THE NERD REPORT

Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, Spider Man and the XFL

Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, Spider Man and the XFL
HBO IMAGES EMILIA CLARKE

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.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
The future is bright! Composite Getty Image.

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!


*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!

https://houston.sportsmap.com/advertise

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome