NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Celebrities, Titanic, and X Men movie news

May 30, 2019, 5:41 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!

Just like that Thursday has popped it's head up and we're all excited about it, it's almost the weekend.

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Feeding America is a great cause and a great group to donate to. The reality is that even here in the greatest country on Earth lots of people go hungry every night, including children. Feeding America is trying to fix that for people, so help them literally feed America. Go online and donate today, it's a great cause. #NerdsUnite

NEW HOLLYWOOD

So this story crosses both esports and pop culture so I'll talk about it here and we'll see which way it goes. Celebrities are the new investing wave crashing into esports with names like Drake, Kevin Durant, and Michael Jordan joining different ownership groups in the past year or two. Mark Cuban invested in an esports betting and news site called Unikrn which is trying to be the place for all esports action. It's interesting to see this massive influx of cash, Michael Jordan bought into aXiomatic which is a group that owns Team Liquid who famously won $11 million dollars in the DOTA2 championship in 2017. If that number didn't make your eyes bulge for a second then you aren't thinking about it, a championship tournament for a video game with an $11 million prize. To me that brings back memories of a WSOP Main Event kind of thing, when the bubble was building and all kinds of people were getting very involved and ESPN was airing tournaments live, it isn't fair to call this the beginning, but this is a clear sign of the growth and health of an industry.

SAY WHAT?!

I learned something new the other day and I don't know if this is just me, so maybe you guys can tell me. There was a fire in the Titanic that was burning even before passengers boarded the ship headed for America. Apparently in those old ships they held 1.5 million tons of coal in their storage area for the boilers to burn so as to power the ship. Somehow there was a fire in that coal supply and even though there was supposed to be a massive team of firefighters apparently only eight stayed on board to fight the fire and the decision was made by ownership to set sail with the fire burning anyway, so over 2,000 people got onto a burning ship and set sail for America. That is insanity. This is the kind of careless and negligent decision making that forces people to make laws anyway. I had never heard this but apparently the investigators and historians are all in agreement that the ship was burning before it ever even left shore.

X MEN IS COMING

So the actors have all been making the media rounds in preparation for X Men Dark Phoenix coming out and something interesting recently made it's way out to the press. Part of the reason for reshoots is because the planned ending very closely paralleled another movie's ending that did wind up releasing already. There's a ton of super hero movies out in that window so it's hard to say who they accidentally copied but my bet is actually on Venom. It's an earth based tale of power overcoming morality and it has space ships in the beginning and end of the film. My pick is Venom, also it ends with Eddie Brock going into the water and in the comics the ocean is where Phoenix is found later by the Hellfire Club.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

So somehow it's summer suddenly. We went from easy to deal with temperatures and heck even cool temperatures within the last few weeks to suddenly now we're going to melt in our cars. It's crazy how fast that all happens, and now it'll be 100 degrees for the next 5 months, because hey, it's Texas. Great, just great.

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 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 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.

Mike Florio lays out the only way the Texans would trade Deshaun Watson

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THE PALLILOG

Let's discuss two intriguing storylines for the Astros

Baseball is right around the corner. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

The Texans and Rockets are disasters, so bring on the Astros! Even if they weren't disasters, bring on the Astros! Their spring training opener is Sunday, their regular season opener one month from Monday. Alexander Pope wrote "hope springs eternal." I hear he played a pretty decent shortstop. All 30 Major League Baseball teams can be hopeful in March. The Astros have plenty to be hopeful about and plenty about which to be wary. A couple of early storylines: 1. Yuli Gurriel admitted he was unacceptably overweight last season. It would be great for the Astros if that explains most of Gurriel's pathetic performance as opposed to age catching up with him. 2. Jose Altuve is in great spirits and health. His MVP level days of 2016 and 2017 are likely gone for good, but getting the Altuve of 2018 or 2019 would be a tremendous boost. The Altuve of 2020 was one of the worst players in MLB.

And now to the dueling debacles…

Rough stretch for the Rockets

The Rockets are awful. They sit with 11 wins and 19 losses. Just three seasons ago they lost 17 games the entire season. They are routinely non-competitive. They lug a nine game losing streak to the court Friday night in Tampa against the Toronto Raptors. Among the losses are blowouts by 20, 22, 25, and 29 points. All of those routs came against teams with losing records. By NBA standards the Rockets' roster stinks. The injured Christian Wood is the only player they have who is or projects to be an average or better starter. John Wall's contract is an anvil.

That they are this bad is actually one of the few silver linings to the Rockets' near term future. The Rockets only retain their first round pick this summer if it falls in the top four of the draft. The Rockets currently have the fourth worst record in the NBA, just one half game ahead of third worst! Where the pick falls comes down to which draft lottery ping pong ball combination is drawn, but the worse their record the better shot the Rockets have of being in the top four. If not in the top four, the Rockets settle for the lowest of their own, Oklahoma City's, or Miami's first rounder. That's probably the Heat pick, and probably not in the top 15.

The longest losing streak in Rockets' franchise history is 17. During their expansion season the San Diego Rockets lost 17 straight. The longest losing streak in Houston Rockets' history is 15 games during the 2001-02 season. They finished the season 28-54. How many of their five most frequent 2001-02 starters can you name? Answer below.

The worst team in Rockets' history was the tanking and awful 1982-83 club that finished 14-68. Longest losing streak that season? 10. The first 10 games of the season.

Releasing JJ Watt might have been a mistake

The Texans are poised to add yet another feather to their dunce cap if J.J. Watt signs with the Packers, Bills, Titans, Roughnecks, Inmates (The Longest Yard) or anybody else for 15-plus million dollars per season. Such a deal would indicate at least one team would have been willing to give up a decent draft pick (say a third rounder) for Watt and the one year 17.5 million that was left on his contract. If the Texans think they score points for doing Watt "a solid" in setting him free they are absurdly mistaken. The Texans need all the draft capital they can get. J.J. Watt will always have a hallowed place in Texans' lore but they owed Watt nothing. Over the last five seasons he played just three seasons worth of football and was paid 82.5 million dollars for them.

More Deshaun Watson drama

Meanwhile, Deshaun Watson reportedly directly told new Texans Head Coach Edward Smith that Watson has no interest in playing for him. It's nothing personal against David Culley (Edward Smith captained the Titanic) but Watson wants the Texans' organization permanently in his rearview mirror. We'll see if Cal McNair and new General Manager Nick Caserio have the stomach to not trade Watson through the draft. If the Dolphins offer Tua Tagavailoa, the third and eighteenth picks in the first round, the fourth pick in the second round, and their first round pick in 2022, the Texans should make the trade and move on.

Buzzer Beaters:

1. Rockets' starters by most starts in 2001-02: Cuttino Mobley (74) Kelvin Cato (73) Kenny Thomas (71) Steve Francis (56) Moochie Norris (26).

2. It can't soothe Rocket fan nerves that the best bet for the Eastern Conference Final matchup is James Harden's Nets vs. Daryl Morey's 76ers.

3. Most frustrating 2021 Houston-visiting player appearances: Bronze-Harden the Net Wednesday Silver-George Springer the Blue Jay in May Gold-Watt the Titan this fall? Would he really sign with the Titans?

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