NERDS ROUND TOWN

Avengers Endgame, Game of Thrones, Esports and coral reefs

Cory De La Guardia
Apr 15, 2019, 7:31 am
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

Hey Nerds!

Alright, ignore the hangovers and shake off the miss the weekend blues, it's the most important day of the week, MONDAY!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This week we're going to focus on helping some people right in the circle of nerds, at the Spring Charity Drag Show. It's a themed drag show within Houston's nerd community and will feature pop culture, gaming and nerd icons as well as prominent drag queens in the "Gaymer" community. The proceeds go towards this group which all year long put on events for their community and give those people a place to go and be accepted.

KEEP ON LOSING

The Hosuton Outlaws played their first game of Stage Two and started off with another loss. They were playing the talented Vancouver Titans who won the Stage One playoffs, but they posted a lowly 1-3 match score and honestly they didn't impress in the outing. Other than Stage 1 of the first season, The Outlaws have struggled to find consistent rhythm and sound strategy and honestly, they've been losers and this initial loss in Stage Two now drops them back to 12th place in the standings and doesn't present a lot of of hope for this season either. Hopefully there's a change in team coordination or maybe it's a chemistry change that has to be made and a trade is necessary but either way, as it's presently composed, The Houston Outlaws aren't much of a threat in the Overwatch League.

NETFLIX TO THE RESCUE

For those who sometimes feel like one man (or woman) can't make a difference, this little tidbit should give you hope. Single time plastic usage has dropped over 50% in just one year, and in the UK they're calling it the "Attenborough effect". Essentially the concept is that data taken in the UK has broken down that while women and the newer generation are most swayed by the messaging in things, even Men at a strong rate have been moved to take an interest in the amount of plastics being used and where they go afterwards. Named after the guy who has put two different docu-series about nature on Netflix (Blue Planet II and Our Planet), David Attenborough. It's very cool to know that people are actively getting involved, they're seeing the effect we're having on this world and realizing we aren't being very good guests and trying to do better. So what difference can one man make, a lot if he tries. So are we all trying enough?

IN OTHER GREAT NEWS

Now I'm not a marine biologist and I don't pretend to even understand the importance of coral reefs. I've been told they are massively important to the ocean's ecosystems but I couldn't give you a lot of reasons why. I know they're dying due to the rise in seawater temperatures oceans wide and that without them overall the ecosystems of the oceans are in danger and that between 25 and 40% of them have now died off in these current conditions. Recent breakthroughs though may have finally given conservationists a short cut to helping these reefs grow back and going back to the previous articles question of "can one man change the world?" we have one man to thank for it. David Vaughan basically discovered by accident that you can sort of replant the reef over and over and it's base system can break off, stay behind and continue to grow helping speed up the process of regrowing large coral reefs in a much shorter amount of time. So that's pretty cool, Apocalypse delayed.

EARTH'S MIGHTIEST INDEED

So tickets are available in pre-sale for Avenger's Endgame which still doesn't come out until NEXT weekend, but the sales have soared to record breaking levels. It's is incredible to see and think, but Avengers Endgame has now sold more pre-sale tickets than Aquaman, Avengers Infinity War, Star Wars The Last Jedi and Captain Marvel combined! Those were the top four movies in pre sales before Avengers came through, meaning this thing is rolling through all the records. This is a essentially a 20 plus movie pay off and there's no telling where the numbers on this thing could go with some estimates have an opening weekend at a mind crushing $800 million. The story of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor may be seemingly coming to an end but the world and Disney will always have Avengers, so it'll be interesting to see what comes next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

SPEAKING OF AVENGERS

Game of Thrones debuted last night and don't worry there will be no spoilers here, but for people who have watched from the beginning, how exciting is it now that all the heroes of this story are in one place now? They're all together and they're all preparing to fight against the army of the dead. It's a fascinating story and I'm very intrigued by the finale of this show but honestly if they end this show with some weak, punk ending I'm going to be very unhappy. And if they end this show like the Sopranos with questions unanswered, I'm going to be even more angry. The bar is high but so far they're well over it.

I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Monday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Tuesday and we'll be bringing more good times your way. Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House, or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where every shirt is now under $20 or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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RAVENS 33, TEXANS 16

5 observations from the Ravens win over the Texans

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Let's be honest; the Texans were not going to beat the Ravens. Baltimore has better players, a better quarterback and a better coaching staff. (And oh, a better kicker). All of that was on display in the Ravens' 33-16 win.

The Ravens move to 2-0, while the Texans dropped to 0-2 after facing the AFC's two best teams.

The Texans will still likely contend for a playoff spot, but nothing the last two weeks indicates they are anywhere near contending in the AFC. A look at five things from the Ravens win:

1) Oh, Brien...It did not take long for Bill O'Brien's goofy coaching to rear its ugly head. Down 3-0 at their own 34 as the first quarter was running out, O'Brien chose to go for it on fourth and one. The play was predictably blown up, the Ravens quickly scored to make it 10-0, and the Texans were instantly in a hole against a superior opponent. You can't give points away against the Ravens. They might have scored anyway with a punt, but there was no stopping them with a short field.

2) Some positives on defense. Despite the score, The Texans looked much better on that side of the ball against an explosive offense. J.J. Watt had two sacks, the team had four total, and they kept Lamar Jackson from destroying them. Seven of the points were scored by the Ravens defense, and O'Brien's gaffe led to seven more. The Ravens wore them down in the fourth quarter, but they played well enough until then to keep the team in the game had the offense been better. They did not force any turnovers, however, and that was one of the differences in the game. They were also blown off the ball on a fourth and one in the fourth quarter that led to the Ravens' 30th points and could not stop the run at all in the fourth quarter. But that's what the Ravens do with a lead, and the Texans offense gave them no breaks by being unable to stay on the field.

3) The difference between real contenders...The Ravens were just so much more skilled on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they focused on taking away the run. David Johnson averaged 3.1 yards per carry. Will Fuller had as many catches as you did. The Ravens forced two turnovers on just really good football plays. The Texans don't make plays like that. They might against lesser teams, but if your goal is to compete with the best, it's just not good enough.

4) Deshaun Watson needs to be better. His numbers looked so so on the surface (25 of 36, 275 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception). He was sacked four times and added 17 rushing yards on five carries. He did not make plays late when they needed one here or there to maybe get back in the game. With his big contract, it's time for Watson to stop being close to elite and take the next step. His interception was more of being fooled by Marcus Peters than throwing a bad ball, but the Texans were just 3 of 9 on third downs. Throw in the ill-advised fourth down play, and they were just 3 of 10 extending drives. Give the Ravens a lot of credit, but again, to compete with the best, you have to be better than that.

5) Now what? The Texans travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers, who have not been impressive in their two wins. Still, it's hard to see Houston as anything but serious underdogs. They are last in the AFC South, and have a lot of work to do. The defense showed some promise at times, but will have to continue to improve. The offense has a long way to go. They match up better with the Steelers than they do the Ravens and Chiefs, but that does not mean they can win. If you were hoping they would give you some indication they can be more than just also-rans, they failed to do that on any level against either the Chiefs or Ravens.

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