Hannah From The Cleveland State Basketball Team, Animals Stopping Traffic & TNML Memes Have Started
Are the Instagram pics loading today? If not, it could be the June 8 Internet outage wreaking havoc
Ok boys, here we go. I tried to embed the Instagram model pics this morning, but the IG embeds aren't showing up in the back end so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit this morning. It's not out of the ordinary to have a few IG embeds that don't go into a view mode where I can see the model and make sure the Screencaps post structure that you guys have come to love is correct. Not this morning. Word on the streets is that half the Internet was down around 6 a.m. ET.
According to the OutKick Slack channel, this site was taken down around the same time, but I can see the real-time analytics and it appears we're good to go.
Now that we have that out of the way, I can get down to what I wanted to lead with this morning and it's the wokification of National Geographic. Did you see this nonsense the Disney property posted Monday where they ran the work of some Washington Post woketress named Michele Norris who asked people to "describe their feelings on race in just words." And wouldn't you know it some of the most miserable, self-hating people in America responded! Imagine that! Norris even called it the Race Card Project, and it resulted in what is now pure race-baiting gold for Disney and this woke crusade it is on.
Those of you who've been watching the social media offerings from National Geographic know this has been going on for months now. The magazine's social media team has been sprinkling in these little race nuggets amongst reef photos, but Monday was definitely the official shift. Nat Geo, the magazine that sat on my grandparent's coffee table for decades, has officially declared where it's heading.
• Now, let's do some sports because people like Susan Goldberg shouldn't ruin our morning. Did you guys know the NCAA has a 64-team bracket for the College Baseball World Series? If you haven't been paying attention, ESPN and the NCAA are on a rocketship to turn this into yet another massive money haul for both organizations. There's one more regional game to go -- Old Dominion and Virginia play this morning at 9:06 ET to decide which team will go on to the super regionals which start Friday and will provide wall-to-wall content for ESPN with four games spread out across the World Wide Leader's channel lineup.
• As expected, the SEC will have four teams hosting super regionals: Arkansas, Vandy, Tennessee and Mississippi State. I shouldn't have to tell you all eyes should be on LSU at Tennessee starting Saturday. Get the patio TVs ready for that series.
• Buckle up...Facebook and Apple are about to enter a war. CNBC is out this morning with a report on how iPhone users will soon be able to "do a lot of what you would normally do on Instagram and Facebook, only with more emphasis on privacy," the financial network reports. In the past, Facebook has countered with anti-Apple PR campaigns as retaliation. Now it's time to sit back with a patio beer and watch how these titans fight it out for supremacy over your data.
• Roger S. writes:
I’m a high school teacher in Cincinnati, a relative newcomer to OutKick, and a huge fan of your morning screencaps column. Now that the school year is over and I have a few minutes of free time, I want to reach out and thank you for your daily pick-me-up. I always make it a point to read during lunch break, and it always manages to put a smile on my face or give me a quick chuckle.
I also want to express my thanks for the Thursday mowing league. Even though I can’t contribute much except for the layers of cicada mulch around the trunks of my oak trees, it is good to know that there are others out there who simply enjoy getting out to do yard work.
Finally, I want to tell you that I really enjoyed your woke all-star challenge. There are some wackos out there, for sure, but I guess that I never really realized how many or how wacky they are. This got me to thinking - what about a Marxist Madness tournament around Election Day? You could have four regions - for instance, Mayoral, Gubernatorial, Congressional, and White House - and play the games to determine the craziest of the crazy. Imagine an AOC vs. Gruesome Newsom matchup for all the marbles. What do you think?
Well, I’ve got to run. Thanks for your time and for all that you do.
Have a great week and summer!
Thank you for the message, Roger. I'll have you know there was talk of a woke ratings system like fantasy baseball where the wokes received points for different levels of woke. Like Jemele Hill, your 2021 Woke All-Star Challenge winner, being awarded a pile of points for calling Joe Manchin a racist. The problem for me is time. Keeping tabs on these wokes is more than a full-time job, and I have a feeling the Thursday Night Mowing League will have spin-off projects.
The Marxist Madness Tournament might be a better idea because it can run like the Woke All-Star Challenge and have a specific ending date. You guys have to help me here if you want Marxist Madness tourney. Let's reconvene on this idea after the summer. Right now, I'm trying to enjoy the weather and not get too worked up over the likes of the fake woke National Geographic editor-in-chief.
I just want to golf, lay in the pool, suck down Busch Lights/mix in a Kirkland marg here and there, and listen to Yacht Rock.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com