Elizabeth Hurley Shares 'Royals' Memories, Wayne Gretzky & Kid Rock Hanging Out, Plus JJ Watt Hits The Pool
On dealing with defeat, getting crushed & paying attention on the sideline
My 9-year-old son is in the middle of one of those soccer seasons that he's probably not going to remember because so far there haven't been many great memories of glorious goals scored -- or wins. Three games, three shutouts.
Week one was understandable. They got shut out. Oh well, it's the first game, they'll be fine.
Week two was a blowout loss and it was a gut punch to see the boys try to shake off goals that started coming in rapid-fire. The goalie, Reid, played his heart out. The kid is a bulldog. Max effort, all the time. Focused, full bore energy.
This week was rough. It was another blowout, but I saw something in my son that showed me he's going to be just fine. After player substitutions, as the other boys were off talking about Roblox or whatever, Jack was engaged. He was watching the action on the field and paying attention, which hasn't always been his strongest trait, to the game.
We sat down at home and with tears in his eyes because he wants it so bad, I told him how proud I was of him for staying engaged even as the team was being drilled. We had a talk about getting better and working to get those goals and to keep giving max effort even when times get dark on the athletic field. As parents, we have also focused on a healthy attitude towards sports -- listening to the coaches, avoiding jerking around, have fun, make relationships for the rest of his life. I reiterated working together with Reid when he's on offense. Feed off that energy.
10 minutes later we all felt better.
And then we went out in the front yard and threw a mini-football for an hour until my youngest son decided he was ready to start a soccer game of his own in the front yard. Approximately four hours later, as I sat next to a fire on the patio listening to Yacht Rock, the day was over and the boys had exhausted themselves to the point where they didn't even fight going to bed.
As the lights went off Saturday night, all was forgotten about the soccer destruction and the kids had filed away a great day in their memory banks.
I'll take it. That's a great day.
On 65" TVs becoming crack for suburban dads
• Jason in Colorado Springs (by way of Springfield, OH) writes:
Instead of getting a new 65 inch tv, I recommend looking into a projector system for at least your family room. You can get a decent projector with a much larger screen (mine is 120 inches) with blu ray level resolution and a sound system for less than the cost of a new big screen tv. My set up just under $500. There is always the option of spending a lot more and customizing things with more high end gear.
Even with a decent budget projector, you can plug in a Fire stick, Roku, or gaming system for all the streaming services. To get the most out of a projector, it usually does require a pretty dark room which can limit its use in peak daylight hours. That is the only drawback I have found but there are work arounds for that issue.
Also, I know it has been a while since dogs were discussed on screencaps but I wanted to give a shout out to my dog Bjorn who got to visit the Grand Canyon last week. He earned his Bark Ranger badge for his collar.
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On 'Advice'
• From Mike T. in Idaho:
Saw this in a blog I read,
As a quasi-new parent, this advice bit put me in stitches: "To keep young kids behaving on a car road trip, have a bag of their favorite candy and throw a piece out the window each time they misbehave."
Stripe kit advice!
• Reid S. of 'Neighbor Pool Dilemma' fame, writes:
Stripe kit for Tony for $20
Get pvc caps and put a bolt and nut through each one with bolt end on outside, glue 1 cap on, Fill pvc pipe with sand, glue other cap on, use metal wire to attach to mower and bolt…. Boom!! Stripes!!!… also, sorry to disappoint the league but I prefer old golf shoes to mow just like my dad!
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Advice needed from former teachers that have left the classroom
• Danny H. in Alabama writes:
There are few things I enjoy more than riding by my freshly mowed lawn with the family in the minivan adoring our pristine lawn.
ADVICE: My dad worked his ass off for 35 years in construction. He gave me some of the best advice I've ever received. One day he was talking to me about having kids (because he wanted some grandkids to chase around). This wasn't something I felt comfortable discussing.
I was already getting pressure from the wife, I wasn't ready. I thought I wasn't ready because I wasn't established financially. I told Dad just that. I was fresh out of the Marine Corps and getting ready to take my first teaching job. His response left me completely at ease about my predicament. He said: "son, if you're waiting to have kids until you're financially ready, you'll never be ready". Bomb dropped, life-trajectory significantly altered. As a young veteran looking to find his place in the weird world of American Civilians this was exactly what I needed to hear.
It puts my mind at ease to this day. It made me feel like I didn't have to have my entire life figured out. Low and behold, here I am 7 years later with three awesome AMERICAN children (boy 7, boy 5, girl 1). Next to their mother, they're the most important creatures on the planet to me. I don't have to tell many of your readers what fatherhood does to a man. But it all started with that sage advice from my pops.
ADVICE NEEDED: In other news, I'm 7 years into a teaching career that I feel is drawing to an end. I fought for my country. I went to college. I completed my bachelors. I completed my master's (4.0). I thought I'd do some good in this world as a teacher. I'm completely disillusioned.
I feel like every time I open my mouth, I hurt someone's feelings. I'm starting to feel like there's no place for me in education because I don't buy into the woke politics of the day. I just want to help raise generations of kids that can protect our country and keep our economy going but I feel like that is frowned upon these days judging by the amount of meetings I've had with my principal over things I've said in my classroom, or via email.
I'm looking for advice from people that have left the classroom. Any advice readers have would be greatly appreciated. I'm in Birmingham, which is a terrible job market.
I recently applied to a lawn service called Steve's Wack-N-Sack. I'd happily cut grass for a living. It brings me great joy.
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Do your thing, Screencaps readers. Danny's in a rough spot. What's the best advice here?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
You guys are absolutely nuts over connecting on Linkedin
Saturday, I once again wrote about Linkedin and how the suits on there are absolutely terrifying to a guy who hasn't worked around suits in over a decade. And then even more suits with clearly high-powered titles wanted to connect!
Excuse me for my nervousness around you guys. It's just that in my past life around newspaper suits, those guys were typically the ones who were telling me I'd either need to take a pay cut or something else triggering.
Give me time.
That said, I do think there's content I can generate from Linkedin. OutKick readers clearly have some serious work experiences to share. Now I just have to fish out the stories.
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This is a good place to end Monday Screencaps. I have HVAC guys coming this morning to install a new AC unit that's going to help chill the Screencaps HQ this summer. The old unit (very old) finally decided at the end of 2021 that it was done running and there was no saving it this time.
Summer 2022 is off and running.
Have a great day across this great country. Give 'em hell and keep pushing forward.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com