Nerds Around Town: Josh Gordon, Jay Z and Case Keenum

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

Alright, let's whip this week's ass! Let's make this the week that everything goes right!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This week I found a very odd thing that I want to point everyone's attention towards, it's this Saturday's James Harden & Friend's Charity Concert w/ Secret Special Guests. It's at Revention Music Center and it's at 6pm on Saturday and tickets are on sale. That's literally ALL of the info. I don't know yet who it benefits or who is performing, but I do love a good mystery. Check it out!

THE JOSH GORDON DILEMMA

The NFL has announced that Josh Gordon will be reinstated to the league and effective this week can be activated and placed on the active roster now. My question is why? I'm not trying to belittle people who deal with addiction or take a strong stance and mock someone's situation, but honestly, how many chances should one screw up deserve? He'll be a 28-year-old restricted free agent, and while all accounts are that he is a great worker and a great presence in a locker room, this will be his third chance to come back to football, all allegedly due to failed drug tests for marijuana. A 28-year-old restricted free agent is a bit of an oddity in the NFL because most guys become a restricted free agent their fifth year in the league. So usually around 25 or 26 you see guys getting this chance to be in a prove it year for their "money" deal if they are worth it or to just get a second contract if they're a lower tier talent. With Gordon, the thing that made him interesting was a high-end top speed and his ability to win the first step, well at age 28 players start to slow down and obviously for all the compliments, here's a guy you can't count on. So again, why are they reinstating him?

JAY Z HAS SEVERAL PROBLEMS

Jay Z has signed a deal with the NFL to help advise their entertainment things and create opportunity and add value to their social programs and is reportedly in talks to buy a piece of a team. This is the thing that needs to happen, this is the thing that can help fuel the change everyone else wants to see. A lot of people are taking shots at Jay Z for this, including Eric Reid and other prominent members of both the black community and the various activist groups who have stood with Colin Kaepernick. There are people who think this is a betrayal, I'm going to be honest, I completely disagree, there is no amount of yelling from the outside that is going to change the hearts of the people inside. The only way you change those hearts is by replacing the people. Jay Z is an ally to the black community and obviously has had his own issues with the police in his past, there is no doubt he sees the issues at play and the optics involved. But it's the job of the icons of communities seeking more to create the opportunities for their communities. Jay Z as an owner opens the door for more black people in front office positions, scouting and personnel and coaching positions, and to say otherwise is to miss the obvious. Jay Z is going to do for his people what he's always done and saying that this is something that crosses a line or that him making money while doing this is wrong isn't seeing the big picture. Some people only respect money and power, and pretty soon they'll have to respect Jay Z too.

THIS AGAIN?

There's been a lot of talk about reboots and revamps over the past few years and two more have gained a lot of traction here lately that I think bears discussing. One is a Mortal Kombat movie, I think for me this is more of a "why?" than anything else and a Kevin Smith led reboot/continuation of He-Man Masters of the Universe. I guess my first question for the He-Man relaunch is the same as the Mortal Kombat question, why? Beyond that, where did He-Man's story end? It was a toy with a cartoon, I have no concept of where this property is even supposed to be and what is the status of all the villains and what not. For Mortal Kombat, beyond that incredible Youtube teaser for a series there has never been a time where people said they loved or wanted more Mortal Kombat on any kind of screen, as either a TV show or a movie. The last two movies were awful and the question of "why?" is one that I keep circling back to. I do love He-Man and I would watch a Mortal Kombat movie, I suppose it's all a question of how much am I willing to pay to watch them?

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

It looks like in Washington that Case Keenum might start for the Washington Redskins. If that happens, he'll be my first REAL example of someone who always gets the best advice from his decision making people. This would be the third team he's started on that honestly, he has no business starting on. I'm not going to kill anyone for two years ago when Minnesota went through their whole depth chart worth of back up quarterbacks, although being in the right place as the third quarterback was a great help. The reality is somehow his agent parlayed his one good season into big money and one starting year in Denver where Elway couldn't see the fraud. So the Texans and the Broncos both tried him when they really shouldn't have and now it looks like on purpose Washington is due to make the same mistake, congrats Team Keenum.

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.

josh gordon case keenum jay z nerds around town

The Astros beat the Padres, 3-2. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Isaac Paredes hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning after Christian Walker's two-run homer in the sixth tied it up, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night.

WALKER LASER. TIE GAME.#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/wvhvQ7EKIi
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 20, 2025

Paredes hit a bloop single to short center field with two outs off San Diego’s Jeremiah Estrada (0-1), who had allowed two hits in 10 1/3 innings before Saturday.

Walker, who was moved out of the cleanup spot for the first time after batting .159 through the first 19 games, homered on a 1-0 sweeper from Michael King with two outs, his second of the season.

Bryan Abreu worked a scoreless eighth inning and Josh Hader, on his bobblehead giveaway night, pitched a scoreless ninth and got former Padres teammate Yuli Gurriel to fly out to end the game. Tayler Scott (1-1) worked two innings of relief and earned the win.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his seventh homer of the season in the third inning. Manny Machado helped add to an early lead when he followed a Tatis single and stolen base with an RBI double in the fifth inning for the Padres, who lost back-to-back games for the second time this season.

Outfielder Tirso Ornelas, who signed with the Padres in 2016, made his major league debut. The 25-year-old Ornelas was called up from Triple-A El Paso where he was hitting .281. His journey to Houston was almost as trying as his climb to the big leagues. He had two flights canceled, delaying his arrival, and was inserted as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and flied out.

Key Moment

Paredes’ RBI single in the seventh, which gave Houston the lead.

Key stat

Houston has consecutive wins for the first time this season after beating the Padres 6-4 on Friday.

Up next

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (1-2, 4.50 ERA) opposes RHP Dylan Cease (1-1, 6.64 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.

houston astros astros

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