Salma Hayek's Spring Break Continues With A Cenote Swim, Landon Dickerson Buys A Mower & It's Opening Day
Masters Update: The tickets have been procured, but the transaction IS NOT complete
Wednesday was a big moment in my journey to finally rub my Sketchers (I'll probably go with my Costco Adidas because they're broken in and ready for 30k steps) against the turf I've spent my entire life appreciating on CBS.
My ticket Source sent word that the tickets are in his possession and now I just have to get to Atlanta via a Delta airplane that better not crash, and then Canoe Kirk needs to get our Tesla rental to Augusta where we will meet the ticket Source at an undisclosed location. We'll exchange pleasantries and promise, again, to treat these tickets with the utmost respect, honor and cherish them.
Yes, I'm paying for the tickets. The haters will say I used Screencaps as a way to get Masters tickets and I'm leaching. That's #fakenews. Canoe Kirk and I are paying for this trip out of our own pockets. Fox News Corp. isn't paying a dime. I didn't ask the Corp for a penny. I don't want the pressure of writing about my experience as a work assignment. I want to experience my Sketchers against that turf and then just write from my heart without worries of a work laptop, or work messages coming in, or long discussions on how to amplify the content.
As the poet Tom Petty once wrote:
I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while
Now, I don't know if he was talking about The Masters or if he was talking about doing coke or what was coming from his heart when pen met paper, but I'm going to believe in my heart Tom was writing about going to Augusta with his golf buddy for the experience of his life.
Ed. note:
I'll never reveal my ticket source. I'll take his name to my grave. He is a reader, but it's not Tiger Woods. I will say that.
Conversations with my buddy Diesel
Mrs. Screencaps and I went out last night to a place we hadn't been to in years and the food was great, the server had a great attitude, she felt comfortable, we weren't in a hurry and she shared small-talk. It was a nice night out. We left saying we'll be back.
This morning, on the group text, Diesel shared a video of a server who made a TikTok video pretty much explaining how she extracts tips out of customers and then she flips off the camera. The woman is scum, but, she opened up a conversation.
How much does quality of service weigh into your decision to return to a restaurant? Are you willing to give a place a second chance if a server makes your night miserable?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Johnny thinks I'm a misogynist for questioning Caitlin Clark's whining and complaining
Again, here's the post that has caused emotional emails this week. I'll say that this has been a fairly 50/50 topic. In other words, it'll probably be a topic ESPN will use on First Take once the network is finished broadcasting the women's national championship.
I'm early to this. Screamin' A. will eventually hop on the bandwagon.
Anyway, here comes Johnny. He doesn't use a single period. That's how mad he was at me.
• Johnny writes:
(T)he biggest thing to ever happen in all of women sports and you are knocking her,, are you a misogynist???? she is one of the best and most humble players ever and you want to create narrative that she is a whiner,, well 99% of the people disagree with your limited, and I repeat, very limited opinion,, this girl displays immeasurable good qualities from childhood to today's modern girl,, she is an excellent student, extremely smart business lady and has a clean record, loves the people, a world class athlete and is kind and humble in every respect and you want to cut her down not counting she holds nearly ever record there is in her sport,, damn people like you, had you rather promote her with tattoos from head to toe with jewelry hanging from every place on her body and trash talking everybody in sight while holding a beer and cussing every other breathe,, no you take the all American girl and want to run her down,, you are a sleaze ball in the first degree, take a hike,,!
Kinsey:
Now, to be fair to Johnny and the rest of the people screaming that middle-aged white men are wrongly attacking Clark, I will offer up the 8,000-word ESPN feature on Clark that was published last week just before the women's tournament started.
In Wright Thompson's story, we learn, via the Iowa coaches, one of whom is an openly white lesbian and the head coach is a middle-aged white woman, that they've spent the last few years keeping video files on Clark's outbursts to have her watch back to realize she needs to take it down a notch.
This isn't about her competitive spirit and her bulldog will to win.
