Mikayla Demaiter Puts On The Hockey Pads, John Daly Hates High Noon & Zuck Was Useless At UFC 298
Annnnnnnddddd….I'M BACK
I never knew 1 & a ¼ days off could feel so damn amazing, but here I am this morning realizing that my brain is going to need many, many more of those breaks over the coming years if I'm going to stay sane on the Internet.
The last couple of weeks have been a huge grind just to get to the finish line where I could just walk around the house at 7 a.m. and NOT spend my time searching for Instagram models.
During my time off, I actually enjoyed tackling a project where I had to patch a sizeable hole in a soffit where the electricians ripped out a box that housed electric for some shitty Home Depot light fixture. I had the time to concentrate on the project, get the drywall piece screwed in and mudded BEFORE taking the family to the Toledo Art Museum where we cultured the boys in great works of art like we were in a major city.
You see that water lilies painting by Monet, kids?
That's worth like $40 million AND WE DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE YOU TO CHICAGO TO SEE IT.
The big news out of this weekend was how well the kids behaved. They don't have a history of causing too much drama, but this weekend was completely drama-free. It was like they comprehended I didn't want to deal with any bullshit on my 1 & ¼ day vacation.
There was no fighting at the art museum. There was no fighting at home over whose turn it was at the computer. They were perfect at my birthday dinner Saturday night. They didn't complain during shopping at Dave & Busters gift shop. They didn't start begging me for video games at Best Buy.
Quick observations from my time off:
• This was the first time I noticed Dave & Busters offering up slot machines to kids. Now I'm beginning to wonder if D&Bs have a working relationship with casinos to build brand loyalty into the kids. It wouldn't be the worst business decision ever by the casinos.
• And which one of you savages saves up 55,000 D&Bs points and walks out of that place with an airfryer?
• I've now purchased more movies from Best Buy in the last 4 months than I have in the past 20 years. Saturday, it was time to watch the new Top Gun in 4k ULTRA (I've worked too many years to watch basic blu-ray movies). We stopped into Best Buy, I asked Mrs. Screencaps if she was game, she was, and we pulled the trigger. It was $10 cheaper to buy the movie at BB compared to Amazon.
• We loved the movie, but Mrs. Screencaps is pissed at Bruckheimer's writers for not telling us what happened to Kelly McGillis. Yes, we know Kelly is now 66 & looks like a grandma, but it would've been nice to know why Tom was all of a sudden cruising a bar for a new chick.
• I noticed winter was over Friday when I was at Lowe's buying a drop cloth. The workers were building patio furniture. They also put out all the staging spots for the Lowe's garden center. Boom, winter is over and I don't even need the groundhog to tell me.
• The weather wasn't great here this weekend which means I played enough VR golf to get my world ranking down to 5,000th out of 23,000 players. Just have to keep grinding.
That's it. I'm sure there are other thoughts in my brain that I'm forgetting, but let's hear what you guys have been up to.
• Travel Ball Hardo Chris B. in Houston writes:
The sticker on the right!
NBA Diversity & Inclusion stopped at the dunk contest
• HUGE basketball fan John H. writes:
For decades, the biggest highlights of the NBA all star weekend have been the 3-point shootout and dunk contest.
Granted, this has been less true in recent years due to the lack of notable names in the dunk contest. This year, a subcategory of the 3 point shootout featured Stephen Curry vs Sabrina Ionescu. This was the first NBA vs WNBA contest and Steph won a close battle.
I appreciate that the league finally decided to highlight the WNBA during its annual NBA all-star event. This head-to-head contest was a beautiful inclusive display and, as expected, it was highly competitive. However, I was alarmed and concerned to see that the WNBA was not included in the dunk contest.
The NBA and WNBA need to provide an explanation to us basketball fans. It is a simple question that requires a response. Why were females included in the 3-point shootout but excluded from the dunk contest? We have come a long way as a society in terms of inclusion of historically marginalized groups.
But this was a step backward for the NBA and WNBA - organizations who purportedly lead the charge on inclusionary measures. Why were the WNBA players not given the opportunity to display their dunking prowess against NBA players?
This notion was alluded to by Reggie Miller - reported by Dan Z on Outkick yesterday - "Women are just as good as men at basketball."
Thank you, Reggie. So why were they excluded from the dunk contest? This was a sad state of affairs.
Kinsey:
John has a point. I want to see someone from the WNBA recreate Dominique Wilkins' two-handed windmill from the 1988 dunk contest.
YouTubeTV now has a back button!
I couldn't believe my eyes. Now I just need YouTubeTV to figure out how to incorporate the other 20 apps I pay for so I don't have to leave YTTv to use those apps.
You know, something like the way cable used to work.
Gary IS BACK thanks to his grandson!
Gary told me last week that he was DONE with OutKick & he was leaving for good. Meanwhile, I was worn out by the constant stream of complaint emails over the new OutKick experience and I just said, OK, Gary is done. All I wanted to do was get to my 1 & ¼ days off to not look at a computer.
Look what was sent to me on Friday while I was repairing the drywall hole.
