THE NERD REPORT
Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, Spider Man and the XFL
May 7, 2019, 7:03 am
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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!
Tuesday is upon us people, lets make sure we go out of our way to crush this week. It's the first full week of the month and here is where you hit quotas and achieve goals.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
So for my spotlight this week I'm focusing on a charity that I've partnered with, Crits for Cancer. They are awesome, you have to check these guys out. They're nerds with hearts of gold and they are raising money to help people with cancer handle the financial situations that come up from being sick because we live in a very weird place when it comes to health. #NerdsUnite
COMICPALOOZA WEEK
That's right, this week is a big deal. Comicpalooza is this week and honestly I'm pumped. Today we're going to focus on the panels. There are all kinds of panels for all kinds of different things whatever your interest may be. If you're into cosplaying, or Doctor Who, or making comic books or hosting a podcast/radio show *AHEM* there are panels for you to go to and pick the brains of people who are in the boat that you want to be in. It's an awesome experience and one I highly recommend, coming up in the convention scene I had sat in many panels and then with the success of Nerd Thug Radio I now have the opportunity to host panels, last year we hosted three panels, two on podcasting and one on wrestling. This year we are booked to host three more panels, a podcasting 101 panel on Friday, a podcasting 102 panel on Saturday and a wrestling panel on Sunday. It's always a lot of fun and a big honor to talk to people and help them understand the things that are holding them back from going after something they really want. So this year, check out some of the panels, maybe even come say hi and let me know you enjoy the blog.
DID YOU SEE THAT?!
The second trailer for Spider Man Far From Home dropped yesterday and holy moley, yeah I said it, holy moley. This is the first time they can show some of their post Endgame "cards" and the reality is things just got very interesting. Picking up where Endgame left off for our young Spidey, he's mourning the loss of his mentor and like third father figure at this point, Tony Stark and coping with the fact that the world needs an Iron Man. This leads to Mysterio being from another dimension, say what? I wonder how much of that is accurate, how much of this is misdirection? The reason I say that is because illusion is Mysterio's bag. He literally tricks you into seeing things that aren't real and makes you believe things that aren't true. So is he really from another dimension? We'll see. Also, the title is now even better. Far from home, cause he might go to another dimension. Awesome.
EQUALITY FOR ALL
Riot Games, the maker of League of Legends, one of the biggest competitive video games created is struggling with a massive employee problem. It's being sued by several former employees for violating gender discrimination laws and gender pay gap laws in California, this is important for tons of reasons. The first one is that women in video games are super important, it's important to make sure the girls who want to create and build just like the other nerds are allowed to and treated fairly and before this devolves into backwards conversations about what's right and not right let me make this super simple, if your daughter came home from school tomorrow and said the teachers gave her less time to eat lunch than the boys because boys are big and tough and girls are sweet and dainty, you'd be mad. So apply that rule to the rest of the world and you suddenly understand fairness in the workplace. The employees are so upset not only by the issue but also by an apparent move by the employer to force arbitration on the issue citing an agreement all new employees signed losing their ability to sue even in the face of basic fairness discrimination practices, current employees staged a walk out yesterday in solidarity of the former employees and out of embarrassment in how their employer has handled things thus far. This is a fascinating story, stay tuned.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
The XFL announced a crazy set of television agreements yesterday with just about everyone, including ESPN, ABC, Fox and anyone else who would take them. Some people may be wondering why? They may be saying, but the AAF failed, so why do this again? The truth is, that's not really the case. The AAF didn't fail so much as someone bought in mid season and took advantage of the deal he made to acquire technology that the league was developing. I know that sounds like a plot to a Bond movie, but it's the truth. The reality of all this is very simple, the AAF was working on sports tracking real time data based software that they thought in time would help make the NFL analytics better and perhaps had some betting implications. The guy who bought them saw something that the gambling industry will have a lot of interest in, and that industry is a couple billion dollars a year. So forget being a minor league NFL, be the app that all gamblers need to win. Fast forward to Vince McMahon and honestly I think this will work, the AAF had decent television numbers before people realized the quality of the football was lacking. If the XFL takes the time to let coaches coach and players learn the plays, there's a good chance this league could be something much better than people are expecting. We'll see.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Tuesday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Wednesday 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 $.50 from every shirt is donated to a good cause 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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It’s a long baseball season, sure the Astros have started 4-8, and there are plenty of fingers to point around. But there’s no need to push the panic button.
