Instagram Star Penny Lane Continues Her Hot Streak, Tiger Woods IS BACK & Brett 'The Hitman' Hart's New Bar Looks Awesome
Odds & ends as we head into a weekend where Tiger Woods could be playing golf for multiple days
I'm not going to lie this morning, that birdie-birdie-birdie finish out of Tiger Woods has me in a frenzy. How much of a frenzy, you ask? I went ahead and booked a room in Rochester, NY for May 18-20 for the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.
It's a preemptive hotel booking based on Tiger's play Thursday at the Genesis Open or whatever they call that tournament at Riviera that he's playing in. The ankle held up down the stretch and Tiger's been indicating all week that he's feeling decent and still thinks he can win tournaments which has me thinking there's an above 50% chance he tees it up at Oak Hill.
And if The Masters is going to keep passing me over for tickets, I'm left with very few options to see him in a major before retirement. Now is the time to strike. So it's on the schedule. Yes, I would miss a Thursday Night Mowing League league night. That's how committed I am to Tiger right now.
Quick hitters:
• Tiger hasn't played four rounds of tournament golf since April at The Masters. If he's still standing Sunday afternoon, I'll raise the PGA chances to 75%.
• Tiger and the Daytona 500 in the same weekend? Yes, please. I sat down to watch the Duels last night and caught the second race. Something big jumped out at me -- the lack of recognizable brands on the hoods. Yes, the Wendy's burger on the hood is a nice touch, but I'm going to need OutKick NASCAR Guy Zach Dean to give me a cheat sheet on the cars and these logos. Yes, I know the 3Chi car driving by Kyle Busch is the weed car. That's about it.
• Thankfully, my kids didn't ask what happened to the M&Ms car, which would have led to a conversation on Kyle Driving the 3Chi car.
• Yes, M&Ms dropped its sponsorship, which is crazy because it wasn't that long ago (2019) when I was on an M&Ms glamping media trip to Kentucky Speedway and sleeping in a tent with an M&Ms pillow. My kids still have that pillow around here somewhere.
• Speaking of the 500, it's now been six years since I showed up in Victory Lane photos when Kurt Busch won the race for Monster.
Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 26, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
• How do you get into a Victory Lane photo at the Daytona 500? It's not easy. First, you need to have an all-important Victory Lane badge (thanks, NASCAR) and then you must avoid being hit by the car coming into Victory Lane. Based on my experience, the best way to end up on the stage is to get right behind the crew members walking behind the winning car as its coming in.
It's mayhem. Bodies everywhere. You're already inside the gates with your Victory Lane badge, now act like you belong. Follow the crew guys and then grab a hat when the lady with the hats offers one. Boom, jump on the stage, act like you're in the right place, and throw your hands in the air when your driver (I didn't care who won) gets out of his ride.
Thanks to the Getty photographers for capturing my big Daytona moment because otherwise, my son would be skeptical of my achievement.
• Kyle Busch might've wrecked last night, but his car was fast. Give me Rowdy +1400 in Sunday's race.
• Shifting gears, do any of you have a portrait of your significant other in your home gym to serve as motivation? God bless Jim Edmonds. The guy got a divorce and married the woman who allegedly had a three-way with him & his ex-wife.
• I saw the news that the Detroit Tigers are moving weeknight starting times to 6:40 first pitches. Look at baseball getting its act together.
• And finally, the 10-foot-long extension pole duster multi-pack I bought from Amazon really fired the kids last night. I never thought they'd be so into dusting ceiling fans, blinds and ceilings. The extension pole was the key and they didn't even swing them at each other which is a win.
'Anonymous' and his new Masters job has people talking
Thursday, I told you guys about a Screencaps retiree who has been passed over so many times for Masters tickets that he took matters into his own hands and applied to work a real job at this year's tournament. It's his chance to get inside the gates. Who knows how much of Augusta National he'll even see, but he'll be inside those gates, which is a major life achievement for this reader.
Fellow Screencaps readers were inspired by such hustle.
• Paul Q. in Cincy writes:
As someone that’s also been stuck on the Masters lottery carousel for a couple decades I’m loving what this guy has pulled off! Hope he can send lots of content to you.
Meanwhile I’ll keep trying and hope my name is pulled before I turn 70!
• Duncan N. in Georgia writes:
Joe, your Masters email got me thinking. Did I ever tell you about the 3 times I played Augusta National? I was an assistant pro in the Augusta area and ANGC gave us a tee time or 2 every year. First time I played number 12, I hit it right where Freddie did. He got up and down for par, but I made bogey!
