Instagram Star Olivia Casta Invades The Tropics, Utah State Cheerleader In Tears & Gronk Learns Arizona Lost
Pizza Hut mini-basketball field reports
I've been on a big kick of knocking things off the to-do list and Thursday proved to be a big day for #feelingaccomplished.
Of all the things I've done this week, this was a HUGE moment. Talk about a rush of nostalgia. It was like jumping into a time machine and watching my father go get those mini basketballs that I was convinced would be worth insane money down the road because the basketballs were supposed to be limited editions and HARD to find.
Fast-forward to Thursday night.
"Do you think they'll have any?" Mrs. Screencaps pressed as I started to pull into the Perrysburg shopping center where our glorious Hut (#notsponsored, I swear) still stands.
"No clue, let's see," I said as the mission started to take shape.
Upon entering the Hut, I could see them sitting on top of the pizza buffet like beacons of light back to the early 1990s.
Besides the basketballs, I was caught off-guard by the two or three tables filled with families enjoying the Hut on a Thursday night. Next up, Becky, or whatever her name was, asked if I was picking up pizzas.
Nope, I'm here to buy basketballs. Can I just buy basketballs and not pizza?
Dumb question. These Pizza Hut workers couldn't care less. Becky rang up two basketballs, it set off an alert in the kitchen (she told me the basketballs ring up as pizza orders for some reason) and I was off with these treasures my kids will now dump into their must-save collections that will not leave this house until the day, like my dad, I dump the boxes at their houses 20 years from now.
• Bryan H. in Tennessee writes:
Seems I recall a discussion not too long ago around the existence of dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants. I'm happy to report they are still here in northeast Tennessee but unless they are doing a massive amount of delivery/carryout business, I'm not sure how much longer they are going to last. I also scored a Final Four mini-basketball tonight.
If you're ever in the area, hit me up and we'll go check it out, my treat.
Thanks for all you do for the SC community.
Kinsey:
This Pizza Hut looks like a five-star operation compared to the one here where I live. I'm fairly positive there's not a single decoration on the wall at the vintage Hut here. And the time when I went with the family to dine-in, there was a TV on a false wall with cords hanging everywhere.
Look, if you have an organized Hut in your neck of the woods, you're one of the fortunate ones.
However, at least our Hut is one of the vintage Huts. It has the traditional roof, but they went and painted over all the red interior walls.
Again, if you have a vintage Hut that is still vintage on the inside and being operated like a Hut back in the 1980s, I want to hear from you.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
March Madness setups
• Dave in Rhode Island writes:
Getting warmed up for the weekend... garage setup!
Munich, Germany snowplow
• Once again, Mike T. in Idaho, who has been in Europe vacationing for like six months, sent in this snap of a snowplow that will get attention from the community:
And yes, the Ts went drinking. Everyone relax, Mike T. has like one beer and then Cindy T. makes him walk 20k steps. I know the health & wellness emailers want to hammer Mike T. at all times and they're hovering.
Let Mike T. live a little!
Mike T. writes:
Weather turned nice in Munich, bier garden time!
How can Mark P. in Indiana go from a 90s golfer to an 80s golfer without practicing?
• Harvey D. writes:
I cannot drive like John Daily, but I can drink like him.
If I can break 90 on 9 I am happy. I measure myself against other golfers by height.
We (the Wife and I) enjoy having fun and don't keep score. Let ppl play thru and watch the serious ppl try hard. We do it for the alone time and not to see who can outdo who. It's a game. Have fun. That's all that really matters. Having fun is all it's about, other than than that it's too stressful.
Who gives a f--k about who carries the green. I smashed two beers watching your approach shot, for f--ks sake!! Have fun and bust some balls with your friends!
Enjoy the scenery and not working, have some drinks and embrace it! Breathe deep, and smile. Life is too short to worry about what your handicap is. HAVE A GOOD TIME!!! That is lost these days.
• John R. writes:
Wise old golfer told me years ago. "Son, 50% of your shots are within 50 yards of the hole." Practice pitching and putting.
• Jeff B. in Colorado writes:
Years ago, I went to play a round solo. The range master paired me up with a solo teenager that had lost her lower right leg in a car accident. Thus, she had no power off the right leg (prosthetic).
What she had was control. 370 yard par 4? She'd swing a five iron for 150 yards into the center of the fairway, another 150 yard five iron, a pitching wedge for the last 69 yards, tap in her four foot putt, take her par and get out.
In the end, I got thumped by a 17-year-old girl with one leg.
My advice to Mark P is to put away the big stick and focus on more controlled shots.
• GJ has some strong advice for Mark P.
I’m the son of a retired club pro and I’ve been playing golf since age three. Basically the same trajectory as Justin Thomas, except I work for the federal government and he doesn’t. While I am a low handicap player, I occasionally bust a big number. Those rounds generally result from complicated swing thoughts and poor short game.
