NERDS AROUND TOWN
Dishing on "Dirt", Overwatch playoffs and Star Wars
Mar 21, 2019, 7:10 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!
This is day two of the greatest Nerd blog in Houston, and honestly I'm hoping the only Nerd Blog in Houston. Here we go!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
Continuing March's trend of helping the kids, today we head over to Houston's Children Charity who is getting ready for Easter by collecting money all March long. Every $10 donated builds a basket for another kiddo and they're trying to put together enough baskets for 350 kids. That being said, ten "nerd" points to whomever can explain how we start at Jesus and end up with a bunny hiding eggs for Easter. Seriously, e-mail me and explain how the heck that happens.
HAVE YOU TRIED?
Right now Papa Johns Pizza is running a special, any specialty pizza for $12.99. They recently added several new specialty pizzas to their line up including a Killen's BBQ Brisket Pizza so I was curious. Now typically the franchises introduces one or two specialties at a time being a long time employee of one particular company I can tell you that it's odd to see so many released at once, but maybe this is the new model. I have heard that home dinner delivery is undergoing a massive transformation and the old companies are having a hard time adjusting to the invasion of the Waitr, Door Dash, GrubHub's of the world. However most of these new specialties Papa Johns brought back are actually old ones that they usually rotate in for limited times each. I had the meatball pizza last night and honestly, it's great, the meat is good quality and they go heavy on the cheese to keep with the "Italian" theme of it. I found it a little annoying that the Killen's BBQ pizza wasn't included in the specialty pizza pricing, but that's a complaint for another day. Two out of four rumbly tumblies.
THIS WEEKEND IN STREAMING
So for our Netflix junkies in the crowd, this weekend Netflix's contribution to the fabric of the pop culture tapestry that is our lives, is The Dirt, a 60 minute Motley Crue bio-pic. I'm not really sure how or why you make a movie about this band and make it only 60 minutes, I feel like there has to be tons of stuff that is either not in this movie or so glossed over or so poorly told that at this point it's worthless. Why tell the abbreviated version of this particular story, let's be honest, the story of Motley Crue is one of sex, drugs and rock and roll moved to a high gear. Turns out though, upon a little bit of research that this movie is made with their involvement, so expect to see the most dishonest biopic in recent history. You have to think you could make a two hour movie just between Vince Neil's DUI/Manslaughter and 18 days in jail (say what?!), Nikki Sixx's overdose and two minutes of death, the various lawsuits including one man who claimed to have been Sixx's doppelganger while Sixx was recovering from an undisclosed car accident, and oh yeah, Tommy Lee's *AHEM* escapades. Instead of doing all of that correctly and twenty plus years of music Netflix is about to make a 60 minute, band friendly bio-pic staring Machine Gun Kelly… hard pass.
PROBABLY MORE EXCITING TO WATCH
If you'd rather see something cool and probably new for you instead of a rehash of why four old guys aren't making Rock and Roll music anymore then The Overwatch League is here to help. We're early still in the second season of The Overwatch League, regularly referred to as OWL by people in the know, in what is the first of four sets of playoffs. The league is scheduled in four sets of play called stages and at the end of each stage there is a tournament for $500,000 building up to the final playoffs that ends in a playoff determining the Champion. The stage play counts towards your standings, the stage playoffs are for the money, got it? This year added 8 expansion teams to the league (with their owners reportedly paying roughly $20 million dollars each to join the league) and increased the total prize money this year to $5 million dollars and over the course of this weekend starting tonight at 8pm is the Stage 1 playoffs. Eight teams have qualified for this tournament and it kicks off with the seventh seeded Seoul Dynasty playing the second seed, New York Excelsior and at 10pm the top seeded Vancouver Titans play the 8th seeded Boston Uprising. The matches are fast paced, the announcing is talented and keeps you informed and involved and the excitement is real. You can catch it on twitch.tv, the overwatch league website, or the ESPN app.
PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR HEART IS
So one reason I really wanted this blog on Sportsmap and begged and pleaded with the powers that be is I fully believe in being the change you want to see in the world. I create the content I think people like me are looking for so that people like me can enjoy it, which leads me to this, Kickstarter. Kickstarter is one of my favorite websites because it gives you a chance to put the things you enjoy into existence, so this is something I'm going to regularly point people towards to help the projects I hope get made but also to give people opportunities to find more things they enjoy and help them get made too. For those who don't know how Kickstarter works, people put together comics books, movies, toys, games and inventions and other things and then they post them here and try to get people to help them crowdfund them, if it succeeds they get made and if it fails then the donors don't lose their money, it's a win-win. Check out my pick, Tuskers which is a graphic novel about a herd of orphaned elephants, the people who protect them and the poachers who want their ivory.
WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND?
So if yesterday's Smash Bros Tourney or Tacopalooza wasn't intriguing enough, there's always Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope being played at Jones Hall with the Houston Symphony playing the complete score live in person. I always like these things and for $29 bucks that isn't too bad, plus taking a lady makes her think you're sophisticated cause there's a symphony, but if you're going for drinks later and there's crowds of people yelling at TVs, don't be alarmed it's March Madness and there will be people cheering for colleges that you're not sure are even real.
So all of this being said, I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Thursday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back tomorrow 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 under $20, check out Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
NFL insiders hint at eye-opening future for Houston Texans offense
Dec 7, 2024, 2:38 pm
C.J. Stroud faced criticism in Houston's last few games as the Texans hit a rough patch after losing just two of their first eight games.
But the second-year quarterback remained confident and his strong performance last Sunday helped the Texans (8-5) to a 23-20 win over the Jaguars to enter their bye with a two-game lead atop the AFC South.
“When he is leading and playing the way he is playing, our entire team feeds off of him,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I am excited for his second year. I think he is showing a ton of growth, he is in a really great spot for us physically, mentally. I really love where he is and I am excited to see how he comes back after the break.”
Stroud threw for 242 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville to leave him ranked fourth in the NFL with 3,117 yards passing this season. That game came after he threw two interceptions in a 32-27 loss to Tennessee a week before for the team’s third loss in four games.
Those two interceptions brought his season total to nine, which are four more than he threw in 15 games a rookie. But the Texans aren’t worried about that statistic and believe he has grown in his second year.
“He’s made a lot of progress,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “There are some plays, like all of our players, that we probably wish he could have back, but happy he’s our quarterback, happy with what he brings to the table. ... Wouldn’t want anyone else leading this team.”
The Texans are in position to win their division for a second straight season despite dealing with several significant injuries on offense. Running back Joe Mixon missed three games early with an ankle injury and leading receiver Nico Collins was sidelined for five games with a hamstring injury.
They also lost four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs for the season when tore an ACL in Week 8.
Mixon leads the team with 887 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns and has added four touchdown receptions. His work in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati has helped the team deal with those significant injuries to the receiving corps.
Mixon ranks third in the NFL by averaging 88.7 yards rushing a game and has had at least 100 yards rushing in seven games.
Stroud has continually raved about Mixon’s contributions on and off the field.
“He’s a servant, a helper,” Stroud said. “That’s ultimately what I want to be as well. Who can I serve and how can I help? That’s ultimately what the game of football is.”
While Mixon has been the team’s most important new acquisition on offense, Danielle Hunter has been Houston’s new defensive star. The defensive end spent his first eight seasons in Minnesota before joining the Texans this year.
He has helped Houston lead the NFL with 84 tackles for loss after piling up 15 this season, which is tied for third most in the league. He also leads the Texans with 10½ sacks to help them rank second with 42.
Hunter been a great addition to a team that already had defensive end Will Anderson Jr., last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Anderson ranks second to Hunter on the team with 13 tackles for loss and 9½ sacks.
Ryans said this week’s break is much needed for a team that opened the preseason on Aug. 1 in the Hall of Fame game.
“It’s here and we’re going to take advantage of it,” he said. “We’ve been going at it for a long time.”
The Texans need to recharge this week with a brutal stretch of three games in 10 days when they return from their bye. Houston hosts Miami on Dec. 15 before a trip to Kansas City on Dec. 21 and a visit from the Ravens on Christmas Day.
“It’s Christmas and all that, but we can’t worry about that. All we can do is focus on Miami,” Caserio said. “And then when we get through the Miami game, then we kind of turn the page to the next. ... We’re either going to earn it or we’re not. Not to oversimplify it, but that’s the truth.”
The Texans will play those game without starting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair after he received a three-game suspension for his violent hit to the head of Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, which led to a concussion.
Al-Shaair will be eligible to return for Houston’s regular-season finale against Tennessee.