NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Direct TV vs. Disney, NFL is going crazy and great commercials

Nerds Around Town: Direct TV vs. Disney, NFL is going crazy and great commercials

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 and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This Saturday at 6 p.m. there's a walk to raise funds to cure Melanoma, called the Steps For Melanoma Walk. Check it out, look it up and donate or participate.

A GREAT DIVIDE

WWE is gearing up for its next chapter, with Smackdown moving to Friday's on Fox soon and they're talking about doing another draft and this time, not allowing for wildcards. So on Smackdown and Raw will be two distinct rosters with no cross over and no bleed over. There will be no "whoa what is so and so doing here" moments, they are basically creating three wrestling shows (once you factor in NXT on USA Wednesdays) and now there will be three separate brands. I don't know that splitting the baby so to speak, is a good idea.

AS THE NFL TURNS

Man this year has been crazy! We're down seven starting quarterbacks already, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Sam Darnold then Trevor Siemian and now Cam Newton is day to day, but beyond that two teams are historically bad, one on purpose it looks like, The Dolphins and the Jets on accident. They paid a lot of money to Leveon Bell and they still aren't sure what the heck they're doing out there. They looked awful against the Browns. Adam Vinatieri is talking about demons in his head after missing seven kicks in three games and we haven't even gotten to Antonio Brown. Honestly, what's next? The NFL has been fascinating and also my fantasy team sucks.

DIRECT TV VS DISNEY

It appears this month may be the last month that ESPN and the rest of the Disney family might be on Direct TV. ESPN has been putting info on their bottom line asking viewers to call Direct TV and complain, so Direct TV has started blacking out the ESPN bottom line when it mentions them. This is a crazy war between two very large entities, but let me be very clear. If Disney walks from Direct TV, I cut the cord. That simple.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

So while watching Smackdown, I noticed something odd, first an AEW wrestling TNT channel ad on the USA network WWE show. If TNT did that on purpose that is some great strategic ad buying during Smackdown. Also during USA's airing of Smackdown there was a commercial for Peacock, NBC's upcoming streaming service. There will literally be a streaming service from all sides. You will pick and choose and be miserable and lament your choices all the time.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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A whole new ballgame. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

As of 9:42 Central Daylight Saving Time Friday night, the Astros (and all other baseball players) are officially the Boys of Summer, officially so far as the season is concerned anyway. When the summer solstice arrived last year the Astros were nine games off the lead in the American League West. So in addressing the rhetorical axiom “what a difference a year makes,” the difference in the Astros’ case is a whopping 14 games as they start the weekend atop their division by five games. At this point in the season last year the Astros’ record in one-run games was a brutal 5-14. In 2025 they are 13-7 in games decided by the narrowest of margins.

That the Astros are just 4-5 in road games against the two worst teams in the American League is no big deal, other than that every game counts in the standings. Still, just as was losing two out of three at the pathetic White Sox earlier this season, it is no doubt disappointing to the Astros to have only gotten a split of their four-game set with the Athletics. The A’s had gone 9-28 in their last 37 games before the Astros arrived in West Sacramento. The former-Oaklanders took the first game and the finale, as the Astros’ offense played bi-polar ball over the four nights. Two stat-padding explosion games that totaled 24 runs and 35 hits were bookended by a puny one-run output Monday and Thursday’s 5-4 10-inning loss. Baseball happens. Nevertheless, as the Astros open their weekend set versus the Angels, they have gone 17-7 over their last 24 games to forge their five-game division lead.

The New York Yankees’ offense has been by a healthy margin the best attack in the American League so far this season. The reigning AL champions snapped a six-game losing streak Thursday. The Yankees mustered a total of six runs over those six losses, including being shutout in three consecutive games. The baseball season is the defining “it’s a marathon not a sprint” sport. With 162 games on the schedule, combined with the fact that the gap in winning percentage between the best teams and the worst teams is smaller than in any other sport, making much about a series, or week or two of games is misguided, apart from all the results mattering.

The future is now

Without context, statistics can tell very misleading stories. Cam Smith is having a fine rookie season and has the looks of a guy who can blossom into a bonafide star and be an Astro mainstay into the 2030s. But it’s silliness that has anyone talking about the big month of June he’s having. Superficially, sure, going into Thursday’s game Smith’s stat line for the month read a .321 batting average and .874 OPS. Alas, that was mostly about Smith’s two monster games in the consecutive routs of the Athletics. Over those two games Cam went seven for nine with two home runs and two doubles. Over the other 14 games he’s played this month Smith is batting .213 with an OPS below .540.

Cam Smith is a long-term contender for best acquisition of Dana Brown’s tenure as General Manager. If his career was a single game Smith is still in the first inning, but if his career was a stock it’s a buy and hold. If the Astros were for some reason forced to part with all but two players in the organization, I think the two they would hold on to are Smith and Hunter Brown. Jeremy Pena would be another strong candidate, but he turns 28 in September and is two seasons from free agency (unless the rules change in the next collective bargaining agreement). Smith is 22 and under Astros’ control for another five seasons, he’s not even presently eligible for salary arbitration until the 2028 season. Brown turns 27 in August and is currently ineligible for free agency until after the 2028 season.

Angels in the outfield

Hunter Brown pitches opposite Yusei Kikuchi Friday night. Kikuchi was Dana Brown’s big in-season move last season, and Kikuchi was excellent with the Astros which set up to get the three-year 63 million dollar deal he landed with the Halos. After a slow start to his season Kikuchi has been outstanding the past month and a half, with a 2.28 earned run average over his last nine starts. Brown’s 1.88 season ERA is second-best in the big leagues among pitchers with the innings pitched to qualify in the category. Only Pirates’ stud Paul Skenes has a better mark, barely so at 1.85.

Kikuchi was a stellar rental who helped the Astros stretch their consecutive postseasons streak to eight. There was an absurd amount of vitriol over what Dana Brown gave up for him. Joey Loperfido is 26 years old and having a middling season at AAA. Will Wagner is 26 years old and back in the minors after batting .186 with the Blue Jays. Jake Bloss is the one guy who maaaaaybe some day the Astros wish they still had. Bloss is out into 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me 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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