Stump the Schwab

Stump the Schwab is an American game show that aired on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic from July 8, 2004 to September 29, 2006. The show featured three contestants trying to defeat Howie Schwab, ESPN's first statistician, in a sports trivia contest. Stuart Scott was the show's host. The show also appeared on Canada's The Score Television Network.
Each episode of the show had three rounds, "Leading Off", a second round that featured a different game each time, and "The Schwab Showdown." After each of the first two rounds, the contestant with the lowest score was eliminated.
Gameplay.
Three male contestants competed against "The Schwab" in a series of three rounds, with the lowest-scoring player being eliminated after each round.
Round 1: Leading Off.
Each episode began with "Leading Off", a round where the 3 contestants and "The Schwab" took turns naming an athlete on a list relating to a major achievement; for example, "In the year 1975, name the top 16 players that led the National League in home runs that year." This round consisted of three such lists, and each contestant was given a turn to begin a list. During the first two seasons, the full list was displayed on screen for the home viewers, with each person who had not been named displayed in white letters, and each person correctly named having their names displayed in blue letters. Starting in the third season, answers were shown only as they were given by players, allowing home viewers to "play along." At the end of the question, all answers were shown. Each correct answer was worth one point. If a contestant or "The Schwab" gave a wrong answer, could not come up with an answer, or provided an answer already given, he was eliminated for the rest of the topic with the spotlight shining over him darkened. If there was only one player (including "The Schwab") left, that player scored only one additional point by giving another correct answer. Whoever had the lowest score at the end of "Leading Off" was eliminated from the show, while the remaining two contestants went on to face each other in Round Two.
Round 2.
A variety of different games were used for round two in each episode. "The Schwab" did not compete against the contestants in that round, but did ask some questions to the contestants, and when no one was able to get a right answer, he would reveal the correct answer. Some of the games were as follows:
Whichever contestant had scored the most points at the end of round two went on to face "The Schwab" in the Schwab Showdown.
Round 3: The Schwab Showdown.
When there was just one contestant left, he and "The Schwab" faced off in a one-on-one battle. In this last round, there were four cleverly named categories, each of which dealt with one subject. For example, "Tough Guys" dealt with athletes named Guy, not actual tough guys. Each category had three different cards, each with a question on them. The first question in each category was worth one point, the second two, and the third three. Both the contestant and "The Schwab" were given a pass. If the contestant or "The Schwab" was unsure about an answer to a question, he passed it onto the other player. However, if that player or "The Schwab" still had their pass in possession, they could pass the question right back to the person it was first asked, who then had to answer it. Each incorrect answer was worth one strike, just like baseball, with three strikes ending the round immediately. The game was won either by outscoring the opponent after all questions were asked or by the other player striking out. If the contestant had more points than "The Schwab", then he had "stumped the Schwab."
Originally, the final round was called "The Final Table", with questions worth 1, 3, and 5 points. Host Scott gave the players poker chips worth the point value of the question they answered correctly. He still placed strike markers in front of the contestant and the Schwab as they were accumulated.
In the first season, "stumping the Schwab" got a person a prize of tickets to a sporting event. If their "Schwab Showdown" score was good enough (whether or not they "stumped the Schwab"), they were invited back to participate in a tournament, where the grand prize was a job working alongside "The Schwab" in the research room at ESPN, or tickets for two to five major sports championships. But, that person again had to "stump the Schwab" to win that prize. No one won the grand prize.
In the second season, "stumping the Schwab" won a contestant $5,000. The semi-finals was contested among those who won the bonus round or finished with a high enough score. Those nine players had a chance at another $5,000 prize in the "Schwab Showdown", as well as a chance at the Grand Championship. If they stumped him once more in the championship round, they won a grand prize of $25,000. Adam Garfield of Pennsylvania won season two. The finals came down to one question and "The Schwab" answered it correctly. Adam won a trip to the 2005 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles as a consolation prize.
In the third season, the contestant who made it to the "Schwab Showdown" earned $1,000. If that contestant "stumped the Schwab", he earned an additional $5,000 and a guaranteed spot in the semifinals. If they "stumped the Schwab" in the semifinals, it was worth $15,000. A finals win earned $30,000, so theoretically, a contestant won up to $53,000 ($1,000 for each of the game wins + $5,000 + $15,000 + $30,000). Once again, however, at the end of the season, "The Schwab" won the final "Schwab Showdown", defeating Pete Fierro.
The fourth and final season saw several scoring changes. The $1,000 for winning the game stayed intact through all the rounds, but a win in the "Schwab Showdown" in the first round only netted the contestant an additional $1,000. In the semifinals, that went up to $5,000 for a win in the "Schwab Showdown." In the championship show, the winner of the game played the "Schwab Showdown" for a cash jackpot which started at $9,000, and had money added to it every time "The Schwab" won the "Schwab Showdown." The pot, which reached $30,000, was not won, with "The Schwab" defeating Marty Asalone.
In an episode that aired on May 24, 2005, "The Schwab" struck out for the very first time in the show's history, losing to a senior at Johns Hopkins University named Stephen Shukie ("The Schwab" is an alumnus of St. John's University) in the first college edition of the show. "The Schwab" only scored two points (two correct one point answers) in the whole round, while his opponent scored just four. In the same episode, it was the first time that the contestants (Shukie of Johns Hopkins University, Alec Tolivaisa of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Jonathan Evans of Tulane University) and "The Schwab" swept an entire Leading Off category (current AFC Head Coaches) without an incorrect answer.
The episode that aired September 25, 2006 saw "The Schwab" strike out again in the last game of the preliminary round of the fourth and final season.
If there was a tie at the end of any of the three rounds, then Stuart Scott asked a tiebreaker question, where the answer was a number. The person closest to that number won.
In an episode from season two, "The Schwab" and Nick Dembski were tied at the end of "The Showdown." Scott then asked them how long in inches a baseball pitcher's rubber (or plate) is. Both came up with the correct answer — 24 inches — then crossed it out, and put 18 inches as their answer, forcing another tiebreaker question. The next tiebreaker question was "Karl Malone appeared in how many playoff games?" Dembski guessed 163; "The Schwab" guessed 237. The correct answer was 193. Being closer to the actual answer, Dembski won the tiebreaker, and thus, the game.
Broadcast history.
In the summer of 2006, auditions for the fourth and final season of "Stump The Schwab" took place in eight U.S. Cities including Boston, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Baltimore.
Beginning with the fourth and final season premiere on September 4, 2006, "Stump The Schwab" original episodes debuted on ESPN Classic.
"The Schwab" was informed ahead of time what topics were going to be asked during the "Schwab Showdown" round in each episode. However, he did not know what the individual questions were.
In the championship episode, contestant Marty Asalone scored entirely perfectly in Round 2, playing "Remember When." He then went on to lose to "The Schwab" in the "Schwab Showdown."
Also, for only the second time in the show's 4-year history, a contestant "stumped the Schwab" twice. Brian Sandalow, then a University of Missouri journalism student, beat "The Schwab" in both the preliminary and semifinal shows. He did not get a chance to beat "The Schwab" a third time, falling in the championship show's "Leading Off" round.
Records.
Schwab's overall record in the "Schwab Showdown" over the show's four season run was 64-16.
Contestants who have "stumped the Schwab".
Here is an incomplete list of contestants who have "stumped the Schwab", either by accruing more points than him in the "Schwab Showdown", by forcing "The Schwab" to strike out, or by beating him in a tiebreaker: