THE NERD REPORT
Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, streaming wars, esports and more
May 6, 2019, 10:17 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!
Awww yeah, it's Monday!!! Get pumped and get excited for the beginning of the week, this is the most important part of the week because a great Monday means your whole week is great.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This is a new one it dots all my "I"s and crosses all my "t"s, it's called "Crits for Cancer." Crits as in critical rolls, as in Dungeons and Dragons. These guys find people in need who are suffering from cancer and they go out of their way to try and help to raise money for the kids through the thing that everyone loves, Dungeons and Dragons! You have to check these guys out, it's for a great cause and you're going to feel really good about yourself and really nerdy, it's a win-win. #NerdsUnite
COMICPALOOZA WEEK!
Well it's here, it's Comicpalooza week. This is like my Superbowl if it was a week long and even more awesome. Today I'm going to focus on the guests that are coming, Emilia Clarke, Nathalie Emmanuel, Grant Gustin, Wilmer Valderrama and so many more. I'm excited because the Mother of Dragons is a big freakin' deal. That's a big relevant celebrity here for the event. Also the main cast of The Tick are here as well, and I have a little inside information on this just to explain to people how big of a deal this whole thing is. Very early this year, with my day job at Nerd Thug Radio, we talked to some people potentially about booking a very large show in a certain convention center not in Houston. So I reached out to the booking agents to some of these people and I came upon the idea of having the cast of The Tick come in for the event, that would be a great get I felt like. I was told by their booking agent that while the other actors live in the states and would be reasonable to get, Peter Serafinowicz lives in England and wouldn't come over to the states to do a smaller event like the one I was planning. So Comicpalooza is big enough to be on his booking agent's radar as a big enough show to justify the cost of bringing in The Tick himself. Which is pretty sweet.
THE LATEST IN THE STREAMING WARS
The latest news out of the streaming wars is interesting. It looks like Disney+ is planning to go ahead and order a second season of The Mandalorian and bring back series creator, showrunner and executive producer Jon Favreau. It must be testing well or the dailies must be looking great because no one has even seen an actual trailer for the show let alone do we know that it will be available day one with the network, so it's a lot of confidence to put into a show with a large production costs, but perhaps this is on purpose, to help save some of the costs, although at least initially it seems unlikely that costs will be a large factor of concern for Disney+. The first goal is get subscribers, then start analyzing budgets after you've built up a base and know what your service can afford. That is essentially how Netflix operated the past few years and it has helped its growth tremendously. The other bit of streaming news is that Netflix just dropped the highest grossing movie this year in China, "The Wandering Earth" without any prep work or even putting it on upcoming lists. I suspect this is to test the viability of these projects which are essentially new content here in the states without marketing support. In other words, Netflix is curious how much press it needs to generate for these projects, to see if it's worth the money, the less they have to advertise, the happier they'll be.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT CONTINUES
The Houston Outlaws have lost again. This is a franchise that is struggling to find it's footing for the last three stages of the first season and now through two stages of Season two. The team isn't working well together, the coaching staff seems to fail in its scouting and preparation for its opponents and there doesn't seem to be enthusiasm from the players as they are sitting there playing the games. Ultimately this seems to all come from one root issue, The Houston Outlaws are currently up for sale already. I'm not sure how this happened, who wasn't financially prepared for year two in a start up league, but none the less, here we are. The culture seems to be happily settled in mediocrity, actually technically worse than mediocrity because with twenty teams they are near the bottom of the league. The hope is that new ownership will invest in the team, get the coaches we need, make some strong team chemistry decisions and we'll go from there. That would be a great restart to a franchise that started so well but has so quickly fallen to the bottom of the league.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
Once again, officiating is in the headlines again. With the winner of the Kentucky Derby being the horse who finished second due to an officiating decision that disqualified the horse that crossed the line first and crossed with a good lead mind you. Also the two minute report came out for the Rocket's game three win over the Warriors and it pointed out two Houston fouls this time. The reason it's silly is because the story can't seem to shift back to the basketball of the series because the referees keep making it about them. I think the poor officiating is become a real problem and I'm also very concerned about this Rockets team winning if they are going to keep having stretches where they go ice cold from the three point line.
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 $.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.
Sunday night matchups don't get much exciting than this, as the Houston Texans host the Detroit Lions in prime-time at NRG.
The Lions come into this game on a six-game winning streak looking every bit of the best team in football. Houston on the other hand has lost two of their last three games with a struggling offense unable to protect their quarterback.
CJ Stroud has only one passing touchdown over this span, and is clearly having trouble adjusting to life without Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins.
If Houston is going to come away with an upset victory, they will need big performances from Tank Dell and Joe Mixon. After catching 4 passes against the Colts two weeks ago, Mixon not only failed to catch a single pass against the Jets, but he wasn't even targeted.
Considering the Texans' offensive line issues, choosing not to use Mixon as a pass catcher is hard to fathom. Especially since he and Dell are the team's top 2 playmakers.
What's working in the Texans' favor?
They play this game at home, where they are undefeated this season. A lot of the team's protection issues have popped up on the road, so communication should be easier for the offense on their home turf.
Bulls on Parade
We have good news and bad news about the defense this week. On the positive side, Azeez Al-Shaair and Jimmy Ward have returned to practice. If they're able to contribute on Sunday night, that would give the defense a lift.
And now for the bad news. Will Anderson has yet to practice this week after rolling his ankle in the Jets game. If he is unable to practice on Friday, it's hard to imagine he'll be active against Detroit.
X-factors
The Texans have to show some improvement on the offensive line this week.
Houston must lean on Joe Mixon again, as Nico Collins isn't expected to play.
Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best receivers in the league, and he does most of his damage from the slot. If the Texans continue to deploy Jalen Pitre against premier receivers in man coverage, St. Brown is going to light up the scoreboard.
What would a win over the Lions mean to Houston?
The Texans are no longer considered a true championship contender because of their losses to the Packers, Vikings, and Jets. In fact, the Bills are the only team with a winning record that the Texans have beaten.
An upset win over the streaking Lions would change that narrative.
What does Vegas think?
The Lions are currently favored by 3.5 and the total is set at 49 points.
Don't miss the full preview of Texans-Lions in the video above!
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