Lionel Messi's wife celebrates his famous career, hot springs and wild new TikTok challenge

OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column scheduled to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m

Greetings from the Wisconsin Northwoods!

My husband, our dog and I are on our annual trip up north to see the in-laws. And after I leave today, we're headed to the Minnesota North Shore for some hiking, sightseeing and general viewing of Lake Superior.

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We thank God that the wildfire smoke is gone.

When I checked the Air Quality Index (AQI) – something I hadn't even remotely considered before this weekend, by the way – the place we were going to visit in Minnesota had something like 600. Anything over 100 is considered unhealthy, I learned.

And knowing that my Airbnb reservation was non-refundable, I panicked.

Fortunately, it looks like we're in the clear. Unless more fire starts, of course. But let's hope that won't happen. For everyone's sake.

Grab yourself a cold Spotted Cow (if you know, you know) and sit on it. Time for Nightcaps.

Whenever a sports season ends, there's this tradition that goes on where we all argue about whether or not the sport's star is going to retire. Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James, and now… Lionel Messi.

Yes, he would have loved to go out and win a second consecutive World Cup, but that's not how the cookie crumbled.

Messi shared a message on his official Instagram account before Argentina lost to Spain in the final, thanking his teammates, coaches and staff.

FIFA LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO BRAWL AFTER ARGENTINA'S WIN AT WORLD CUP

“The best thing in all these years has not only been the titles, but the entire journey. Sharing every day with this team, competing together, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​fronts, going back to the difficult times, and enjoying every step, “Messi wrote.

“Thank you to each of my team, technical staff and all the people who work every day to keep this National Team a family.”

Oh, the secret! Does that mean this is his last World Cup? Will he qualify as a young mature 43 year old in 2030?

I don't know. He didn't tell me.

But on Monday, Messi's wife, model Antonela Roccuzzo, shared what appeared to be her last post.

Allow me to translate for you: “You will always be the best,” Roccuzzo wrote. “Not just because of your talent, but because you never stopped being yourself. Because no matter what happens, you never stop, you always fight until the end, and you give everything until the last second.”

He continued, “That energy, that imagination, and that way of going back time and time again is what makes you different.”

In his interview earlier this year, Messi said: “I love to play football, and I will do it until I can't anymore.”

But you know how that worked in Tom Brady's marriage. Maybe don't let Antonela take any jiu-jitsu lessons, just to be safe.

Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi pose for a photo on the green carpet ahead of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 on Feb. 27, 2023, Paris, France. (Getty Images)

Check out these geniuses in Yellowstone

Three guarantees: death, taxes and luxury that descend on Yellowstone National Park.

Last week, we watched my grandfather (who was taking care of himself) get thrown several feet in the air by an angry bison.

Shout out to the park, by the way, for sending a warning a few days too late.

Still, that boy was not wrong. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Unfortunately, however, we see a lot of negative things—people in our national parks.

In the latest episode, check out these two tourists who decided to skip the boardwalk and walk across the Grand Prismatic.

In case you don't know, Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. It covers about 370 meters in width and reaches a depth of more than 121 meters.

And as the name “hot springs” suggests, it is HOT. The heat is hot. Last year, a bison was severely boiled to death after tripping over one of Yellowstone's hot springs.

I feel bad for buffalo. I won't feel bad for these two.

Has anyone done HYROX? It's like CrossFit except all competitions have the exact same events/exercises.

One of my best friends from high school wants me to go to Nashville with him this winter. And considering I talked him into walking 20 miles last year, I think I owe him.

I think I should start training for it soon. If, that is, we can even get tickets. Apparently there is a long line of people signing up to abuse themselves at these HYROX races, so it's hard to get in.

I often say yes to physical challenges without really thinking about what the training will entail. This is how I have entered many half marathons, bodybuilding competitions, the Ragnar Race, a couple Mammoth Marches and the OUTLAST trail race.

But if there's one endurance challenge I won't take part in, it's the '5 Guys Challenge.'

No, it has nothing to do with the burger chain and it's not Bonnie Blue's latest.

