Paulina Gretzky Appears on Instagram in PJs During NHL Playoffs, Highlights of Pope Meme Collection & Grilled Beef Snapshots

Newsletter UPDATE: This week's open rate was a whopping 63% as of Thursday morning, but Newsletter Manager Olivia G. (she also manages the T-shirt department) says that number is only gonna climb as more and more of you open it up.

Yeah, I asked if it could drop. I'm thinking about this in terms of batting average. She quickly corrected me via Slack, noting that the number can only go up from the 63%. Who am I to argue?

SIGN UP FOR THE SCREENCAPS NEWSLETTER SO YOU KNOW WHY MY AI ASSISTANT DAPPER JOHN CALLS ME 'BIG DOG' - SIGN UP HERE!

Now, I understand there are plenty of you who say you never received the newsletter. Here are the directions Newsletter Manager Olivia G. shared with me IF YOU SIGNED UP WITH GMAIL:

Step 1: Log in to your Gmail account.
Step 2: Go to Settings.
Step 3: Click "See all settings"
Step 4: Click "Filters and blocked addresses"
Step 5: Click "Create a new filter"
Step 6: Type the email address [email protected] and click the "Create filter" button.
Step 7: Click "Never send it to Spam"

I've also noticed a few of you dissing the newsletter team for late deliveries. Trust me, Olivia G. takes all concerns seriously. Screencaps is a beast and keeping this property humming along is top priority. If you got complaints, shoot them straight to her, and she'll handle 'em. She could shrug off the complaints, but she doesn't. Olivia G. is a professionals' pro - always diggin', always lookin' to get better. She's the first one in the newsletter office and last one to leave.

Just a heads up, she's takin' a vay-cay for the next 12 days or so, which means we gotta hold it in while she's outta office. Her emails will be off, so chill for the next two weeks until Screencaps Newsletter No. 4 drops.

Thanks for this week's newsletter, Joe. Those stories by the "Fishman" were awesome. I've never been a big NASCAR fan, but I'm a fan of #3. That 8x10 spot on the C post costing $800k per annum just blows my mind. Now, I wanna know what the other parts of the car are called and what they cost, either back then or in today's dollars. Great work!

Paul Q. in Cincinnati
Paul Q. in Cincinnati

Keep pumpin' out the top-notch work, and hey, why are the baseball gods mad at our Reds???

Tennessee Screencaps readers tell Mike in CT all about the taxes, or lack thereof, he'll face if he escapes from the Northeast

Chris in FL, but also dabbles in North Carolina, says:

FYI, Tennessee has zero state income tax (as do TX, NV, WA, and of course the Free State of Florida). I lived in CT a couple of times, and the last time I left for good (a long time ago now), it felt like the sky opened up when I crossed the Virginia/North Carolina line.

Chris in FL, but also dabbles in North Carolina, says:

No income tax in TN. We do have slightly higher sales tax - 7% to the state and each county adds some more - usually 2-2.5%. On large purchases (car, boat, etc.), the county portion is capped through some formula so you don't end up payin' 9+% on the entire purchase.

The Knoxville area is also growin' rapidly. Smith & Wesson just moved their entire operation and 700 jobs here from Taxachusetts. Denso Manufacturin' (air bags for the automotive industry) has more than doubled in size in the ten years we have been here, from 5,000 to 10,000 jobs, and they continue to grow. That's just a couple of examples. The downside is increased traffic and skyrocketin' housing costs. So glad we moved here before things went crazy.

Y'all seem to adore the idea of AI sports broadcaster voices being resurrected

I can't speak to the girls varsity athletics, but I can say that high school athletics, in general, is a big thing.

If we're bringin' back sports announcers, I want Skip Carey and Pete Van Wieren callin' every Braves game from now until the rapture.

On another note, have you ever noticed Annie Agar always coverin' up her cleavage? Like, literally, every picture and video. It's kinda off. What's she hidin'?

If we're bringin' back sports announcers, I want Skip Carey and Pete Van Wieren callin' every Braves game from now until the rapture.

On another note, have you ever noticed Annie Agar always coverin' up her cleavage? Like, literally, every picture and video. It's kinda off. What's she hidin'?

Kinsey:

Hey Big Dog,

I got this week's newsletter on Wednesday and it was great. Keep those open rates risin'!

Hey Big Dog,

I got this week's newsletter on Wednesday and it was great. Keep those open rates risin'!

Growin' up an LA sports fan at the end of the 20th century, we were blessed with three of the best announcers who ever did it - Vin Scully for the Dodgers, Chick Hearn for the Lakers, and Bob Miller for the Kings.

