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 guys, we're halfway through the week, we can do this! Let's show Wednesday who's boss.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This week I didn't want to pick something, I wanted you guys to pick something. A neighbor in need, Puerto Rico, the Atlantis formerly called the Midwest, a family member or friend of the family. Someone you know maybe isn't saying much but seriously, they could use the help. Anyway, make sure you're doing your part and there aren't people in need standing right next to you everyday. I think a certain someone called it the Golden Rule.
1,2,3, Cancun
The NBA Playoffs are going on right now and honestly they have been amazing so far, not just the Houston Rockets looking great until this last game against Utah where they missed some 14 three pointers. That's a cause for concern because when the three's aren't falling they keep shooting them no matter what, and it's great for them to be confident but I just wish James Harden and Chris Paul would take back over after say miss number eight and do a few dribble penetration lay-ups or draw the fouls and get some free throws to let everyone calm down and stop forcing the three. Also Portland, man, just Portland. Dame Lillard just sunk Oklahoma City with the best 40ish foot three point shot anyone has ever seen and he did so with utmost confidence after dribbling the clock down to nothing and taking the shot that apparently he wanted from nearly half court. The other part of this whole equation is now Mr Triple Triple Double Russell Westbrook has proven yet again that Hero Ball doesn't work anymore in the NBA. Oklahoma City is a poorly built team centered around Westbrook and Paul George who gave himself the nickname of "Playoff P". Who by the way finally had a good game and it was in a loss, kind of proving the rule we don't get to pick our nicknames. People are growing tired of Westbrook's seemingly anger fueled style of play where if he isn't talking an obscene amount of trash and pushing around players of noticeably lesser status than him, he's just being an overall irritant to everyone doing their job.
Avengers Endgame
If you're not excited for this movie and if you're not curious how all of this ends, then you aren't even kind of the person I want to hang out with. Do the Avenegrs save the day? How does Tony Stark make it back? What role does the quantum realm play in all of this? Is Clint Barton the coolest guy in the MCU? These are all relevant questions that will finally be answered, and with these answers we can finally move on to the next set of Marvel movies. Before anyone rolls their eyes, don't tell me they aren't excited for whatever is coming next. Marvel has been the best at planning these things out and as DC's movie universe and don't forget Universal's failed monster universe with Tom Cruise's Mummy as the flagship can tell us, it ain't easy. Hats off to the kings of the movie universe and may they enjoy this victory lap.
Has anyone else noticed this?
The new trailer for Hobbs and Shaw is out and some how there's a Samoan Haka in the story? The fast and the furious franchise has grown into this incredible popcorn munching scenery destroying super movie every couple of years and it's honestly, impressive at this point. A movie franchise that starts off with Paul Walker going undercover to find out who is hijacking trucks in the underground race scene and befriending sort of bad guy Vin Diesel, turns into a massive ensemble cast by the fifth one and then Paul Walker actually dies and the movies continue and they film a whole movie with him in it after his death somehow. Now the franchise has grown so much the Rock is now a reoccurring character getting his own spin off with other reoccurring character Jason Statham. The franchise has also featured Charlize Theron and other major stars and seems to just keep going.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
The other day Donald Trump complained to twitter's CEO that he doesn't have enough followers, and it brought a lot of thoughts to mind but most noticeably it brought to mind that old people just don't understand technology. As the new apps and machines and types of entertainment creep up it becomes obvious again and again that technology will leave you behind in a heartbeat. Ninja the world famous streamer who has upwards of a million people watch him stream at any given time, was paid roughly a million dollars allegedly to stream Apex Legends for set amount of time after it released and for those of you who thought that last sentence was a foreign language, catch up. This is the future and in many ways it's the present, this guy has more effective influence than a Sprite commercial, and yet there's probably a large segment of the population who couldn't pick this dude out of a line up.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Wednesday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Friday 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.
- It’s the first place Houston Astros against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers as they open their latest head-to-head series. This is not a recording. The two most dominant powers in the sport over the last decade gather at Dodger Stadium this Independence Day weekend. The Astros have a sizable lead in pursuit of their eighth American League West championship in the last nine years. The Dodgers have an even more sizable lead as they chase their fourth straight National League West crown, which would be their 12th in 13 years. Each franchise has won two World Series in that time frame, each has lost two. All Astro and Dodger parties would sign off immediately on a 2025 World Series matchup. This three-game set carries no big picture significance, but every game counts, and it’s just fun seeing these two get after it. It would be more fun if the Astros had Yordan Alvarez available. Then again, the Dodgers won’t have Josh Fields.
Both continue to roll along despite rashes of injuries. When the Astros awoke May 24 their record sat at 26-25. Since then they have gone 26-10. That is a dominant stretch despite this clearly not being a dominant team. The still Alvarez-less offense is mediocre. So is the starting pitching apart from the one-two awesome punch that Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez have been. When Brown or Valdez has been the Astros’ starting pitcher this season, the team record is 25-9. With anyone else making the start, 27-26. They have been every bit as dynamic a duo so far in 2025 that Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole were for the Astros in 2019 when Verlander edged out Cole to win his third Cy Young Award. Brown is a lock to be named to his first American League All-Star team this Sunday. Valdez is worthy of a third consecutive selection but could get caught in a numbers squeeze. Eight or nine starting pitchers are picked for each league.
The Dodgers won’t face Brown this weekend, but will have to deal with Valdez on Saturday night. His mound counterpart will be Shohei Ohtani. Oooooooh! Framber didn’t give up a run in 13 innings over his last two starts, and over his last 10 outings has a super-spiffy 1.72 earned run average. The amazing Ohtani is easing back into pitching after his second Tommy John surgery. Ohtani has started three games, totaling just four innings. He has yet to throw 30 pitches in an outing. Saturday he probably will be allowed 30 to 40.
Arms race
While Friday’s outing isn’t remotely a make or break start for Lance McCullers, it does speak to a significant question the Astros hope to find a pleasing answer to over the remainder of the regular season. Who is their third starting pitcher in a playoff series? After Brown and Valdez there is simply no one who inspires confidence at this point. McCullers has been awful his last two times out, jacking up his ERA to 6.61 eight starts into his season. 20 walks issued in 32 2 /3 innings pitched is glaringly bad. McCullers is still reasonably in ramp up mode, but given his injury history along with performance concerns, the third starter spot can’t be considered his to lose. Spencer Arrighetti’s resume is thin but his return at the level he pitched at after the All-Star break last season would be massive. Colt Gordon and Brandon Walter have both done some nice fill-in work, but no one plausibly wants them starting what would be a do or die game if the Astros wind up in a game three of a best-of-three Wild Card series.
Historic achievement
Not as if it’s subplot or anything this weekend, but let’s call it notable that the two active career hits leaders in Major League Baseball share the field this weekend. Jose Altuve this week vaulted past Jeff Bagwell for second in Astros’ history behind Craig Biggio. Altuve enters the weekend 743 hits behind Biggio. He is no lock to catch him before Altuve’s five-year contract expires at the end of the 2029 season. Altuve will be 39 then. Biggio was 41 when he rapped his 3000th hit, then added 60 more before beginning the waiting game for election to the Hall of Fame.
Like Biggio got and presumably someday Altuve will get, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman will get the call from Cooperstown some day. Like Altuve, Freeman is 35 years old, has won a Most Valuable Player Award, one Gold Glove, and with his selection this week been named an All-Star nine times. Aaron Judge may change this in the next couple of years, but among active players only Mike Trout (by a long shot) has compiled more Baseball-Reference offensive Wins Above Replacement than Freeman (second) and Altuve (third).
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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