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Let’s start with the L.A. fires, 0% containment and 80 mph winds for nearly 24 hours
First, let’s start with the firefighters who are responsible for going into an impossible situation and trying their best to do their jobs. I’ve been watching ABC-7 for hours since this started and at one point this morning, which would’ve been like 4 a.m. in Los Angeles, they showed a firefighter using a cone to trap water running off from their firefighting efforts.
Then the cone full of water was being poured on hot spots.
A cone of water. Like a traffic cone.
It was pure desperation.
Then, there are the TV reporters who are standing in the middle of streets in the middle of these infernos. Now, I know you guys HATE TV reporters, you don’t trust the media, you wish they’d be jailed, you wish they’d disappear, etc., etc.
Still, I have to mention how the L.A.-based TV reporters are showing serious courage to go into these fires and get hit in the head by embers.
It’s one thing for TV reporters to stand in hurricanes where they can get behind hurricane-proof barriers like Cantore. It’s another to be standing there as embers come flying at your face.
If you have a story to tell from the fires, tell me. Do you have a family member fighting those fires? Tell us about them.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Memories of your kids beating you in a cherished activity for the first time
— LCoch in Minnesota remembers:
I like a lot of dads, willing to invest ( share) in their kids’ early sports days, and do all sorts of volunteer work with their teams. But for 1 year, I took it further by investing time and money in being a hockey referee, all because my then 12 year old wanted to get into it, for the money. I thought why not? I played some youth hockey and, considered myself in pretty good shape.
So here we are after training class, doing our first game together., and we’re warming up. Now mind you, I haven’t skated with him on a full size sheet in like 4 years.
Well we do two laps, and he says ” wanna race”? me, Of course, I ll kick your butt!
Well not even half a lap in, he is long gone. When we finished, he added insult to injury when he said, ” let’s do it again, and I will go backwards!”
Humbling ,but in some sick way it also made me proud!
— Honorary Sheriff John in Houston emails:
Both of my now HS-aged boys have followed me playing offensive line and throwing the shot put. I’ve always been a big guy and I’ve always been able to push around a lot of iron in the weight room, but now both of my boys are now stronger than me – they can each bench press more, they can each squat more, they can definitely clean more and snatch more.
Sometime last year they both – even the one who’s currently a HS sophomore – surpassed me in throwing the shot put (the 12 lb shot specifically). I was never a discus thrower, so they were beating me at that when they were in 7th grade…
It has been hard on this 51 year old, but deep down it makes me a little bit happy.
(PS – my wife finally got me the VR Golf+ setup for Christmas… it’s great!)
— Benny from Anchorage, Alaska says:
I technically lost to my 6 year old daughter a while back as she’s 20’s now. As a PE teacher I had pretty easy access on weekends to school’s gym on weekends. As she was getting into sports she would ask to start a Saturday in the gym for an hour horsing around before dad daughter lunch.
Decided it was time to teach her how to swing a bat at a strike. Got out the plate, plastic bat, pickleballs, no batting tee pure raw. Explained the strike zone, demo proper swing, then it was go time. Overhand 50% effort first pitch swing n miss but good cut.
Next pitch gone, I told her to jog all 4 corners slight tear in my eye. Tell her ok now I’m gonna throw sinker the Titanic I use on students who are 11-12. First pitch she misses by a foot over the top.
Next pitch, line drive up middle square to her father’s groin….that’s when I lost to my daughter.
The state of chain gangs in the NFL: The end is near
— Eric in Kansas pointed to this story that seems to indicate chain gangs are history:
NFL Chain Gangs will soon be replaced (hopefully) by a new camera system developed by Sony called the Hawkeye. I’ve been thinking for a long time that they could easily get rid of the chains, and apparently they are inching closer to doing it. Maybe by the 2025 season? See article link below. Keep up the great work!
— Jordan in Iowa emails:
Loved seeing the comment from the Houston Texans chain gang member. I have been annoying far too many football fans this season at the college and pro level with asking them if they have noticed the lack of measurements this season.
Officiating crews now spot the ball on a yard line about 90% of the time for the first down play.
This wipes the need for a measurement out and allows them to know instantly the spot needed for a first down. At the college level it looks downright shady as the official usually is spotting the ball and signaling with a hand close to the chest to move the chains instantly.
The days of Gene Steratore pulling out a notecard for the fourth down measurement are all but gone!
— John from Bowling Green, KY checks in:
I feel like Iverson in his viral practice video. What are we talking about here? Sticks & chains? The NFL has annual revenues over $20 billion.
That billion with a “B” and we are measuring game-deciding, playoff determining, job-saving first downs with two guys holding sticks connected by a chain? Meanwhile, every 20+ handicap hack at his local muni course is laser sighting his yardages with slope adjustments. I mean…c’mon!
How hard would laser sighting yardsticks be to develop? Where is the embedded chip in the football? Does “Big Chain” or the chain gang union have some unseen hold on Goodell that we continue to measure first downs with Land of the Lost technology?
I want answers!!!
Screencaps Challenge: Do you live the farthest from a McDonald’s (in the U.S.)?
We have a new leader!
— Terry reports from way the hell up in Minnesota:
My son reads your Screencaps column every day and has passed along his good taste to this 70-old man. I enjoy it thoroughly and the interaction you have with the readers keeps me coming back for more. I checked the maps today and am officially 119 miles from the nearest McDonald’s in Two Harbors from where I live in Grand Portage, MN.