If networks start using AI voices, that's only gonna reduce the opportunities for young broadcasters to get experience - which means the next Vin Scully or Keith Jackson might never even get the chance to develop into a good announcer. Also, those old-time greats that folks are suggesting for AI might not be the same with today's NFL or college games; the rules and culture have changed so much.

If networks start usin' AI voices, that's only gonna reduce the opportunities for young broadcasters to get experience - which means the next Vin Scully or Keith Jackson might never even get the chance to develop into a good announcer. Also, those old-time greats that folks are suggestin' for AI might not be the same with today's NFL or college games; the rules and culture have changed so much.

A Screencaps reader is headin' to the Indy 500 for the first time

Want to hear Keith Jackson, spin up some YouTube videos and listen away.

I noticed you tossed in an Indy 500 reference at the end of Monday's Screencaps (which I totally missed 'cause I was busy with work). Last Christmas, my 24-year-old twin sons bought Indy 500 tickets for them and me to attend this year's race 'cause I mentioned it was a bucket list item for me. This is our first time, so I'm reachin' out to the SC community for some do's and don't's.

Trip details are we're drivin' from Maryland to Indianapolis on Saturday (8 hours on I-70) to stay at one of the suburban hotels (oh, the room rates!! but we're savin' on airfare and a rental car, so it's even). Then we'll be drivin' to the airport Sunday mornin' and takin' a shuttle from the airport to the track (my boys scored tickets for the airport shuttle to the race too). I think our seats are in the Pit Row Terrace section. We'll stay over Sunday night and leave for home Monday mornin'.

Some immediate questions:

Can we bring in food? I heard the concessions ain't that great.

What 'bout post-race? We gotta kill some time before we head back to the hotel.

Can we bring in food? I heard the concessions ain't that great.

What 'bout post-race? We gotta kill some time before we head back to the hotel.

Got any other tips and tricks?

Kinsey:

I ain't the best guy to ask about Indy since the only time I was there was for the 100th and I was on the run-of-the-house sponsor media pass. Yeah, that's a humblebrag 'cause it came with AC and access to the miserable media level in the pagoda. Dan Dakich is right. Indy might have the most miserable, pompous sports media people in the industry.

Kinsey:

It's hotter than hell at that track. Bring sun protection. Do yourself that favor. It's a different kind of heat at Indy on Memorial Day weekend.
Try to find a go-kart track around Indy and go racin' at some point during the trip. I remember racin' legit go-karts in some dumpy part of Indy on my trip, and it was awesome - the karts hauled ass. It'll get the blood pumpin' and be an immersive experience your boys will love.
Try to find a way to kiss the bricks, if possible. That's a photo you'll forever cherish.
The Indy Motor Speedway museum is worth your time.
Find Mario Andretti walkin' or drivin' his car around the infield roads. He's typically around the museum. Keep your eyes open.
Mike's Speedway Lounge is certainly an experience if you're into experiences. Great people watchin'. Old dive near the track.
Good luck. Indy is one of the most underrated party events I've ever been to. It's absolutely wild.

Here's a couple of things that popped into my head:

I ran a test to see if Indy Daryl was readin'

On Wednesday, I threw in a screenshot of a book Abby Wambach is pushin', with "Do Hard Things" in the title. For the Screencaps lifers, you know that Indy Daryl brought us the "Do Hard Things" mindset back in 2021.

As someone who drove up the hills in Kentucky that Indy Daryl ran as part of the 2024 Screencaps Ragnar Relay team, this guy does hard things. Trust me, those hills he chose to run were meat grinders.

In the spirit of doin' hard things, I hopped on over to Amazon to read the preview for the "We Can Do Hard Things" book by Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach. And while I'm sure there's some, even perhaps a lot of common wisdom in many of the sections (20 sections based on 20 questions like: "Why am I like this?" and "How do I love my person?" and "Who am I really?") I can't describe it as anything more than a jumbled mess. There's bits and pieces of conversations, emails, what seem like snippets of psych 101 textbooks, and even one liners all geared towards tryin' to answer each question. And it ain't one or three or even ten authors. There's a plethora of women (maybe 100?), and as far as I can tell, mostly women, contributin' to the content. At well over 400 pages, I'd be hard-pressed to read the book in its entirety.

And if that ain't enough, by page 35 (yes, I made it that far) it devolved into a full-on progressive trope about gender ideology, fluid sexuality, and hatin' the world because it imposes a gender binary on people. And all of that was only in the first question/section!! Count me out on their advice for parents, teens, relationships, or anything else.

