NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Overwatch 2, Blizzard's China Problem and Extra Life
Nov 6, 2019, 6:25 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
Tomorrow we'll shout out a new charity event, today we celebrate all of the hard work that went into Extra Life. Helping the Adventure Begins in Conroe earn over $7k for the cause was a true pleasure. In donations they raised around $3600 and then in hourly donations there was another estimated $3000 raised, it was a great and exhausting and trying time. 25 hours of streaming and working and gaming and hosting and entertaining, it was intense but totally worth it.
BLIZZARD
Blizzard announced/confirmed Overwatch 2 and released a trailer called "Zero Hour". As usual its cinematically awesome, all of the little videos they've released over the years have been amazing and there's no question they are the undisputed kings of great cinematics for their video games, however looming like a shadow over what should have been awesome news was China and the Hong Kong controversy.
THE CHINA STORY
So in a way all of this still starts with Daryl Morey's tweet about standing with Hong Kong. That tweet mired the NBA and its players in this awkward place where capitalism dictates they expand forever into more and more complicated markets but then American pride dictates that we crush people who bow down to the whims of a communist government that oppresses the freedoms of its people while cheaply making our iPhones and supporting our entertainment industry. The spotlight on American companies and the Chinese markets bled into everything including video games. There, a prominent eSports player FROM HONG KONG named Ng Wai Chung, was banned by Blizzard and had his prize money withheld at first for life than was shortened to a few months after fan backlash for speaking in support of the protests. There is a delicate balance to these things that has to be struck between all roads, here's a truth that nobody will like… Capitalism is both the root of this problem and the solution to it. Capitalism is what led these people to take China's money and it is the eventual all consuming greed that will rot away China's core beliefs eventually leading them to take a "money before all other things policy" like America has not so secretly come to adopt over the years. We know this to be true because we were once a nation of principles and beliefs about bigger things and now we just don't care about anything that doesn't affect our wallets directly.
ONE WEEK AWAY
We are now officially one week away from the release of Disney+. We are literally at the dawn of the NEXT big chapter in the streaming TV wars. It's confusing to think where it will all end, obviously Disney will keep acquiring things and Amazon's position feels secure considering the strength and size of the brand overall, so its just Netflix, HBO Max, CBS and the Peacock that will eventually have their fates decided. I think the thing that has hurt Netflix the most is that CBS' free sign up had millions of people signing up to watch their streaming exclusive Star Trek show. Those numbers were way over the estimates and left many people staring dumbfounded at their screens when NBC took that as a sign that a network exclusive service could survive alone. Moving NBC from cook to supplier so to speak. Netflix and HBO Max while kings of original content have to face the facts that they are standing alone as just essentially large content producers that haven't had to deal with much competition before. Now things are looking grim as a big dog steps in. Netflix is going to have to address their debt portfolio and find more revenue streams and things to partner with, perhaps merchandise and licensing deals for original projects, maybe reverse engineer the Disney concept the otherway. Otherwise they will eventually be eaten up by one of the true giants, they're publicly traded, they have shareholders who value a strong return, it is simply a matter of time and math.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my Father's unexpected passing. It's an odd day, one where I just tried to not think about what it meant for as long as possible. One where I just wondered what the hell happened to the last year. How is he? Is he looking down on us? Is he happy? Have we let him down? I just don't know how to feel sometimes, I love him and I miss him and I hate how much I feel like I let him down over the years. I hope he gets to see the things I'm working on now and that they make him proud.
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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Reynaldo López struck out seven over six scoreless innings, Orlando Arcia homered and the Atlanta Braves won their third straight, 6-2 over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
López (2-0) allowed four hits and walked one in his third straight sterling outing to start the season.
“It’s like I’ve always said, for me, the important thing is to focus,” López said through an interpreter. “To have the focus during the outings and then, to be able to locate those pitches.”
He has given up one run in 18 innings for an ERA of 0.50.
“He threw the ball really well against a really good hitting club,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “Another solid one.”
Arcia hit a solo home run to left in the second and a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Luis Guillorme and backup catcher Chadwick Tromp each hit a two-run double in the ninth to put the Braves ahead 6-0.
“Tromp has done a good job ever since we’ve been bringing him in these situations and filling in,” Snitker said. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him back there. ... He’s an aggressive hitter. He’s knocked in some big runs for us in the limited time that he’s played.”
Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros leading off the ninth against Aaron Bummer, and Mauricio Dubón had a two-out RBI single to cut the lead to four. After Bummer walked Chas McCormick to put two on, Raisel Iglesias induced a groundout by Victor Caratini to end it and secure his fourth save.
“They pitched well, and our guys are grinding out at-bats,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Even in the ninth inning there, we’re grinding, fighting until the end.”
Hunter Brown (0-3) yielded two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings. Brown allowed nine runs in two-thirds of an inning in his previous start, last Thursday against Kansas City.
Brown said he executed better Tuesday than he had in his previous two starts.
“He mixed all his pitches well,” Espada said. “The breaking ball was effective. He threw some cutters in on the hands to some of those lefties. He mixed his pitches really well. That was a really strong performance.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: 2B Ozzie Albies was placed on the 10-day injured list with a broken right big toe. IF David Fletcher had his contract selected from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Albies’ place on the roster.
Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (right shoulder inflammation) threw a side session Tuesday, but Houston will wait until Wednesday to see how Verlander feels before deciding whether he will make his first start this weekend against the Nationals, Espada said. ... RHP Luis Garcia (right elbow surgery) threw around 20-25 pitches off the bullpen mound, and RHP José Urquidy (right forearm strain) also threw off the mound, Espada said. ... LHP Framber Valdez (left elbow soreness) played catch off flat ground.
UP NEXT
Atlanta LHP Max Fried (1-0, 8.74 ERA) starts Wednesday in the series finale opposite RHP J.P. France (0-2, 8.22).