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I have a stack of TNML sticker envelopes ready to go into the mail today

It happened last night. I started stuffing envelopes. There were emails from April 2022 sitting in the inbox with readers begging, asking nicely, and praying to make the cut for a TNML sticker. I'm not going to lie, last year I was overwhelmed with requests and there came a point where I had to move on because there were several hundred email requests, and several hundred Twitter requests.

I was gassed in 2022.

But there's good news to share this morning.

Last night I began the task of working my way back through the emails. Envelopes were stuffed.

There are stickers going to The Netherlands. There are stickers going from Connecticut to California. There's a sticker going to a former college football national champion who won Butkus and Bednarik awards -- I was just trudging through the emails and this guy just pops up out of nowhere saying he's a TNML loyalist...just one of the guys. There was no special treatment. It just happened his email popped up last night.

Robert S. in NC, who first proposed TNML stickers way back in September 2021, will be receiving a sticker. I feel terrible for not sending him one in 2022 as his address ended up in a pile of emails.

It's time to right the ship in 2023.

Galen in TN, a 2022 TNML Rookie of the Year finalist, will be getting his TNML sticker like receiving his varsity letter. I can't wait for him to find that perfect spot for his league colors.


IF YOU DID NOT REQUEST A STICKER VIA EMAIL IN 2022, SEND ME AN EMAIL TO RECEIVE ONE THIS YEAR.

AGAIN, ONLY SEND ME A MESSAGE IF YOU DID NOT REQUEST ONE IN 2022.


I want each and every one of you to feature those beautiful league colors on your mowers, and on the Sunoco racing fuel tanks. The passion for this mowing league is insane.

So keep an eye on the mail. I will get through the list.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

Best Thing That Happened To Me In

• Millennial JT in Ohio writes:

I love the idea for first if the month reflection on the good stuff in the last month. I just got a win I've been working on for years and I'm glad to have a place to "post a win"! 

Last month I went in to the bank holding my home mortgage and I paid it off. My home and 2-acre piece of these great United States is now mine mine mine! Took the wife and 3 kids to a local pizza parlor to celebrate. It's every bit as good as Pizza Hut was in the 90s. 

 Hope everyone out there in Screencaps Nation is doing well and kicking ass, cheers to all!

Kinsey:

Hold up, JT. You're going to throw it out there that you stopped by a local pizza joint and it's Pizza Hut in the 1990s and you're not going to give us the heads up on where to find this unicorn?

JT...I was digging the mortgage news until you failed to give us the name of this special pizza joint. We must protect these places and by protect, I mean we must give them business.

I expect a follow-up email from JT.

Moving along...

• Warren M. writes:

Best things that happened to me in February were:

Congrats to this woman for accidentally playing 25 lines at $100 each

You know, sometimes things just have a way of working out to the tune of $1.1 million. Just imagine the offers she's going to get in the mail from Wynn after hitting this one. Have to believe she'll get a few free buffet coupons for the Gourmet Dinner on Friday, Saturday, Sunday which costs $70.99.

What in the world did Mike T. do for a living?

• Paul in Cincy writes:

You probably mentioned this previously but what in the world did they do for a living back in the day???  Haven’t they been roaming around Europe for 2 months now?  And they’re not exactly staying in hostels.

Yes, I’m a little envious.

Kinsey:

Speaking of the Ts, today they're in Ferrara, Italy doing what the Ts do

• Mike T. writes:

Castellated Estensa and my cheese and salami brothers!

Youth baseball Spring Training coaching advice

• Brian J. in TN writes:

One last coaching tidbit...I played baseball through HS. After college I coached a Babe Ruth team for two years before starting my own family. I became a softball coach due to my daughter. I could go on with pages and pages of what I've learned. Rec league turned into travel, and now it's on to a college career for her. 

Whatever you do for skills, nicknames, fundamentals, introduce them to two things:

1. Sunflower seeds - as a starting pitcher in HS I knew the games I had zero percent chance of playing in. For example, I'd throw 6 innings on Tuesday and knew I wasn't playing Thursday. So I rode the pine those games and became an expert sunflower seed spitter over those HS years. I've passed it on to my youngest and she's managed to get a few girls on her teams through the years to participate. 

