Hockey Goalie Mikayla Demaiter Takes Us Into The Holiday Weekend, Mike Tyson Turns On Golden Knights & Brandel Vs. Phil
10U house ball report - Game 7
The goal Thursday night was to see if we have a championship-level squad. This was our first opportunity to avenge our first loss of the season and I wanted to see if this team could put together a March Madness resume game where we played a complete game.
I lined up the pitching rotation and defensive positioning (yes, everyone plays the infield at some point) to see what we're made of.
We won 12-2, our pitchers were dominant, the defense was dominant and we hit the ball.
For those of you keeping track at home, the 10U 'Stros are now 5-2 with one redemption victory on our revenge tour.
Highlights:
• The kids broke out their agreed-upon nicknames, which I know many of you have been waiting for. Skittles was my starter on the mound. He pitched his ass off for three innings of one-run ball and had a beautiful 2nd inning where he fielded two comebackers and gave Griffey at 1st two beautiful chest-high throws with authority to get two easy outs.
• Griffey came in for the 4th and 5th and gave up one unearned run. He was dominant, again, on the mound and is really starting to roll as a pitcher. While my No. 1 and No. 2 might not be the best pitchers in the league -- you guys should see my son's buddy Big Dawg throw a baseball...he grunts when he uncorks from the stretch...it's a thing of beauty -- but they're the most consistent. The boys throw the ball over the plate, to the mitt and are under orders to throw to contact. We get one more shot against Big Dawg's team in the regular season late in June and it's going to be a legitimate battle.
• The kids are officially out of school for summer and you could see the pep in their step. Now we'll see how much pep is in their step next week after a holiday weekend and hitting the pool as the June stretch run begins.
Daddy Ball Report:
• My son started at 2nd base, lost his balance on a grounder in the 1st inning, and really strawberried up his knee and right hip in the process. He went down hard and stayed down. I wasn't sure he was going to stay in, but he soldiered on.
At the plate, he had a hit in his first AB, and then came the real pain of the night. He took a heater off his non-throwing elbow and then another heater to his left shoulder. Same pitcher.
It was a brutal night. Both pitches sent him crumbling to the ground, but he stayed in and completed the game. Let's just say it was a character-building night for him and our team.
Sportsmanship:
I'll leave it at this: After the game, I told my kids how proud I am of the way they conduct themselves on and off the field and made it clear that I fully expect that to continue through the season.
I'm beyond fortunate to have the group of boys who play for this team. It's a testament to their parents who also conduct themselves the proper way at games.
How fast could a pitcher throw if...
• Mr. Little 1 (via his wife's Instagram because he doesn't do social media) writes:
I have an odd thought/question and it seems you (or your subscribers) might be able to help with this question that has for some reason been bothering me.
I googled this but I was unable to find any discussions or answers to my following question… If you go to any fair or carnival that has a radar gun, you will see every weekend warrior (myself included, at least when I was younger) take a few steps and run up before throwing in an effort to achieve maximum velocity.
This certainly seems the best strategy, at least to me. An MLB pitcher who can throw 100mph is doing so from only a wind-up (albeit from a raised position). What if said 100mph pitcher had the benefit of a running start. How much faster would he then be able to throw the ball?"
Kinsey:
You guys ask the questions and I snap into action. I saw Mr. Little's question this morning at like 6:30 a.m. and by 7:15 I had a message back from my neighbor Collin Balester, who had a few cups of coffee in the Majors & played like 32 seasons of minor league ball.
He's the only guy I know who played MLB ball who'll respond at 7 a.m.
Balester writes back:
So after seeing this I laughed just a little because even me as a guy who played minor league ball with a few cups of coffee always wants to do this at a fair but isn’t stupid and I know the rules ha! ( I stick to dunking the loudmouth clown in the dunk tank).
So to answer that question there is a ton of variables that go into that answer short answer is yes Ofcourse you could throw harder with a running start and a crow hop, but also the answer is not as much as you think as well. Some pitchers you see on tv throwing 100 MPH if you get them to do a run and crow hop with a pull down they might look like Bambi trying to walk on ice for the first time.
Basically what I’m trying to say is just because they throw 100 from a small windup or the stretch does not mean if they got a running start and crapped their pants throwing a ball they would throw 120, and as for the fair going boys trying to throw 100 MPH so that they can get that top prize on the shelf stop trying!
Have you ever heard around the ball park of a Juiced gun or a Hot gun? So when I was playing some ballparks would have hot or juiced guns so we would know that we would be throwing 2-3 Mph harder if there was a Jugs radar gun opposed to a Stalker radar gun. I finish with this the reason I say you will never win that prize for your lady friend is because you can actually turn down the gun so that the radar gun reads very slow and no matter if you have Joel Zumaya throwing in his prime (Pre Guitar hero) he would throw 20 MPH Slower, not because he hasn’t stretched its because they turn down the gun.
That’s why you are throwing it 55-60 MPH at the fair and your GFs are keeping their eyes fixed on the guy knocking down the clown at a large clip!
