‘Nightcaps’ is a daily column that catches you up on the biggest sports, news and culture stories you may have missed while pretending to do work at your desk. It runs Monday-Friday on OutKick.com.
September! How did this happen? I swear yesterday was April.
I’m glad it wasn’t, though. Because man am I ready for some football and cooler weather. I’m not really a pumpkin spice latte kind of gal — more like a walk-outside-without-my-skin-melting-and-being-swarmed-by-mosquitos kind of gal.
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I got a little taste of fall this weekend.
I spent a few days in upstate New York on the St. Lawrence River, and WOW. Where has this beautiful place been hiding all my life?
Look, I live in the South, so traveling damn near to Canada is a bit of a haul. So forgive my ignorance.
I was up there to cover the Bassmaster Elite tournament and the Randy Moss Pro Football Hall of Fame Pro-Am.
What a hoot that was — eight Hall of Famers paired with professional anglers and competing for the biggest bass.
Heading into it, Randy was awfully confident in his chances to take home the trophy. In case you didn’t know, he’s an avid outdoorsman and even has his own bass fishing YouTube channel.
On the docks, I asked Randy, “If you don’t win this thing, are they going to have to rename the tournament next year?”
I was obviously joking, but Randy was not having it. All business, that guy.
Did Randy win? Is Megatron as good at catching smallmouths as he is at catching footballs? Did Dave Robinson bag any bass after he baited his hook with Joe Thomas’ Wagyu beef jerky?
Guess you’ll have to read my story to find out!
See how I finessed that?
Anyway, if you love fishing content like this, get ready. Because now that OutKick OutDoors is officially a thing, we’re going to be covering a lot more of it. Plus hunting, camping, hiking and dudes gouging out gators’ eyeballs, too.
TRIATHLETE WHO SURVIVED ALLIGATOR ATTACK TELLS HARROWING STORY OF HIS ESCAPE: ‘I GOT SUPER LUCKY’
Beats the heck out of 24/7, wall-to-wall WNBA coverage, don’t ya think?
Now, let’s get to some Nightcaps, shall we?
Remember when the tennis fashion police threw a certified hissy fit over Aryna Sabalenka’s black mesh kit?
The World No. 1 wore the see-through Nike dress over a bright orange sports bra and shorts during mixed doubles at the U.S. Open, and judging by people’s reactions, she might as well have walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a Hefty bag.
To jog your memory:
Sabalenka was unfazed by the haters.
So unfazed, in fact, that she showed up for her first singles match Monday wearing an orange version of essentially the same mesh getup.
And then she went out and smoked Camila Osorio, 6-2, 6-4, to begin her bid for a third-straight U.S. Open title.
Our fishnet queen.
Aryna’s been on a content heater since she arrived in New York, by the way. Painting the town, as they say.
Back to the mesh kit… turns out Nike gave Aryna separate day and night kits — orange for the daytime, black for night. And they’re paying her a lot of money to wear them.
So maybe just relax, fashion snobs, and have yourself one of those honey deuce cocktails.
A few of those and mesh starts looking good on everybody.
The world’s most concussed quarterback has a new home in Atlanta, and he seems happy to be there.
With just a little over a week until NFL Kickoff (thank God), Tua Tagovailoa posted a photo carousel on his Instagram account. They’re all pictures of the QB in his new Falcons digs.
“For the A 🫡,” he wrote.
Unfortunately for Tua, he also wrote something else: “We’re so proud of you!! You got this ❤️”
Oh nooooo, Tua!
The comment was quickly deleted but not before the entire internet got the screenshot.
Some have speculated that he might have meant to switch over to his wife’s account, as she typically replies to his posts with some sort of “we’re proud of you” message.
But that’s still a weird thing to do. Unless he and his wife share a phone. Like one of those boomer couples who share a Facebook account.
Now, let me let you in on a little industry secret: a lot of professional athletes don’t run their own social media. I know this because it used to be my job to run athletes’ social media accounts for them.
Keep that in mind before you hop in the DMs with some hateful nonsense. Or some nudes. (Trust me, I’ve seen it all.)
Tua has said before that he’s not on social media. So what likely happened here is that his wife runs his accounts. She probably posted the photos then forgot to switch back to her account to leave her sweet little comment.
Embarrassing, but it happens.
Anyway, don’t worry, Tua, this Instagram snafu will all blow over, and everyone will forget about it next week — when you throw that famous fourth quarter death pick to seal the loss to the Steelers.
Trust me, guys. I’m a Dolphins fan, and I’ve seen this movie before.
📩 Email: amber.harding@outkick.com (Send your thoughts, stories, tips, rants and photos of your dog.)
🐦 Twitter/X: @TheAmberHarding
📸 Instagram: @amberharding
No mailbag today. I’m on a plane home to Nashville and the WiFi connection is abysmal. But shoot me your thoughts on Sabalenka, Tua, bass fishing or life in general, and we’ll catch up next week.
