Tears In The Parking Lot

In this week's P.O. Box:

I didn’t expect to be wiping away tears in a strip-mall parking lot this week, but that’s exactly what happened.

Every Wednesday evening, I take April to her swimming lesson. This week she graduated from Level 2 to Level 3, which means I will no longer be joining her in the pool for future lessons. Going forward, she’ll be only with the other kids and the instructor.

I knew it was coming eventually, but it still caught me off guard when they told me she had graduated at the end of the lesson and that it was time to schedule her for a new class at the next level.

There are milestones that are very exciting to reach (we are almost fully daytime potty trained as of this week), but a milestone that involves doing something for the last time hits much differently and made my soft, mushy Dad heart ache for her to stop growing up fast.

I’ve been doing swim lessons with her for almost two years now, so it had become our routine together.

I remember when she first started getting the ring off the bottom of the pool floor, she’d resist and cry. But then she built up some confidence and would recite back to me what I’d always say to her before plunging her into the water—”Daddy’s always got you.” 

It really isn’t a big deal—she’s only 2.5 and there’s plenty more special moments to come—and yet that realization still hit me harder than I ever imagined it would…

“Daddy, go,” she said impatiently from the back seat, as I zoned out reminiscing before finally starting the car.

A few quick reccs before we get to the ICYMI:

• I absolutely loved FRIENDSHIP. If you like Tim Robinson, you will be delighted by this movie. If you are uninitiated, I suppose your mileage will vary (even if that makes me angry). The last time I laughed that hard in a theater had to have been in high school. 10/10, no notes.

• The Paul Reubens doc PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF on HBO is really well done. Most people are familiar with the movies and his legal issues, but I loved learning about his backstory and his completely uncompromising vision when it came to his performance art (and his own documentary).

• I had mixed feelings about MOUNTAINHEAD—the Succession for tech bros spoof flick starring Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman. I found the dialog to be pretty dizzying, but the evisceration of the uber rich tech bro archetype was very enjoyable.

🤓 FANTASY LIFE: A Beginner’s Guide To The Underdog Lobby. I put together an overview of all the different best ball contest offerings on Underdog and provided strategy tips for each.

I regularly write the Fantasy Life Newsletter. Get it in your inbox free every am:

☕️ BEST BALL BREAKFAST: Stacking Tips & Flop Lag Picks. Four more drafts—including ones with Kyle Dvorchak and Ben Gretch.

🎉 BEST BALL BASH + RANDOMIZER: 2 Wild Drafts with the Same Bye Week Ideas. Our Bash guest this week currently can’t play on Underdog and Denny Carter shows off his monster deck.

☣️ LOLZ: The Latest Sports Betting Controversy. Geoff Fienberg joins to catch us up to speed on all of the latest drama in the sports betting world.

🚢 SHIP CHASING: The Vets Who Will Surprise In 2025 w/ Theo Gremminger. The dusty old guys who still have one last ride in them.

⏰ OFF & ON THE CLOCK: Tips & Tricks For Underdog Superflex Drafts. Discussed Superflex strategy with the Badge Bros.

💪 THE SWOLECAST: One Host Reveals Their Checkered Past. Prison stories from Davis Mattek.

📈 ADP CHASING: Risers/Fallers & How To Handle Tricky Veteran WRs. The crew dives into the Stefon Diggs boat party incident, early summer ADP shifts and their big fades.

🥃 DFS AFTER DARK: Behind The Scenes At Underdog. Shane Neumy from the Underdog Drafts team joins After Dark to discuss hot topics.

📺️ GUEST SPOT: PPRTyler. Check out Tyler’s channel, he streams best ball drafts nonstop.

Best Ball After Dark returns Saturday (8:00pm et) with Steph Miller from LegUp and Ship Chasing.

You can become a YT member for access or subscribe on Spotify for a private RSS feed (I post the video/audio there directly after the show).

☁️ Book #5 for June & July (10%): Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Enjoying this so far. The short chapters help it get off the ground quickly.

🐊 Book #4 for May (COMPLETED): Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades by Rebecca Renner
🍌 Book #3 for April (COMPLETED): The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen
💉 Book #2 for March (FINISHED): Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.
🐃 Book #1 for February (FINISHED): The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

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