We had the last tee time of the day, so we'd play the members tee on 1, the tips on 2, then go back and play number 2 again. We did this all day, my buddy had been an assistant in the area foe years and knew everyone at ANGC, so we knew we wouldn't get in any trouble. We probably played 30 holes in all.
At the turn, they had beverages out for everyone, so we loaded up the carts with a ton of beer and had an even better time on the back 9! And they don't have carts normally, they have the caddies, but for this week they bring in hundreds of golf carts. It was definitely one of the best days I've ever had!
• Patrick C. from right here in NW Ohio writes:
Like the Anonymous Screencap reader who has been denied access to Augusta National through the annual lottery I, too, have been denied access as well…until this year. Oh, I got the customary letter stating I wasn’t selected but my brother got an entirely different letter.
At first we all thought it was a joke or a scam, but his letter clearly stated he was selected to purchase 4 tickets to the Wednesday practice round! The dream is becoming a reality in less than two months. So along with my two brothers, and my son, we’ll be able to take in what few sports fans are ever allowed to enjoy and that’s a stroll on the grounds of Augusta National.
Maybe I can deliver a Screencaps salute to Anonymous when I’m down there just to know we made it!
• Anonymous writes:
Well done. Very professionally played. One can tell you’ve been doing this a long time. Now, the pressure is on! I hope I don’t let the SC community and its president down.
Thanks for all you do.
New phones and the Art of Not Needing To Record Every Moment At A Sporting Event Or Concert
• Steve B. in Grand Junction, CO writes:
Totally relate to you, and Brian J's phone rant.
I used to be "film every event on phone" guy, until I realized I never watched all that recorded video.
Now I laugh when I'm at, say, Disneyland, and see most people in the crowd with their phones stretched high, recording the fireworks display. Has anyone in the history of mankind sat down to watch a repeat of a fireworks show on their phone?
Just be in the moment, appreciate it, and forget about recording something you'll never, ever watch.
Kinsey:
BTW, not to toot my own horn too much today, but look at how I handled that Daytona 500 Victory Lane moment in 2017. No phone. Just a big NASCAR guy in the moment letting Getty photographers capture the moment. Yes, somewhere I have video of Gronk on that podium yelling something at me. We're old friends.
We go way back to the #TeamJB days.
You need to be a reader of mine going back YEARS to get that reference.
Guys, I'm not trying to tell you how to live, but this summer let's try to live in the moment a little bit. I promise to do my part. When I go on the guys' golfing trip to northern Michigan there will be zero videos coming home. It's for the best.
Odd job titles
• Shawn M. in Canby, Oregon writes:
Relatively new guy here, liking the "regular guy" vibes I'm getting from the SC community.
Former Minnesota kid now stuck in the lib lib wasteland outside Portland, OR. It truly is worse than you can imagine.
Will be gone from here, never to return when wife retires in a couple years. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, whatever isn't blue or bordering California.
Done some hard stuff (Army Rangers, Biochemistry, debt-free with working) but my job is not "hard." I have a blue-collar mindset in a lazy laboratory world. Still struggle to reconcile that.
Senior Forensic Scientist - Firearm and Toolmark Examiner
Maybe that qualifies as "weird."
Anyway, keep up the good work and keep bringing it.
Kinsey:
Hang in there, Shawn. Perhaps it's time to make a list of Do Hard Things to bust out of the laboratory mindset. Do Hard Things inventor Indy Daryl works at home at a standup desk, but then he goes out and hikes mountains. He could be your guy to bounce some ideas off of.
Toying with the AI phone bots
• Paul T. checks in with a good one for a Friday:
Good evening Joe…got me a AI message out of the blue…played along and then set the hook and asked if they mowed on Thursday…it was checkmate….wants me to cook them grass clippings…(I could make an awesome first course with a big sack of grass clippings… a shallot, champagne vinegar dressing with cherry tomatoe salad but I digress)…love all you do for the SC community…look forward to spending a week behind the ropes at Augusta this spring…also would like to chime in on books…someone recommended South by Ernest Shackleton a great read…his story from his Endurance expedition was truly an exceptional story…as a tour guide in South Georgia once said me was a “man amongst men”…worth the read…and if not…check him out on YouTube…keep up the good fight!
PS you gonna be anywhere near Houston in April we are gonna go a crawfish boil gonna do about 2,000 lbs in Galveston…you would be my guest of honor!
Keep getting weird with the AI bots. I'm loving the content everyone is creating with these bots that will eventually rule the world. We might as well have some fun along the way.
Have a great 500 weekend. Enjoy the golf. Enjoy a nice walk, sunshine, blue skies, cloudy skies, the Toledo Golf Show -- I'll be there tomorrow, or whatever else is planned.
Take care.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com