Velma from 'Scooby-Doo' cranks up the heat, Nick Saban dragged on Capitol Hill & the great car dealership scam
Linda Cardellini posts rare Instagram photo, a fan rushes the court during NBA Finals Game 1, and Nick Saban faces backlash on Capitol Hill.
Over the hump and safely on the other side. Whew. We did it. First half of the first week of a new month in the books. Smooth sailing from here!
Yesterday, I came to you live from the Hyundai dealership down the road, where the First Lady's car was getting an oil change. Naturally, I got a call from the service technician about two hours later with an update.
According to them, the entire car basically needed to be replaced. Shocking to hear from a dealership, I know.
New windshield wipers on the front ... and the back. The total cost for both? $120. For WINDSHIELD WIPERS.
Yeah, sure thing, pal. I'm good.
All four tires needed to be replaced. The brakes needed to be replaced. The air filters needed to be replaced.
I've NEVER gotten an oil change where they didn't need to be replaced. Not once. Those things apparently need to be replaced every single time. Weird.
What else? Oh yeah! $330 to flush the cooling system.
All in all, they tried to slap me with a $4,000 bill. This is why I despise going to the dealership for anything. The only reason I went yesterday was because this vehicle had not one, not two, but THREE recalls out for it. You'd think they'd be paying me $4,000 just for owning it at this point. What a joke.
Anyway, welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where Velma from 'Scooby-Doo', Linda Cardellini, checks in with a rare Instagram heater. We don't hear from Velma much these days, so we have to be sure to document the moments when it happens.
What else? I've got a TON of reader submissions from yesterday's mall discussion, Nick Saban is getting dragged for his comments on Capitol Hill, and I am ALL IN on this West Virginia football recruit.
What a week in Morgantown. Take me home!
Okay, grab you however many drinks it would take to make you rush the court during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and settle in for a Thursday 'Cap!
So, that's the big story today coming out of last night's opener. This animal risked it all for a picture with Wemby. A lot of folks are dragging him today.
I think I get it, though. A little (a lot) childish? Sure. Absolutely. But worth it? I mean, it's sort of hard to argue against it at this point.
This guy is EVERYWHERE today. All over social media. All over the news. I'm pretty sure he's been banned for life from NBA games, which seems like a plus if you ask me. Would I want my own kid doing this? Absolutely not. I'd most likely beat him.
But as someone who A) is watching from afar, and B) understands the #content game ... I get it. Hell, it got me talking about the NBA today! I literally have not watched one single second of the NBA all season. This cat got me leading off a June Nightcaps with it.
Pros and cons, I reckon.
OK, let's get this class started with Linda Cardellini making a rare cameo in 2026 to let the wannabe influencers know she's still very much in charge:
That's #MyVelma! I know there have been 'Scooby-Doo' spinoffs over the years, and they've all been woke piles of garbage. Not the one I grew up with.
The first two live-action 'Scooby-Doo' movies back in the early 2000s were a true phenomenon. Up until then, it was just a cartoon. A beloved cartoon, of course, but just a cartoon.
But then Linda and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) brought it all to life on the big screen, and everything changed.
And if you haven't seen them and think I'm just being some Scooby-Doo nerd, I'd think again:
Incredible.
While Linda rarely posts on social media, her acting chops are still as fine-tuned as ever. The former 'Freaks and Geeks' star (Freaks and Geeks!) is on some new HBO show right now, and is also set to play Jason Voorhees' mother in NBC's upcoming 'Friday the 13th' TV show.
And that concludes today's Useless Fact portion of class. You're welcome!
OK, let's head out to the diamond and keep our heads on a SWIVEL as we round third:
Amazing. Has ANYONE ever seen that before?
I'm gonna go ahead and echo what the announcers all said here and say that I have never, in my life, seen a third base coach do that. Not once.
Not in Little League. Not in travel ball. Not in high school. Not on the worst D-III college baseball team in the country. Never.
And yes, for those wondering (all of you), this was a legal play. Shocking, right?
Here's Rule 5.03(c) from Major League Baseball:
Base coaches must remain within the coach's box, except that a coach who has a play at his base may leave the coach's box to signal the player to slide, advance, or return to a base, provided the coach does not interfere with the play.
Now, Epperson got awfully close to interfering with the cutoff man here, so the rule seems shady at best to me. But, the letter of the law states he didn't do anything wrong.
Who knew?
OK, let's rapid-fire this Thursday class into a big Thursday night. First up? I asked for local mall updates yesterday after mine was demolished this week, and you all delivered!
From Jaime C. in Texas:
We still have a functioning mall - Deerbrook Mall on Highway 59 in beautiful downtown Humble, TX about five miles from where I live. The Sears store there closed about 10 (?) years ago; the biggest ones left that I can see when I'm passing by are Macy's and Barnes and Noble.
From Kristin in (still counting votes) California:
The Brea Mall in California is expanding. It seems to have a lot of shoppers. Even my daughter and her fiancee want to hang out with my husband and me there.
Many of the new stores are tea shops, fitness clothing wear and Asian based (anime trinkets, cosmetics and noodle food shops).
They also opened an arcade. I think it has Pokémon in the title.
And, from Chris C. in (also still counting votes) California:
It shocks me to say this, but California is still rocking a few traditional malls. I live in the Fresno area and we have two to choose from. I grew up in Orange County and one just got demolished like the one you showed. The one I grew up going to, Brea Mall, is a shell of itself as it’s been transformed to the modern day mall.
There’s an open air mall in Newport Beach, Fashion Island, but you better be bringing your black Amex card. Same deal in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. They're still around, but not as much as back in the day.
Brea Mall even had an ice rink by the food court! Like you say all the time, we had it all and pissed it all away.
There are a ton more, by the way. We'll get to the rest tomorrow. I'd get to everyone today, but I apparently have four (!!!) meetings this afternoon, which seems beyond silly but what do I know?
Anyway, I drove by the mall last night just to see how Day 1 of ruining my childhood went, and it was as devastating as you'd expect.
But hey! At least we're getting a ... Sprouts. Thank God. Just what we need here. A health food store that will drain what little paycheck I have left. Can't wait!
OK, two quickies on the way out. Doesn't seem like Nick Saban did himself any favors on Capitol Hill yesterday:
Everyone is jumping on Saban today (believe me, I've seen the OutKick Newsletter emails) and I've gotta say ... I agree with him.
He's right. He's 100% right. How can anyone argue what he's saying? Now, you can accuse him of being a hypocrite all you want. That's fine. But what he's saying is correct.
Also, and I see this argument a lot in regards to how NIL leveled the playing field ... can we stop pointing to Indiana winning the title last year as some sort of validation?
Indiana's roster was a billion years old and full of transfers. That team was as much of a "small program" as Ohio State and Alabama are. Come on.
Until we get back to THIS sort of energy in college football, I don't wanna hear about it!
Make College Sports Great Again!
OK, that's it for today. Good work, everyone. Let's grind tomorrow and get to the weekend with our heads held high.
Sound good? Good!
See you tomorrow.
OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots).
Is college football better today than it was a decade ago? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