Kinsey:
Fire away with baseball-related questions for Balester. He loves this stuff.
In the past, he's begged me to start a podcast with him, but that's just one more thing I'd have to constantly worry about while running a mowing league. For now, fire away with questions he can answer via text. That's much easier and just as informative.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
How many of you fly flags in your yards?
• Joe T. in Phoenix via NE Ohio writes:
Thanks for all the great content lately (Salma Hayek!!). Today was a great day with golfing this morning and getting my mowing in. Still working on getting the grass up to par after a winter where my rye grass didn't take too well. Some new grass seed, fertilizer and a bunch of water here in the desert and it's starting to come around. Not sure the lib lib's would appreciate the amount of water it takes to get grass to grow here in Phoenix.
I love seeing pictures of how hard work pays off. The screencaps community sure does take pride in their work and it's great to see. I was curious as to how many Screencappers fly flags in their yards? My neighbor had one installed about 6 months ago and I have been jealous since. He had his installed for him so I sent that company an email inquiring on price.
They wanted over $1,000!!!! Maybe I am a bit cheap but I thought that was pretty steep. I looked around a little bit and ended up buying one from Service First. It is a veteran-owned company and they use 11 gauge steel poles which is thicker than most on the market. The hole I dug was 18"x18"x18" which is somewhat a pain in the ars in the desert. But.....do hard things!!!!! Flagpole kit, concrete and solar light and I did it for 1/2 of what my neighbor paid.
My grass still has a way to go but I think the flag is the cherry on the top. I'd love to see how others have theirs set up.
The Art of the Military Shitters
My memory of some guy taking a very public dump at a Dayton, OH football stadium during the Ohio state football playoffs like 20 years ago is still causing emailers to share their own memories of such behavior.
• Todd writes:
I've been a long-time reader of Screencaps - what's great about it is the community - it's great to see how many of us around the country have so much in common, the guys in the community are who I'd want to have as my neighbors. I especially like the sharing of us older guys with the younger guys and Dads. I do this at work with younger guys all the time and it's a great way to bond.
The crapping without stalls made me laugh out loud. I've told these stories to my sons for years from my time in the Army and National Guard. Maybe as a way to deter them from joining, being the soft suburban kids they are.
My oldest son went to Boys State at our state National Guard base and I remembered from my time in the Iowa National Guard that the facilities had stalls but communal showers. When he specifically asked me about the showers I sort of deflected and said "Well it was open showers but that was 20 years ago, I'm sure they are updated by now" - I didn't lie but I also knew that may have been a deal breaker for attending.
The worst (best) no stalls was when I was active duty Army in the late 80's - many barracks I had to live in were the "open bay" (no rooms) just line of bunks and lockers down the line that were WW2 era built. Needless to say it was open bay showers - our generation was very used to that so no big deal, but the toilets had no stalls and were 3 and 3 - 3 on one side and 3 on the other facing each other - taller guys nearly had their knees touching - you had to walk sideways to avoid the knees. I either timed it early in the AM or late at night to avoid the crowd, and always had a USA Today with me to avoid eye contact. It amazed how social some guys were about it.
One of the funniest was at Fort Irvwin, CA - the National Training Center in the Mojave desert. This place was used by large units to train in desert environments for weeks at a time. The facilities consisted of cinder block structures where at one end there was a large open bay shower area - maybe for 30 people - I didn't count so that's a guess and the other end was the toilet section was a long row of toilets no stalls opposite of urinals - again I kept my trusty copy of USA Today (not the same one of course) with me at all times.
Imagine full of dudes that spent the last 2 weeks crapping in the desert in a "Saigon Squat" and then finally seeing porcelain - it was luxury and so it didn't matter how full it was you were going for it. MREs really back you up so these were marathon sessions to work it out.
Something I have to alert you to and only the Screencaps community will appreciate this. I traveled to San Francisco for work and noticed something alarming. There are unisex bathrooms everywhere, I even saw a bathroom that previously had a urinal but clearly it was removed - pretty obvious because of the poor drywall patch job.
So every place I visited - work, bar, restaurants had these bathrooms and it occurred to me that THEY WANT US TO SIT TO PEE ! There is something very unmanly and emasculating which of course is the goal. I started searching for stories and sure enough, there are articles proclaiming/advocating this. Much like they want to take our gas mowers away I think the urinal confiscation is well under way. This screams out for "Come and Take It" shirt. You'll have to pry this urine-splattered, pube magnet from my cold dead hand!
https://nypost.com/2022/06/28/heres-why-you-should-teach-your-boys-to-pee-sitting-down-urologist/
There is hope though -
Thanks Joe! keep up the great work
Water spout season
Let's go to Florida:
$creencaps financial sector
*Disclaimer: Do your own research. Do your own due diligence with your money. Don't even think about trying to file a lawsuit on me because I added this disclaimer and you should've read it first. I, my bosses, Fox News Corp. Mrs. Screencaps, Beau in Toledo, Mike T. & Cindy T. in Idaho ARE NOT responsible for your financial decisions.
