Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, April 9, and if you’re feeling any headaches or eye pain after watching the eclipse yesterday, even if you wore glasses, don’t panic yet — experts say it’s probably not a sign of serious damage. Or maybe you, like us, are mourning your March Madness bracket after UConn defeated Purdue in last night’s championship game. They’re the first team to win the title back-to-back in over 17 years.

In other news, here’s what you have to look forward to in today’s newsletter:

• We went to tennis paradise: Our racquet correspondent charts one unforgettable weekend at Indian Wells, the sport's desert mecca.
• The bar where everybody knows your name: Continuing our month-long series of features about the male friendship crisis, we profile a man who created a real-life “Cheers” after moving to a new city.
• Revisiting classic whiskeys: in our most recent edition of Revisiting the Classics, we offer a fresh perspective on an iconic and beloved 101-proof bourbon.

They Call It Tennis Paradise

Our racquet correspondent Beau Dealy shared what it's like to spend a weekend at Indian Wells — the sport's unofficial fifth major — which Carlos Alcaraz won three weeks ago.

Far from a travelogue or match summary, this is a sprawling essay about the nature of one man's tennis fandom, the potency of a desert setting and the surprising depth of the tournament's famous tag line: "Tennis Paradise."

Within: Beau cheers for Coco Gauff, ditches Taylor Fritz, and in searingly honest first-person, writes about Indian Wells' unlikely role as healer — its capability to put one's neuroses on pause and cast bad attitudes asunder. Despite the $24 pizzas and over-eager DJs and street-illegal BMWs all over campus, there is something right going on in this desert...drenching the world in dreamlike purples and greens.

Those colors, which Beau describes as a "rainbow sherbet spectrum" are preserved thanks to Clay Dealy (the rare cousin team!), who captured the weekend in stunning digital and film detail. Come for the pretty photos, stay a half hour or more for the introspective words. This piece reminded me of the power of fandom — as a community-builder, as a call-to-action and as salve for our fight-or-flight brains. -  Tanner Garritty, Senior Editor 

IN THE NEWS

Here's what it was like experiencing the solar eclipse from Central Park.

Stephen Strasburg was a Hall-of-Fame talent who won’t get in.

What can we learn from having the “post-marathon blues”?

Let this be your reminder that reverse image search can be very useful.

Akshay Bhatia won the Valero Texas Open, despite dislocating his shoulder after a forceful fist pump.

Retiring Into Reality, Don Winslow Reflects on 30 Years in Fiction

At the end of an interview on the day his latest novel City In Ruins hits physical and digital shelves, 70-year-old Don Winslow is asked whether there’s anything that wasn’t covered over the course of the conversation he think it’s important for people to know. Winslow, who worked as a private investigator in New York City after attending college at the University of Nebraska and spent years working other jobs before he’d sold enough books to be able to afford to write full-time, chuckles.

“That’s funny. When I used to interview witnesses that was always my last question. You’d be surprised at some of the answers that I got,” he tells InsideHook. “My first question was always ‘Tell me about it’ because I didn’t want to impose my own perceptions on a witness. No, I think we’ve covered it.”

WIth Winslow’s career as a novelist at an end, we spoke with him about his work, his relationship with his characters and how it will be spending time in the real world instead of one of his own creation.

After Failing to Make Friends, He Created a Real-Life “Cheers”

Chez Chesak moved to Cincinnati 15 years ago for his wife. She was from the area, and as a travel writer, he worked from home or on the road. But beyond his partner, he had no connections to the city.

“I tried making friends in various ways — a dads’ group at our girls’ school or playing on flag football teams,” Chesak says. “But I could never connect with anyone. I spent years trying.”

His solution? In a way, he went back home. Chesak is from the New England area and, unsurprisingly, a sports fan. So he started a fan club for the Patriots, which would meet at a bar owned by a guy originally from Massachusetts called Local Post, located in Cincinnati’s Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood.

Revisiting the Classics: Wild Turkey 101

What we’re drinking: Wild Turkey 101

Where it’s from: First released in 1942, Wild Turkey 101 hails from the iconic Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY. The brand has been owned by drinks giant Campari since 2009.

Why we’re drinking this: We’ve lauded Wild Turkey 101 in the past as perhaps the best everyday bourbon because it’s versatile, modestly priced and readily available. And 82 years after its launch, 101 is still racking up some impressive accolades, including 90 scores at the Beverage Tasting Institute and Ultimate Spirits Challenge and a Gold at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

What Is the Future of American-Made Clothing?

There are two big themes that suffuse American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home, the new book from Steven Kurutz. The first has to do with the perennial search for high-quality clothing — in other words, something that can last for years and still look good in the process. The other is the decline of manufacturing in the United States — and it’s not surprising that Kurutz finds an innate connection between these two ideas.

Throughout American Flannel, Kurutz chronicles the challenges facing different companies — including both longstanding businesses and startups — trying to keep their footing in an ever-shifting market and produce high-quality clothing that people will want to wear. It’s a complex and urgent story, made even more gripping by Kurutz’s focus on the bold personalities within this space.

InsideHook spoke with Kurutz about the genesis of American Flannel, how writing the book changed Kurutz’s own buying habits — and how the rise of companies like Shein factor into things.