NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Andrew Luck, the Dallas Cowboys and MCU news
Aug 14, 2019, 6:33 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 and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
We're halfway through it, are you where you want to be this week?
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
Last week while talking about the Gulf Coast Blood Center, the good people reached out to me and pointed me to another awesome thing they're doing so I thought I'd bring it to your attention now. The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is working with Team Liquid through the year and eligible people can win an Alienware Aurora Computer valued at $800. The campaign is called Heal For Real, and I like it. Get involved today.
PRETTY IMPRESSIVE
The MCU and Samuel L Jackson did something really impressive this year. Between Captain Marvel, Endgame and Spider Man: Far from Home, they passed $5 billion dollars in one year for one franchise. Spidey breaking a billion is even more important for the future of the MCU because Tom Holland's contract and the Spider-Man agreement were structured for three Marvel movies (Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame) and three Spidey movies, but the sixth Spidey movie only gets made if the Far From Home film broke a billion, which it now has. Technically Sony gets the Spidey money so Disney can't cheer too loudly however, Samuel L Jackson can crow as loudly as he'd like because he was in all three films, which is an even more impressive run. He was in three movies that totaled $5 billion dollars at the box office in one year. Now that's one bad man…
DALLAS WOES
The Dallas Cowboys are dangerously close to either being a pretty good team for a long time or starting over in two years. Amari Cooper, Dax Prescott and Zeke Elliot all have two seasons left before they are free agents or one of them is tag eligible. News broke yesterday that Dax was allegedly asking for $40 million a season, the spin was then spun that he's actually asking for between $33 and $35 million, which is still WAY too high for him. Allegedly, Jones has made offers to all three that makes them top 5 in pay at each of their positions, which is already too high for any of them. They all need each other to work and even then they aren't Conference Champion good with all three of them at this point, but maybe there's a chance if all three stay together. Zeke is in Mexico, Dax wants too much money, and Cooper to his credit has remained silent in all of this but Jones is hesitant to pay these guys the record-breaking money it sounds like they are all asking for. So where does Dallas go from here is they either lose all three or keep all three. It would be a mess if they re-sign Cooper but lose the other two.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ANDREW LUCK
The Colts have just proven that you can take a great, once a decade type quarterback and in just six short seasons ruin him. They now have no clue what is going on with his body and he will probably be a week to week or month to month kind of guy every season until he just can't take it anymore. He either has an odd bone spur/growth in his lower leg near the ankle or a calf injury that is causing issues with his high ankle. They aren't sure. Considering he's already missed one whole season for a shoulder issue that essentially forced him to start over from scratch building up his arm strength and throwing again and he's now right in the middle of a five year, $140 million contract, The Colts can't get this wrong and need to take extra special care of the only good thing in their entire organization.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
The Youngblood drama just hasn't stopped. Terrific Productions, the company with control of the Youngblood property has been invading Twitter and just acting like a child with a remote control, just all over the place. He's publicly making offers and asking people to track down Alan Moore, retired comics legend, and that no demand is too crazy to entertain. He's tweeting big time writers at Marvel and DC and offering to help them develop at his new company and he's openly courting disaster by saying he believes he can get to a million copies in sales. This is starting well.
Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
Takeaways from the Tigers sweep of the Astros
Total butt kicking. The offense was dreadful, scoring just two runs over three games. However, what’s killing the offense the most is the outfield. Outside of when Altuve plays left field, Houston doesn’t have another major league-quality outfielder right now. Jesus Sanchez not only swung at a Charlie Morton curveball that hit him in the knee, he’s also ice-cold, going 0-for-28 at the plate. At least he’s someone you expect to turn things around, but he’s in a huge slump currently. Beyond him, Jacob Melton, Taylor Trammell, and Chas McCormick have all been dragging down the offense. Cam Smith is struggling too, with just one hit in his last seven games.
Is Framber Valdez going to be okay?
Starting pitching was another big issue against the Tigers, and Valdez was a key part of the problem, basically losing the finale in the first inning after allowing six runs. This isn’t an outlier—he’s got a 7+ ERA through four starts in August. Spencer Arrighetti isn’t faring much better, posting a 7+ ERA through three starts. One silver lining with Valdez: the Tigers know him well. They had success against him in the playoffs last season, and it looks like they’re continuing that formula—force him to throw strikes, hit the other way on the sinker, and if the curveball isn’t up, let it go. AJ Hinch knows the deal.
Is the return of Yordan Alvarez enough to boost the offense?
It has to be. The only real way to give this lineup a spark is getting Yordan and Jake Meyers back. Yordan had a successful first rehab outing, collecting a couple of hits, a walk, and even a stolen base. Adding him back to the top of the lineup gives the Astros a formidable top four: Peña, Altuve, Yordan, and Correa. As for Meyers, the outfield has been the biggest drag on the offense. The key is whether he can continue to hit near .300 when he returns from injury. If he does, Altuve and Meyers in the outfield makes a huge difference, and Joe Espada can figure out right field with Sanchez and Smith.
Is the schedule not as soft as anticipated?
We’ve seen some strange results across the league this week, and some of that has to be chalked up to the Dog Days of Summer. Players are tired, and results have been wild. Thankfully, the Mariners are struggling too, giving the Astros some breathing room. Player adjustments after the trade deadline could also be a factor—Sanchez, anyone? Many big free agents have struggled immediately after changing teams, Walker and Juan Soto included.
Can they recover and take advantage of bad teams?
One thing we know about this year’s Astros: they can flip the switch and win multiple series on a moment’s notice. They’re just as capable of sweeping a series as they are of getting swept. Let’s hope that starts with four wins in Baltimore.
There's so much more to get to! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode on Thursday!
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