I don’t know much about Nashville, but I know a rising star when I see one and MacKenzie Carpenter is about 10 months away from finding herself in a Nashville showdown with the likes of Ella Langley. Again, I know nothing about the music industry, but I’ve spent 19 years working on the Internet and analyzing rising stars.
Carpenter has the intangibles. She’s from Hull, Georgia. That accent you’re hearing isn’t some fake twang that she developed after unloading her U-Haul at some Nashville apartment complex. There are plenty of singers in Nashville, but there’s a difference in this pop culture era in a singer and someone who jumps off the screen.
And then there’s the duet she sang this week with country star Riley Duckman. Again, I don’t know much about country music, but I know the minute the industry partners up a 26 or 27-year-old female with a male superstar, the executives have a plan for the female performer and it’s not to tour country fairs the rest of her life.
Long-time readers of this column know that I made a wild prediction about the demise of Wendy’s back in like 2023 when there was no indication Wendy’s was in trouble. I based my prediction on my experiences at a Wendy’s here in NW Ohio that was staffed by meth addicts, or what I perceived to be meth addicts. My intuition turned out to be correct.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
I’m not taking my predictions to the country music industry. As of today, MacKenzie Carpenter is sitting at 108k Instagram followers. She’s still a relatively unknown who is playing random casinos, on a Truist Park stage in Atlanta and random clubs across the country.
A year from today, I predict MacKenzie has 550k followers and she has won some sort of “Best New Performer” award given out by one of the country shows. Save this post. I have a strong feeling about this one.
Am I wrong? Is there another country star who will beat Carpenter to stardom? Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com
Right now, Darrell Sheets is the No. 1 Google Trend in the United States and it’s not without merit. It turns out that Darrell was the perfect ‘reality’ show character at the perfect time in pop culture back in 2010. Think about the shows that dominated that era on the myriad of ‘reality’ show networks. American Chopper was definitely in the mix. Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives was another.
For me, Storage Wars was an addiction and Darrell was the loveable loser who was always looking for that $40 bill in a pile of junk. We could appreciate Darrell. I feel like he was the epitome of a Screencaps reader. He hustled. He saw the brighter side of things when a storage locker looked like it was going to be a disaster. And he was a competitor. He wanted to win, but not like Dave Hester. He wanted to win with integrity.
If not, you better hurry up because I have a newsletter dropping this afternoon. It’s already done. For the legacy Screencaps readers, it might bring you comfort. For the new readers, it’s more of an introduction to what this column is all about and who I am. Get signed up HERE!
Here’s Wednesday Screencaps where I discuss this war that Sydney Sweeney is fighting. Needless to say, the inbox LIT UP over the news that Livvy Dunne is joining Team Sydney.
– Donna P. writes: As an Octogenerian, I support Sydney Sweeney and all natural women against the woke insanity of Victoria’s Secret bulls–t! They were once a store for women where men could go to buy their sweetheart sexy clothes. Now those (sic & sick) men are modeling the clothes? Do they also show confused sexuality guys being awarded their own beer cans from Bud? Woke equals “weird only kids entering”! Good luck to Syrn Enterprises!
– JDub says she’s Team Syd: LOVEED the Syrn article on Fox. I consider myself an above average chick and was literally a VIP VS customer for years. I haven’t bought one article of lingerie from them in about a decade now due to their woke BS. Is there something wrong with attractive people??? I have no issues with hot chicks selling me lingerie. Fat chicks aint it.
I miss the days of the VS Angels and the fashion shoes. I would literally have my GFs over l, get some champagne out, and drunkenly buy a bunch of skimpies. I’m convinced that the world is on an endless repeat cycle of Revenge of the Nerds. All the ugly people are having their day….the uglier the better. Yawn…..so over it all. Godspeed, Sydney and Dunn! Godspeed.
– Tiffani is done with Victoria’s Secret: I literally just told my husband last week I didn’t want to support VS anymore because of the trans issue. It made me sick to my stomach to watch a dude in the lingerie. And I was wondering where I was going to get my lingerie from here, and thankfully from this article, now I know!!! Thank you, Syndney for a fantastic alternative!! Bless you and prayers for strong and quick growth!!
– Tim W. is equally as fired up: Your article about VS and the looming “Lingerie War” is a GREAT example of the very WIDE SPEAD ARROGANCE within the Advertising and Marketing Industries regarding DEI.
A great follow up to your EXCELLENT article would be to investigate and inform the general public about what happened to the advertising and marketing agencies behind the ever mounting number of DISASTERS that have occurred when these really arrogant elitist companies promote/force DEI policies on the general public. These actions are WILDLY UNPOPULAR with the vast majority of consumers. Most of whom are not racists, or misogynists, or antisemites, or anti-LGBTQ etc!!
