NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Punk Rock, The Predator and the Jets
May 16, 2019, 7:22 am
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!
Here comes the weekend, so get ready! It's Thursday and here comes that all so beautiful Friday night.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
Sunday at noon, at Exit 73 there will be a benefit raising money to help Michael Almendarez and his family fight the costs of his cancer diagnosis. There will be a bounce house and kid friendly things as well as BBQ plates for sell with the benefits helping to offset some of the costs of his treatment. #NerdsUnite
HAVE YOU HEARD?
There's a band I discovered the other day called Skating Polly, I love them. It's well produced poppy but not pop punk. It isn't that California punk, it's almost more Seattle grunge punk of the mid 90s and it's so much fun to listen to. I recommend getting on your internets and checking out Skating Polly, it's a small, simple band with a woman lead singer but they really nail some songs you have to check out Camelot if nothing else.
THE PREDATOR
So I just watched The Predator that came out last year, I'd never seen it because honestly it didn't look all that good. Turns out, it wasn't. It wasn't bad and it does a good job of violence and plot twists, like it wasn't unbearably bad or terribly written it just wasn't very good. Olivia Munn is ok, and the unit of crazy soldiers was ok, and the government guys were ok, it just was a bunch of ok all shoved together in a movie. Also it has one of the worst end credit scenes in recent history where there's like an Iron Man super suit left off that they could have used to fight the big bad Predator previously. Also a couple of times, the smaller, less evil Predator who has already shown a high propensity for violence has his hands on people and chooses not to just rip them apart for various plot reasons. The whole experience was underwhelming.
WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE
One thing that's been happening a lot that I've really started to question is the decision makers in organizations. The Jets fired their General Manager like three weeks after the draft and after he spent $200 million on free agents, what? Dallas Keuchel is still a free agent, who were his advisors, the movie The Predator was not great, who approved it at what budget level? Sometimes I seriously wonder about the people doing the dollars and sense of things in the world, if they only spent about $45 million on Predator then great, if they spent $90m and another $30m to market it, now it's not looking great. HBO spent $70+ million dollars on a 6 episode season, who decided that? Why not an 8 or 9 episode season so some of the things people have been complaining about could be addressed and maybe you only show the dragon burning two or three city blocks instead of all of downtown King's Landing. There were places to pick better but hey what do I know, I'm not a decider.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
I don't get too political but I have a real question, how are these abortion laws supposed to be interpreted by independent voters? Even evangelical Pat Robertson said this law is too extreme. Also giving a longer sentence to people who get abortions than the people who committed the initial crimes against them in the first place of rape or incest truly shows the hierarchy of importance. The rapist gets a stiff 30 year penalty, the woman who is a victim of rape but doesn't want to keep a rapist's baby gets 99 years? That's an incredibly unjust and bizarre overture to the middle ground voters. What are you asking women to think of this? What are we telling mother's and daughters of Alabama? Don't be victims of crimes? Don't be fertile? These are truly odd times we live in.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Thursday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Friday 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 some proceeds help fight cancer 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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96 games down, 66 games to go as the Astros tackle a fairly significant series in Seattle to open up the figurative second half of the season Friday night. It’s actually just over 40 percent of the schedule remaining. With the Astros having closed within one game of the Mariners in the American League West it’s the biggest series possible for them as the season resumes. But it’s not remotely make or break. Measuring by run differential the Astros should already be out front. They have outscored their opponents by 49 runs while Seattle is just plus-19. The actual standings can be explained in no small part by this comparison: in one-run games the Astros are a pitiful 7-17 while the Mariners are 19-14.
The spectrum of outcomes this weekend ranges from the Astros sweeping and leaving the Emerald City two games on top, to getting swept and heading down the coast to Oakland four games behind. Of note, the Mariners beat the Astros in five of the seven meetings to date this season. So if Seattle wins this series it clinches the season series and playoff tiebreaker should a spot come down to it. The Astros and Mariners have another series to come after this one, three games in Houston the final week of the regular season.
Trade deadline looming
What may be even more important than this weekend’s games is who gets what done between now and the July 30 trade deadline. With Justin Verlander clearly not close to returning, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss both performance question marks, and both Ronel Blanco and Hunter Brown being asked to handle unprecedented workloads for them, the Astros’ rotation needs obvious fortification. The Mariners’ rotation is second to none in the American League and their bullpen is good. Seattle’s lineup is atrocious. The Chicago White Sox are on pace to be one of the worst teams of all-time. The ChiSox’ offense is a joke with a team batting average of .220. The Mariners’ team average is .219. Only the White Sox and pathetic Marlins are scoring fewer runs per game than the M’s.
The Mariners have 11 players with at least 100 at bats this season. Eight of them have an OPS of .690 or lower. Cal Raleigh has the highest at .734. The Astros have 12 guys with at least 100 at bats including Jose Abreu. Abreu, Chas McCormick, and Mauricio Dubon are the only .690 or worse OPS guys. Kyle Tucker is the Astros’ OPS leader by a significant margin, .979 to Yordan Alvarez’s .912. What’s that you ask? Who is this Kyle Tucker? 35 missed games and counting for “Tuck” with his leg bone bruise, with return not imminent. T-Mobile Park is a notably better pitchers’ park than is Minute Maid Park, but not enough to shrug off the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude. The Mariners team payroll is more than 100 million dollars below the Astros’ payroll. The Mariners have the clearly better farm system from which to deal. If Seattle doesn’t add offense, its ownership and front office will deserve a continued fade in the second half, on top of the Mariners’ 8-15 gimp into the All-Star break.
Don't forget about the Rangers
With the Astros and Mariners going at it this weekend with the division lead in the balance, a reminder that this is not a two-team race. The Texas Rangers rallying to take the final two games at Minute Maid Park last weekend sent up a flare that the reigning World Series Champions are definitely still in the picture. The Rangers sit four games behind the Astros, five back of the Mariners. If the Rangers manage to win their series in Arlington with the Orioles this weekend, they are guaranteed to gain ground on at least one team ahead of them. The Astros-Rangers season series sits tied at five wins apiece with three games left, it will be decided in Arlington the first week of August. The Rangers and Mariners play seven more times.
In broader view, as measured by opponents’ records, the Astros have the toughest remaining schedule among the three. Among the 30 big league clubs the Rangers have the fourth easiest slate left, the Mariners have the fifth easiest, the Astros have the 15th easiest. If the Astros ultimately are not to win the West, there is the Wild Card race to keep in mind. The Astros are seven games behind the Yankees, four behind the Twins, and three and a half back of the Red Sox. Those three currently hold the Wild Card spots. The Astros are also a game and a half behind the Royals. The Astros have already lost the season series and tiebreakers to the Yankees, Twins, and Royals. The Astros and Red Sox have all six of their meetings yet to come.
Remembering Ken Hoffman
This is my first column since the passing last Sunday of my friend and eventual colleague Ken Hoffman. I originally learned of Ken’s quirkiness and wit through his columns at the Houston Post. He was a big sports fan. Our friendship was driven in part by our shared passion for tennis. We played probably more than a thousand times over nearly 20 years. Tennis and baseball were Ken’s two favorite sports. His two favorite athletes were Roger Federer and Jose Altuve. Well, after he and his wife Erin’s son Andrew, who was a pitcher on Trinity University’s 2016 NCAA Division Three national championship-winning team.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.