Alina Habba And Her Hot Girlfriends Party Into 2026, Jennifer Lopez's Naked Promise & ESPN Has A Gay Old Time!

Everyone feeling OK today? Can I get a quick pulse check of the class? Everyone good? Did everyone make it out of 2025, and into 2026, in one piece? 

Good! Because it's time for class. Nothing like an afternoon class the day after New Year's Eve. For those of you with young kids, you probably feel like I do today. Tired! Worn out. Counting down the hours till nap/bed time. 

But that's not because we're hungover. Well, we might be. But it's not because we went out and partied until 4 a.m. It's because … we have young kids who were most likely up on and off all night because, for some reason, we shoot off fireworks on New Year's Eve like it's the Fourth of July. 

Every single year, I forget about them. And every single year, around 11 p.m. on Dec. 31st, they start. And every single year, around 11 p.m. on Dec. 31st, I'm instantly furious because my neighbors have the audacity to shoot off fireworks at that ungodly hour. 

My kid was up at 11. And then 11:30. And then midnight. The sound machine was no match. It never is. 

But, I get it. Different lives. Different worlds. We fight on. 

Welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where Alina Habba and her hot friends ring in the new year down here in bitter Florida. Seriously, it was in the 30s when I went to bed last night. 

The 30s. What are we doing here? Global warming is right on track!

What else? I've got Jennifer Lopez vowing to stay naked in 2026, ESPN peeing all over themselves last night (and not because they were tanked like the rest of you), CBS telling Gary Danielson to shut up, and Michael Irvin seems to have enjoyed Miami's upset win. Totally normal stuff from the Playmaker!

Grab yourself a Vodka shooter, throw an Alka-Seltzer in it just for good measure, and settle in for a New Year's 'Cap!

Is ESPN Serious With This Decision?

We're gonna keep it light, loose, and FAST today, mainly because there are four people in class and it's a holiday. 

PS: Maybe it's because of the aforementioned fireworks from last night, but I am 100% with Sean Payton on this one:

I think it's all based on if you have kids or not. The First Lady and I used to go out and let it rip. I believe our last time was 2019. It's been seven years! COVID, then kids, and it's been curtains ever since. 

I do think, though, that in the pantheon of holidays, New Year's Eve is by far the most overrated. Halloween is probably the most underrated, followed closely by Labor Day and Memorial Day. 

Frankly, New Year's Eve, and, by extension, New Year's Day, are two of the more depressing holidays on the calendar. They're sort of the last hurrah until Memorial Day. 

Now, we just have winter for the next few months. Football is ending. Baseball is a long ways off. There's no real work holidays until Memorial Day (Easter is a Sunday, so I don't count that). Thank God for the three playoff games today. We're gonna ride those straight into the weekend, baby!

Speaking of … what in the world was ESPN thinking here?

Tough Look For Gary Danielson

I thought I was going crazy last night. 

I saw that stupid yellow thing after every play, and just kept waiting for the official to make the call. And then … nothing. They just moved onto the next play.

What a dumb decision. It baffles me how ESPN constantly pisses on themselves. Year after year. Game after game. Season after season. They just make the silliest choices. 

You're telling me there was NOBODY in that room who had the foresight to see what was going to happen with the yellow transition? Nobody? If that's the case, everyone should be fired. They could've picked literally any other color in the world, and it would've worked. 

Every color … except yellow. Amazing. God, they're the best. The World Wide (Woke) Leader did it AGAIN. They've once again given me easy #content to pump out on an otherwise slow day. 

Well, them and CBS!

J-Lo, Alina & Irv Were FEELING It

To be fair, that's an edited clip. The full version of Gary's send-off was well over two minutes, which is an eternity in TV world. At some point, you HAVE to wrap it up, because there are hard outs in the world of network television. Gary, clearly, didn't get the memo. 

But also, piss off, CBS. Gary Danielson is a legend. He's my childhood. Him and Uncle Verne. Nothing hit harder than the 3:30 SEC on CBS intro, followed by Verne introducing himself, Gary and Tracy Wolfson. 

CBS really had it all, and pissed it all away for the Big Ten. I don't blame Gary for retiring, by the way. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did after being forced to call awful BIg Ten games for the past two seasons. 

Think about it … he went from getting the top SEC game each week for two decades, to calling a Rutgers-Maryland game nobody on earth was watching. 

Of course he bolted! He deserved better from CBS, in both instances. 

OK, let's quickly rapid-fire this New Year's class into a big night so we can hop back on the horse for the Sugar Bowl. First up? Where do we stand on the Michael Irvin experience during Miami games?

It's a real fine line for me with Michael Irvin during these games. I think it's a bit much, evidenced by the fact that the ESPN cameras pan to him after every single play. Feels a little gimmicky to me at times. 

But also … my God. Imagine this dude back in Miami in the '90s? The stories some folks could tell. 

Speaking of things that would've been wild to see on ESPN in the '90s …

Incredible. It's all incredible. What a moment for SVP. Probably the biggest moment of his career, and he managed to walk the line and save it at the end. This, by the way, is why I say I could NEVER do live TV. I wouldn't last five minutes. I'd get canceled so fast, heads would spin. 

Two more on the way out! First? Jennifer Lopez doesn't plan on covering up any time soon, haters:

Fair point. I'm gonna use that line with my wife tonight and see if it works!

OK, that's it for today. Good Thursday. Good work by everyone. For those who made it to class today, you get a gold star. For those who skipped, I expect you to be all the earlier tomorrow!

Take us into 2026, Alina. 

OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots).

Where do you rank New Year's Eve/Day on the holiday scale? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.