Jenna Berman Embraces Sweater Season, Diamondbacks Throw A Pool Party After Sweeping Dodgers & Stone Cold Steve Autumn
As expected, the response to the OutKick Audience Engagement Officer's (Do you HR experts think I need to reword that title for my resume?) request was overwhelming and appreciated
Wednesday, I asked Screencaps readers to give me the pulse of the OutKick experience because I have a big presentation to give to the team and you guys delivered. Yes, there were some readers who wrote about how the Dale Earnhardt image at the end of Screencaps "feels like a throwaway," which completely insulted the history of Screencaps, but I shook it off and kept moving forward because I have this presentation to present.
(Ed. note: For those who are new around here, Dale Earnhardt epitomizes everything about Screencaps and should be the final thing you see in the post before you go out and attack another day of life by giving 100% determination at all times.)
Here's the very first line of the very first email I received approximately nine minutes after Wednesday Screencaps went live.
• Chris S. in Antioch, IL wrote:
So glad you guys actually care what we think.
I'm opening my big presentation to the team with that line.
And then I'm going to remind the team that the Washington Post announced big layoffs this week as that company starts to shed employees after becoming a bloated pig over the last few years as it expanded its digital team.
Do I think the Washington Post has a strong audience engagement plan? Of course not. They're fighting for readers amongst a massively crowded lib lib media world loaded with weirdos defending dudes with dicks dominating swimming meets.
OutKick doesn't have a competitor that I know of while there are millions of people sitting out there who are seeking our content, but they just don't know it exists. There are millions of people out there looking for a sane place to talk sports, life and Texas chili at a site where we think dudes with dicks should be swimming against dudes with dicks.
It's our job to go tell those people we exist.
That's why I'm constantly reminding you guys to forward this column to your buddies. Let it be the gateway drug to your friends becoming OutKick fans. I'm pretty confident in my ability to convert a reader into a fan in one column.
Now for the real challenge for the entire team: Developing OutKick into a place where hundreds of thousands of people visit on a daily basis. Return customers. Dedicated.
The industry experts call it scaling.
Barstool calls it brick by brick.
OutKick might have no option but to print t-shirts that read: "We actually care what you think" and make it our rallying cry as we embark on this new endeavor.
Off we go.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
OutKick Audience Engagement Officer hears from Beau in Toledo, one of the GOATs
As always, if an editor touches Beau's email, I will go straight up the Fox News Corp. chain of command to make sure it never happens again.
• Beau in Toledo writes (#notedited, except for the f-bombs because Google goes nuts over those):
Of Course, it's late, but You provided Q's, and I thought I'd add my 15 beers (2 cents in THIS economy?!?) worth in...
1) Evolution. Y'All Get It. You see and hear it from #OutKickNation. Granted, it may take a little time to fix some dumb stuff, like content covering pop-ups, but Y'All are working to fix it faster than the pothole crews in Toledo, so take that as a W.
2) YOU, Joe. Yeah, g'head and forward this to Clay's email. Bobby Burack is also a must read. Riley, Sean, Zack, Ian, and Amanda are killing it, as well. If I missed anyone else's stuff, mybad, I only have so much time. (And See: #5)
3) KEEP IT THE SAME. The #DIVERSITY of content that Y'All provide can't be matched by any other website. Yes, #OutKick was founded on sports and the backstories behind it, but it morphed into something way more beautiful (hope that didn't sound too much Silence of the Lamps-ish) than i thunk (not a mis-spelling) even Clay could have imagined.
Side Note: To the Haters in the Comments sections, get over yourselves... and stop paying for your "girlfriends". If you hate the content, don't click on the f--king headline links. If there's something else I want to look up, there are a myriad of other sites at Our disposal. Open your brainbox, kids... And Yes, I'm fully aware a majority of You reading this are SHOCKED that I didn't say "#DailyHildeee , but if it happened, there won't be any complaints... I'm just sayin'...
