If you are one of the hundreds of thousands of new Screencaps readers who found this column on Monday, welcome back. You’re about to become hooked. Just go ahead and clear your daily schedule at 9 a.m. for “America’s Best Daily Column,” as named by the readers who’ve been with me for years. In some cases, readers have been with me for over a decade. This column is their talk radio. It’s their daily dose of Real America.
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If this piece of Internet real estate sounds amazing, you have an assignment. Tell me about yourself. Tell me what’s going on in your community. Tell me your concerns and victories in life. Tell me an interesting story from your life resume.
I don’t believe for a second that you’ve lived a boring life. Try me. Get involved. Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com
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Good afternoon Joe. I’m a 72 year old derelict (aka former banker) with a 25-year-old brain that survived the sex, drug and rock and roll era (what a ball!).I’ve been reading your column in OutKick for quite some time now and just wanted to shoot you a quick e-mail to thank you for your efforts in providing some of the best content available out there on the internet.
I look forward to my OutKick fixes as they always put a smile on my face while distracting me from the never ending drivel mass produced by virtually all of the other media outlets. So, thanks again, keep up the fantastic work and all the best to you and yours.
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If you haven’t been paying attention, Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt got engaged to Derek Green, the son of former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, earlier this month in a dramatic engagement ceremony that probably had a price tag worth more than my house.
Since then, these two have been firing off content at a record pace, including this gym workout on Monday that has people talking. This is 100% some MAHA content if I’ve ever seen it. Remember when RFK Jr. and Pete Hegseth were holding pull-up contests and RFK Jr. was appearing in workout videos with Kid Rock?
This should probably be the newest trend. Can you bench press your wife or girlfriend? Who’s going to step up and show us they can do this workout? Anyone up for it? Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com
– Lee D. in Tampa says this is a Waffle House “not far” from Raymond James Stadium. The big news here is that this location is “to-go only” from 11:30 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. No more going in after the bar and crushing a plate of smothered, covered and chunked.
“Is this why in general, we are seeing fewer Waffle House (fight) videos lately?” Lee D. wonders.
– Steve B. in Grand Junction, Colorado shares an interesting update from the world of youth sports:
Travel ball update: Drove 5 hours through a snowstorm to Ogden, Utah for a 2 day tournament this weekend. After the last game (which we lost), players were given rings, which I thought was odd, since in the tournament, they went, ahem…..0 – 3.
That’s right. They got more rings than wins. I guess it’s because they lost by fewer runs? Because they wanted to reward us for driving 10 hours roundtrip? They had extra rings leftover? Who knows? I just laugh (and then pay the credit card bill). At least my son is aware enough to realize they didn’t earn anything.
On the bright side, we got to see the AAA teams for the Astros and Angles, play in Salt Lake’s beautiful park.
– Jeff D. in VA shares:
I thought you would be interested in this video. I knew people were making money off of youth travel sports, but I had no idea it included private equity firms. Apparently, Apollo and Blackrock have their hands in the Cooperstown tournaments and the Ripken Experience.
The video also touches on the online betting markets for youth sports.
No wonder athletes are playing more and more individually and losing all of the lessons traditionally learned from sports; team work, leadership, etc.
https://youtu.be/H4Lxf_veWbk?si=gX_BaqiD_ko0vp53
– Anonymous provides a sobering report on what she’s seeing:
This weekend, i paid $85/per person cash at the door to watch poorly ran (worked by teens and young adults not trained to run clocks, keep books, etc.) AAU Basketball games for my daughters 17U team at the USJN in Milwaukee Wisconsin (June 17th-19th). It was $85 at the door and $93.01 if person paid with card ahead of time. A child’s ticket was $50 for the tournament. There are no seats for parents to sit and watch games!!! $85 to stand!
That’s just for the game…
AAU circuits have teamed with hotels, and mandate teenage athletes (w/Guardians or parent) stay at certain hotels when traveling for tournaments or the other option is to pay a hefty fine by not going through the traveling agency handling the hotel reservations. This year, TCI Housing was the crooked partner teaming with the crooked AAU Circuit for New Balance demanding specificstays at specific hotels! https://www.tcihousing.com/
Also, the parking was $14-$16 per day.
(Last year for the Run4Roses in Kentucky, we had to pay an extra $250 at the door for my daughter to get into the gym after traveling hundreds of miles because we didn’t stay at an appointed hotel. We chose an AirBNB because it was cheaper).
Thank God, this is my daughter’s last year playing. Yes, parents and athletes get trapped in this vicious cycle being promised that college coaches will be in attendance (HUGE LIE). Their seats are usually empty! The hopes of these athletes are crushed everytime by the hype of AAU. Parents are duped every time because we know all the time, hardwork, and training their children have put in for their sport
It is sad because it divides families. Only one parent goes to my daughters AAU basketball tournaments because we can’t afford the entrance fees, traveling expenses, hotel, food, etc. for our family of 4. This doesn’t include the $1500 to $2500 we’ve had to pay per season for dues to be on the AAU team 🙄 Some teens are traveling without parents/Guardians because it is unaffordable. This is dangerous!
