WWE's Mandy Rose Visits Circa Las Vegas, Brett Favre In A Batting Cage & A Cute Pup At The Saints Game
I'm about to make a big purchase for my son's birthday
It's not about the cost of the present, but the use one gets out of the present. I'm sure some great philosopher once said that to his son after dad presented him with a portable basketball hoop for his 9th birthday. That's the exact spot I find myself in this week as my son turns 9 and it's time to make that basketball hoop purchase.
What took so long? He didn't take interest in the sport until a few months ago when he started to play at a neighbor's house and caught the bug. He wanted me to take him to the park to shoot hoops, so we did. Then came the hints that he'd like to have a hoop in the driveway where he can go and work on his game and be a kid.
Done deal. We've entered that stage of life where my wife doesn't really have to worry about buying birthday gifts for the boys because they want sporting goods, things to break, guns, things they can dig with, things they can beat each other with in the pool. Buying gifts couldn't be any easier at this point.
This week with the basketball hoop purchase takes me back to when I was about my son's age when my father put in a concrete driveway with a turnaround that was nearly equivalent to a half-court. I spent many days and nights out there with friends having three-on-three tournaments. Bikes dumped in the yard. Kids being kids.
And now that's where we're headed at this house. The days of kids bashing each other with foam swords from the dollar store appear to be over. It's now time for basketball games until the sun goes down and hopefully zero torn knee ligaments for dad.
• I missed this message from Indy Daryl over the weekend:
Happy Friday, I hope the whiffle-ball tournament meets all your expectations! Due to a pop-up storm and a Thursday night soccer practice, I was rained out for TMNL. The dreaded Saturday mow will take place tomorrow.
Mostly, I wanted to thank you because I think the TMNL Crew embodies the advice my mom preached to myself and my 3 siblings over and over again: DO HARD THINGS! It's wonderful to see all the hard-working men and women across the country, embracing hard things (mowing or otherwise) because they know they are good and worth the effort. In the vein of doing hard things, the wife and I took the kiddos (11, 6, 2.5) for a one-night, backpacking trip at Shades State Park here in Indiana last Friday (mowed Thursday so it wasn’t waiting).
It was way to hot, it rained, the brush was taller than me (6'2") at times, but we made it through and the kids can't wait to go again. It was incredibly hard (carried the 2.5 for the last mile out....), but darn if it wasn't worth it. I really enjoy the community of people you are bringing together, willing to embrace work, and can't wait to see where it goes from here!
Indy Daryl
• Berend S. checks in with a Gauntlet draft report for us:
Joe,
Had our Gauntlet draft a couple weeks ago and it went fantastic. Ate some wings, had some beers, and auctioned off the teams. The feedback from my buddies was extremely positive. We are all even more excited for the NFL season than we usually are.
The highlight of the draft was calling the one homer that was going to way overspend on the Titans. We all knew it was going to happen and he paid the same for the Titans that the Cheifs ended up going for. The entire experience was a blast and I'm looking forward to hopefully winning the pot!
• Big news for all the ladies out there...Starbucks announced that its pumpkin spice lineup will return today for those who just can't get enough of that pumpkin flavor while it's 200 degrees outside. Nothing says flannel and the pumpkin patch like an iced pumpkin latte on August 24 when the heat index is supposed to be around 105.
• @Goldbuzzard in Louisiana wants you guys to see this hook and ladder to win a scrimmage. Hate to see this team burn such an incredible play to win a scrimmage, but now they know it's there in a pinch. Beautiful execution.
Is there something you want Screencaps readers to see? Email: joekinsey@gmail.com or DMs are wide open on social media: @joekinseye