THE NERD REPORT
Nerds around town: Fixing the Hedgehog, comic books and more
May 3, 2019, 6:40 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!
It's Friday and the weekend is now upon us. There are so many good times to be had and enjoyed but as you're getting crazy and living the life just remember to take a few minutes to think of others and be kind.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
Stuff happens all the time, sometimes great stuff and sometimes bad stuff. We never know when stuff is going to hit us and how it will hit us. You're asleep in bed when suddenly the wildfires that were three miles away when you went to bed are burning your house down and you and your loved ones barely get out in time. Now you don't have your wallet, extra clothes, even a car or a tent literally everything is burning, these are the times people like the American Red Cross step in and help. Make sure to donate and help out. #NerdsUnite
WELL THAT'S DIFFERENT
This week history was made as the internet actually did something good. They got the director of a movie to acknowledge they messed up and to move away from the decisions they've made. Sonic the Hedgehog after being universally panned and hated by honestly everyone in the whole entire world, is going to be redesigned to be closer to the version everyone knows and loves. The director of the film made a tweet and basically said, we get it, if we do this movie as is we will lose tons of money so lets fix the dumb hedgehog. I can't think of a ton of times that the internet has whined about something and it actually happened, and it was for the better. This is a completely odd moment. Everyone take a bow.
WHILE YOU'RE OUT
This weekend while you're going by the hardware store and hanging out at the mall food court, and going to little Bobby's birthday, make sure you swing by the comic book shop. Your local comic book store has all kinds of goodies and things to check out and this week there are some cool things out. DC comic's is launching a new event called DCeased which features a world where a virus has spread dangerously and quickly and the heroes of the DC universe are caught quite unaware. Tom King is the writer and he's a rising star in comic books and this is going to continue that rise. Also debuting this week is Marvel's Savage Avengers, Conan the Barbarian is now a part of the Marvel Universe and he joins up with a team of crazy tough badass killing machines and form their own team of Avengers. Wolverine, Elektra, Punisher and Venom are hanging out with Conan. Also this week in the world of Indy comics comes Dragonsblood #1, it looks like it might be just the book for Game of Thrones fans to check out, I recommend giving it a look.
JAWS
I just saw a preview for a new movie about a city being flooded by a hurricane and a woman in particular in this small flooded town being harassed by a killer Croc. The movie looks tense and scary and I'm sure it'll be interesting but overall there's nothing overly original about the idea or the concept and it all comes back to Jaws. Young Steven Spielberg created the modern summer blockbuster by building a mechanical shark named after a lawyer named Bruce who ate pretty college co eds as they partied all summer on the beach. The gigantic and terrifying shark at the time winds up attack and destroying a boat and then finally is killed when an oxygen tank lodged in his mouth is shot and he explodes (spoilers, sorry). It was the original, scary what's in the water movie and since then sharks have been terrifying to me and some little kid gets to grow up with an unhealthy fear of crocodiles because of this movie. Get excited.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
So I'm a little confused about something. Why on earth do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo? I know why Mexicans do, although it's not a great story, honoring a battle they lost in a bid for independence much in the same way that the Alamo became a rallying cry for Texans. The question that I'm getting at, is why do we celebrate it though? Why is Taco Cabana and whomever else giving away cheap margs and turning this thing into a three day party? How did we get to that? I'm sure people have the same question about St Patty's Day, I'm sure there are people thoroughly confused how these things became drinking festivals scheduled months out, with bands and crazy parties, but somehow we did and now the party just starts on the closest Friday for many. So be careful and be safe and be responsible and enjoy your now Cinco de Mayo (which makes no sense, but whatever).
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Friday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Monday 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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A lockout appears unavoidable! Photo via: Wiki Commons.
Looming over baseball is a likely lockout in December 2026, a possible management push for a salary cap and perhaps lost regular-season games for the first time since 1995.
“No one’s talking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the league’s obviously not going to like that.”
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.
Despite higher levels of luxury tax that started in 2022, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have pushed payrolls to record levels. The last small-market MLB club to win a World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 2015.
After signing outfielder Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract, New York opened this season with an industry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five times Miami’s $69 million, according to Major League Baseball’s figures. Using luxury tax payrolls, based on average annual values that account for future commitments and include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 million and on track to owe a record luxury tax of about $151 million — shattering the previous tax record of $103 million set by Los Angeles last year.
“When I talk to the players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. “I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.”
Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026, and management lockouts have become the norm, which shifts the start of a stoppage to the offseason. During the last negotiations, the sides reached a five-year deal on March 10 after a 99-day lockout, salvaging a 162-game 2022 season.
“A cap is not about a partnership. A cap isn’t about growing the game,” union head Tony Clark said Tuesday. “A cap is about franchise values and profits. ... A salary cap historically has limited contract guarantees associated with it, literally pits one player against another and is often what we share with players as the definitive non-competitive system. It doesn’t reward excellence. It undermines it from an organizational standpoint. That’s why this is not about competitive balance. It’s not about a fair versus not. This is institutionalized collusion.”
The union’s opposition to a cap has paved the way for record-breaking salaries for star players. Soto’s deal is believed to be the richest in pro sports history, eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal with the Dodgers signed a year earlier. By comparison, the biggest guaranteed contract in the NFL is $250 million for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Manfred cites that 10% of players earn 72% of salaries.
“I never use the word `salary’ within one of `cap,’” he said. “What I do say to them is in addressing this competitive issue that’s real we should think about whether this system is the perfect system from a players’ perspective.”
A management salary cap proposal could contain a salary floor and a guaranteed percentage of revenue to players. Baseball players have endured nine work stoppages, including a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that fought off a cap proposal.
Agent Scott Boras likens a cap plan to attracting kids to a “gingerbread house.”
“We’ve heard it for 20 years. It’s almost like the childhood fable,” he said. “This very traditional, same approach is not something that would lead the younger players to the gingerbread house.”