NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: MNF sucks, South Park and Star Wars
Oct 22, 2019, 5:19 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 and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
We're inching closer to Extra Life's big event on Nov. 2. I'm super pumped about this and will be at Adventure Begins gaming for charity for 24 hours. It of course benefits The Children's Miracle Network and I am super excited for this. Let's do it.
THE TRAILER
So in the middle of one of the worst Monday Night Football's in recent history the final Star Wars Episode 9 trailer was debuted. Honestly it looked GREAT. I am not a fan of the Skywalker family story that the nine main episodes of Star Wars tells. I like the universe and the idea of Jedis and Bounty Hunters and space and all of this crazy stuff but the truth is I am so tired of hearing about the same six people in this MASSIVE universe. Show me something new and this movie looks like it does that at least a little bit. Even though this trilogy has been about the four new characters Poe, Rey, Kylo Ren and Finn it's also been about the same people of the last three movies who were all hinted at in the previous trilogy and ugh, just tell new stories already!
MONDAY NIGHT TRAINWRECK
Can we talk about Monday Night Football? This is some of the worst programming all week and I love football. How is it that ESPN/Disney is going to spend ALL OF THIS MONEY to get Monday Night Football and then put some truly awful television talent on it and then even worse, air games like Patriots vs Jets? Is there no flex schedule option? Was someone projecting the Jets under a first-year head coach to be any good? Who screwed this up? Also, the Hyundai Genesis halftime performances have been an assault in both music and visual arts. The black and white thing EVERY WEEK isn't special if it's EVERY WEEK, and the musical acts are all pop acts of minor importance, I say that knowing full well Charlie Puth is a big deal on the charts and Blink 182 is still one of my favorite bands, but come on, move the needle. Get someone. DO something. And seriously, fire the announcers, they are two of the worst. They need to get two guys who aren't traditional, forget former athlete and broadcast journalist. Give me an X's and O's guy fine, but then get me Bill Burr or something. Somebody who is going to use the four hours of television time to try and entertain the audience. I'm not just saying this because the game was awful, I'm also saying this because even when the game is good, the announcers are still awful.
KINGS OF ANIMATED COMEDY
For a long time I would have said that Seth Macfarlane was the king of animated comedy with an incredible nine figure deal with Fox which was also partly a development and first look deal that made him the highest paid writer in television. Suddenly there's some very real competition from the unlikeliest of sources, the South Park Guys. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are looking to sign a massive deal, alongside their partner Viacom, for control of the entire 300 episode library of South Park. Four years ago Hulu paid almost $200 million for streaming rights to the catalog, but this new deal is also television rights so the asking price is rumored to be around $500 million dollars. That is a big, round number. That is "F You" Money if I've ever seen it, it also means in the span of five years the rights to South Park have been bought twice totaling almost $700 million dollars. All for four kids in jackets cursing. Does anyone remember the outrage this show caused in the early days of it's release basically 20 years ago? My how far we've come.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row for a move next week, nowhere far just across my area of town but honestly, it is always such a pain in the ass to move. I just hate getting everything settled and messed with and now with me doing all of this extra stuff and using the mail system so much, it's even more of a pain in the ass.
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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Entering week eight in the NFL, the Houston Texans are in second place in the AFC South. At 3-3, I wonder how many people actually saw them entering week eight with a legit shot at winning the AFC South? Be honest. There were very few people who thought it was possible. The most hardcore fans would say they had a shot, but I wonder how many of them truly believed? Now that we've got about a third of the season as a sample size, it's time to rethink things.
Watching the development of C.J. Stroud is the primary factor in this reconsideration. He's grown into the franchise guy. I'm talking about the leader this team needs. Dare I say, the face of the franchise? Any time a team leans heavily on the pass game, it's typically from a vet. For a rookie to do what he's doing is beyond impressive. If the run game ever gets going, this offense will be really scary.
The defense has some work to do, but you can see the vision. Will Anderson Jr and Jonathan Greenard are a nice tandem off the edge. The safety play of Jalen Pitre has been a revelation since he stepped on the field. Christian Harris has the athleticism, but needs more reps. All these guys are still on rookie contracts. All of them seem to fit DeMeco Ryans' system very well. Getting Derek Stingley Jr back and healthy will be huge. His play will be another major key.
Looking at the division, the Jags (5-2) were picked by many to win the AFC South. In yards per game, they have the 4th ranked run defense, but the 31st ranked pass defense. The Texans are pass heavy right now, so this feeds into their plans. This series historically belongs to the Texans. They lead the 43 game series 29-14 and are 10-1 in their last 11 vs. the Jags. To say the Texans own them wouldn't necessarily be untrue. They share them with Shad Khan actually.
The team just behind the Texans in the standings are the Colts. Their hot shot rookie quarterback, Anthony Richardson, is out for the season after shoulder surgery. While they have the best defense in the division, their offense just lost a dynamic playmaker at the most important position. Sorry, but Gardner Minshew and Sam Ehlinger do not strike fear in anyone. If either of those guys were that good, one of them would've been starting over the rookie. That, or they'd be starting somewhere else. And that vaunted defense isn't as scary this year either, giving up over 350 yards per game.
Then there are the Titans. At 2-4, they're resting at the bottom of the barrel in this division. Derrick Henry was the subject of trade rumors in the offseason. He's responded with a 4.3 per carry average, only a tick below his career 4.7 average. They brought back Ryan Tannehill after drafting Malik Willis last year and Will Levis this last draft. Willis is the backup and Levis is the emergency guy. Neither could beat out Tannehill, and he was expected to be cut in favor of one of those guys. That tells you all you need to know about the Titans. They're terrible and the Texans should beat them up.
While the Texans are still putting their team together and have a few pieces left to fill, they clearly have enough to be able to win this division. The Jags are good, but aren't scary. The Colts don't have enough firepower and their defense isn't as good. The Titans are awful. They can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag. If the Texans can hold it together, they can win this division. The Jags are their main competition and they own them. Once this team figures out a few things and add a few pieces, it could be their division for a long time to come. They'll have to keep pace with the changes their division makes, of course, but I like where this is going. You have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you can run. The crawling starts with having a winning season and winning the division for the first time since 2019.