I’ve been a firefighter 37 years strong!
Kinsey:
I asked Terry how he ended up in Grand Portage, MN. Go ahead, go look on Google Maps at where Terry calls home. You’re damn right, it’s remote!
— Terry responds:
Grew up on a farm in SW MN and went to college at a small school not too far from Duluth in the 70’s. Got a short term job after that working for the DNR in forestry near where I now live and fell in love with the beauty of Lake Superior and decided I wanted to retire there. Oddly enough, I used to camp on the exact land I ended up buying about 15 years later.
Fast-forward, wife and I lived back in Willmar MN, had two kids and lived pretty frugally while saving every penny we had and were finally able to build our dream cabin home after 30 years of working our jobs. I did a lot of the work myself and would drive up there as would allow, 12 hour round trip at a time.
A few years ago, my wife was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately passed a little over a year ago. Losing her was very difficult for our family.
It gets a little lonely up here at times (my dog tries her best…) and there are too many libs, but nothing beats the fresh air and beauty of Lake Superior right outside your window. Fishing, hunting are both incredible here. I’m pretty self-motivated and find myself doing all types of woodworking projects for myself, taxidermy (though less frequently) and seemingly endless “handyman” type stuff for others that need help. I also teach firefighter safety classes.
Trips to Thunder Bay usually occur monthly, although with the exchange rate, I’m frequenting more often. You can grab a nice meal for a decent price. Avoid the burgers though as they are required to be cooked well-done in Canada, not too visually different than their national symbol, the hockey puck. My kids loved visiting Fort William when they were younger and there are some cool places to see in the area.
Proudly still serving my community and the fire department after 37 years! I’ll be 70 in May, but hope to keep doing it for a long as I’m able. Also worked at the nearby state park until last year and have found that staying active has allowed me to do a lot of the things I’m still able to do. I hope it continues but it’s getting harder!
If you or any readers are ever “in the neighborhood”, I’m happy to extend a meal, beer, place to stay and beautiful lake to enjoy! I look forward to contributing to the Screencaps community more. Keep up the good work Joe and glad to be a part of this group!
Screencaps Readers Who Live The Farthest From Nearest McDonald’s Leaderboard:
- Terry in Grand Portage, MN — 119 miles
- David in Escalante, UT — 115 miles
- Paul in Plentywood — 90 miles
- Jeff B. in Campo, CO — 70 miles
- Dillion & the Crosby, ND Gang — 66 miles
MercMatt puts away his convertible for winter
MercMatt made his debut on Christmas Day 2023 when he told Screencaps that he always drives his car with the top down unless it’s raining. He became something of a character for this column and then disappeared.
Now he’s back and reports that the Merc is in storage.
— MercMatt writes:
No snow yet here in Central Oregon. Only ice. That rules out the Merc on hills around here. It’s buried in the garage behind a bunch of equipment now, probably not to see the sun again until March or so.
Yes, I know my garage blows. Not a good man cave. Needs a beer fridge, TV and a lot more garage toys like those of your blessed readers. I’m jealous. It’s on the to-do list.
Great ScreenCaps content lately. Great ongoing conversations and to-and-fro with the readers. My favorites are the work-related emails describing tradeshows and life on the road.
I have one comment here, and one question for you….
Comment: I can absolutely confirm that LinkedIn has evolved into a phishing platform. I source raw materials from China and Eastern Europe, and I regularly get a “Can I Connect?” message from Missy Yan in Shanghai, or Natasha Luvtoskweezya in Estonia, complete with a picture with them in a halter top and healthy assets, if you know what I mean. I forward them to my bored, retired buddies and they invariably come back with a little investigative note saying the company doesn’t exist, the person doesn’t exist, etc. Sometimes the pictures match another woman’s name from another source, so the phishers are clearly scraping pictures off the Internet. Next time one shows up in my Inbox I’ll take a snip and send it along to you.
Question: Why doesn’t ScreenCaps and/or other OutKick columns have comments?
Outkick did for a while, and then they went away. ScreenCaps is in my morning rotation of 6 blogs and the other 5 all have commenting ability. The comments are often the most enlightening part of the columns.
The readers correct errors, oftentimes add interesting content to whatever is posted above, and provide links to new columns or related information.
I know it takes time and effort to moderate the comments because otherwise they fill up with bots, trolls and profane garbage. Maybe that’s too much work. I don’t know. But I think the ScreenCaps comment base could be yuge.
Kinsey:
I know this will result in emails from readers yelling at me, but I can report that comments will eventually come back to OutKick. That’s what we’re told. It’s on the list of things that still need done since OutKick was moved to a new content system in 2024.
Yes, I’ve said comments are coming back many times in the past. I will say it again. Remember, OutKick is now a piece to the Fox Corp. empire and that means that there are other entities that use resources.
How long will it take before comments come back? I have no idea.
Things you see in a Spanish liquor store
— Mike T. says this is a $4,500 bottle of scotch:
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That’s it. We’re officially rolling on this Wednesday.
Yes, there are dozens and dozens of emails that have piled up. Yes, we will discuss dads teaching arm slots. Yes, we will discuss the state of breakfast food costs. There are plenty of topics to cover the rest of the week.
Go have a great day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
