Rachel Stuhlmann Pivots To Golf Influencing For The Masters, Augusta CGI Birds & A Clay vs. Nick Alpha-Off
Baseball practice starts this morning!
It's 6:50 a.m. ET, I've already been on the phone with our help desk this morning and I have a baseball practice to run at 9 a.m. That's the life you live when you run America's Best Daily Column, as named by the readers.
Would I rather be in bed than talking to some guy at the help desk on why I can't save this edition of Screencaps? Hell yes! Would I rather be cruising through Instagram right now like 10 days ago rather than struggling my way through Twitter to find embeds for IGs on X that will actually embed into this column? Hell yes!
I go through the trials and tribulations of tech problems and early Saturday mornings FOR YOU, the readers.
Anyway, it's the first day of practice.
Just now practicing? WHAT!?!
I know Travel Ball Hardo Chris B. in Houston has been traveling for the last three months. I know Duncan in Georgia has a HUGE 11U showdown today against the son of Brian McCann. I know NIL deals have been signed the last five weekends at the Florida Panhandle Rumble at the Rock Shootout sponsored by Marucci.
That's a fake tournament name I came up with, but it probably exists. Good luck to all the teams involved.
Today, we get the bats, the balls and my aging shoulder out on the field again to see what we've got for the next 2 ½ months.
Here's my plan going into Day 1 of 11 & 12U:
- Do I have pitchers? Who can get the ball over the plate? Do I have a kid who hasn't pitched before that has a live arm and can be developed? Remember, last year, I had a kid who told me he was scared to pitch. He was worried about control. The boy ended up being a legitimate top five arm in the league and had one helluva pitching duel in the league championship game.
- Catchers? I know my son's friend can catch, but I learned last year that it's a long, hot summer and by July 4th weekend, I'm going to need another catcher.
- Who is my first baseman? I'm looking for a Mark Grace-type kid. Innings eater defensively who can hit over .300, but this kid is going to stay out of trouble off the field.
- Who wants to play? It's rec ball, so everyone gets to play in every game, but who really wants to play? That will tell me which kids need extra attention to move them up to the "really wants to play" category.
Now it's time to get out there, get loose, get used to each other and begin to build a team. The sun is out. The birds are chirping. I have a virtual tee time at Augusta National with the text group after baseball. Then I'm hosting the 2nd Annual Masters Experience party at our house.
It's going to be a great Saturday.
Where does Verne Lundquist sit at The Masters?
– The Source®, who knows Augusta National inside and out, sent me the following text:
Verne is in a smaller, much lower one next to the regular tower.
– Gary writes:
Keep the Augusta trip stories and photos coming!!!
Earlier this week Verne was on Live From The Masters on the Golf Channel. He said that this year he is sitting in the secondary tower at the 16th hole. It is a tower much closer to the ground than the regular tower.
The primary tower is highlighted on the left. The secondary is on the right at the right edge of the bunker.
However, I am not sure how Verne is going to climb into the secondary tower.
Augusta National birds
– Paul in Cincinnati emails:
They are loud and always singing! Maybe because they get to live at Augusta National!!?
Kinsey:
Speaking of Masters birds, did you see the CGI birds on No. 18?
TNML and Screencaps will be at the No. 5 tee box today
– Mike D. writes:
Hanging out at the 5th tee box today.
OJ vs. The Dream
– John in Milford, MI writes:
My son who is a sophomore in high school was asking me questions about OJ last night. He asked if I thought he was guilty, and I said innocent men don’t usually lead half the LAPD on a car chase and threaten to kill themselves. He asked if I remembered where I was when OJ made his break for it in the white Bronco, and I told him I was in college drinking in a bar in Ann Arbor and watching Game 5 of the Rockets-Knicks NBA Finals game.
I told him I remember being mad as hell because they kept cutting away from the game to cover the car chase. He pulled up video of the game and sure enough they kept cutting away right in the middle of guys going up for shots.
While the ending credit scene in the first Naked Gun movie when Leslie Nielsen thinks OJ (aka Nordberg) knocked up Priscilla Presley is a top five funniest all time scene in a movie, I’m still no fan of Orenthal. Who I am a fan of is Hakeem Olajuwon. I think he is the greatest center of all time, and maybe the best player ever not named Jordan.
He was dominant on both ends of the floor in an era when there were a lot of great centers. Dude is number eleven on the all time NBA leaders list for STEALS (he was in the top ten, but Lebrugly knocked him out now that he is in his 28th season). I think the fact that Hakeem led the Rockets to two championships in a row (when Jordan was playing baseball) during a time when the NBA peaked speaks volumes.
‘You’re an artist'
– BS from Lake Orion, Michigan writes:
[Friday] Screencaps was such a pleasure to read. Thank you. I’ve only been onboard for a few months and I know I’ve missed a lot.
