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Oh buddy, we're here. We made it. Another Friday. Another win for the good guys! Nice job, Libs, you let us do it AGAIN. And now? It's too late. It's over. Throw in the white towel. I know you hate the color white, but you have to. Sorry! I'm coming to you straight from The Battery, in Atlanta. That's right. The whole family is up here for the weekend for the Braves series, which, admittedly, looked like a better idea about six months ago before the Braves turned into one of the worst teams in baseball. The good news? They get the Pirates and Paul Skenes in town. The bad news? Skenes ain't pitching. At least we can watch 82-year-old Andrew McCutchen take some hacks. Anyway, welcome to a Friday Nightcaps – the one where Olivia Dunne sweats out one final Paul Skenes start of 2025. Not here, of course. God forbid I get that lucky. What else? I've got the best of the rest from a big week of #content, insufferable Russell Wilson and Tua Tagovailoa check in, more dog drama from earlier this week and Kay Adams breaks the internet by breaking pregnancy news. And if we all can't get behind that, I don't even know what you're doing in this class. Get outta here! I hear MSNBC's ‘How to Lose 80% Of Your Audience In Two Years’ class is right down the hall! Grab you anything you want – I haven't eaten a thing in two days – and settle in for Friday 'Cap! I can't eat, but I wish Tua would so he couldn't talk So, here's a quick rundown of my week as it stands today: - went to bed Tuesday like normal. - woke up Wednesday with a fever, chills, and a stomach that felt like a knife had somehow gotten permanently wedged in between one of my intestines. - didn't eat Wednesday or yesterday, while also driving 10 hours to Atlanta with two kids. - woke up at 5:30 this morning ready to attack the DAY. - by 9:30, things had taken a turn for the worse. I'm powering through, but it's not my best showing thus far. So, I assume it was/is food poisoning, right? Anybody here ever had something where the second you ate or drank anything, your stomach felt like it was going to burst? Am I dying? It's somewhat better today, so I'm going to do the smart thing and start slamming beers at noon. We'll see how it goes! Anyway, all that to say … I wish Tua would shut up and eat something so he couldn't talk, because buddy, it's embarrassing: What a week of #content! I mean, what are we doing here? Tua has become such a prick. I've said it for a few weeks now, but I'm so out on him at this point – and I've been THE Tua guy for years now. Years. But how am I supposed to ride with that? Does Tua not know who Cam Newton is? Here's a quick refresher: But yeah – that guy doesn't know how to play quarterback. Insane. That being said, I still think Miami wins Monday night. Nobody will watch, of course, but they'll win. Great. OK, let's get to the best #content from a big week. First up? Paige cheering on the Ryder Cup boys, of course! Livvy, Russ & mail! That's the good stuff, boys and girls. Well done all around. Solid end to September. Sad to see it go, but happy to welcome October. Couple thoughts … 1. The new kickoff rule? Hated it last year, and I REALLY hate it this year. Every single drive starts from the 40 at this point. It's nonsense. Trump calls it a sissy kickoff, and I'm right there with him. 2. Good to see Pageviews helping out the boys in Bethpage today. Rough morning. NEED a better afternoon or we're cooked. PS: I can't get enough of Trump's sniper blending in like a CHAMP at Bethpage this afternoon: Amazing. God I love this country. 3. Shaun Alexander has 14 (!!!) kids? My God. Had no idea. Makes Phillip Rivers look like a virgin. 4. Back to last night's game … Let's rapid-fire this final Friday of the month into a big weekend. Russ, how we feeling today? Oh no! Insufferable Russell Wilson is under ATTACK … from his own ex-teammate. Not great. As if Tony Gonzalez dragging Russ through the mud for the first minute wasn't bad enough, Richard Sherman absolutely finishes the job by saying Russ was a scrub without his defense. And, I don't know – maybe he's right? The Legion of Boom was great. It was maybe the best defense I've seen in my life for a sustained period of time, although the Bucs and Dolphins had some banger units in the early-2000s. That group also made Peyton Manning look like Cooper Manning in the 2013 Super Bowl. BUT, Russ should probably have two Super Bowls to his name right now. That, along with some respectable if not great stats during the Seahawks' prime, should be enough to get him into Canton. On the other hand … Yep. Forget it. He's out. Good try, good effort, but that cannot be tolerated. Oh well. Next? I was off yesterday, but I did get a ton of feedback from my dog rant earlier this week. Most of it good! Some … nasty. From Keith W: I figured you'd get a bunch of hate mail after your dogs rant this morning (likely mostly from Amber Harding!) ... but you hit the nail on the head in Nightcaps regarding kids and dogs. Once you have kids, love for pets and dogs kind of goes by the wayside. I'd be willing to bet 99% of the hate you will get from people about your dog comments either don't have kids, or had them so long ago that their dogs are now their new kids. Thanks, Keith! My whole point earlier this week was someone should not be skipping work because their dog died, as Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen did earlier this year. Hot take? I didn't think so. Cold-hearted? Perhaps. But it's how I feel. From Dan: Zach,Caught your write-up on Gary Cohen’s hypocrisy yesterday. I’m with you, brother, we are long past due to have an honest conversation (reckoning?) about dogs in this country. Yes, dogs are awesome. Man’s best (non-human) friend? Absolutely. While we don’t have or want dogs in our house, I love other people’s dogs. My sister’s dog is my favorite little thing in the world and I will be very sad when she eventually goes. But like you said, they’re animals, not humans. People who refer to themselves as "dog parents" and act like their dogs are actual children make me sick. Don’t give me that "it’s not all that different than raising kids" bullshit when it dies, and you buy a new one every 7-10 years. I own pairs of underwear longer than that. Thanks, Dan! Do I really need to say anything else after that? I think 10-year-old underwear is a bit much, but my wife also just recently discovered mold on my toothbrush, so who am I to talk? Hey! Maybe that's why my stomach's been acting up this week? And that, boys and girls, is once again how you bring a class full circle. Take notes! Take us home, Livvy! Love a girl who grinds for her man. True love. MLB is in good hands. OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots). Do I have an ulcer? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