• Gary writes:
My Grandson (who I introduced to Outkick) - reads Screencaps and had seen that you had posted my letter. He had heard me gripe about the ad issue and he put two-and-two together to conclude that it was his grumpy grandpa who had submitted the letter. After reading it, and the comments, he made it a point to stop by my place, after one of his long work days, to convince me to re-think my decision.
He knows that I’m stubborn, but he also knows that I’m into cowboy quickdraw, so he came up with a brilliant analogy to help me to swallow my pride and accept his point of view and relent.
He reminded me that in order to be fast with a single action .45; I have to draw from the holster, cock the hammer, aim and then pull the trigger. He pointed out that the pride I take and the fun I have - is doing all those steps; sometimes faster than some semi-automatic double-action, pistol shooters can. But, he said, the wild west generation of the 1800s, who I emulate in quickdraw, simply accepted the procedure as normal. However, modern day pistol shooters, find the extra step of cocking the hammer annoying. So he said, "You accept the extra step of thumbing the hammer back as a normal part of the quickdraw process you enjoy." Then he raised the question, "So if you enjoy Outkick and Screencaps so much - what difference does it make for you to have to tap an arrow? You need to join my generation Grandpa!"
I have to admit that he is right. Therefore, instead of being a stubborn, old codger, I will accept his wisdom, and realize that there is a price for the things we enjoy, and I will put my trigger finger to use by poking the arrow on the "before you leave" page, and make it part of the fun of Outkick and Screencaps.
So - I apologize - and I’m back for the articles, sports news, TNML, the beautiful women, the fun topics. Thanks Grandson! Thanks Joe!
‘Club volleyball is wild’
• Beer Guy Neil in Cleveland writes:
I have a friend that is an orthopedic surgeon. When I used to repair the jalopies in my fleet of cars he would comment that he could never figure out how I could do it. I told him that I follow the shop manual and have a great set of tools. I replied that I couldn't figure out how he put bodies back together. He replied that he followed his version of the shop manual and his tools were way better.
We had conversations about elite athletes. He said that the freaks like Randy Johnson have different musculature than us mortals and the cream will always rise. Note to all parents, the cream will always rise. If you want to vacation with your circle of friends and watch your kids play their sport, enjoy. For almost all of us it ends there. Cherish it. You will miss it when it's gone, but you will have made life-long friends.
Are these the best TNML shoes ever?
• David P. writes:
These are the best ever.
Kinsey:
I've been using whatever Adidas shoes Costco sells for $30 for years now. That's all I know. Am I missing out?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Why are there different alcohol rules in different states?
• Resident economist Jared P. in Ohio writes:
You can blame the wording of the 21st amendment for the differing alcohol rules in the United States, specifically section 2. The amendment gives states broad powers on how they can regulate alcohol, which can even include prohibiting alcohol sales entirely.
States know they have this power and will use it to maximize state revenue and control.
This is why you have some states where only state run stores can sell alcohol. The question I would ask about the proposed Tennessee law is who would benefit from its passage. You find the answer to that question and you'll find out why the law is even being proposed. I tell my students this all the time in public policy classes.
The Ts go inside a French bakery
• Mike T. writes:
Saturday morning, French bakery, Antibes, France
To those who have a problem with the young IG models just living their life in bikinis and in exotic locales
• Pete in Arizona writes:
To the couple that maybe didn’t want to see pics of younger women because it reminded them of their own kids. Definitely Lib libs. Let me put this in a car scenario. If I am driving down the road and I see a flashy Lamborghini or Ferrari or even a Rolls Royce driving towards me in the other lane, I am absolutely going to look at it closely as it goes by and will likely even check it out in my rear-view mirror as well. I can still appreciate something that is very attractive and attention getting. I may be older but my mind still appreciates fabulous packages regardless of the age. Has zero to do with my kid’s.
These pictures also allow me to flashback to when I was young, drove a brand new flashy Trans Am, and had a smoke-show that looked like them sitting next to me who is still with me years later. We’ve gotten older, went through having kids and we certainly don’t look anything like that anymore but seeing those ladies gives me some nice flashbacks to our younger days. Don’t ever stop giving us all that variety.
Speaking of my other half, got up today and she said we should go golfing today, Valentines Day, so we did and then she cooked me a great dinner this evening before the other regular festivities even began. What a day. She’s been a keeper during all of our time together and is still a keeper today.
Lastly, you obviously have a real keeper at home as well since she allows you to peruse hundreds, maybe thousands of women’s nearly naked photo’s every single day as ‘part of your job’. You know, the ‘What are you doing Joe?’ question where you can justifiably answer to her that you are doing the ‘hard things’ for your job....because doing hard things like that is what the screencaps community expects of you every single day...
Does this surprise you?
From Fox Business:
A recent analysis from housing platform Zillow using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) found that Texas "far and away" gained the most Gen Z movers year-over-year.
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That's it for this morning. The blood is pumping. I have to get back on Zoom calls and check emails. It's back to work time. As for the federal government workers, enjoy your day off to celebrate presidents.
For the rest of us, go attack the day!
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com