‘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.
Over the hump and safely onto the other side of the week. Phew. We made it. It’s all down(up?)hill from here!
We’ve got NFL football tonight. Raiders-Texans at 8 p.m. on ESPN! Joe and Troy in the booth and back in our living rooms, presumably. Not a bad little game for Week 2 of the preseason.
I’ll take anything at this point. Football is close, I can taste it. I can hear it. I can smell it. Nine days till Week 0. I pumped out two fantasy mock drafts last night.
I’m woefully unprepared, for those wondering. But I’ve still got a few weeks. Back to the drawing board!
On that note, welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where Natalie Decker gears up for a big pool party before NASCAR’s season-finale next weekend in Daytona.
Feels like the fellas were just starting engines for the Daytona 500, and now the regular season is just about over. Nothing like a pool party to end the summer!
What else? I’ve got ESPN’s Holly Rowe crying over a WNBA crowd, Pete Alonso getting absolutely robbed of a home run, and let’s check in with how things are looking over at Citi Field before we end the day.
You’ll never see it coming. Trust me.
OK, grab you a pen and paper to start prepping for tomorrow’s National Fantasy Football Draft Day, and settle in for a Thursday ‘Cap!
First of all, tomorrow is far too early for a fantasy football draft. That’s insane. Do you know how many players are going to get hurt between tomorrow and Week 1? The absolute earliest you can have a fantasy draft is next weekend, and that’s even a little early.
Like I said in the open, I’m woefully unprepared this year. During normal years, I would’ve already listened to a zillion podcasts and pumped out two dozen mock drafts by now.
But, I have two kids, and a house, and a yard, and a wife. I just don’t have the time I used to have, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing.
Every year, I prepare like hell for our big draft (in person, at Applebee’s like patriots), and every year I lose this stupid league. I walk away thinking I had the best draft ever and I outsmarted everyone, and every year the dude who slams back 14 vodkas before the fifth round and double-picks a player by Round 9 ends up winning the league.
It’s uncanny. Every single year!
So, this year I’m gonna go in woefully unprepared (to an extent) and see where that gets me.
Bottom’s up!
OK, let’s get this class started with NASCAR’s Natalie Decker hitting the pool ahead of next Saturday night’s Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona:
No clue if Natalie is actually racing in next Friday’s O’Reilly (Busch) Series race, but she’ll certainly be in town. That much is clear!
She’ll be at the Shores Resort Saturday afternoon for a little meet ‘n greet by the pool. Why? No clue. Sponsorships are everything in racing, I reckon.
I used to live about 2 minutes down the road from The Shores. True story. Great spot. Solid bar/restaurant inside. I went to a St. Patrick’s Day party there once. What a night.
Anyway, Natalie has had a … rough … season thus far, as we’ve documented in these very spaces. She had an all-time radio meltdown at Dover in May where she basically quit mid-race, and it’s been a rocky summer ever since.
For those wondering, Decker has three O’Reilly Series starts this season with finishes of 33, 33 and 34. Credit for the consistency.
Perhaps this is what turns this sucker around. Stay tuned!
OK, let’s keep this class moving and check in with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, who was STUNNED at the crowd for this week’s Fever-Tempo game in Canada:
Incredible stuff here from Holly.
Quick show of hands: Have you ever been so moved by something that you felt the need to turn the camera towards you and start crying? And then keep the camera on your for a solid 40 seconds?
I get Holly is passionate about women’s basketball. I respect that. But I just can’t envision a scenario in my life where I record myself crying for the world to see. It just doesn’t exist. Wild stuff.
PS: Holly failed to mention that this was Caitlin Clark’s first visit to Canada, and the game had to be moved to a bigger arena to accommodate the extra fans. This wasn’t exactly a random Tuesday night WNBA game.
The crowd was still great — Sophie Cunningham said as much after the game — but a little context matters.
OK, let’s rapid-fire this Thursday class into a big Thursday night. First up? How in the world was this NOT a home run for Pete Alonso last night?
Yeah … I’m not seeing a foul ball there. Looked fair in real time. Looked fair in the replay. I don’t get it.
We have all the technology in the world, and we still can’t determine whether a ball is fair or foul? That seems silly.
Come on. What are we doing here:
Yikes. The O’s went on to lose, 5-3, for those wondering. Not great for my Red Sox!
Next? Let’s stay on the diamond and check in with Pete’s old team, the New York Mets:
Goodness gracious. That gives me the shivers. I HATE raccoons. We have ’em all over the place down here, and they’re just disgusting creatures. Raccoons and Opossums. The absolute worst.
Filthy animals.
OK, that’s it for today. Good work, everyone. To end class, I’d like to give everyone a quick update on Pat McAfee. Yesterday, the internet was furious at ESPN for giving McAfee yet another platform — this time on the ‘Monday Night Countdown’ panel.
Everyone and their mothers grabbed their pitchforks and started complaining about “McAfee fatigue.”
Anyway, I’m here to tell you all that ESPN heard your concerns …
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… and promptly told you all to kick rocks!
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Amazing. It’s called leaning into the skid! It’s the Year of McAfee, folks. Suck it up.
See y’all tomorrow.
Best fantasy football draft strategy? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.