Thursday Night Mowing League Mower Of The Year Ceremony Gets Emotional For Fink

In an emotional ceremony that will be talked about for decades within the Thursday Night Mowing League community, Dustin Fink of Mt. Zion, Illinois learned live on the Ricky Cobb Show that he had climbed to the mountaintop of residential mowing. 

After five-plus months of battling some of the fiercest mowing competition known to man, Fink heard the words – Dustin Fink is the 2024 Thursday Night Mowing League Mower of the Year. 

"Dustin Fink is everything this league is about," honorable commissioner Joe Kinsey said in a press release. "Dustin didn't come into this league with a zero-turn mower and all the tools like some residential mowers, but he has a huge heart and never misses league night. This league exists because of guys like Dustin Fink who believe in the vision and the drive to take pride in property and community." 

Watch this moment from earlier today as Fink learns the news: 

Dustin Fink joins Timmy2Cuts in the TNML Hall of Fame

The other big news from the TNML ceremony with the great Ricky Cobb is that Fink is immediately inducted into the TNML Hall of Fame along with Timmy2Cuts, the 2023 Mower of the Year. 

Like I said during the ceremony, I don't want these guys to get into their 50s and 60s and have to wait until they've been out of the mowing game for five years before they can be voted in like how they do the Pro Baseball and Football Halls of Fame. 

Plus, having a hall of fame is incredible for marketing purposes when brands come calling. TNML will have two HOFers to throw out there as red meat for the brands to sponsor. 

That's just business 101. 

2024 TNML Mowing Awards

National Mower of the Year: Dustin Fink

Lifetime Achievement Awards: Coach Mike Freshwater

TNML All-Rookie Team: Brad Douglas, Shannon Blackburn, Coach Kuhn, Instagramless_Buffs, Chestnut Trill, Chris Trimmers

Best Press Conferences: Coach Bradford

Grassroots Ambassador Leadership Award: Diesel

Crispiest Edges of the Year: Jim Allen

Comeback Mower of the Year: Ken Peterson (Ken had to step aside early in the season for personal reasons before returning weeks later a changed man) 

TNML Social Media Content of the Year: "2Rainbows" from Gerard in IL

That's a wrap on TNML 2024

Where do we go from here? 

In 2021, I had to figure out if we had a league. I still remember being on vacation in northern Michigan with Mrs. Screencaps' family and the first TNML t-shirt orders coming in. We sold 10, then 20, then 50. The orders just kept coming. I was on vacation and my phone was blowing up from OutKick T-shirt Manager Olivia G. We were selling tens of thousands of dollars in t-shirts.

OK, so we have a league. Now what?

Character building. We need driving forces behind this league. 

2021 and 2022 were blurs, but the league was growing. 

Then, in 2023, the National Mower of the Year competition started and this thing blew up with the introduction of a guy like Timmy2Cuts who sent TNML into a new stratosphere. 

This year was spent improving the TNML Collection® with the introduction of the Polo of the Summer which was an incredible success. I didn't receive a single complaint about the price point. That means you guys are either making big money or you're just the nicest guys ever who know I don't set the price points. 

It feels like TNML is now big enough to hold a national convention. 

What does that look like? I don't know, but it's time. Maybe we have 20 guys sitting in a Louisville Hampton Inn lobby. Maybe we have 40 guys taking over a Nashville bar with a zero-turn mower up on a stage, and we have keynote speakers. 

Do we hold a 2025 national championship weekend that encompasses a challenge to determine a national champion and hold a convention at the same time? 

What I've learned is that you have to dream it up when you form a mowing league. Throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. 

That's why I ask league members to throw stuff at my email inbox. Share ideas. Share comments. What's going right? What could be improved? 

Go have an incredible offseason and be ready to go in 2025. 

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com