• Geoff R. writes:
Joe: Great read as always! Tell Mike N. to check the rate on his Vanguard money market account. He should be making 5.04% in Vanguard Federal Cash Reserves Money Market account (symbol VMRXX). Not to step on anyones toes but be careful buying Treasury Notes prior to the debt ceiling being resolved. Also the money market provides more liquidity (funds immediately available) vs. tying funds up in a 3 month T - bill which will have some price risk until the debt ceiling is resolved.
• Clay W. writes:
Reader Mike N. noted Capital One accounts at 3.75%. If someone has the Apple credit card or signs up for it they can put as much as they want into Apple Savings currently paying 4.15%. Interest appears monthly in the Wallet App. So easy to do and FDIC insured too.
Keep up the best column on the internet while I go and gas up for TNML activity in my yard.
• Mark W. in Tennessee writes:
I read the discussion about interest rates and the attractiveness of short term Treasury bills. The yields are very good; however, investors should keep a few things in mind. Treasuries (of any maturity) are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government. Nothing else since Nixon took us off the gold standard via the Bretton Woods agreement.
This simply means that if a resolution is not reached in the near term regarding the debt ceiling, then the Federal government is going to have to decide what bills they will pay. There are no underlying assets for the Fed to liquidate to meet redemptions. Holders of Treasuries may find themselves in the same situation as those that had deposits in Silicon Valley Bank- they will not get their money back at the maturity of their investment. This is a “technical” default, i.e., the obligation was not honored under the original terms. Eventually, when an agreement is reached, holders of Treasuries will get paid (as did depositors at SVB by the FDIC after a delay). Now do I think that there will be an actual default, one where your money invested in Treasuries evaporates? No, I don’t. I think a deal will get done. But there is a real possibility that it may be past the “X” date for the government to run out of funds.
There are ways to keep the government running with some accounting maneuvers and there will be some tax revenue received in early June, so even if we go past the “X” date, so we may not see much of an immediate impact over the short term.
So what does this mean for money market funds?
Some money funds buy short-term Treasuries with a portion of the deposits that individuals make, which allows them to pay a higher interest rate. Theoretically, if every depositor asked for their funds back and the Federal government is in technical default, there will not be enough funds to distribute because the Treasuries the money fund holds can’t be redeemed. This is a “run” and is exactly what happened to the banks that recently failed.
Oops.
My advice to anyone is to see how the money fund is generating the higher interest as there can be significant risk even with some “safe” investments. It’s basic, but risk and reward are inseparable. Higher returns are relative to the risk a depositor or investor takes.
Thanks for putting together such a great community. I appreciate all you do.
Stroopwafel appreciation society
I had my first stroopwafel Sunday in Chicago at the National Restaurant Association show and now it's all I can think about on a Sunday morning while listening to the birds chirp.
• Allen K. writes:
For those having problems finding proper Stroopwafels, these Stinger Waffles can probably be found more easily. Any decent running store will have them. I’ve also found them in grocery stores (in the sports nutrition section) and even in Target.
These are available in a handful of flavors and go well with ice cream.
• Joey G. writes:
I also recently discovered stroopwafel, after having them served as a snack on a flight. I order my home supply through Amazon.
Congratulations to all the graduates and the parents who raised 'em up
• Ron L., who grew up here in Perrysburg, OH, graduated from here, and then went on to teach in Georgia, writes:
It's been a while since I've had anything relevant to email about, but congratulations to your kids moving up to the next level in their educational lives!
We both know Perrysburg School System is one of the best in the area, I'm a proud product of it. Here in GA, our only son graduated HS last night (Wednesday). He was one of 782! This place keeps growing and growing.
With that said, I just wanted to congratulate all the parents out there celebrating their child's accomplishments! It really does go by fast! To all the readers with small children, soak it all in.
I'm going to break from tradition and mow tomorrow and starting setting up for Saturday's graduation party, where all the adults (no kids) will be crushing beers and other adult beverages!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all active and non-active military personnel. You men & women are the best!
Kinsey:
Mrs. Screencaps and I attended the 4th grad clap-out Thursday afternoon and I can't say I was a big fan of the clap-out idea before attending my first one yesterday. And then I saw some of the kids choked up over how much they enjoyed their school and my perspective changed.
There are some really screwed up things going on in this country, but at the very core of this country are moments like those in the clap-out line being proud of the hard work they put in at school. No, I don't need kids getting diplomas as they graduate from Pre-K.
But a clap-out isn't going to ruin society.
I know we're incredibly proud of our boys for how hard they've worked and the character they've shown this year. All I've ever asked of them in school is to be a good boy, listen and learn.
Mission accomplished this school year.
Now it's time for summer and I want each and every one of you to go hard this year. Soak it up. Enjoy yourself. Never lose focus of what makes this country so incredible even during dark times. The sun is up. The holiday weekend is here and I'm beyond ready.
Take care.
Have fun.
(Yes, there will be fresh editions of Screencaps all weekend.)
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com