I shared the John Daly pics with my wife. She’s a fan of his, style
. She suggested I send an interesting picture to you so I can become part of this. If I ever have on interesting enough I will do that!
Please keep up the great work.
Kinsey:
Welcome to the party, BS. Nothing tells me a reader is hooked like a reader who shares Screencaps content with his wife. This is an important stage because it has become your soap opera and you're not just texting about the soap opera with your buddies. The wife stage is the intimate stage. Now it's hit home that Screencaps is part of your life and it's these moments that keep me employed because you come to this site day after day.
The Different Stages of the Screencaps Visitor:
- Some link brought me to this post and I have no idea why
- I might've been here once before, but now a friend told me I need to read this column
- I don't care about travel ball and/or mowing, but he's writing this stuff like he's one of us, one of the guys in the text group
- He wants to know about The Masters? He's going to love my secret spot on the No. 7 tee box!
- I should buy a shirt
- I recap every post with my wife
I could probably fine tune those stages, but I have a ball practice to run in an hour.
What is up with all the anger from Padres fans?
This week, we had another pushing and shoving match out of Padres fans. This came after a pretty violent start to the year for fans who haven't historically been known on the Internet for throwing punches or acting extremely angry during the Internet era.
– Joel is mad at me:
Your article failed to consider the east village where Petco is located is the largest single homeless population in the metro area. Add to the fact Bidens La Migre are dropping thousands, no exaggeration of "new comers" off on the street corners around the area each week. People will certainly get hurt, likely some fatalities will come out of this intentional facilitated invasion by nefarious people. And if you were local you'd think these facts would be included in your shot at Padre Fans.
With no due respect,
Joel
Kinsey:
You think illegals are the ones fighting at Petco?
Joel, two very white guys were pounding on two very white Gen Zs 10 days ago. The fight this week was between a bunch of white guys.
The question is why such anger in San Diego, a place where this isn't historically the case.
There are Padres fans pounding on Padres fans. Latino fans who don't look like they just jumped a wall were pounding on each other last year. There's clearly something in the air in San Diego.
Now, that's not to say trouble isn't brewing with all the illegals. We just had an illegal (the cops can't find any identification on the guy) who used a translation app in an attempt to rob a bank. He literally wrote into the app (allegedly!) that he wanted money and hit translate.
I just get the feeling the anger thing in San Diego has been brewing.
Those fleeting moments with your kids before they graduate
– John from SD writes:
At our family dinner tonight my senior HS daughter brought up going to the HS Improv show led by her HS math teacher (interesting guy in a good way). She’s an athlete so going to these events isn’t usual for athletes. Two of her friends bailed so she asked if I wanted to go. Initial reaction was "no".
I rethought my decision and realized what I was about to miss out as an opportunity to spend time with my daughter and one-on-one opportunity before she graduates from high school and goes to college. For the past two years she wouldn’t have wanted to be seen with me at an event like this (like most HS kids). We had a great time.
It was awesome, eight kids performing improv (they did a great job). Point being, stay engaged with your children the best you can throughout their lives.
Mike T. doing hard things, but now he has a stack of firewood
– Mike T. in Idaho writes:
Neighbors had two Birch trees cut down, TGC and I hauled them to our place. Next stack and season for the summer, split stack in the fall !
Screencaps readers share photos of their grow ops
Before I left for Augusta, the big story around here was over Mrs. Screencaps' grow op. I had emailers thinking she was growing pot because I was calling it a grow op.
The beauty of Screencaps is how readers key in on a subject and run with it. Now I'm receiving multiple messages on other grow ops.
– Guy G. in western NY shares his grow op:
Chiming in on plants, knowing how you feel. Wife likes them, so have at it. We have 2 aloe plants I can see from my desk, a few trees...yes, trees... and more plants than I can count.
In the corner of the living room, we have a 8' high grow stand. It is equipped with 10 6’ grow lights, and 8 fans, to strengthen the stalks. What started a few years ago as a fun start to the garden, has exploded into full on organic heirloom garden, before going to the garden. This year, tomatoes (pictured) started in February, with 60 plants. Kids were helping, and that has grown to 86. Sweet peppers are in and sprouted, with 45 sweet, and 30 hot. The daughter's flower garden is also started, and will take up a much bigger space this year.
Overall, the size of the garden we had last year, will need to be doubled. Things are getting so out of hand, that we're going to have to put in an underground greenhouse, to be able to start everything that we want to plant. Pair all of this will the new berry farm that is being installed this spring, growing is now a full time job!
The extra O2 in the house is a nice benefit, and they are calming to work on. Get your wife a bonsai tree to care for, and it'll get even calmer!
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That's it for this Saturday morning. The sun got even brighter as I was typing. It's time to play ball. I'm off to the ballpark.
Have an incredible weekend.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com