NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Celebrities, Titanic, and X Men movie news
May 30, 2019, 6:41 am
NERDS AROUND TOWN
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo 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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