Elizabeth Hurley Goes Boating, Clay Travis Hits The Lake & South Carolina Sells Season Tickets At Costco
Let's get the day started with some quick-hitters off the top of my head
• I spent an hour last night with my sons watching an episode of NOVA on black holes. The five-year-old was so into it that 40 minutes in he was sleeping like a rock. He loved it, but the spinning black hole put him to sleep. My only complaint: THEY ASKED ME 500 QUESTIONS ABOUT BLACK HOLES. Kids, I'm a sports/Instagram model blogger!
• Best I can do, kids, is to ask the Screencaps community if there are any physicists who follow this column.
• You guys came through big time for Michael J. who is escaping Chicago with his family and needed Florida beach advice. I just started forwarding emails until he felt the power of the Screencaps community. I'm talking waves of emails pouring in.
• I see that Tua is mad that it was revealed that he got married 10 days before training camp. Privacy is one thing, but was this guy going to hide his wife at charity events or random public appearances around town? It's not my place to tell the guy how to treat his marriage, but it would be way less strange if the guy didn't act like it was some nuclear bomb code secret that he's having a successful life off the field.
• As I wrote in the Australian swimming love triangle post, go on offense, Tua. This guy is off playing a strange defense just like the Aussie swimmer.
• Speaking of bizarre, Aaron Rodgers dabbling with psychedelics is the logical next step after it was revealed he's in a relationship with a woman who goes by Blu of Earth, or Blu for short.
• The NFL IS BACK tonight with Jags-Raiders and it's on NBC. We finally reached that point where meaningless NFL action feels so meaningful.
TIKTOK STAR ADDISON RAE FACES ONLINE WRATH OVER ‘BLASPHEMOUS’ BIKINI
Question of the Day
• Adam D. writes:
I was out last night with the family at the putting green on the golf course. This question hit me: Is bringing your own putter to a mini golf course a boss move or a jerk move?
Response: It's funny Adam brings up the subject of mini golf. First, it's a boss move if you're competing against your children. If it's a date, it's a jerk move and the woman should consider leaving you before dinner.
Second, last night I drove by a shuttered and weed-filled Par 2 putt putt course and I started to wonder how many mini-golf courses are being built across the U.S. besides those $50 round Tiger Woods courses?
It feels like mini golf is one of the backbones of this country and we owe it to the small business owners to get out there and play more rounds.
OutKick redesign reviews
• Chris B. in Texas writes:
You asked for suggestions on how to make Outkick better... Keep tweaking things to make us need ESPN less. Their wokeness is annoying, and now they are force-feeding us random basketball games & WNBA games that I have less than zero interest in. I have been trying to reduce my ESPN usage for a while, but they still have a lot of good stuff.
I have tried to defect to Fox Sports, but it's not as good. One thing the self-proclaimed worldwide leader does particularly well in my opinion is their compact list of headlines at the top (Barstool does this too). I know graphics help with clickbait, but I like how I can go to ESPN's list of headlines and usually find all of the current top sports stories quickly.
• Louie in Savannah, GA writes:
The absolute best thing Outkick could create would be a highlights show like Sportscenter used to be before it "got woke" and became terrible. I would love to enjoy some sports highlights again every morning like in the ESPN heydays of 2005, 2006. I used to have it on every morning up until 2018 or so when it started really going in the tank.
I know it would require licensing for the highlights but Outkick now falls under the Fox umbrella and Fox Sports website has highlights on their site. Fox Sports doesn't have a comprehensive show though that just shows highlights from the night before.
I think most guys (and lots of gals) would agree that mindlessly watching sports highlights during the morning routine gets the day started on the right foot and could help pass the time as we await to 9:00 hour (Eastern) to be blessed by Screen Caps. If I had to watch it on the computer instead of my television so be it, until Outkick expands into its own tv network, which is just a matter of time. lol
Please help make this happen Joe.
P.S. Tell Michael J. from Chicago to visit Daytona Beach. It's cheap (by vacation standards) and a great time. It has stuff for the kids and the parents as well. I went there with the family last year and we had a blast, also lots of America-loving folks in the area. USA and Trump / DeSantis flags everywhere.
• Jess in Alabama, who could one day become my personal Screencaps editor, writes:
I posted this on one of the forums a while back, and I know I’m not the only one suggesting it, but an app for Outkick (especially for scores) would be convenient. I used to use ESPN a while back (and stopped for obvious reasons). Now I use the Score. I’m guessing a lot of us reading would use it if Outkick got one going. Especially one without pop-ups…
For Gauntlet Michael
Longboat Key & Anna Maria near Sarasota/Bradenton. Beautiful and pretty quiet beaches. Very family-friendly.
Response: Here are the positives as I see them right now. The core of OutKick has been modified this summer to make it a legitimate organization with multiple layers of editorial employees to keep this machine churning from 6 a.m. to after midnight during the football season. I'm not sure about apps, highlight shows, etc., but I do know that you're going to be inundated with pigskin and video content.
Put it this way, this place has grown to the point where there are employees I've never heard of. There have been so many new hires over the past two weeks that I couldn't possibly keep track of all the new names or send out "Welcome" emails.
OutKick is in a great place. The numbers are through the roof. Bodies are literally being added daily.
It looks nothing like back on June 1, 2020 when five or six of us, including Clay, got on a Zoom to figure out what we were going to do with OutKick.
