Screen Shots: May 29th-June 4th, 2025

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what sporting events you should watch on TV every week! Make sure you subscribe so it comes straight to your inbox! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

South Carolina baseball had a disappointing season, but we finally got some answers about why that was the case. #1 Gamecock baseball enthusiast Brett Gosnell joined me to talk about the scandal rocking the program and what it means moving forward!

Now, to the sports!

Thursday, May 29th, 2025

• Women’s College World Series: Texas Longhorns vs. Florida Gators at 12:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

Starting off the day with a showdown between 2 of the highest scoring teams in the nation. Spoiler alert: You’re going to see a lot of repeat matchups at this point, especially among SEC schools. Texas took 2 of 3 from Florida in the regular season. Can the Gators get some revenge?

• Women’s College World Series: Tennessee Volunteers vs. Oklahoma Sooners at 2:30 pm (ET) on ESPN

As if facing the 5-time defending national champion wasn’t hard enough, these games take place in Oklahoma City. However, the Vols took 2 of 3 from the Sooners in Norman earlier this year. Oklahoma is 2nd in the nation in home runs per game, but has yet to solve Tennessee flamethrower Karlyn Pickens. She was the winning pitcher in both victories and keeps breaking her own record for fastest recorded pitch in NCAA history. I’ve chosen not to fact-check this Reddit post that claims her pitch is equal to a 111 mph pitch in baseball.

• NBA Playoffs: Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks at 8:00 pm (ET) on TNT

The Knicks have never recovered from their absolutely bananas Game 1 loss, so we’re just waiting on their official Cancun trip itinerary to be finalized (perhaps by my sponsor, Turn The Paige Travel!). The end of this series also means the end of Inside The NBA on TNT. While the show will head to ESPN, who knows how it’ll look over there, so this is truly the end of an era. Tune in for the pre- and post-game shows if nothing else.

Friday, May 30th, 2025

• WNBA: Los Angeles Sparks @ Las Vegas Aces at 10:00 pm (ET) on ION

Plum Dawg returns to Vegas to face off against the franchise that drafted her #1 overall in 2017. As great as she was for the Aces, I was skeptical about how Kelsey Plum would perform as the #1 option for the first time in her career. However, so far, so good! Another good game, plus a W might send Aces’ fans into a full-blown tizzy. Get your popcorn ready!

@bleacherreport

😂😂😂😂😂😂 #marchmadness #collegebasketball #wbb

Saturday, May 31st, 2025

• UEFA Champions League Final: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Inter Milan at 3:00 pm (ET) on CBS

I’ve been looking for this one. Got scared that I missed it and left y’all hanging! Okay, look, I have been very upfront about my soccer knowledge, but I was shocked to learn that PSG has never won this competition. I mean, they had Messi, Mbappe, and Neymar on the same club once. We could be watching a moment that has been 55 years in the making.

• Track and Field: Day 1 of Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at 4:00 pm (ET) on The CW

Coach Herbert Johnson and I had a lot to say about Michael Johnson’s attempt at bringing non-Olympic track into the American sports landscape. They addressed one of our critiques shortly after the episode aired by announcing a compressed schedule moving forward. We both plan to take full credit for this change, but, more importantly, this should give GST a better chance of long-term success.

Sunday, June 1st, 2025

• MLB: St. Louis Cardinals @ Texas Rangers at 1:05 pm (ET) on Roku

In 2022, Brendan Donovan became the 1st Cardinals rookie to win a Gold Glove, but his bat is making all of the noise these days. Roughly a third of the way into the season, he’s currently 7th in batting average and on pace to hit well over 50 doubles. Jarren Duran led the majors last season with 48. Donovan credits geometry and physics with his improved performance at the plate. Imagine if they taught those subjects by having students go try to hit lasers.

• Track and Field: Day 2 of Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at 3:00 pm (ET) on The CW

The more viewer-friendly schedule is awesome. Even more awesome and viewer-friendly? A chance to see star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone run her first 100-meter flat and 100-meter hurdle races of her pro career.

• MLB: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Dodgers at 7:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

World Series rematch! Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have been going band for band all season long. Shohei was the 1st MLB player to reach the 20 homer mark this year, but Judge is right on his heels. Judge has just been hitting everything honestly, as his batting average is hovering around the .400 mark. He’s finished two seasons hitting above .300. In those seasons, he’s hit 62 and 58 home runs, respectively.

