NBA. | B. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis throws a perfect game while high on LSD.
2. A. The European Super League was created…then subsequently collapsed. | B. David Tyree makes a crucial catch against his helmet to extend the New York Giants’ final Super Bowl drive en route to upsetting the New England Patriots, spoiling Brady and Belichick’s bid for a perfect 19-0 season.
3. A. Michael Phelps becomes the first athlete to win eight gold medals at a single Olympics. | B. Mo’ne Davis becomes the first girl to win a Little League World Series game, and the first to pitch a shutout.
4. A. Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam singles tournament. | B. Tiger Woods wins his first major championship.
5. A. Moneyball, a book about the contrarian and data-driven approach of the Oakland A’s front office, was published. | B. Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.*

🌐 Web Gems

Cool things to click

⚾ POV: You just got called up to the Big Leagues…then hit a walkoff in your MLB debut.

⛹️ Watch: Highlights from Wilt Chamberlain’s 73-point game against the Knicks in 1962.

👶 While we’re on the topic: Peep ten minutes of Babe Ruth footage from back in the day.

📖 Read: He’s the most important player in the NBA Finals—and he doesn’t play for either team.

🏌️ Welp: Robots are coming for pro golfers’ jobs too.

🏋️ Fit, FTW: Sign up for the Morning Chalk Up newsletter and get access to all things CrossFit, including expert analysis, breaking news, and exclusive interviews 5x a week.*

*A message from our partners.

🤔 Answers

1. Dock Ellis threw his LSD perfect game in 1970; the ABA-NBA merger occurred in 1976.
2. David Tyree’s helmet catch occurred in 2008, while the European Super League was created and collapsed in 2021.
3. Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, while Mo’ne Davis made LLWS history in 2014.
4. Tiger Woods won his first major in 1997 (the Masters); Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam in 1999 (the US Open).
5. Moneyball was published in 2003, while Barry Bonds surpassed Hank Aaron in 2007.