Message for Kinsey fans
• A long-time Screencaps reader, who needs to stay anonymous this time, writes:
Take the money if you win the lottery, and still hang in there with us (agree with a previous respondent, take the full payout and S&P investment). What in the hail (Hell) would you do otherwise? And, other than coaching (which I found both entirely fulfilling and excruciatingly painful ), seriously, you’re gonna sit on the patio all morning with all of us out here looking for something to read?
I used to read Bill Simmons when he was at ESPN on Page 2, and when he wrote at The Ringer, so now I count on you for my daily dose (he does not write much anymore, so I am entirely dependent upon Outkick…shout to Bobby, love his stuff, wish Clay would write more often). Kayla Simmons, Hildee, everyone’s fav Liz Hurley, etc., yes (and that particular Peace Officer, Devin, bless her heart, she is so smokin hot), that’s a bonus, but I need to hear about the dude who negotiated a deal for his neighbor’s pool more than I need to read Shams about the next free agent acquisition. I need to hear about Mike and Cindy’s vacation. These are things us “common folk” need to hear about. That’s why I read it. I love all of the stories from across the country.
So, there was a question about Dive Bars a week or so ago. Here is some strong leadership for the TNML and general Kinsey community: Go and join your local Moose Lodge. I did it two week ago. Terrific folks, shuffleboard, ping pong, pool, and some slot machines that appear to pay out nicely (my wife won big last night). Once you join, you are welcome all over the country. Although my card has yet to arrive, once you get one, you swipe to get into any Moose Lodge in the country. Food is cheap and good, beers are cheaper than anywhere else you’ll go, and the folks are nice. A little more of a senior group, but hell, I’m over 50, so those are my people. Our local is not what I’d call a Dive Bar, rather a low-key Sports Bar. TVs everywhere, but realistically, it ain’t the Ritz. Good for me! Enjoy, Screencaps Community!
Thanks, Joe.
Response: Great point about the Moose Lodge. It never fails, I'll drive into small-town America and the Moose, the Elks, the VFW and/or the Legion always have the best real estate right by the lakes.
Emerging housing markets
• Sean C. in Granger, IN writes:
Some perspective and potential clarity on the screenshot that Galen in Johnson City, TN sent in about the Top Emerging Housing Markets as it relates to Elkhart/Goshen being at the top of the list. I live in the adjacent county, so I may have some background on this. Elkhart county is the RV capital. In the last 5-8 years, their business has been booming.
Everyone from C-level guys all the way down to 3rd shift plant workers are making money. I see it lists the median home price at ~$280k. I don't dispute that number. However, over the last 5 years, new homes have been going up like crazy, at an average price of $600k. Many of these new developments have spilled over into St. Joe county where I live. The RV industry is a litmus test of what the broader domestic economy is like.
It's feast or famine in that business. For 5 years they've had a hard time keeping production up with demand. I think the data point that notes "solid economic fundamentals" is probably all due to the thriving RV industry.
But in the last few months, plants are cutting workers in droves. I suspect that Elkhart/Goshen's position on that screenshot will drastically change as we enter a "transitional" economic period, as some administrations like to call a recession. What that COULD mean is that many of these newer $600k homes are up for sale soon, at a discount.
As far as Fort Wayne, IN goes, I have no idea what got them on the list.
Response: Sean is completely right on this one -- if you want to know how the discretionary spending is going in the United States, visit Elkhart, IN. I've been driving west to Chicago for the last 20+ years and I'd never seen so many RVs piled up in May. Also, I didn't realize there'd been so many new RV manufacturers popping up -- or old companies constructing new buildings -- along I-80.
I'm not an economist, but if you have cash, there's a very good possibility you'll be able to get a deal on an RV very, very soon. Hang tight.
Any Screencaps fan groups out there in the DC suburbs for Drew to join?
• Drew L. writes:
I love ScreenCaps and have been checking it out daily since I discovered it about a year ago. You've mentioned several times connecting people who might need some help/be able to help. I'm here with a bit of both hopefully. I just moved to Fairfax, VA (DC suburbs) to start an MBA at George Mason University. I'm a 37-year-old US Air Force veteran using the GI Bill to go back to school. And I'm a single guy who came here all alone, so I'd really love to meet some fellow screencaps fans in the area.
Right now I'm at an extended-stay hotel until I can find a place to rent (with that GI Bill housing allowance). So I really need help finding a room/apt for rent.
And despite my 15 years exp with the military and gov contracting, I'm unemployed right now and really need to get back to work. I actually used to be a content editor for the federal government (intel.gov was partially my handiwork - don't blame me for how woke it is - haha, just following orders). I won't go into my full resume, but I'm here to help with any kind of editing anyone needs. And I'm 6'9" tall, so if you need any lightbulbs changed, smoke alarm batteries, top shelves reached, etc., I'm here to help.
Thanks for all the great content and keep up the great work!
P.S. I'm also a drone pilot and went out to get some shots of a local golf course for you but a storm blew through so I had to land. But got a few pictures of the storm clouds in front of the sunset. If anyone needs aerial shots of their property (want to see your mowing patterns from the air?), I'm here to help.
And that's it. Let's go get after it. Put the hammer down and then get comfortable to watch 4th string NFL guys play in the only training camp game of their lives.
Have a great day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com