WWE Legend Torrie Wilson Turns 50 & Proves She Still Has The Fastball, Hogan 10-Bell Salute & Jimmy Cries
Plus: The Battle At Bristol baseball field looks amazing.
Where do I even start with the week that pop culture just had?
- Yes, I have been on vacation a few days this week. Right now, I'm writing this from Bellaire, MI, so don't go robbing my house. We have kids in and out of the place watering and making sure nobody tries to steal any artifacts.
- Yes, I worked Monday and Tuesday and SeanJo handled this column those two days.
- No, I wasn't reassigned, lost the column, or anything like that. There were some scheduling conflicts along the way, so I told SeanJo just to handle Monday and Tuesday.
- I go on vacation and all hell breaks loose in pop culture. Look, I get it that we're going to go through periods where we lose all sorts of icons based solely on the number of icons that were created in the late 1970s and early 80s. That said, we're not going to have many weeks where we lose Ozzy, Hulk Hogan and the Augusta, Georgia Hooters all in the span of three days.
Ozzy
I definitely wasn't some superfan, but I could appreciate the Ozzy classics that he'd bring to Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio when I was a kid for the local blue-collar autoworkers who just wanted to rock out and flirt with danger. Imagine what it was like in 1986 when Ozzy rolled into barns across the U.S. and his opening act was Metallica.
Fast-forward to the 2000s and I came to appreciate Ozzy for his appreciation of Chipotle burritos and the construction process. I'm pretty sure I'd never even heard of Chipotle when this aired on the Osbourne reality show in the early 2000s.
Look at how Ozzy just watches that guy fold the burrito. That's the humanity I want to see out of celebrities.
Hulk Hogan
I remember how badly I wanted to see Wrestlemania III in Detroit when Hogan faced Andre in what was to be the biggest wrestling match in history. I seem to remember that the PPV broadcast was astronomical, and my parents didn't have the extra money laying around for such an event.
That meant waiting like six months before the VHS hit the shelves at the local Rite Aid, which was the only place in town in those days that rented tapes. I also remember if you lost the VHS, it was like $100 to replace it which felt like my family would be bankrupted.
May those of us Gen Xers who lived through this period never forget what Hogan meant to us and our vitamin consumption. May we never forget how badly we wanted to drink raw eggs to get stronger.
Yes, we grew up and some of us moved away from wrestling, but there's just something about the art that Hogan and the WWF created in those days that sticks with all of us. It was our Broadway. It was just so perfect.
The Augusta, Georgia Hooters
As a blogger for 17 years+, this one hit me really hard based solely on the content this Hooters has provided me over the years. From the years when John Daly would park his RV in front and sell t-shirts and sign boobs, to the 2024 trip I went on with Canoe Kirk when we met Big John and shared stories and laughs, the place has been incredibly important to my career.
It was always the pop culture location I never thought I'd see. It's not like flying into Boston and going to see Fenway. I never had a reason to drive I-20 from Atlanta to Columbia, South Carolina. Until 2024, I'd never been in that part of Georgia in my life and I still haven't been to South Carolina because Canoe Kirk and I never went over the Augusta River. We stayed on a dilapidated houseboat ON the Augusta River but never crossed it.
The Augusta Hooters was the unattainable experience unless you had tickets to the Masters.
In 2024, thanks to a reader of this column, it finally happened and was as great as I'd always imagined. The energy in the place was off-the-charts. The Hooters Girls were flying around with pitchers of beers. The testosterone was flowing. We ended up eating there two nights in a row because we didn't know Daly closed up shop at like 8 p.m. to go party elsewhere. The first night, Kirk had John sign a couple of photos, but he was rushed and not feeling it.
Solution: We'll go back the second night.
On night two, we were prepared. I bought the Marlboros and M&Ms from Publix down the street. The key was pulling around to the side of the Hooters where you had a direct entrance to Daly's operation.
And then this happened.
May we never forget the pop culture legends we lost this week and the memories they provided as we go through life.
But we have to roll on and be appreciative of the art that all three gave us during their incredible runs. Long live Ozzy, Hogan and the Augusta Hooters.
Speaking of rolling on, it was great to hear from one of my favorite emailers
Great American Vern from the PnW, who has one of the greatest resumes of any Screencaps reader in the history of this column, sent a dispatch this week that I think will make all of you smile.
— Vern writes:
I'm still alive-still reading SC! Took your advice to "just do it"-Just returned from a fishing trip to Northern British Columbia-trip of a lifetime until I do it again next year with my sons and grandson. Family, flying, fishing -hard to beat. Unbelievable scenery -untouched by human footprints for as far as the eye can see. I don't have words to do it justice. Enjoy your time off.
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And with that, I'm going to close Saturday Screencaps. Vern's message was received loud and clear. It's time to finish up this post and get outside with my boys to go explore Pure Michigan. We have rocks to find. Screencaps the III is looking for Petosky stones. He's mesmerized that the stones are 400 million years old.
Yes, I'm back to writing. Yes, I'm still on vacation. Yes, I'll be working tomorrow morning.
Let's go get after it.
Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com or use my personal Gmail