It is a racket and needs to stop!!! It should be against the law for AAU and other partnering companies to take these family’s money for children athletes.
As an AAU basketball mom, I would say “don’t do it! Just send your children to the college camps. AAU is a racket–a demon from hell.”
– Berkeleigh tells me:
I was at Pitt Jam Fest this weekend. What is maddening is that the tickets were $68 but no one takes cash so they use these online ticket venues with outrageous fees. The fees for Jam fest were $6.55 as the final ticket price charged was $74.55. My son played 4 games. This weekend there is a Big Shots tournament in Richmond, VA and the weekend ticket price is $45 which is a little more reasonable.Still, in an economy where people can hardly afford to live the youth sports is getting out of control!
– Charleen in Los Angeles reacts to the rise in AAU basketball fees and admission to watch her son play:
There was a Made Hoops event at the L.A. Convention Center this weekend. It was $30 a day to park $35 a person to get in each day. It has gotten so out of hand. I spend $600 a month for him to play on this team and then they talk about seeing if we are lucky enough to go to a tournament in another state which is even more expensive. I am so done.Thank you for raising awareness about this because it is the biggest money grab.
– John O emails:
Here in IL, things are bad too, in more ways than one, but in terms of game prices.
The IL state high school girls basketball post season prices were as follows:
– first game of regional tourney = $6 (in a high school gym) – the rest of the regional tourney = $8 per game (in a high school gym) – the sectional price was $9 per game (in a high school gym) – the super sectional price was $11 (in a high school gym) – each session of the state finals were $13 per game (at IL State University)
In Springfield, IL, the Scheel’s store built a huge indoor facility under a hoop dome. The local hospital has its name plastered on the outside as a sponsor yet they charge $15 a person to get into youth games. I’m not sure what parking costs.
In the Quad Cities, there is an indoor facility that charges $30 per person.
It’s ridiculous!!
– GastroDoc provides a report from Louisiana:
I guess we caught a break in Lafayette, Louisiana . Ticket prices for AAU 12 year olds tournament were $15/person on Sat and $20/person on Sunday!Way more than high school ticket admissions. Quite a sticker shock if you ask me.
– John G. tells me:
20.00 for a one day pass. 28.00 for a weekend pass. Total joke. It’s non stop and these kids were 8th graders. No chance they play D3. Sad stuff. Zero Gravity Tournament.
– George S. is frustrated:
I attended 2 games this past Saturday at Spooky Nook Champion Mill in Hamilton, OH. $32.12 for the one day. Games were Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Weekend pass? $97.00! A giant 64-cent savings if you bought it. I only attended Saturday. $5 to park. The two games were spread out with 2 1/2 hours in between. Had to eat of course… $18 for a chicken sandwich and a small fry. This is ridiculous. At least kiss me if you’re gonna screw me!
– Eddie provides us with the financials that families face for their kids to play one weekend at these tournaments:
I have coached AAU basketball for the last 10 years. It’s not just the admission prices to see your kid play…the mid and low level AAU teams also have to pay to get into these tournaments which means the parents have to pay from $200 up for tournament fees(depending on how many their team plays and how big the tournament is). Also, the leagues have operating fees and practice space fees to pay once the team is finalized.
So, you’re looking at about $400 per family before you even show up to pay to watch them play. The national circuit teams fees will turn your stomach. The driver….a lot of the parents have this pipe dream that their kid is going to play D-1 college and make it to the NBA or WNBA. Love your kids, but be sane about it!
I know, I know, I know…I’m talking too much about MY first place Reds, but that is for good reason: Sal Stewart, 22, is a throwback to baseball players that made us fall in love with the sport in the first place. Last night in Tampa wasn’t about the rookie hitting a two-run bomb to dead center.
It was more about his effort in the top of the 7th when he manufactured a run by himself. It was beautiful. As sports fans, we BEG for athletes who compete like absolute DAWGS to beat the other team to a pulp. That’s Sal. In a league where hitters don’t mind striking out 200 times and have an ‘Oh well,’ attitude, Sal is just the opposite. He wants to beat your brains in. Strikeouts are painful. Making an out is painful for the guy.
That’s the sort of athlete I can invest my time in.
There are things that start to make me feel old(er) like Rob Dibble being old enough to file for Social Security and Carmen Electra nearing the 30th anniversary of her Playboy debut. She appeared in the May 1996 edition of the magazine and the rest is history. Monday, she turned 54 and celebrated by dumping out multiple Instagram photos as if it was 1996 again.
– Jim T. in San Diego reports from the garden:
Mrs. Jim T has spent last few mo ths laying out her new backyard garden. (It was lawn when we moved in.) Lots of raised beds to counter the gophers. The 12×12 cabin is storage now but eventually will be a shrine to the Reds, Flyers and Aztecs …
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And that is it for Tuesday Screencaps as I try to get used to a new content system and how to produce these columns on time and as you’ve come to expect. The sun is rising. The birds are chirping. As I have done over my 19-year Internet career, each day is all about surviving and advancing. One foot in front of the other.
Let’s strap on the boots and get to work on another day of life.
