Salma Hayek Celebrates Selfie Sunday, Brittany & Jackson Have Been Silenced, Plus The Pillow Fighting Championship!
And MY Cincinnati Bengals are moving on to Super bowl LVI
"I never thought I'd live long enough to see this," my dad said just after Bengals superstar kicker Evan McPherson booted the game winner in overtime, erasing decades of pain and embarrassment associated with rooting for this franchise.
Did you see Bengals' owner Mike Brown, wearing some random hat that he wrangled from his closet, on that stage accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy looking like he just woke up from a nap in a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath brick ranch where he watches Bengals games on a vintage Magnavox console TV?
That's the weirdo boogeyman cheap bastard Bengals fans have had to deal with all these years. Now 86, Mike turned the football operations over to his daughter and her husband who have actually been competent and HIT THE NFL LOTTERY BY DRAFTING JOE BURROW, JA'MARR CHASE, AND EVAN MCPHERSON.
This franchise went from one that NFL free agents wouldn't even consider because of Mike Brown to a franchise that now has one of the league's faces for the next 15 years (bless Burrow's knees and shoulders, football gods!).
It's enough to make people cry and that's exactly what happened as McPherson was lining up the game winner. My dad, who has been through some serious struggles with his health the last couple of years, couldn't hold back. The tears started streaming down right there in the Marco Island Brewery where Bengals fans went nuts celebrating an absolute miracle season from a team that had a 6.5 win total line from Vegas heading into the season.
I'd never been in a bar celebrating a Bengals victory with so many people over 65 in my life, but it was great. We're talking about people who were in their early 30s the last time the Bengals played in a Super Bowl. Now they're in their mid-to-late 60s rambling on to each other about items they found at the farmers' market or when they're taking the boat out for a ride around Marco. (If you want to have a long conversation on Marco, just ask people where the best place to get a burger and a beer is.)
I wasn't sure how this weekend would turn out, but I have to say it's really been one of those classic weekends -- yes, it was cold -- where you mix golf, gulf shrimp, sunshine, Crown Vanilla, gator-watching, and a Bengals AFC Championship into one trip.
Now it's time to fly back to Ohio and winter. I don't know what will happen in two weeks for the Super Bowl. At this point, I'll watch it at home in the basement HQ, but who knows what will happen between now and then.
The big question is whether I'll be heading to Los Angeles as OutKick's correspondent. Guys, I follow orders. Am I desperate to get out there? No. Would it be nice and memorable? Sure, but I'll allow the football gods to take things from here. It's been one helluva ride this winter, and I'm just going to keep letting it take me where I belong.
For now, I have to worry about this massive "BENCHMARK" winter storm that's supposed to drill us in NW Ohio starting Wednesday morning. Let's not forget that Screencaps has been built on the backs of the common man and the common woman.
I'm sure Peter King's out in Los Angeles getting an exfoliating treatment in preparation for the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, I'm going into battle with a BENCHMARK winter storm. All the blue checkmarks are prepping for their big return to the Super Bowl party scene and rubbing elbows with fellow blue checkmarks. I'm more focused on kicking this BENCHMARK storm's ass with my snowblower and shovel.
Advantage: Screencaps
• LaMont J. writes:
I told my daughter at the end of the first half that the Bengals were going to the Super Bowl……
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It's weird, I had a very good feeling after the Chiefs screwed up at the end of the first half and ran out the clock. This Bengals team has this weird way of just needing one stop to get them rolling. I don't know what they serve up in the Bengals locker room at halftime against the Chiefs (now 2-0 against the Chiefs this year trailing by 11 at half), but I want some of that stuff - BAD!
• Bill C. writes:
Screencaps have to continue daily through the Super bowl!!!!
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Well, Bill, I promised daily coverage through the Super Bowl BEFORE MY Bengals made the game. Now it's going to be even more of a pleasure to wake up for the next 15 days to produce Screencaps content. I expect big things out of my fellow Bengals fans. I need you guys to email stuff you see. Tag me on Twitter and Instagram. It's time to go on a BENCHMARK...HISTORIC...ONE FOR THE AGES...content runs.
