Aileen Hnatiuk Is Officially The No. 1 Stanley Cup Reporter, Cooper DeJean Memes & Clogging A Toilet

Some people are crediting our Guinea pig dying for the return of the Instagram models

First off, RIP Sonny. He was with us since COVID. What a life. He had a MASSIVE cage to run in that had a balcony for him to sit on to watch out the window, but lately, he hadn't been going up to the balcony. Now we know why. His body just couldn't handle the trek up the ramp. 

– Bo T. in Michigan pours one out for Sonny: 

Who knew all it took to get the models back was to sacrifice a guinea pig? Buy that techtard (Tesla Don) a cold beer!! 

NFL Draft reactions

- Shawn in Canby, OR writes: 

Good 1st Round last night 

My Vikings got two, JJ and Dallas (would make a great 80s show) - we'll see if they gave up too much to move up, but it could have been worse

Bo Nix (Go Ducks) went to Denver - happy for him, but Payton sucks

And...

A Toledo guy went in the 1st Round!

Amazing start to the weekend, NFL Draft, NHL Playoffs, Ducks Spring Game, rockin the Traeger, and the Instas are back!

Enjoy Detroit?

Kinsey: 

Absolutely enjoyed Detroit. It's been such a slow burn to get to this point for the downtown, but now, the main downtown footprint is exploding with business and more and more housing. It's a legitimate downtown operation at this point for multiple city blocks. 

I'm sure most of the rebound has been via taxes and I don't want to get into that sludge on a Saturday morning, but it sure looks like there's some private investment mixed in there as well. 

Detroit is now 50,000 fans away from topping Nashville's 600k attendance at the 2019 NFL Draft

I predict Detroit will get there today. 

With another 275k fans pouring into downtown Detroit last night, the Motor City sits at 550,000 entering a Saturday when it's going to be in the 70s with showers and wind mixed with some sun. 

In other words, at least 50,000 will risk getting wet to get a look at the Draft village one last time before Goodell's crew packs up and heads for Green Bay in 2025. 

Can Green Bay top this? The Green Bay metro population is 320,000. 

Screencaps readers help have 12U house ball help recommendations

- Travel Ball Hardo Chris B. in Houston checks in: 

The race around the bases is always a great one... get them competing, and get their heart rate up.  An easy competition without the cardio... hang 2 or 3 snap back hats on the backstop and get the boys in lines facing each hat (at whatever distance you choose) and have them throw at the hat.  They love the competition, and you'll get a roar from the group when someone hits the hat.

Probably my favorite... set three bases or cones around the outfield in a triangle.  Coach stands at cone one with a line of boys.  One at a time have a player run away from Coach / cone one towards cone two and throw a fly ball towards cone two.  Player throws it back to Coach, then runs across from to cone two to cone three (and coach throws the ball towards cone three).  Lastly, the player runs from cone three back towards cone one / towards coach to catch a ball coming in.  Boys wait in line next to Coach while one player does the three throw triangle.  Running catches are fun.  And coach can throw it easier for the lower level players to build their confidence and more difficult to challenge the better players.  

For your pitcher that falls off the mound to the side, have him scratch a line in the dirt straight from the rubber towards the plate.  Have him work on his plant foot landing on the line.  My son still does that for himself now sometimes, in high school games.

Kinsey: 

Looks like I have myself a practice plan! Travel Ball Hardo and I go at it from time to time, but I think he's on it here. I like all three ideas here. The people around here will think I'm running a travel ball program without players having to spend 50 hours each weekend at some sports complex. 

- John W. writes: 

Also may have shared-get a large cardboard box-lay flat in grass part of field and set up a base on the back half. Have kids learn to slide there before getting to dirt then one practice tell kids wear sweats or old baseball pants and slide for real. Run your second slide-pop up and run to 3rd and slide pop up run home. Use 3rd base coach and on deck batter to signal slide and go.

Kinsey: 

Sliding was 100% on my agenda. Now I need to find a massive cardboard box. 

Joining the TNML results in things like this on a Friday night

Justin is our reader out of Augusta who has a par 3 green mowed into his yard. Look at how he spent last night after putting in the work this week. 

Well, well, well…look at the headlines that are starting to pile up

Hold up, they're going to wear those DURING games?

I get protecting the brain and the NFL not getting sued, but I have a hard time believing we're going to see a QB wearing a giant helmet condom for 17 weeks. 

This feels like a way for the NFL to say, ‘Hey, we gave you a way to protect your brain, don’t sue us.'

A question to ponder this weekend: Could Babe Ruth hit modern pitching?

I saw this one floating around and figured it would be good for this group. Think about it for a minute. He had a big, long swing. What would his average be? How many home runs would he hit? 

Would he even make it to the Majors? 

Have a couple of drinks and then ask a travel ball hardo this question. 

What's the must-have patio item this summer?

I was at the rock and landscaping store last weekend and noticed that outdoor-rated TVs and soundbars are coming down in price. The soundbars were crazy low based on what a typical soundbar runs these days. 

What are you guys buying for the summer patio season? What's on your radar? 

I keep thinking it's time to buy a ping pong table on Marketplace for $50 that I can roll out to the trash at the end of the summer. Ping pong battles on the patio sound like a blast. 

##################

That's it for this rainy Saturday morning. I have a ton of outdoor stuff to do so I need it to dry up fast. But, the good news is that the yard is mowed and looking unreal. 

Let's go make the best of it. I'll dig through the emails on Monday. 

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

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Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.