‘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.
Penultimate Hump Day of September. It’s here. Time is FLYING right now. We’re already into Week 3 of the NFL season, and the college football season hits the (almost) quarter mark this Saturday.
We’re not taking one second for granted around here. This is the best time of year. I hear Florida’s even dipping down into the 60s Saturday morning.
The sixties! We haven’t been down there since April. Maybe even March. I’ve already set my alarm for 6 a.m. just so I can walk outside and catch a whiff of it before the sun rises and melts us all.
Can’t wait.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates a made shot in the first half against the Minnesota Lynx at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sept. 22, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Welcome to a Hump Day Nightcaps — the one where Sophie Cunningham sends a message to her haters with her pregame shirt before helping the Fever to a win in their home finale.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM THROWS ON A BACKLESS TOP AND OVERTAKES CAITLIN CLARK, TRUMP WAVES THE FLAG & GRUDEN’S BACK!
That’s right. The WNBA is still on. Amazing. It’s all we could talk about for months, and now it’s just sort of buried with football back on. I’ll never bury a big Sophie Cunningham night, though. She gets front row seats to this class whenever she wants!
What else? I’ve got the insufferable outrage mob bullying Arch Manning into becoming a robot, and you will NEVER believe who some in the media think should step in for the injured Jaxson Dart.
Seriously … this one is an all-timer.
OK, grab you a pot pie for National Great American Pot Pie Day, and settle in for a Hump Day ‘Cap!
Sophie Cunningham has a big night, on and off the court
Yes, I’ve done this before. Heck, I do it every year when this day rolls around. But, for those who forgot — and for those new to class — here’s the official Mount Rushmore of Pies:
- Key Lime (only from Publix, AKA the greatest supermarket in the world)
- Coconut Crème (only Marie Callender’s)
- Pecan (this can also be Apple, but because we’re officially in fall, Pecan gets the nod)
- Chicken!
I’m not just saying that because it’s National Great American Pot Pie Day, either. Chicken Pot Pie is so undervalued in 2026. There was a time there in the 80s and 90s when we collectively devoured chicken pot pies. Banquet and Marie Callender’s both do mean versions.
Somewhere, though, we’ve just sort of forgotten about them. They just fell off, as these things tend to do. Feel like we went through the same with toaster strudels.
I still maintain there is nothing better than a nice, hearty chicken pot pie – especially down here in Florida, where it’s gonna be a frigid 83 on Saturday!
Welcome back, fall.
OK, let’s go ahead and get this class started with Sophie Cunningham telling her haters to “kick rocks” last night before going out there and scoring her 2,000th career point in the WNBA.
Patriot:
Arch Manning has been neutralized
Sophie finished with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting off the bench, and, as you can see, scored her 2,000th career point in the league. Not a bad little night at the arena.
The Fever won, and have just one game left before the playoffs begin. Some girl named Caitlin Clark led all scorers with 27 points last night. Ever heard of her?
Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever arrives at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., before a game against the Minnesota Lynx on Sept. 22, 2026. (NBAE via Getty Images)
OK, let’s keep this class moving and check in with Arch Manning, who has been crucified for the past week for laughing at a silly AI video of Steve Sarkisian and Holly Rowe.
He apologized. Sark apologized. The typical lefty sports media freaked out. It was a whole thing.
Manning had his weekly presser yesterday — one week after last week’s disaster.
Clearly, the PR folks at Texas got to him:
Haley Cavinder checks in & guess who Florio wants back in the NFL!
Amazing. Simply amazing.
Nineteen questions, and only 56 seconds worth of answers. That’s almost impossible to do, and Arch pulled it off. Incredible work.
Frankly, it’s right out of the Bill Belichick playbook. Give Manning a few more weeks, and he’ll be showing up to these pressers wearing a torn hoodie with no sleeves and speaking in such a low grumble, no microphone on earth would be able to pick it up.
Belichick, by the way, still very much has his fastball. Did you see this from last weekend?
He’s the best. Even at 74, our guy still has the good stuff.
As for Arch, this was clearly intentional. The media outrage machine wore him down last week, and now they’re gonna get absolutely nothing out of him from here on out.
Jan 1, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up before the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Brett Davis-Imagn Images)
Hope y’all are happy! You’ve created another boring, vanilla athlete who says boring, vanilla things. Well done!
OK, let’s rapid-fire this Hump Day class into a big Hump Day night. First up? Guess who NBC’s Mike Florio is suggesting John Harbaugh bring in to replace the injured Jaxson Dart?
Joe Flacco? Well, that would make the most sense given his ties to Harbaugh and the fact that he literally just played last season.
But no, not Flacco …
Colin Kaepernick!!!!
How great is Florio? Some hate him. I love that dude. He’s so beyond saving at this point, it’s just impressive to watch. He’s so brainwashed, and so full of crap, you simply have to respect the game right now. For him to still be virtue-signaling like this after all these years? It’s nothing short of admirable.
From Mikey:
It starts with a workout (and quite possibly ends with one). There’s no reason not to give it a whirl. The anthem controversy has subsided. (Harbaugh and the Giants surely would want assurances that Kaepernick wouldn’t dust it off, if he ended up on the sideline before games.)
The threshold question is how does Kaepernick look? And there’s only one way to find out.
How does Kaepernick LOOK?! Mike, he has not played a football game in a DECADE. And I’ve got news for you, buddy — he wasn’t exactly a world-beater back in his prime.
By the way, I was at one of Kaepernick’s last games in 2016 down here in Miami. The Dolphins beat the 49ers. Yes, a rare Dolphins win!
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He was also violently booed out of the stadium because he used to wear Fidel Castro shirts and praised his education reform. Oh yeah! That same year, he also wore socks depicting police officers as pigs.
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Seems like just the guy JOHN HARBAUGH wants leading his team!
OK, that’s it for today. Good Hump Day, everyone.
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Here’s Dallas Cowboys WAG Haley Cavinder absolutely dominating the team’s home opener last Sunday with the biggest belt buckle you’ve ever seen.
America’s Team.