NERDS ROUND TOWN
Avengers Endgame, Game of Thrones, Esports and coral reefs
Apr 15, 2019, 7:31 am
NERDS ROUND TOWN
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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Sunday night matchups don't get much exciting than this, as the Houston Texans host the Detroit Lions in prime-time at NRG.
The Lions come into this game on a six-game winning streak looking every bit of the best team in football. Houston on the other hand has lost two of their last three games with a struggling offense unable to protect their quarterback.
CJ Stroud has only one passing touchdown over this span, and is clearly having trouble adjusting to life without Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins.
If Houston is going to come away with an upset victory, they will need big performances from Tank Dell and Joe Mixon. After catching 4 passes against the Colts two weeks ago, Mixon not only failed to catch a single pass against the Jets, but he wasn't even targeted.
Considering the Texans' offensive line issues, choosing not to use Mixon as a pass catcher is hard to fathom. Especially since he and Dell are the team's top 2 playmakers.
What's working in the Texans' favor?
They play this game at home, where they are undefeated this season. A lot of the team's protection issues have popped up on the road, so communication should be easier for the offense on their home turf.
Bulls on Parade
We have good news and bad news about the defense this week. On the positive side, Azeez Al-Shaair and Jimmy Ward have returned to practice. If they're able to contribute on Sunday night, that would give the defense a lift.
And now for the bad news. Will Anderson has yet to practice this week after rolling his ankle in the Jets game. If he is unable to practice on Friday, it's hard to imagine he'll be active against Detroit.
X-factors
The Texans have to show some improvement on the offensive line this week.
Houston must lean on Joe Mixon again, as Nico Collins isn't expected to play.
Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best receivers in the league, and he does most of his damage from the slot. If the Texans continue to deploy Jalen Pitre against premier receivers in man coverage, St. Brown is going to light up the scoreboard.
What would a win over the Lions mean to Houston?
The Texans are no longer considered a true championship contender because of their losses to the Packers, Vikings, and Jets. In fact, the Bills are the only team with a winning record that the Texans have beaten.
An upset win over the streaking Lions would change that narrative.
What does Vegas think?
The Lions are currently favored by 3.5 and the total is set at 49 points.
Don't miss the full preview of Texans-Lions in the video above!
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