2. Pepper - this was something every team I was on since age 12 and every team I've coached since played. Before games, when you're warmed up but waiting for the game before yours to finish. Or at the end of practice. Or whenever. Fun harmless game that keeps them active and teaches something that is important - touch/finesse. Hard to explain, but many will understand. We had some epic pepper games in HS.

Unfortunately at some parks you'll see the "no pepper" signs. And some are "no sunflower seed" parks as well. I know - those commie bastards! But still do pepper (away from people) and teach them to spit the shells into an empty gatorade bottle at those parks. 

Also, get a fungo bat. Be the infield-hitting boss and the envy of other coaches!

• Jeff D. writes:

I've coached baseball for about 10 years over various levels. For the kids just starting out I have a few pieces of advice;

1. Get help. Solicit other parents to help run practices, control the dugout during the games and coach bases. A lot of times there will be a dad at the practice that knows how to play but can't commit to help coach for whatever reason, get them to help out for the first two practices and then they'll just decide on their own to help the rest of the season. 

2. Have the kids throw and catch every practice and game. Grip, 4 seam (or as close as they can) and point the inside of their throwing foot at their target. Catching, fingers up for balls above the waist and fingers down below the waist. 

3. Teach them how to get an out by tossing the ball underhand. A lot of times you'll see a second baseman field a ball 10 feet from first then wind up and unleash a rocket at the first baseman's head. Or, the kids will try to run the ball to first base and get beat by the runner. 

4. The first practice I would play kickball at the end (don't let them throw at the runner) to teach them how to cover bases and base run. The second practice I would then move into a tee-ball scrimmage or soft toss scrimmage. 

To the guy worried about "losing the locker room" by not wearing baseball pants, get over yourself. You aren't playing and you are not going to get picked up by Dave Roberts to be the Dodgers new bench coach. I'm sure in your mind you think you look like Mike Trout but in everybody else's you look like Tommy Lasorda. 

Good luck this spring. 

• Bill C. writes:

Coach Kinsey, I’ve coached all 3 of my children (2 boys 1 girl) in the past from soccer, baseball, softball and basketball. Needless to say I was barely qualified to do any of it. However, one of the better decisions I’ve made with a fellow coach one time was to take on the baseball boys in a water gun fight after practice one (warm) day. Now I know lib libs may take offense to that so I won’t call any of them out since they know who they are. 

One day before practice I made a run to a dollar store or something similar and bought a dozen or so of those cheap plastic water pistols we knew so well from our youth. I filled them up with ice water (remember it’s warm outside) and put them in a tub full of ice water(for reloading purposes). 

We ended practice a little early that day and challenged them to a water gun fight. Naturally, being 9-year-olds, they immediately started shooting each other before they all realized their common enemy was their drill sergeant-esque coaches.

We were ready and they took the bait and chased us to our cars where we had those super soakers loaded and ready to go. We then made our way to the high ground of a press box behind the backstop. It was no contest. They were all soaking wet, AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I wish our success had translated on the field that season but we had fun and that water fight set the tone early in the season. 

Text group etiquette -- The Dingers

• Guy G. in western New York writes:

Great story from Gerard W.! I do have a reminder that when beginning a new text thread, especially with younger dads, you’re going to get dumb dings that amount to nothing. I’m the oldest in my group at 42. I’m 10 years ahead of the next oldest. While my group is small, consisting of only 4 guys, 2 of them will “love” “like” and “emphasize” messages.

There is nothing worse than having a decent conversation about stuff, checking the ding, only to find out that one of them “liked” your comment. Jim Rome used to say (probably still does) ‘Have a take, don’t suck’. Seems that, just a few years behind me, communication has come down to punching an emoji in.

In production meetings, if an engineer just nods his head, or agrees with everything said, it’s probably time for a replacement. This is the lean part of my cleaned-out friend group. But, cutting ‘nodders’ is still a consideration. Just stop it.



Kinsey:

Now, this is an interesting topic. I didn't know 'Dingers' were a huge text group issue because I have the sound turned off on my group text and assumed others did the same.

Typically, I have my phone dinger turned off all day anyway. Between texts, Twitter alerts, IG alerts, Facebook Messenger alerts, SnapChat alerts, etc. coming in all day, I just mute the phone.

I tend to be a Dinger to alert my buddies that I see what they're mentioning. It sounds like I better address this with the group to see if I've been making a huge mistake with my text group etiquette.

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Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.