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Stump the Schwab is an American game show that airs on the ESPN family of networks. The show premiered in 2004, and features three contestants trying to stump Howie Schwab, who is the first and only statistician ESPN has ever had. Stuart Scott is the show's host. The show also appears on Canada's The Score channel.

The show

Each episode of the show has three rounds-"Leading Off," a second round that features a different game each time, and "The Schwab Showdown." After the first two rounds, the contestant with the lowest score, in each respective round is eliminated.

Leading Off

Each episode begins with "Leading Off," a round where each contestant--as well as "The Schwab"--has to take turns naming an athlete on a list of a major achievement, such as, "Since 1975, name every player that has led the National League in home runs." As this round consists of three such lists each contestant is given a turn to begin each list. During the first season, the full list was displayed on screen for the home viewers, with each person who has not been named displayed in white letters, and each person correctly named having their names displayed in blue letters. Each correct answer is worth one point. If a contestant or "The Schwab" gives a wrong answer, cannot come up with an answer, or provides an answer already given, he is eliminated for the rest of the topic with the spotlight shining over him darkened. If there is only one player (including the Schwab) left, that player may score only one additional point by giving another correct answer. Whoever has the lowest score at the end of "Leading Off" is eliminated from the show, while the remaining two contestants go on to face each other in Round Two.

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.

Round Two

As said above, there are different games used for round two in each episode. "The Schwab" does not compete against the contestants in this round. Some of the games are as follows:

• "Lineup Card," where a team that won a championship in a certain year has its starting lineup displayed on a screen (e.g. the 1997 Arizona Wildcats, who won the men's NCAA basketball national championship over the Kentucky Wildcats that year). Not all members of the starting lineup are on-screen, so each contestant must fill in the other players not listed. Usually, three lists are given to each contestant; the first list has three spaces to be filled in within 15 seconds; the second, four spaces in 20 seconds; and the third, 5 spaces in 25 seconds. Contestants take turns trying to fill in players, and a contestant may "steal" any missing answers that the other was not able to give. One point is given for each correct player named or stolen.

• "Who Am I?" where "The Schwab" alternates asking each contestant a question about an athlete or a coach, given a specific category (eg, "Coaching Legends") before each set of questions is asked. Questions range from 7 points to one point, with a 7-point question being the hardest, and a one-point question the easiest. The Schwab asks the first contestant the 7-point question, and then questions decrease in point value one-by-one. If a player does not wish to answer the question, he or she may pass. If a contestant gets a wrong answer, they're eliminated for the remainder of the topic.

• "Name That" is similar to "Who Am I?", but contestants bid for the right to answer a question in the fewest amount of clues (similar to the Bid-a-Note round on Name That Tune), with a lower amount of clues being worth more points along the same scheme as "Who Am I?".

• "Lights, Camera, Schwab" asks questions about sports movies. There are four categories of questions, with each category containing a 1, 2, and 3 point question. Only 1-point questions are available at first, and higher value questions for each category cannot be heard until the lower value questions have been asked. Contestants must buzz in to answer the question. Whichever contestant has correctly answered a question last can choose the category for the next question.

• "Schwab's Family Album" where contestants must buzz in and identify the famous sports figure in a photograph even though the person's face is obscured with that of "The Schwab". Each correct answer is worth 1 point.

• "Alma Matters," in which the contestants identify where current and former players on a specific team went to college. Generally speaking, each player gets two lists of eight players and 30 seconds to fill each one in, and missing answers may be stolen by the other contestant.

• "Odd Man Out" presents 4 similar athletes on the board (for example, NFL wide receivers Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Steve Smith, and Marvin Harrison). Three of them have something in common, and a question is asked where the contestant has to determine who does not fit into the criteria of the question (ie, who is the odd man out, such as "Three of these wide receivers have scored more than 10 touchdowns in a season. Who has not?" for the above four players). After the first athlete is eliminated, there will be another question about the three remaining, and so on until only one athlete is left on the board. A question about the remaining player is then asked. One point is awarded for each odd man out identified (for a total of 4 possible points per turn).

• "Coaching Ladder" has contestants trying to buzz in to correctly identify coaches and managers based on the clue given. The game featured a graphical "coaching ladder" the contestants climb, indicating how many points they have earned. There are three rounds. In the first two rounds, each correct response is worth 1 point. In the third round, each correct response is worth 2 points, but an incorrect response will cost a point.

• "Dodge the Schwab" features twelve categories, each about a famous sports figure. Contestants alternate choosing categories to answer. Most categories have questions that are deemed of average difficulty, but some contain hidden "diabolical" Schwab questions that are much more difficult, having been devised by the Schwab himself. If a contestant gets a Schwab question, they may choose to "dodge" it and pass it to the opponent before hearing the question, rather than answer it themselves. Regular questions are worth one point, while Schwab questions are worth 2 points. However, if a contestant gets a Schwab question wrong, they lose a point.

