'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.
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa Nellie! What a weekend. What a weird, exhausting, annoying, weekend full of insufferable WNBA antics that make me truly question whether or not we're all just living in a simulation.
Goodness. Thank God SEC Media Days start today, and NFL teams start reporting to camp this week. That means football is close.
ANGEL REESE'S LATEST WNBA CONTROVERSY SHOWS HOW VICTIMHOOD BECAME CENTRAL TO HER BRAND
The World Cup is over, which means we finally get new episodes of Masterchef again. It also means we're one step closer to returning to real football in this country.
More of that, please, and less of Angel Reese. PLEASE.
We'll dive in here in a bit.
Welcome to a Monday Nightcaps - the one where Sophie Cunningham acts like an adult while the rest of the WNBA panders to the #MOB for the umpteenth time. It's so painfully obvious how silly this league is after this weekend, as if it wasn't before.
What else? I've got Ryan Fox winning the British Open in record time, Rory being full of bologna, and my Red Sox refusing to lose a game. Seriously, have y'all seen this run they're on right now? It's insane.
Penultimate Monday of July, folks. Dial it in. Fall is inching closer. Time to start getting those affairs in order for Week 1.
Start working on those summer chores NOW. Get the lawn fixed. Get the garage cleaned out. Check off all the boxes in July, so you're ready to roll in August.
But first, enjoy a Monday 'Cap:
I've covered a lot of silly things out of the WNBA since it became semi-relevant a few years back, but this Angel Reese nonsense I had to write about - twice! - on Saturday is now the leader in the clubhouse.
Imagine being as insane as these people are. You just wake up every day, looking for the next "racist" comment so you can virtue-signal and play the victim. I knew the second I saw the Tempo coach call Angel Reese a "protected species," it was going to blow up.
And then Angel reposted it and dangerously spread a false narrative.
And then the Tempo coach predictably apologized to the MOB, for literally no reason. None at all.
And then, right on cue, the WNBA suspended her for one game. Why? I have no earthly idea. The girl who choked Caitlin Clark got the same suspension a coach did for calling a player a "protected species." Think about that.
They're screaming 'RACISM!' because a coach argued that a player was getting special treatment - which has literally been happening for as long as sports have existed.
Think about how silly these people are, and how silly this league is. It's an unserious league.
Hell, it's not a league. It's a movement. That's what the WNBA is. If we start treating it like a movement, and not a sports league, it all starts to make so much sense.
"Zach, just stop writing about it!"
That's the obvious response, and one I will undoubtedly get later today. I can't do that. If we do that, they win. And they may still win, but at least we'll be able to stand in their way a little longer.
Anyway, I say all that to highlight Sophie Cunningham, who is, easily, the most marketable, most sane person in that insufferable league.
While Angel was spreading dangerous lies on the internet and showing off a level of ignorance that I didn't know existed in a person, Sophie spent her weekend hosting a camp for 300 kids and acting like an adult.
Choose your fighter, America:
If the WNBA wants to market their league and actually grow the game, Sophie Cunningham should be front and center.
That's right. I said it. Sophie Cunningham is the most marketable person in the league right now, and it's not particularly close. She has fun. She doesn't take the game too seriously. She doesn't race-bait or pander or virtue-signal.
She spent her Sunday at a camp playing basketball against 300 kids. They all wanted to do the "point" with her. She wasn't online race-baiting or pandering or acting silly.
What a concept!
She doesn't do the nonsense, mainly because she's a normal person. There's an idea Just be a normal person. It goes a long way!
Let's see if the WNBA takes or leaves that free advice ...
"The WNBA Players Association is currently prohibiting licensees from using the Sophie point, saying that it is "derogatory."
Allllllllllrighty then! Morons.
Good luck to that league. Football season starts in a month.
Thank goodness.
OK, let's move on because we're 700 words in on a Monday and I'm quite sure I've filled my WNBA quota for the day.
Anyone keeping up with what the Boston Red Sox are doing right now in Major League Baseball? Thirteen wins in a row. 18-2 in their last 20. From 6 games out of a wild card spot to 1.5 games up. Only six out in the division.
Incredible:
I buried the Sox earlier this year, rightfully so. The team STUNK. Naturally, Red Sox fan Bill made sure to keep me on my toes over the weekend:
The Tracy Turnaround continues. Who said the talent from Triple A WOOSOX would be called up to turn the RedSox around? Oh yes, me!
The 2nd place YankeesSuck have been swept, now the 1st place Tiny Rays look to be next after losing 4 straight already.
Zach, your analysis has been poor and your commentary on the Sox worse.
Thanks, Bill! To be fair, my analysis was spot-on up until two weeks ago. I did not see an 18-2 run coming, no. Hand up, I'll be the first to admit that.
If Red Sox fan Bill truly saw it coming, I'd like him to email me tonight with the lotto numbers. If it wins, I'll split it 50/50!
OK, rapid-fire time on this Monday. First up? How about the balls on Rory McIlroy calling out Bryson for being "performative" during Friday's second round?
Well ain't that the pot calling the kettle black:
Yeah, come on. What are we doing here? Rory hates Bryson, and that's fine. I like it, actually. Golf needs a good rivalry. It's great for the game.
But don't sit up there and call out Bryson DeChambeau when you bitch and moan as much as anyone on tour. Let's be realistic, Rory. For once.
You know who's NOT performative? British Open champ Ryan Fox, who is, without a doubt, the fastest golfer I've ever seen play:
This Ryan Fox is incredible. Admittedly, I'd barely heard of the guy until this weekend. But watching him over the final few holes yesterday - specifically the last two shots - was just a joy. Guy just got up there and let it rip. No thinking. No lining up. No mulling it over with his caddie. No standing over a 3-foot putt for an hour.
Give me a club and let's get on with it. We could all learn something from that, myself included.
OK, that's it for today. Good start to the week, everyone. We're in the stretch run of July. Let's keep grinding and end this month strong.
And if you're going to a baseball game tonight - especially in Chicago - stand your butt UP during our great national anthem!
Is the Angel Reese story the dumbest thing you've seen today? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