The coaches claim Clark has gotten better with her incessant whining, but it's still to a point where the coaches want it known that they've tried to get a handle on it, but Clark is Clark and there's only so much you can do when you're coaching college basketball's all-time leading scorer.
ESPN even titled the feature, "Caitlin Clark and Iowa find peace in the process."
That's not by accident.
As I wrote earlier this week, the constant whining is ugly, and I'm not the only one who sees it.
• Fred M. says:
Joe - Agree that the antics detract from her play. But the only way teams can stop her is with very physical play. So now that is what everyone is doing. Men’s basketball has degenerated over the last 40 years to resemble the WWE. Don't have a clue what a foul is now. Hard to watch, so I don’t. Now they are letting the women’s game go down the same rat hole. And the refereeing is totally inconsistent. Just not good for the game.
• Tom V.L. writes:
Good morning, Joe.
No, you are not wrong. My wife and I call it "Caitlin Clark Fatigue." It’s a real thing, especially here in Iowa…
Nothing shouts humility and great role model for kids like running to the crowd after a big shot, stopping, putting your arms out, and essentially saying, "You’re all lucky to have tickets to see this."
How about Coach Bluder? Laughable. CC doesn’t listen to her and she has no team. Shameful.
I could say more, but honestly, it’s not worth getting her cult worked up. This whole thing, however, should be an advertisement for parents needing to return to spanking their kids. They’re never too old to get thrown over a knee…
Thanks for the article – although we are in the minority doesn’t mean we are wrong.
The Screencaps Test
I asked readers if they knew which current ESPN employee came up with the original form of Screencaps.
Wyn in Colorado texted me almost immediately. "I believe this was Peter," Wyn wrote.
He's correct.
It was Peter Burns from SEC Network years and years ago. Peter wanted the column to serve as a morning roundup of his past night on social media. He'd ask Twitter questions, get responses, post the responses in his column and have a conversation. He'd post craziness from across the world of sports.
That was before he even worked at SEC Network. He wasn't married and didn't have kids. His work life got busy and he gave up the column, but it lived on and is what you see today.
I can't remember when I incorporated the Instagram models, but it was the best decision I ever made.
Happy Gilmore and losing a friend
• Rory M. writes:
I had written in a while back about my close friend who passed last year due to complications from sleep apnea.
He was my main golf buddy & originally got me into the game. Golf was always a family affair and I still go to his parents house for majors. I had a friend with much more artistic abilities than me help me get this made up & gave it to his parents.
Kept one print for myself and just need to get a frame made for it that has a holding place for my hole in 1 ball I made while playing with him 3 years ago.
Happy Opening Day!
Am I alone in feeling horrible that I don't get excited these days over the start of the MLB season? I didn't watch a single Spring Training game. I'm lost with the sport these days.
I'm not sure if it's a sign of getting older, or baseball just not being at the forefront of the sports conversation, but I just don't have that energy running through my veins like I used to feel from the sport.
Maybe this message from Sean Casey will help me. Love the energy out of this guy.
• Jon H. writes:
In honor of the Reds, Opening Day, and Do Hard Things, I thought the Screencaps community might enjoy this. Some great baseball stories plus some wisdom mixed in (and a little religion…it is Easter week, after all).
Advice on visiting Boston is needed
• Jeff in Texas writes:
We are taking a trip to Boston in August to watch the Astros play the Red Sox for a couple of games. I am hoping someone can let me know some of the must see things there (besides the Samuel Adam's Brewery, that's a no brainer). Art galleries are a no go for us. Thanks for any help from other SC readers. Keep up the great work!!
Kinsey:
I will forward your responses to Jeff.
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That's it. Gotta run. The sun is out. The plants are starting to shoot up. The weeping trees are flowering. The rabbits, birds and squirrels are driving our dog crazy. Spring has sprung and it's a beautiful sight.
Go out and attack the day. Head on a swivel. Let me know what you're seeing, feeling, experiencing.
And if you're waiting for a TNML sticker, I'm chipping away at it day after day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com