Hot Cop Haley Drew Had One Helluva Productive March On Instagram, Elly's Torpedo Blows Up & Reporter Sleeping?
Rec ball practice No. 1 is in the books and, as expected, I have some work to do, but this could be the best core team I've had yet
I've been preaching it over and over: If local families would just give us their boys, our local rec league could be dangerous. Last night, I started to see that plan coming together during practice No. 1 in my third year of coaching.
Out of 12 kids on our team, I've coached seven of them. During our first team huddle, I asked those who've been with me what I will not accept. "Screwing around," one of my veterans immediately noted.
Correct.
But, we will have fun.
We will hit the ball like no tomorrow. We will run the bases until the other team crumbles. We will out-fun the other teams.
We might not be a travel ball team, but as these boys continue to keep coming back year after year, the rec league gets stronger, the competition gets better and parents in this league get to go home to their beautiful patios on Saturdays instead of sleeping in a Hampton Inn & dreaming of making that five-hour drive home on Sunday after their C-team gets knocked out of the tournament.
My immediate team observations:
- I have four boys who travel ball parents are trying to avoid; the kids who can't catch, can't throw very well and who have very little baseball knowledge. The strategy remains the same: Build them up, put it in their heads that they can hit, catch and throw and ultimately find the inner dawg in them. Are they ready to compete? Can they chase down the kid in front of them in base running drills? Can they knock down the bat standing upright on homeplate with a throw from second base?
- To my shock and awe, I had a boy (we'll call him Zap) stroll up to practice by himself with his chest puffed out, wearing baseball pants and with an energy. Those of you who've coached know what I'm talking about. You can tell an athlete a mile away. It turns out this boy is 11 and he tells me this is his first year of organized baseball. Say what? But, Zap tells me that he has an older brother who has played baseball and I believe he told me his mother played college softball. Bingo. There it is. We have an athlete.
- I sent him out to throw with two of our experienced 12Us and Zap starts throwing darts into the chest of my first basemen. Wait just a second, what do we have here? Eventually, we move to fielding drills and I ease the kids in with grounders at second base. Let's see the footwork and who takes direction. Zap charges the ball. Cheats a little bit thinking he knows where I'm going to throw the ball on the ground (I'm working through a left shoulder injury so no swinging a bat right now) and shows me that he's a competitor. "Move over to short," I tell him. I throw the first ball at him. Zap proceeds to uncork a dart across the diamond. Clean. Fluid range of motion. Something I would expect to see out of a 12U who has been with me for years. I throw another one to the side to see his range. Zap picks it and launches another dart across the diamond. The third time, Zap's throw was a little low, but the case had already been made that I have my diamond in the rough to go along with my rec league veterans.
- Daddy ball report: I was working with boys in the cage, but I'm told that Screencaps Jr. was launching "bombs," as the other boys put it, during the split BP session. I'm super proud of him for the work he's been doing in the cage this winter. He's worked hard on bat speed and letting the bat head fly. He's a consistent right-center line drive hitter, but we're at the point where I want him to develop the ability to hit the ball to all parts of the park. It's working. He's really coming into his own.
As you can tell, I'm energized. I froze my ass off last night, but by the time we got in the car to head home, I could feel the dopamine rush. The energy as we finished up that practice with base-running chase down drills was high. The boys were sucking air, but all was right in the world.
They were pumped and screwing around was minimal. That's a great day of life.
Mrs. Screencaps already fell for this April Fool's joke
Her excuse is that it was too early and she wasn't awake.
Meanwhile, Screencaps the III cooked up an April Fool's joke on Screencaps Jr. by telling him he dropped the Nintendo Switch into the toilet. The delivery wasn't great, but he's working on his bits. That's positive. He's a natural jokester.
Is Antonio Brown running Tiger Woods' Twitter account?
There's clearly been a change within Team Tiger.
Floridians react to my statement of fact that Floridians are the worst drivers in the United States
— Nate says it's all the transplants who can't drive:
Good morning Joe and welcome back! I read your Screencaps this morning and of course being a "true" Floridian I have to clarify the bad drivers remark. Actually, to be clear, I agree Florida is full of bad drivers because everyone here is from somewhere else!!
Any "true" Floridian knows how to drive and we damn sure know what the left lane is for, passing.
The problem is Florida builds condos, golf courses, housing developments, and amusement parks all the time and the last thing that gets expanded are the roads. 417 South, 429 South, 192 East all converge into I-4 West in ONE LANE, and this is just a few miles from the #1 vacation destination in the world, Walt Disney World. Not good planning.
Thanks for visiting our great state and glad the family had fun. I’ll share a few pics from John’s Pass a few weeks ago and the Savannah Bananas game at Raymond James Stadium. It literally is the Harlem Globetrotters, baseball style. Thanks for all you do brother and keep up the good work.
— Michael N. knows what I'm talking about:
I was in Florida a few weeks, made the drive down from Rochester, NY to Cape Coral where my dad has a place. It was smooth sailing until we got on I-75. NASCAR like trek is the perfect way to put it.
Every lane is a passing lane, people going from 85 to 65 with constant break checking, weaving, dipping and dodging. The stretch from Ocala through Tampa down to Naples was a white-knuckle road game sweat-out journey unlike any other.
You need to be alert at all times on I-75.
My aunt/uncle have a home in Marco Island, and that journey from Cape Coral to Marco on 75S is just as bad. Florida drivers and traffic are without question the worst in the USA.
Kinsey:
Michael is correct. The left lane, hammer it to 85 only to have to slam on the brakes back down to 45, charade is horrible.
— Gene K. tells me:
The state bird should be the canary -- the color of the Cadillac in the left lane on I-4 whose driver thinks the road number is the speed limit.
Another question about reviews in college basketball
— Zach asks:
I heard an announcer during the March Madness games opine that college basketball needs a challenge system in lieu of referees running to the monitors for every little thing, as constant stoppages are hurting the product. What do you think? I'm 100% for it.
Kinsey:
As I have stated, there are too many ref trips to the monitor. I remember the game where Dickie V. returned to ESPN and how the energy in the building was exploding. Duke was on the ropes. Dickie V. was going nuts. The crowd was electric. College basketball at its best.
*Whistle*
Refs go to the monitor and the vibe dies down.
Anything that fixes that is fine with me.
I will be buying a mower for the first time in 15 years
It's time for a new storyline entering the 2025 Thursday Night Mowing League season. I've babied the Toro as long as possible, but the old girl is breaking down. There's a rear tire iron issue that I've tried 20 different ways to solve.
It's time.
According to Google experts, a mower lasts around 10 years. I would say it's more like 15-20 years, so I'm feeling less like a loser after getting 15 years out of this one.
Who else is buying this spring? What do you have your eyes on? I have about .33 acres to mow, minus a big rectangle where the pool is at. I haven't even started shopping. I'm all ears on what you're seeing out in the marketplace.
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And with that news, let's get Tuesday rolling. The sun is out, the rain is out in Illinois and we're going to have ourselves a good day. Keep the energy high and the screwing around to a minimal level.
Go have a great day of work and life.
Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com or use my personal Gmail that you can easily find.