• "Journey Men," where contestants are given an athlete and a list of teams he has played for. The contestant has to put the teams in chronological order (ie, for Darryl Strawberry, a contestant will be given Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. The correct answer would be "1, Mets, 2, Dodgers, 3, Giants, 4, Yankees."). Each contestant is given a total of 3 lists, alternating back and forth. They are given 15 seconds for each of the first two lists, and 20 seconds for the third list. Contestants are provided a paper and pen to assist themselves. A point is awarded for each team correctly put in each spot.

• "Stop the Presses," in which a contestant is given a paragraph of copy that contains one factual error. One point is awarded for identifying the error, and another point for correcting the error. However, if either part of a contestant's answer is wrong, the opponent may attempt to steal points by giving the correct answer. An example of a paragraph given is "In January 2005, in the Seattle Seahawks' regular-season finale against the Patriots, Shaun Alexander watched from the sideline as time ran out, and he fell one yard short of Curtis Martin for the NFL rushing title." In this case, the incorrect part is the team "Patriots", which should be the Falcons. Usually 3 paragraphs in total are given.

• "Who's Got More?," where a contestant is given a choice of two related statistical categories (eg, "Career Home Runs" or "Career Stolen Bases") and then is given up to 15 pairs of sports figures and has to name which of the two has achieved more of that category for as many pairs as they can in 40 seconds. Their opponent is then given another 15 pairs of athletes for the other category (also in 40 seconds). In round one, each correct answer is worth 1 point. In round two, each correct answer is worth 2 points.

• "Remember When" alternates contestants having to give the year that an event from the world of sports took place. Each contestant starts with 100 points. For every year off, the contestant loses a point. If the exact year is guessed, the contestant gains a point. The final question given to each contestant is called the "Ultimate Year" and point values are doubled (eg, 2 points are deducted for every year off, but 2 points are awarded for guessing the year exactly). Whichever player has less points going into the "Ultimate Year" questions is given a choice of two categories for their Ultimate Year question, followed by the opponent having to answer the question from the other category. Typically, there are 5 rounds of questions before the "Ultimate Year" questions.

Whichever contestant has scored the most points at the end of Round Two goes on to face The Schwab in the Schwab Showdown.

The Schwab Showdown

When there is just one contestant left, he or she and "The Schwab" face off in a one-on-one battle. In this last round, there are four cleverly-named categories, each of which deal with one subject. For example, "Tough Guys" dealt with athletes named Guy, not actual tough guys. Each category has three different cards, each with a question on them. The first question in each category is worth one point, the second two, and the third three. Both the contestant and "The Schwab" are given a pass. If the contestant or "The Schwab" is unsure about an answer to a question, he or she can pass it onto the other player. However, if that player, or "The Schwab" still has their pass in possession, they can pass the question right back to the person it was first asked, who then has to answer it. Each incorrect answer is worth one strike, just like baseball, with three strikes ending the round immediately. The game was won either by outscoring your opponent after all questions were asked or by the other player striking out. If the contestant has more points than "The Schwab", then he or she has "stumped the Schwab."

Originally, the final round was called "The Final Table," with questions worth 1, 3, and 5 points. Host Scott would give the players poker chips worth the point value of the question they answered correctly.

In the first season, "stumping the Schwab" would get 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"), then they would be invited back to participate in a tournament, where the grand prize would be 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 this second season, "stumping the Schwab" got a person $5,000. The semi-finals would be contested among those who won the bonus round or finished with a high enough score. Those nine players would get a chance at another $5,000 prize in the bonus, as well as a chance at the Grand Championship. If they could stump him once more in the championship round, then they got 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 he "stumped the Schwab" in the semifinals, it was worth $15,000. A finals win earned $30,000, so theoretically, a contestant could win 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 again.

Season Four 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 Showdown. In the championship show, the winner of the game got to play the Schwab Showdown for a cash jackpot which had money added to it every time the Schwab won the Showdown. The pot, which reached $30,000, was not won.

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 (Schwab, by the way, is an alumnus of St. John's University) in a special 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.

The episode that aired September 21, 2006, saw the Schwab strike out again in the last game of the preliminary round of season 4.

Tiebreakers

If there is a tie at the end of any of the rounds, then Scott will ask a tiebreaker question, where the answer is a number. The person furthest from that number--over or under--is eliminated from the show, or, if it's "The Schwab Showdown", loses.

In an episode from season two, "The Schwab" and a man named Nick 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 4th Season

In the summer of 2006, auditions for the 4th season of Stump The Schwab took place in eight U.S. Cities including Boston, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Baltimore.

Beginning with the fourth season premiere on September 4, 2006, Stump The Schwab original episodes are debuting on ESPN Classic.

It is true but unfortunate that Schwab does know what topics are going to be asked during the Schwab showdown, however he doesn't know each individual question.

• Cable game shows
• ESPN network shows
• 2000s TV shows in the United States
• ESPN Classic network shows