'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.
First real Thursday Night Football game of the year? What a blessing. Al and Kirk on the call. I'm sure we'll see the goofy dog at some point.
Bills. Lions. Gibbs. Allen. Lordy.
What a WAY to start Week 2 of the NFL season! I also walked outside this morning and I felt it for the first time. That slight breeze. The fact that I didn't break a sweat on the way down the driveway to get the trash cans. The way the grass wasn't completely soaked from the morning dew because the humidity was set at 150%.
Fall.
If you live in Florida long enough, you just get a feel for these things. A sixth sense. We know the difference between 90 and 85. When the mornings are 76 and not 86, we can immediately feel it.
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This morning was one of those mornings. I can't wait to see what tonight holds.
Let's roll.
Welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where Paige Spiranac says goodbye to summer and defends Sydney Sweeney as the wokes continue to melt down over her sports gambling ad.
We all knew Paige would side with Sydney, right? Seems like a natural fit.
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What else? I've got Landry Kiffin clapping back at those DISGUSTING Ole Miss banners, this SEC on CBS flashback had me feeling things, and goodness gracious, did you guys have some responses to yesterday's inquiry about the 1990 Gainesville Murders.
The response was so big, I think I'm going to turn it into a column later this week. I'll give you a taste today, though.
OK, grab you a cheeseburger to get an early start on tomorrow's National Cheeseburger Day, and settle in for a Thursday 'Cap!
I know we have some new readers since the last time we celebrated the great American cheeseburger, so a quick housekeeping item ...
For those who don't know, the cheeseburger from Buffalo Wild Wings is, without a doubt, the best burger in America. I've stood on this hill for years now, and I feel as strong today as I ever have. I'll die on it.
It's not one you'd immediately think of when it comes to burgers, but trust me, it's worth the try. I've had readers reach out over the years thanking me for speaking the truth. It's just the best. It's never let me down.
I took that picture at my fantasy football draft last year. Unfortunately, we went to Applebee's this year for the draft, and — while good — their burger didn't even come close.
I also started 0-1 last week, which can't be a coincidence. We'll see how this week goes.
OK, enough food talk. Let's get this class going with Paige Spiranac saying goodbye to summer with a bikini-clad Instagram post, and then defending Sydney Sweeney in the comments section.
Naturally.
"God forbid a woman loves her nice cans."
Put it on a hat, Paige! She's the influencer who started all of this, right? Paige Spiranac walked so everyone else could run. Influencers nowadays are a dime a dozen. They're everywhere. When Paige Spiranac first started out, she was it.
So when Paige chimes in on something, we listen. And she stated the obvious about this whole Sydney Sweeney drama ...
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It's nonsense. Complete and total nonsense. I'd wager a guess that Novig has seen a 100% increase in sign-ups since Sydney launched her new campaign. That's a win.
"Oh no, she lost 200,000 of her Instagram followers!"
Give me a break. Have any of them hit a 7-player prop parlay that pays $1,300? Don't think so. That's all that matters.
OK, let's move this class along and check in on Landry Kiffin, who has, allegedly, been the subject of some NASTY signage up and down Oxford this week ahead of her dad's big return:
"I understand emotions are high this week, and people are upset, but I’m my own person," Kiffin said, adding that she's been the "punchline" of a sexual joke.
"I’ll never understand how someone can feel good about themselves putting such vulgar things about a girl on a giant banner hanging from their house."
Landry went on to say that students are "saying really inappropriate things about me with somebody I genuinely have never met in my life, which makes it even more frustrating," and that she hopes "people realize there is an actual person behind the jokes people make."
All of this stems from a rumor in Oxford — a long-running rumor, I might add — that Landry Kiffin and a former player had sexual relations during Lane Kiffin's tenure at Ole Miss. Fans believe that is the reason this former player was essentially benched last season.
I don't feel like getting a call from Legal today, so I won't go into further detail. Feel free to Google it on your own time. It ain't hard to find.
Anyway, Landry is still a student at Ole Miss, which really makes this feel like some serious friendly fire to me. Tensions are HIGH in Oxford right now.
I can't wait for Saturday night. Game of the Year, by a mile.
OK, let's rapid-fire this Thursday class into a big night of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit.
Speaking of that Ole Miss-LSU game, you know what channel it should be on? CBS. This came across my desk this morning, and buddy, it made me feel so many things:
Lordy. I miss the SEC on CBS so much, it hurts. That's my childhood. That song, and that intro, and those announcers ... it's all my childhood. Nothing will ever come close.
For those wondering how CBS's new deal with the Big Ten is working out ... the marquee game this weekend?
USC at Rutgers.
What a fall from grace.
Next?
Yesterday I asked if we had any former UF students who were on campus/in school during the infamous 1990 season when the Gainesville Ripper was on the loose. ESPN had a new 30 for 30 that premiered this week on those 14 days, which coincided with Steve Spurrier's first game as head coach.
I got dozens of emails. Dozens. Turns out, a TON of you were.
From Erik T:
I was a junior at UF, and my little sister was a freshman (her first week away from home). The atmosphere on campus that week is indescribable. Me, and most of my friends were staying at other female friend's apartments to 'protect' them. We were armed with bats and knives, and sleep didn't come easily as we were just as scared.
And, from Glenn S:
I was in Gainesville all during that time. Never seen a place so terrorized. It was an awful time.
Obviously, I have more. A ton. Like I said, I'm going to go further in depth later this week. Just wild stuff.
If anyone else has any stories, please, reach out. I'm all ears.
OK, let's go have a big Thursday night. Thank goodness football is back.
See you tomorrow.
Were you in Gainesville in 1990? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.