My goodness Joe! There are a HUGE number of companies and organizations that have become “Sacrificial Lambs” to this idiocy. For God’s sake Joe The Declaration Of Independence and The United States Constitution are the very literal “BED ROCKS” of the proper implementation of DEI!! Let us all get over this nonsense so that we can CELEBRATE the 250th birthday of The United States of America!!!!
– Anthony T. tells me: Real men have been setting this fight out for far too long. But now we have a Fearsome Foursome to root for and the oldest game is again a foot. Gentlemen to your ponies let the chase begin.
– Ted in Brentwood, TN says: Had a cool thought… the winner of TNML gets to design the following year sticker. With AI anyone could put something together in less than an hour. Thought it might be a cool tradition and give the boys something extra to shoot for. You would clearly need to put some parameters on this, but it would be fun to see a different sticker each year.
– Beer Guy Neil in Cleveland checks in: Hey Joe, regarding youth sports fees, I may have sent this comment to you before. I mentioned to a coach friend that another local coach was starting an academy and promising parents a college scholarship if their kid played in his academy. Friend said give me all the money you’re paying for your kid’s sport. I’ll invest it and pay for their college. Food for thought.
– Jim T. in San Diego has a thought on the world of youth sports: A few years ago I did a deep dive in my Substack into the finances of college sports (https://lostincyberspace.substack.com/p/footing-the-bill), and I learned during an email exchange with the American Student Government Association (which assists Associated Students organizations across the country) that Div. III schools basically sell roster spots to prospective students. That if you commit to attend a small, Div. III school somewhere you never heard of before, you’re guaranteed to be on the field hockey or lacrosse or track team. But no scholarship will be offered, and limited financial aid. The deal is you (or your parents) pay full freight and you get to continue playing your chosen sport at a competitive level.
So when AAU and travel ball tourney organizers promise parents that college scouts will be in attendance, that’s who they’re really talking about.
Think about it: If you’re in admissions or recruiting for a Div. III school that is struggling to attract new students and keep the doors open (many small liberal arts colleges fit this description, and more of them fold every year), who better to go after than parents who have a proven track record of being willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money so their kid can play sports? It’s already built into the family budget! According to that group cited above, about 50% of students on a typical Div. III campus are there to play a sport. At some it is higher. It is crazy. Four of our five kids played organized sports – but it was mostly rec leagues at the Y or Boys & Girls Club. We did one season of Little League, and then three seasons of fast-pitch softball, and one kid did a year of varsity golf. Grateful we never got sucked into that world.
– Hunter makes a great point: I have a question about all of this travel ball stuff. It seems like most (nearly?) everyone is fed up with the ridiculous money grab that travel sports are. Everyone in my circle (save a few who just have admitted the truth to themselves yet) laments how expensive it is, the ridiculous time commitment, etc. but yet they keep on doing it.
No one has thrown their hands up and said enough. Why? Is complaining about it just the cool thing to do? Do they legitimately despise it but fear the judgment of others if they quit?
Parents in the best daily column in the land themselves lament the racket and lie they’ve been sold by the travel sports organizations, but then finish their email up about how they’re still paying it for their kids to play. Are there readers out there that have said enough, and I’m just speaking in too much of generality/assumption? Fascinated by this dilemma that travel ball parents seem to be in. Thanks for all you do!
Kinsey: They’re in too deep Hunter. It’s a worry that they will be failures as a parent. So they continue to pay. They’ll mask it with, “But, we’re all one big family,” or “My kids are learning more about the world than your kids because they’re staying in Hampton Inns and navigating the world one tournament at a time.”
It’s all nonsense, Hunter. Parents just can’t bring themselves to back down. It would be admitting defeat in their heads and the private equity groups know it.
I tasked Gemini to write a joke. I had to chop out the beginning because it rambled, but here’s the punchline.
Jerry Jones and Bill Clinton walk into a bar. The bartender brings them drinks, but he’s curious. He asks, “So, what brings you two icons together tonight? Negotiating a trade? A new library?”
Bill sighs and says, “Actually, we’re looking for the same thing. We’re looking for someone young, talented, and capable of performing under immense pressure while the whole world watches.”
The bartender looks at Bill and says, “Let me guess… a new intern for the foundation?” And Jerry slams his fist on the table and screams, “No! I need a quarterback who can win a playoff game in the 21st century!”
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That is it this morning. Tomorrow, I’m going to show off the AI driver head covers that Diesel and Canoe Kirk came up with for the text group. Now I just need to find some Chinese Temu site to print them. Wait until you see the works of art.
The sun is out, the birds are chirping and I’m starting to get better with the new Screencaps operation. Everything remains a work in progress. Let’s keep the emails rolling. Enjoy the newsletter and have an amazing day.
And never, ever forget how fortunate we are to call this land our home.