The 5 Guys Challenge – which I can tell you for sure, was created by a guy on TikTok named @lukaslogss and his friends – requires five guys to collectively complete the following tasks: drink 5 liters of milk, do 5,000 push-ups, throw 500 fish, run 50 kilometers, complete 50 to 5000 games on the field, complete games 50 and up.

So my video game days are over with Mario Kart on the N64, so what do I know? But completing an entire video game takes a REALLY long time, yes? I don't even think Mario can rescue Princess Peach on Super Nintendo in 24 hours.

Especially if he has to drink a gallon of milk, go fishing, run a 10K and do 1,000 pushups.

Perfect animals.

Let's open the mail bag.

📩 Email: [email protected] (Submit your thoughts, stories, tips, pictures and photos of your dog.)

🐦 Twitter/X: @TheAmberHarding

📸 Instagram: @amberharding

USC Trojans continue to know nothing about the Trojans

Over the weekend, I wrote about USC Football being incredibly dumb Odyssey-themed hype posts. They're clearly trying to capitalize on the popularity of Christopher Nolan's new film – the one that follows Odysseus' 10-year journey home following the Trojan War.

The problem, of course, is that the Trojans lost the Trojan War. Amazingly.

And it's not the first time USC's athletic department has messed up its ancient Greek literature. A few years ago they made a Trojan-Horse-themed hype video.

The Trojan Horse was not a good thing for the Trojans, either, FYI.

Richard M. writes: As an ancient history major, I really appreciate your column. As an Oregon Duck fan, I really appreciate your column.

One more point about the Spartans, if I may. Sparta was not just part of the Greek army. The king of Sparta (Menelaus) was actually the one who married Helen when Paris came along and took a swipe at her.

Gene in the Rock has a recommendation for the 'best dog ball ever'

We stumbled upon this ball at the dog park, and I'm sure whoever left it behind missed it because it was gone the next day. I don't blame them, I would have come back to get it. You don't often think of mechanical engineering and materials in the same sentence as a dog toy, but this ball had both.

It's the size of a baseball but the perfect length of a baseball, with an outside bump and a hollow center that makes it bounce funny and unreal. Apparently something as dense as tire rubber, but so squishy that it's an irresistible chew toy. It's also obvious that you can't destroy it, because Lexi has been grinding hers like a chewer all day for three weeks and she hasn't seen the ball at all. He has sharp young teeth and loves to chop, and we're used to him destroying even high-quality Kong toys. This ball – except for surface abrasion, looks like it came straight from the pocket. In short, if your k9bff is a ball runner, this is the ball that has it all. I don't know if that's Rocky, but I'm sure the shoe fits many of your students.

It took me a minute to track it down, all I could tell from the ball itself was that it came from an outfit called Chuckit. I was expecting it to be a special piece from Chewy for $27 a ball, but it turns out they are 2 for $8 at Walmart. It's called Rebounce, because it turns out it's made from recycled materials. Yah, recycled from indestructible. Oh, those engineers!

The ChuckIt Rebounce is the latest in rubber dog ball technology. (Photo courtesy of Gene in the Rock)

Amber:

As a football enthusiast, my German Shepherd Rocky has many varieties – including an orange and blue Chuckit ball. But with a review like this, I guess I'll have to throw Rebounce in my Amazon cart.

The jumping dogs are something to behold

Drew in Katy, Texas, writes: I have seen some amazing moments of deer gracefully jumping over fences. I went he saw i dogs jump into ponds and compete. I didn't know there were dogs that jumped like this.

I don't know what kind this is. You don't have to go out and open the agate to let them rip through the wire.

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Happy 6th birthday, Gus!

Chris L. writes: You made a little note back about my dog ​​Gus battling cancer. Back in October, we were told she had 3-6 months even after the amputation and chemo. Well today the big man celebrated his 6th birthday with a trip to the store to pick out a new toy. Here she is happily carrying her choice as she leaves the store!

Gus kicks butt and grabs toys. (Photo courtesy of Chris L.)

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Amber:

Go Gus! Keep fighting, friend.