My advice is to avoid too many online videos. My miss occurs when I swing over the top. Google “how to fix over-the-top golf swing” and it’ll show a myriad of training aids and potential fixes. While some might work, in the end, it’s just too many swing thoughts. I wouldn’t grip it and rip it like JD, but it’s not a bad theory. Identify your biggest issue and focus only on that.
A couple of other pieces of advice. My Dad taught me to swing hard with the driver. I’d rather play from 150 yards in the rough than 200 from the fairway. Of course, this idea needs tweaked depending on the hole conditions (e.g. water on one side). Around the greens, don’t play hero ball. Take a club you’re comfortable with, such as PW, play ball off the back foot and use a quasi-putting stroke. Guaranteed to make the green and eliminate big scores.
Also, for my 50th in a few years, the wife okayed a trip to St. Andrews. Who’s with me?
Kinsey:
Great, now GJ is going to send me down a St. Andrews travel rabbit hole like I went on last summer during The Open.
• Michael J. in Chicago (not Jordan) writes:
Here's some golf advice from someone that plays once or twice a year.
Ditch the clubs that are killing you. I haven't swung a wood in a decade. I can't figure them out and with minimal playing time. I just focus on what works for me. My bag has seven clubs in it. Four irons, a wedge and two putters. Sure, I'm not great. But I got the ball straight and don't lose balls. I consider that a win.
As for bars and watching March Madness. I meet up with my dad and brother opening night every year at a sports bar. Still very enjoyable.
St. Patrick's Day in Dublin
Let's check in with the crowds during the lunch hour over in Ireland:
Kids & phones in 2023
• Ryan C. in Southeastern PA writes:
I’ve been a Screencaps reader for ages and have never written in before, but, as a father of four and someone who works in consumer protection, the topic of kids and phones/social media is one I’m passionate about. You are right to be worried about creeps targeting kids online (and the Chinese Communist Party via TikTok). Then there are other risks like cyberbullying, oversharing sensitive information, stupid/dangerous viral trends, etc. But the biggest concern should be the horrible impact social media has on kids’ mental health. Social media has now been associated with a substantially increased risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and other mental issues and the evidence has become clear that there is direct causation, not just correlation. For anyone that’s interested in digging into these issues further, I’d highly recommend the work of Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge.
For all these reasons and others, I strongly advocate keeping your kids off social media for as long as possible. In our house, my wife wanted our oldest to have a phone in 5th Grade when she was starting to come home alone from school briefly some days. I would have preferred a landline, but we compromised on a Gabb phone, which is designed for kids and has voice and text, but no internet or social media. There are other options, but that’s the one we went with and it seems to work well.
Most social media sites require users to be 13 or older. While that’s not old enough, many parents don’t even enforce or know about that requirement and kids just lie about their age to get on. At some point, you’ll start hearing that your kid is the only one not on social media. It is a problem when all their friends are on (though I would argue not as big as the problem of social media itself), so you may want to talk to other parents and try to get on the same page. If they aren’t the only ones (and you know it), that’ll make it easier to draw a hard line.
Once they are on the internet/social media, I echo what others have said about talking to your kids and setting rules/limits. The phone is yours. The internet service is yours. Also consider joining the sites your kids are on so you can see what they are doing/being exposed to. The most important rule may be to keep the phone/tablet/computer out of the bedroom. Not only are kids more likely to do things they shouldn’t when it is behind closed doors, but social media is also addictive and leads to kids staying on all night and losing key hours of sleep when they need it most for both their mental and physical health.
A different TNML
• Michael P. writes:
Joe, I am a big fan of Screencaps. Have been following it since late 2021. The Thursday Night Mowing League is a great concept. However, there are times when you can’t mow on Thursday (bad weather, emergencies, other commitments, etc.).Therefore, I say that you can still do TNML even when you can’t mow on Thursday.
Behold: the Tuesday Night Mowing League! Is that a great idea or what? Thanks again for all you do. MP from Staunton, Va.
Kinsey:
In all fairness, and I'm not trying to be harsh here, but that idea needs to be thrown straight into the trash, Michael!
Sometimes baseball games are rained out. Sometimes mowing nights are rained out. We adjust our lives. We adapt.
But one constant remains, Thursday night is the only league night this community will recognize. And no, I don't have time for a snowblower league, a leaf blower league, a power washing league, a pickleball league, etc.!
(The more I think about it, the power-washing league would be interesting. I bet people would watch that on live streams. I probably should buy a power washing URL just in case.)
Happy St. Patrick's Day to those who celebrate. Enjoy getting ripped on your big day. I WILL NOT be entering a bar at any point today. I had my fun in Savannah. Now it's time to hunker down and focus on college basketball.
Have a great day, a great weekend and make it a safe one.
Take care.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com