Monday, June 2nd, 2025

• On This Day In Sports History: In 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in game 7 of the Western Conference Finals

Gambling aficionado disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy claimed that game 6 of this series was rigged by two of the game’s officials in an effort to extend the series to a do-or-die game 7 showdown. The Shaq and Kobe Lakers did shoot 18 more free throws in the 4th quarter alone to beat the Kings. Nobody knows for certain if that game was rigged, but, as devastating a loss as it may have been, Sacramento still had one more chance to advance to the NBA Finals. They also had the benefit of home-court advantage thanks to finishing with the best record in the NBA that season.

Controversy aside, this was the best playoff series I’ve ever seen. Division foes who were matched up for the 3rd consecutive year in the postseason, they were more than familiar with each other, and they played like it. Game 4 saw the Lakers storm back from a 24-point deficit to win it at the buzzer on this iconic Robert Horry 3-pointer. It was the Kings’ turn in game 5 as Mike Bibby hit this game-winning jumper with just seconds left.

Game 7 was setting up to be another photo finish. Kings’ ball down by 1. Shot clock turned off. Bibby to Webber. Webber to Turkoglu. Turkoglu drives and kicks to a wide-open Peja Stojakovic. Wide-open Peja Stojakovic. Few combinations of words were scarier at the time. The 6’10” Peja had just been named to his first All-Star team that season after averaging 21 points per game on a blistering 41.6% from 3. He won his first 3-Point Shooting Contest that All-Star Weekend, taking down the likes of Ray Allen and Steve Nash. Peja had been largely ineffective in this series after playing just the final 3 games due to an ankle sprain suffered earlier in the playoffs, but, again, I cannot stress this enough: wide-open Peja Stojakovic.

Peja caught the ball cleanly, squared up, and without hesitation fired up a 3. Time seemed to stand still, and the cowbells went silent as the ball floated towards its peak. From NBC’s camera angle, it looked like the perfect shot. It continued its journey towards the basket until it hit…nothing. Well, not quite nothing, I suppose. It landed in the hands of Shaq, who was immediately fouled. He split a pair of free throws, then Mike Bibby saved the day once again as he hit a pair of his own to send the game to overtime. But those Lakers were champions, and you have to step on the necks of champions when you have a chance, and the Kings didn’t. They lost in overtime. Los Angeles would advance to the NBA Finals and win their 3rd straight NBA title.

The Kings never got that close to a title again. The 2 players most affected by this were Mike Bibby and Chris Webber. Bibby was a breakout performer in those 2002 playoffs, his first as a King, as he hit clutch shot after clutch shot. How do we talk about him today if he helped them dethrone the Lakers on the way to the title that year? He would have joined his dad, Henry, as 1 of 37 players at the time to have won an NCAA and NBA championship. Coincidentally, Henry got his NBA ring as a teammate of Lakers coach Phil Jackson when both were members of the Knicks.

Webber, the most talented member of the Fab Five, was known as a choke artist after his infamous timeout fiasco cost Michigan the 1993 National Championship game against North Carolina. An NBA Championship probably rids him of that label forever while also cementing his place in NBA history as one of the best power forwards ever, instead of a guy who was a step or two below all-time greats like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

For better or worse, that’s how these things go. We’re seeing it in real-time with these current NBA Playoffs. If Tyrese Haliburton’s shot doesn’t somehow drop in and force overtime in game 1, are the Knicks cruising to a Finals appearance? How will those players be remembered? Those stakes are what make the NBA Playoffs awesome. You’re watching something happen in real-time, and you know it’s important, but you don’t know how important it is until much later.

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025

• WNBA: Dallas Wings @ Seattle Storm at 9:30 pm (ET) on ESPN

Storm F Gabby Williams was 6 inches away from leading France into OT against Team USA for the Gold. She has taken that half a step backwards to push her game forward by adding a 3-pointer to her already well-rounded game to start this season. Her 3-point shooting has played a huge role in the Storm looking like title contenders to start the season. She’s currently knocking down a ridiculous 45% of her attempts from deep. This has added a much-needed dimension to the Storm’s offense after they finished dead last in 3-point shooting percentage in 2024. Currently, the Wings allow opponents to shoot the 2nd-highest percentage from 3 in the WNBA, so Williams should shine.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2025

• Women’s College World Series: Game 1 of the Championship Series at 8:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

Oklahoma versus somebody, most likely. Tap in to see who takes the first game in this Best-of-3 series!

As always, thank you for reading! Make sure to subscribe so this is in your inbox every Thursday morning. Be sure to tell a friend! Also, a big thank you to my sponsor, Turn The Paige Travel, for helping make this sustainable. See you next week!