4) Whatever is relevant at that moment. Good, Bad, Funny, Indifferent, whatever... see #3.
5) .Work Whether it be at the jobby-job, or off the clock stuff, that's pretty much the only reason I'd miss #ScreenCaps, hence the response to #6...
6) ARCHIVED ARTICLES. It seems to be an issue with only certain content providers, Joe... #GibbsRule39... just sayin'...
7) Hell, I can't even remember how many Yuengling Lights I've had tonight...
ADDENDUM:
.....Yes, I turned on the furnace this weekend... a pre-season PM sort of demands it... it was nice out, the house windows were open, and I got to piss off the climate potato known as "greta thunberg" and burn off the #FirstBurn of the season in a 20+ yr old HVAC unit... Been off since... of COURSE i'm gonna credit Men's & Women's Workwear & Clothing | Duluth Trading Company and a heated waterbed... suck it, haters.
Trent T. needs to add Decals/Stickers to his site... and maybe to YOUR links as well, Joe... maybe even a colab with the 'Caps at the Bay Tourney next year... #MF2C stickers on every #GarageFridge profiled on #ScreenCaps wouldn't disturb the Universe...
Ryan Z would lose his effing mind if he was able to listen to a Tigers Game with Ernie Harwell at the mic on the AM Dial...
Love Ya, Brother but The Game of Baseball is just different... yeah, the new gen of 'callers don't have the chops of Days Gone By, i'll admit to that, but hopefully they'll learn...
Kinsey:
Now that's an email! I'm not going to lie, I have to do a 'Command-F(ind)' on my Apple laptop to make sure he didn't slip in f-bombs that I might've missed.
The Washington Post doesn't allow the Beau in Toledos anywhere near its website. Remember how I've handled Internet business for a long time: When they zig, I zag. Beau goes straight to the front of the email line over some real legends of the Screencaps game especially when I see he emailed at 12:49 a.m.
Let's get back to a normal edition of Screencaps with a look at what's going on in Pittsburgh
• Tom H. in Fort Wayne, but who has those Steelers season tickets I used last year, writes:
Thought you’d like this.
Sports production techniques you hate
I knew Jess in Alabama would be all over this topic as she's shared some of her thoughts in the past.
• Jess writes:
I like Ryan Z’s hated production techniques topic. There have been some terrible ones over the years, but currently, my husband and I love to make fun of the NFL cartoonish player bits (not sure what they are actually called). But the one of Dak Prescott last Sunday in leather pants on the beach was extra special. His head was superimposed on a cartoon character with a Cowboys jersey and leather pants while stoking a beach fire. No wonder he had a horrible game.
How much is the guy in charge of those graphics paid?
• Todd Z. writes:
This is only for football as it is the only sport I watch. As someone who is hard of hearing why do they turn the announcers down and the crowd noise up? I want to hear the announcers not the dull roar of a stadium full of people.
As an aside, I've recently noticed that when you play multi-view on YouTube TV, the sound/announcers are actually several levels louder than they are when you watch single-view. it is very noticeable.
• Neil from Cleveland writes:
Without out a doubt my singular hatred is for any production that takes the focus away from the success of the participants. Case in point is the egotistical gas bag on international soccer broadcasts that yells gooooaalllll until my ears bleed. Hey bloviator, do you think you're the reason I'm watching? Shut the F up. Let the game breathe, let the production truck cut to fans losing their minds and players celebrating with teammates. I makes me irrationally rage. Thank God for the mute button.
Neil adds:
The president of our company mentioned Outkick in a recent sales meeting.
Kinsey:
As the Audience Engagement Officer, I'm investigating that last line a little deeper. It's my job.
• Greg G. writes:
Regular OUTKICK viewer and watch a lot of NBA ball. I HATE HATE HATE when basketball replays switch from the action on the court to show a close-up of a shot ball spinning in the air. We miss everything playing out on the court – plus we know they are showing a made basket. Haven’t we all seen the bball spin in the air enough already? Show the game, not the ball!