• Tom H. writes:
FC NORSK to the Super Bowl! Gonna be a hell of a next 15 years for the Cats.
Enjoy and please tell your dad I’m so happy for him and you.
Enjoy it Joe
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Thank you, Tom. Again, I say a little prayer to the football gods to do their thing and to keep Joey B. upright or sacked as lightly as possible. Yes, I'm nervous over Aaron Donald playing like a possessed beast, but this week is all about enjoying the moment.
• Paul B. writes:
I am probably white noise in a busy Inbox today…but, cannot tell you how happy I am for YOU. Following you has made me a Bengals fan…thanks for the ride.
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I have to be honest, the inbox was way busier when the Bengals took out the Titans. It could be that Screencaps readers are just so stunned they can't get words out of their fingers. That's how I was after last night. I kinda sat there and then ordered another beer to sip on while trying to process that ending. My mind was an emotional rollercoaster thinking about how Mahomes melted down and the Bengals rose up.
• Jess in AL writes:
I’m sure better video of this is all over Twitter, but what a joke on CBS. Why on earth did they try to recap the first half while a concert was going on right behind them? At least one of the guys acknowledged it and said his daughter told him they should just do sign language.
Congratulations on your Bengals going to the Super Bowl and silencing Jackson Mahommes!!!!! You going to host an OutKick super bowl party now? Busch Light keg & lots of smoked meats? Oh and jalapeño poppers.
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I couldn't hear the halftime show because the bar audio wasn't the best. Here's what Jess is talking about.
As for L.A., I'd probably have a Cincinnati chili bar and bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers party, if it was in the cards, just to hear the big J blue checkmarks bitch and moan about Cincinnati chili. Screw them!
• Jason S. in Lynchburg, VA writes:
Loved your play-by-play of your trip to see your dad for the game. Y’all deserve this win. Congrats dude.
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I don't do usually do my best work away from my home computer setup, but the numbers were great this weekend. You guys continue to go nuts for this content and I have no intentions of slowing my down production any time soon, especially through the Super Bowl...DAILY COVERAGE!
• Indy Daryl writes:
Never have I ever cheered more or been that nervous for a team not from Denver. Couldn’t be happier for you and the Bengals fan base! Enjoy the night!
• Rachel N. writes:
I captured these two images off of Facebook after the Bengals win from friends who are long-suffering Bengals fans. As you talk about what it means to see the Bengals win, I remember I cried and ran away from home (to my neighbor's house) the first time the Bengals lost the Super Bowl - I was 10 years old.
I remember watching Tim Krumrie crushing his leg in the second one when I was 19 years old. Seeing these dads and their kids have a moment of joy together is the reason why sports can be so good!
I'm now a principal of a small Catholic school about an hour southeast of Cincinnati along the Ohio River on the Kentucky side but I grew up 15 minutes outside of Cincy in the suburbs of Northern Kentucky. I don't let my students out of uniform much but we will be all orange and black on Friday, February 11, 2022. I'll send pictures!
• Jose R. in Mesa, AZ writes:
Emailing you to just say Congrats on your Bengals beating Kansas City. Long time Cubs fan, and I know what this means to you and Bengals' fan to slay the dragon and make it to the Super Bowl. It must be 100 times sweeter to experience this with your dad. Hope you guys win the next game and slay all the demons that come with being a Bengals fan. Keep up the good work.
• I have to admit, I'd forgotten about this bracket that Rann R. sent me weeks ago featuring his grandson's playoff picks. The grandson is 12:
Rann writes:
Cooper picked Cincinnati to beat the Rams in the Super Bowl. He has been right so far! Very happy for you and Bengals Nation.
• That should do it for today. I like where Cooper's head is at and let's end this on a high note. Like I said, I'm back out on the road today and heading home to see what my own kids think of dad's Bengals heading to the Super Bowl. It's also time to get them some gear and make a huge snow pile for them.
Let's have a great week and keep in mind that we're inching ever so closer to those after-mowing beers on the patio while listening to Yacht Rock.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com