Jessica Simpson Cranks Up The Content Heading Into Summer, Bodies Down At The PGA & Little League Kid Holds A Dance Party
Coming to you from a downtown Chicago hotel this morning
That means you get what you get on a Monday morning and you don't throw a fit. I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again, you guys don't get my best effort when I'm on the road because I'm used to twin 27" monitors, plus my laptop. There's typically content flying around all over the 27s. There are typically multiple streams I'm monitoring at once.
I know you old salty road dogs are used to hammering out expense reports from the comfort of you Embassy Suites living room dining table but not me. It takes me about 10 minutes to miss the Screencaps command center.
What am I doing in Chicago, you ask? Sunday I was at the National Restaurant Association trade show at McCormick Place where the booth that she designed for her employer was on full display next to Uber Eats. I've said it multiple times and I'll say it again as well, this NRA show is like Costco Sample Saturday on the craziest PEDs ARod ever injected straight into his ass.
There are so many samples that at some point you just have to cut yourself off. Or be very selective.
I'll write more on the NRA show for Sunday including my sample power rankings list which will also include more on Icee getting into the hard liquor game.
It's always nice to make this trip and celebrate her work achievements which don't get the accolades like Screencaps readers heaping praise on Thursday Night Mowing League. I'm beyond proud of what she's been able to accomplish over the 15 years she's worked with CMC Group where she's now the lead designer and takes on many other roles to keep the company's marketing team rolling along.
My wife and her project that consumes like six months of her life each year.
After I'm done with this, we're headed back. I need to see if this plant-based chicken sandwich some wholesaler came up with is the next big thing on restaurant menus. Plus, I need to make one more trip to the gelato aisle.
A little slice of America
• Mark W. in Tennessee writes:
I wanted to share with you a little bit of what I experienced this weekend.
I am a member of the Franklin (TN) Noon Rotary Club, and our big fund raising event is a rodeo. A real live rodeo with bull riding, barrel racing, bucking broncs, and all the trappings. In fact, the rodeo we put on has grown to the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi, and this is our 71st year of putting this on this event (and my 30th rodeo). All of our profits go to our local foundation which supports local charities and community outreach. We do three nights of performance- Thursday (got the mow in before I reported to the arena!), Friday, and Saturday.
This event never fails to stir my heart at the reaction of the people that are in attendance. My work assignment is to manage all the ticket sales and gates. Mainly, get tickets scanned and get people into the arena. Each performance begins with the National Anthem and a prayer, and we usually still have people coming in when the performance starts. Those people in line hear the anthem and everything stops. People remove their hats, put their hand over their heart and sing along with the anthem.
There is a salute each night to the military, which receives a rousing response. Patriotism is unashamedly promoted.
Lots of families are in attendance and young children are seeing and participating in a celebration of America and all that is good about it. It is like a TNML gathering over three nights with 18,000 people attending and celebrating all that makes this country great.
Competitors come from all over the country. Some win their events, some wind up face down in the dirt. All get back up, and all are willing participants in doing hard things. These are real men and women, the backbone of this country.
As a nation, we are not perfect. But there is a lot of good still out there. The rodeo (and TNML) are proof of that.
Photos via Mark W.'s Rotary photographer
Photos via Mark W.'s Rotary photographer
Photos via Mark W.'s Rotary photographer
Reid's pool dilemma has shifted stages
• Reid is the Screencaps reader who made a deal with his neighbor allowing excavators through his TNML-worthy yard so the neighbor could dig a pool. As you can see from the latest photos, the excavators made their way through Reid's yard and soon he'll be repairing this with the money the neighbor paid for the inconvenience. Reid writes:
Joe, some of these rutts are about a foot deep. It Is sickening, but I’m looking forward to fall to fix them.
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Everything is bigger in Texas
• Ryan H. writes:
Might get rain Monday.. for now.. we eat! A simple West Texas Queso Burger on a Sunday night!
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50-year mowing vet!
• Michael R. writes:
Hi Joe. Love the content. Am a rookie to the TNML but have been cutting lines for over 50 years. Can't tell you how much my wife of 31 years enjoys the Thursday evenings after my time on the field. Happy wife happy life… don't have any bikini pics to send but thought you'd like to see our little slice of treed bliss in Anniston, Al.
Is this pellet grill worth $4k?
• Mike T. in Idaho writes:
Ok, I don’t want to restart last year’s BBQ wars, gas, charcoal or electric, but I saw this baby at the Home Depot this weekend and was shocked at the price tag. 4k for a BBQ? The world has gone mad!
https://www.traeger.com/pellet-grills/timberline-xl
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Would I be able to tell the difference between a burger on a $4k grill vs. a $900 grill? One of you has to own a several thousand dollar grill out there.
• Friday I made the observation that adults don't seem to be playing softball like back in the 1980s and 1990s when softball tournaments were huge for the 20-35-year-old crowd. Jason R. has a theory:
Adult softball leagues
Huge fan here from Tennessee. I read Screencaps every day. I saw your question about adults playing softball. I grew up watching my dad and older brother play softball during the week and on weekends. It was super competitive and looked like a lot of fun just to hang out with friends at the ball park. I looked forward to playing once I got older.
I played for maybe about four years of weekend softball. Unfortunately, it is all but dead in East Tennessee. My brother believes the biggest reason is that younger players have to work on nights and weekends when they are in college. Years ago people graduated high school and went to work full time.
I personally think the explosion of travel youth tournaments every weekend has young adults burnt out of sports by the time they graduate. Before all you had was week night little league and maybe a tournament here and there. Now there are multiple tournaments for youth every weekend. The “world championship” Mark Paul made was pretty funny.
Anyways, I’m curious to see if anyone out there still has competitive softball. It does seem to be more popular in the middle TN but definitely not in East TN. Keep up the good work. Enjoy all the good stuff on here!
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I think Jason is onto something here with the burnout angle killing adult softball leagues. I'd also add that I think it has to do with the explosion of volleyball leagues, people working longer hours, people jerking around on their phones instead of getting out of the house and video games.
And with that, let's get the day rolling. I need to get over to the NRA show to crush some samples.
No matter where you are across this incredible country, have a great week. I know many of you are closing in on vacations. Send us the photos and videos of what you're seeing across this country. Show the rest of the country there's a massive audience of like-minded people who aren't forgotten.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com