Not yet.
Last year, the Astros didn’t start much better – they were 5-7 after a dozen games. It just seemed different, though. Nobody was wringing hands over the slow start. After all, the Astros were the defending World Series champions, coming off a 106-win season and figured to make mincemeat of the American League West again. Business as usual.
This year is different. The Astros are losing games in very un-Astros-like fashion. While the starting pitching has been surprisingly fine, at least the starters healthy enough to take the field, the bullpen has been a mess. The back end relievers, supposedly the strongest in all of baseball, have been disappointing. Bryan Abreu’s earned run average is 5.79. Ryan Pressly’s ERA is a sky-high 11.57 and closer Josh Hader, the best shutdown in the bigs, is at 6.00. The Astros are losing games late.
The Astros starting rotation is comprised mostly of seat-fillers. The Astros are sitting in the doctor’s waiting room for Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers to be declared fit for battle. McCullers’ contribution to the team in recent years has primarily been confined to H-E-B commercials.
Impatient fans and copy-hungry media need a target to blame for the Astros’ slow start and they’ve zero’d in on first baseman Jose Abreu.
For good reason. Abreu, 37, a former American League MVP, is being paid 19.5 million this year and next. He is having a miserable time at the plate. Originally slated for No. 5 in the batting order, now dropped to No. 7 and sinking in the west, Abreu is hitting a paltry .088. But that number actually is deceptively positive. He has three hits (all singles) in 34 at bats, with 12 strikeouts, no home runs and no RBI. Frankly one of Abreu's singles was a pity hit from a friendly scorekeeper who could have given Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. an error on Abreu’s weak grounder Tuesday night.
We can go all-analytics and brain-busting stats to explain Abreu’s troubles at the plate. But let’s use simple baseball language: Abreu is horrible. He’s done. Maybe it’s time for the Astros to cut bait. He is untradeable.
Abreu had a disastrous 2023 season, batting .237, the lowest average of his 11-year career. But after 12 games last year, he was hitting .271, not bad at all. Or as Larry David would say, pret-tay, pret-tay, pre-tay good.
This year he’s fallen off the end of the Earth. Fans groan as he swings meekly at breaking balls outside the zone. Or he fails to catch up to 95 mph-plus. Or he can’t connect on low inside pitches. Look, when you’re batting .088, it’s all bad.
Last year, the Astros actually had two, as Little Leaguers put it, automatic outs in the lineup. Abreu hit .237 and catcher Martin Maldonado blasted .191.
This year, it’s a tight battle between who’s the worst of the worst. Maldy is hitting .091 with two hits in 22 at bats and no RBI for Abreu’s old team, the Chicago White Sox. Abreu is hitting .088 for Maldonado’s old team, the Astros. This could go down to the last week of the season.
If Abreu is still with the Astros at season’s end. The Astros are no longer the high exalted dominant force in the American League West. They can’t afford an .088 hitter in the lineup. They can’t play eight against nine.
It didn’t help when manager Joe Espada recently said, “I got a ton of confidence in Abreu. I'm not going to talk about strategy. José Abreu has been a really good hitter for a very long time, and I have 100 percent confidence in José that, at some point, he's going to start hitting.”
How long is at some point? Didn’t Astros fans go through this last year with manager Dusty Baker refusing to sit Maldonado despite Maldy killing rallies in a tight pennant race?
The Astros don’t have a strong support system, especially backing Abreu at first base. But there are options. Mauricio Dubon is a jack of all trades. He could play first. Despite the funny line in Moneyball, first base statistically is the easiest position to play in baseball. Backup catcher Victor Caratini can fill the gap until the Astros sign a free agent first baseman.
Or the Astros could do something that would light a fire under fans: call up rookie Joey Loperfido, who’s belted five homers and driven in 13 RBI in 10 games for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.