Christen Harper Gets Miami Bikini Week Call Up, Dan Mullen Lake Surfing & Barkley's Dialed In

What's the best thing you read this week?

I'm not looking specifically for good or bad news. I'm looking for the most interesting, made you stop and think, made you instantly save the article/blog post, piece of work out there this week. It can be across any genre. Try me. The forecast here on Saturday is calling for a high near 80, sun and 15 hours of patio time. I'm looking to sacrifice a couple of those hours to items you guys send in.

This is the time of summer where I prove to my wife that I can spend the mid-afternoon at home and not on the golf course.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com --- or you can always slide into the DMs.

• Ever have one of those nights with your four-year-old where you can instantly tell he's going to be better than his older brother at a sport? My pint-sized pre-schooler might not have the leg strength yet to crush soccer balls into the backyard net, but he brings the killer instinct to the table. My eight-year-old is much more calculated with his approach to sports. The little one is all gas. To the floor. No prisoners. Then, after soccer, he made me foam sword battle with him, but first I had to buy blocks from an imaginary store to build a fort before the battle could start. You're damn right I was exhausted by all the rules. It was worse than MLB's sticky substance glove check thing.

• Thursday I mentioned how I need to get to the American Century Championship in Tahoe, and it didn't take long to get this email from JH, who writes:

Joe,

A few good ACC stories for you. And by all means, go! The weather is absolutely unbelievable, and the pros are all relaxed, approachable, and engaging.

I got to play in it twice, once with Goose Gossage and other time with Greg Maddux. By the end of the round with Gossage, he made you feel like you were long-time buddies. Other great guys that were so normal to hang with: Jack Del Rio, John O’Hurley, and Matt Cassel.

Michael Jordan is the star amongst stars, but you’d never know it by the way he treats people. Just a classy dude. I hit balls next to him on the range; his grips are the size of baseball bat handles. Here’s a picture of his bag:

Barkley holds court everywhere. At dinner one night I told him I was friends with a now-retired NBA ref who Barkley had publicly expressed disdain for. He turned to me without blinking and said “You tell that when they legalize murder, I’m coming for him first!” Classic.

My favorite story is Larry The Cable Guy. My now 15-year-old son was in love with the movie Cars when he was little; must’ve watched it a hundred times and had every piece of merchandise for sale. I called my wife after my round to check in before the kids went to bed back here in Ohio. Nate was maybe six then. Larry comes walking right towards me coming from the course, as I’m a player so am ‘inside the ropes’, and I tell him my son loves Cars and would “Mater” say goodnight to him. He takes my phone, goes into full character, and proceeds to have a several-minute conversation with Nate! My wife said the little guy’s eyes were wide open, and he could barely get to sleep afterwards. Just very cool.

Lastly, was in Dayton last week and tried to order a Flying Pizza to bring home. They were closed for vacation! Got a Cassano’s instead (Marion’s has a spot in Cincinnati, so wanted something we can’t get here). Solid.

• I love hearing from my Daytonians/former Daytonians with their pizza and beer reports. That said, I bought a sixer of the Warped Wing Magic Melon watermelon gose this past weekend, and I might not be capable of drinking the four remaining cans. That's definitely a style of beer that's going to take some time to get used to.

• Mike G. in Eagle, Idaho sent me another pic of his fire ring. Yes, he burns Christmas trees in that thing. It's the first thing I think of when he emails me. Mike loves this country, big ass patio fires and his Honda mower named "The Donald," because Mike bought it with his stimulus check.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love this job? I get emails from guys like Mike that make my week. Simple emails. I meet families like the Cairns crew in New Jersey who come play in my golf tournament. I chat with people like Pam G. & Dr. Marlene on Zoom calls.

Speaking of Zoom calls, NEXT SATURDAY, July 17 at 11 a.m. EST. We're firing up the OutKick VIP Zoom hotline to do a meetup. I might even take the laptop outside for some It's Noon Somewhere beers during the call.

Now get out there and attack the weekend. Load up those fire pits. Get the boats gassed up. Ice down the drinks. It's July, and winter will be here before you know it. Go enjoy yourself.

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