THE NERD REPORT

Nerds Around Town: Cancer sucks, mountain bikes and...cricket?

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!

It's once again the most important day of the week, it is Monday! So let's set this week up for success and make sure that we crush this week!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This week, we're going to scale it back a little bit and get personal again. One of my buddies, a guy I've had many crazy drinking adventures with is having a benefit thrown for him to help him pay for dealing with cancer. Exit 73 will be hosting a BBQ benefit event this Sunday May 19th, starting at noon. There will be live music, you'll be able to buy plates of food and there will be an auction, all of this being done to benefit Michael Almendarez and help him deal with his battle with cancer. Guy is married with three daughters, it's a real issue to be sick these days and it's just unfortunate. #NerdsUnite

COMICPALOOZA WAS THIS WEEKEND!

Oh man, it was an absolutely amazing weekend. I hosted three panels with my Nerd Thug Radio team, we had an absolute blast. I interviewed Kim Phan, Director of Global eSports for Blizzard, because ESPN was there hosting the first ever College eSports Championships which I will write more in depth about elsewhere. Emilia Clarke was awesome, she stayed late everyday so everyone could get their pictures in and talk to her and have the rewarding fun fan moment that people hope to experience when they pay for those extra things. Overall it was an amazing experience and even though I work these events I also am still a massive nerd and enjoy the hell out of these things and have my fun fanboy moments. I hope I don't live long enough for this to ever get boring.

TWO WHEELS NOT TWO FEET!

While I was walking what had to have been literally 40 plus miles over this three day weekend, the event is all three floors from end to end of the convention center, I started thinking how awesome it would be to bike around on the convention floor. By day two this joking became an intense desire to not be walking what seemed to be a million steps and I googled best mountain bikes under $500, not realizing how many variations and kinds of bikes exists these days. I didn't realize there was more than like one or two bike styles. When did this happen? When was the revolution on bike variations and what was I doing instead that week? Anyway, see if you can name more than three types of mountain bikes, seriously, try it.

SIGH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M EVEN TYPING THIS...

Listeners of Nerd Thug Radio have probably heard my co-host Joey Savage mention once or twice that due to him watching a Netflix documentary one night when he couldn't sleep, he is now a cricket fan. He's been yelling out nonsense like "sixer!" sporadically over the last eight weeks and I have no clue what's going on honestly. His team of choice is the Mumbai Indians and apparently they were in the Indian Premier League finals, which was probably important to all of sports betting India but not so much to me, they did win by 1 though, so that's cool. Sometimes I think it wouldn't surprise me to find out he was so low for a gambling fix that he wasn't searching India horse racing sites for a fix like an addict. Honestly he yells "sixer!" at the weirdest times…

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Ok last time I'm going to mention this honestly, tomorrow we move on to new business but even the massive, awful rains couldn't keep people away from Comicpalooza. Overall I'm super proud of our city, Houston represented itself well, the floor had a great positive vibe, the stars were friendly, the events were great there was a ton of stuff to do. For those who don't know the city of Houston has been involved in the convention for the past few years and took it over completely last year and honestly they didn't do the best job running it. They more than made up for it this year, they did a good job with the kinds of guests they brought and the kind of vendors they brought it in. It can be a really tricky thing when a convention doesn't go right, I've worked events where things have been an issue, ask me in person, I have some stories, but thankfully this one went great.

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 some proceeds help fight cancer 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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Nick Caserio's history of drafting injury prone players has become a problem. Composite Getty Image.

Nick Caserio was hired to serve as the general manager (GM) of the Texans on January 7, 2021. Some saw it as another nod to the organization's obsession with the Patriots. Others saw it as the team finally getting their guy after pursuing him previously. They were even hit with a tampering charge while trying to talk to him about the job. Since he's been on the job, there have been highs and lows.

Recently, the news about Kenyon Green and Derek Stingley Jr put a stain on his tenure. Green was placed on season-ending injured reserve (IR) and Stingley Jr is expected to be placed on IR, likely missing six to eight weeks, per Aaron Wilson. Both guys were Caserio's 2022 first rounders. Both guys are starting to look like busts and have fans a little more than just upset.

Green's case was curious because he was said to have needed surgery before he tore his labrum during the Saints preseason game. He had knee surgery this past offseason. There were knee injury concerns when he was coming out of A&M. Adding to his injuries, Green has played poorly. To make matters worse, the Chargers drafted fellow guard Zion Johnson two picks later. Johnson played all 17 games last season as a rookie at right guard and has moved to left guard this season. The pick used to draft Green was part of a trade back with the Eagles. They used the 13th overall pick to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis, a guy at a position this team could desperately use.

Stingley Jr was a highly touted recruit coming into LSU as a freshman. He played as well as any corner in the country that year. Oh, and they won a national title with arguably one of the best teams in college football history. His net two years in Baton Rouge were marred with injuries. Some believed his junior year was more him holding back to stay healthy for the draft. It worked because he was taken third overall, one spot ahead of Sauce Gardner. Gardner went on to be an All Pro as a rookie. While he's surrounded by more talent on the Jets' defense, people will forever link them because Stingley Jr hasn't lived up to expectations. He missed six games last season and is set to miss at least that many this season. When he has played, he's looked okay. “Okay” isn't what you want from a guy drafted third overall ahead of the other guy who was widely considered better than him.

For the 2021 draft, Caserio was handcuffed. He had no first or second rounders, and made a few trades that lessened his draft pool from eight to five picks. Of the five guys drafted that year, only Nico Collins seems to be a player. The 2022 draft was more productive. Although Green and Stingley Jr were the headliners and haven't played up to the hype, the others are carrying the load. Jalen Pitre and Dameon PIerce alone make that draft class dope. This past draft was seen as the one to save the franchise so to speak. Getting C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr got the team a franchise quarterback and edge rusher with picks two and three overall. The price paid to move back up to three was hefty and puts more scrutiny on Anderson Jr. They appear, so far, to have also found a couple other nice players. Tank Dell being the hidden gem of this class.

While people can't, and shouldn't, base Caserio's performance strictly off of the guys he's drafted, one must call it into question. The '21 draft was a wash. The '22 draft looks suspect, but has some redeeming qualities. The '23 draft will most likely be his saving grace. But should it? Former Texans GM Rick Smith nailed almost every first rounder he drafted. Even he was almost run out of town because folks didn't like what he did. Why should Caserio be any different? So what if he cleaned up the mess by the previous regime! That's what he was hired to do!

“Keep that same energy!” That phrase is used when people try to hold others to different standards. Where's that energy everyone had for Bill O'Brien, Jack Easterby, Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, David Culley, and Lovie Smith? When others weren't performing well, their heads were called for. I see some people holding Caserio accountable. For the most part, it appears as if he's getting a bit of a pass. I'll be interested to see if this continues should the team has another subpar season. If that pick they traded to the Cardinals is another top 10 pick and the Browns pick the Texans own isn't...if Green can't come back and/or Stingley Jr doesn't show any signs of being a lockdown corner...then what? Let's hope none of this comes to fruition. If it does, we'll have to revisit this conversation.

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