• George M. writes:
Football:
Once the players come to the line of scrimmage, I don't need to see the coach grimace on the sideline, don't need to see the QB's eyes as he scans the field, and I don't need to see screaming fans. I would like to see the alignment of the players, watch the motions and adjustments, see the snap and the whole play. Then they can go back to the fans in the stands, cheerleaders, and the coach throwing his headset. We came to see the game, they should show us the actual play, in its entirety!
By the way, some football weekends we just need a cheerleader channel. Couple of guys at all the big games, shooting nothing but cheerleaders all day long, streaming just like red zone so we don't miss any great action...just sayin'.
Kinsey:
Credit to George for just sayin' it. Some guys would keep that to themselves. George just lets it fly. You won't see the Washington Post letting him having his say.
Screencaps isn't just ahead of the trends, it sets the trends
• Adam W. in Nebraska writes:
I read this and knew that this was making Screencaps.
I won’t be surprised when the NYC journalists are reporting in mid-December about the Battery Daddy. I will be buying more this Christmas.
Outkick gets it, Clay gets it. You and Screencaps have the pulse of this country.
If the suits at Fox really need input it’s simple, just sign blank checks for Clay and Screencaps.
I’m currently tracking a beer shipment from Bill L from Nebraska, the Best Brewer of beer in the TNML and the Screencaps Community.
Yeah, I’m dying on that hill. Beer update soon.
• Greg B. in suburban Dayton, OH writes:
Saw your link to the "article" about the WSJ "reporter" musing whether men's clothes from Costco are a good value.
Thank you for your guidance to save me a click, although I would have never clicked on such an idiotic piece of "reporting". Why? I @#$%ing shop at Costco on almost a weekly basis, as do millions of other 'Mericans, and buy the majority of my clothes there so I know they are a good value when considering fit, quality, price, and lastly style.
I'm 53 years-old so style is much less important to me. The Kirkland brand seldom disappoints, and Costco also carries many other name brands. While their offering changes weekly and I can't go there expecting to buy a certain pattern or brand, I actually enjoy the variety. To think that some hipster reporter wearing skinny jeans, a Prius t-shirt, Chuck Taylors, and a beret had to go to Costco to learn what millions of people already know tells me all I need to know about that reporter.
If Costco clothes, or anything else they sell, was crap then people would buy those products elsewhere. It's called economics. Costco is successful for a reason - it largely knows what its customers want. To think the "reporter" had to investigate this "story" is moronic and makes me further question Big Media and the alternate universe in which they exist. How about reporting on something that matters and giving me objective facts? That would be excellent.
Speaking of being ahead of trends, was Screencaps ahead of this one or am I dreaming?
Save the "You hate tipping and it's disgraceful" emails. I've said from day one that I'm pissed at machines asking me to tip someone for handing me a cup of pumpkin spice latte.
Who invented music on the golf course?
• Tom in Houston makes an incredible point that should have been obvious days ago in this debate:
Anybody claiming to invent music on the golf course better have a start date before 1980, when Rodney Dangerfield was jamming on the course in "Caddyshack".
Kinsey:
Caddyshack was released on July 25, 1980.
If you can prove you invented music on a golf course before this, I'm all ears.
Linkedin Update
Which one of you works for the Pittsburgh Pirates? What's up? You looking for an Audience Engagement Officer who writes America's Best Morning Column, as named by the readers?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
That's it this morning. I have my intel heading into this big meeting with the team today thanks to the best readers on the Internet. That's not me just stroking the readership's ego. There's a Washington Post writer being laid off who wishes he/she had an actual readership because that person would be employed today.
I never take this for granted.
Now let's go dominate another day of life. Go get it. Go crush those sales meetings. Go lay those stripes in the city parks. Go teach the future bloggers of America.
Have an incredible day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com