Now don't hear me bashin' it completely, I do think spendin' time thinkin' on these types of questions is legitimate and worth our time. My biggest problem with the book though, is that excessively lookin' inward and tryin' to figure ourselves out hasn't seemed to be the positive force folks like Wambach and Doyle think it is. Are we happier as a society? No, depression and anxiety are way up. Are we able to cope with life better? No, SSRI prescriptions are at all-time highs and stable relationships are way down. Is trauma real? Absolutely. Do parents mess their kids up? You betcha. Yet, this book promotes lookin' inward as the best way to find answers; when, at least to me, the answers we seek are never gonna come from constantly changin', broken people. Rather, it's lookin' outside of myself, lookin' to something bigger and more transcendent than myself, that I'm able to cope with life and ultimately do hard things. For me, it's my faith in Jesus and what he accomplished for me. It might be somethin' else for others, but what I do know is that lookin' inside me usually doesn't work.

Pizza in Siena, Italy

Mike T. in Idaho reports:

One of my Bros is in Italy, he knew I'd like this picture

Britt's wife is on the move

Britt T. checks in:

I love followin' Mike and Cindy T in their travels and enjoy seein' the pics they send along. A big trip for me is my annual trip to Lebanon, TN to look after my brother's dawg for a week and spend another week with my Mom (Lebanon, TN - shout out to Zach, is home of the Cracker Barrel!).

My wife is a world traveler; she is the only person....arguably....in history, who got home from Hawaii and left for France 6 hours later.

Kinsey:

It's always a pleasure to hear some appreciation for the Ts. I know there's an anti-T dark web of Screencaps readers out there schemin' to take 'em out. I will not let it happen. Thank you to Britt and the others who have also risen up in support of Mike T. and Cindy T.

Kinsey:

Take your beers to the next level this summer & Freddie's vs. Culver's

It's people like the Ts and Britt's wife that make this column a must-read. We'll win this war against the anti-Ts.

Saw Chocolate Yuengling in Caps the other day and figured I better let Caps Nation know to mix it with peanut butter whiskey for a delicious after-dinner drink!

Have you tried Cincy Light? I say it's better than Spotted Cow. What do you think?

Saw Chocolate Yuengling in Caps the other day and figured I better let Caps Nation know to mix it with peanut butter whiskey for a delicious after-dinner drink!

Have you tried Cincy Light? I say it's better than Spotted Cow. What do you think?

We also tried Freddies for the first time awhile back. They surprisingly have better cheese curds than Culvers. Freddies cheese curds are nice and greasy like you'd expect to eat in a Wisconsin dive bar.

I HAVEN'T tried Cincy Light or Spotted Cow, but I might be tryin' it next week. More on that to come.

Music suggestions for your weekend

I HAVEN'T tried Cincy Light or Spotted Cow, but I might be tryin' it next week. More on that to come.

Ever since stuff's been busy, I ain't been able to keep up like I'd like. Wasn't sure if people were still suggestin' music not widely known. If so, I've got one.

Camden J. sends it our way:

Not sure I've ever heard many dudes with the range he has. He's currently comin' out with brand new country music, '90s style. Have a listen below to his song "Me and Fort Worth". It's the second link. The first is him singin' "I Will Always Love You". We all know the song. Skip ahead to 1:27 for the start.

And that's it for this Friday with a breeze off Lake Erie keepin' it cool here, but the sun is out, the yard is mowed, the trash is out, the garden bags that were piled up on the patio are at the street to be picked up, and we're about 24 hours away from the first pitch of the 2025 season. Let's go out there and finish the week strong. I know you're startin' to daydream about Memorial Day weekend and vacations. We have to remember to finish weeks like this STRONG. If we let off the gas, it's only gonna cost us later. Go attack the day.

Let's go out there and finish the week strong. I know you're startin' to daydream about Memorial Day weekend and vacations. We have to remember to finish weeks like this STRONG. If we let off the gas, it's only gonna cost us later. Go attack the day.

Numbers from :

Numbers from : View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paulina Gretzky (@paulinagretzky)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paulina Gretzky (@paulinagretzky)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sydney Thomas (@iamsydneythomas)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katrina Pacensa (@katrina.pacensa)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Morgan Avery 🧚🏼 (@morg_avery)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nicole Woyak (@nwoy)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by NATALIE GONCHAROW (@nataliegoncharow)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maritime Fails (@maritime_fails)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anna Kiuber (@tatzbybananapeelz)

Bank on the newsletter open rate performance to increase further, as more subscribers diligently open their emails.
In the near future, expect the Screencaps newsletter to be buzzing with news of entertainment and celebrity happenings, along with insights into pop culture.
Coffee and sports enthusiasts may look forward to the resurrection of famous sports announcers' voices, thanks to the integration of AI technology.
The 2025 calendar may feature a wide range of events, considering Tennessee's busy and growing economic landscape.
Stay tuned for Yuengling-themed social media updates, as the brand continues to garner attention and admiration.

Paulina Gretzky Appears on Instagram in PJs During NHL Playoffs, Highlights of Pope Meme Collection & Grilled Beef Snapshots