NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Rain, terrible NFL and Batman Day

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

I had been talking about a walk to fight melanoma called Steps For Melanoma Walk, but given the weather the last few days, the more important thing in the near immediate future is to focus on your friends and neighbors and local charities. Make sure everyone is dry and fed and warm this weekend.

WATER WOES

So when are we going to have the very honest conversation about the climate? I don't know a way to beat around the bush on this anymore, Houston is flooding regularly now. We've over-developed all of our drainage and water absorption away to the point that now we retain water all the time. On top of poor planning that is decades in the works (so we can't/won't blame any one party for it, it's us, Houston has been ignoring water run offs forever) the storms are getting larger and more powerful and more devastating in ways that are hard to even fathom. Over fourteen years ago our fun neighbors to the east, New Orleans, suffered their own catastrophic flooding and we were able to help them but we complained about taking on the residents and what our city "turned" into, all while ignoring the real lessons. Cities have to be able to handle the storms, and yet, 14 years later we're flooding and looking to Washington for help like it's their job to bail out our inability to learn a lesson. We complained about Louisiana's inability to properly handle their funds and infrastructure and yet, here we are, swimming for our lives.

BAD NFL

There are some dramatically bad teams in the NFL right now and the Titans and the Jaguars are two of those awful teams and this game last night was some bad football. Also on a side note, I have Fournette on my fantasy team and he lets himself get tackled 9 yards out after a terrible game?! C'mon man! Also it says a lot about Nike and the helmet company that they both dropped Antonio Brown the Patriots haven't and the NFL hasn't benched him. The fact that he didn't pay this girl $2 million dollars to settle confidentially may have been right ethically for him (I have no knowledge of facts in this case, simply speaking hypothetically) but it clearly was a poor business decision and sometimes these guys need better advice. I talk about good advice all the time and this guy is clearly in need of it.

DRAMA IN THE INDUSTRY

It's rare when a story is just full of awful people all around but the feud between Rob Liefeld and Terrific Production LLC fits that bill for me. Rob Liefeld has long been the Rockstar or the upstart of the comic book industry, regularly finding himself in the center of the several of the big dramatic moments in the comic book industry's history. Some great like the founding of Image Comics, which changed comic books for the better, to feuding with creators to being the guy who had his own Levi jean's commercial (true story). He was cashing million dollar checks as 19 year old comic creator and now has lost the rights to one of his biggest creations through poor decision making. The guy who has it has started up Terrific Production LLC and he seems like an absolute looney tune. He has done literally everything in the most inefficient and unproductive ways, insulting creators and seeming to know nothing about the climate of current comic books. It's been fun to watch.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Come hang out with me tomorrow afternoon at The Adventure Begins for Batman Day. It's going to be awesome! There will be a flippin' Batmobile there. Seriously.

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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A new hotel is in the works near Minute Maid. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Astros owner Jim Crane says the team is ready to break ground on a major construction project that will include a hotel and entertainment complex across the street from Minute Maid Park as soon as the 2023 baseball season wraps up – hopefully with another World Series parade in downtown Houston.

AstrosWorld!

But another hotel? Another entertainment complex? More construction downtown? My first reaction was, how much more does Houston need? I remember when the Super Bowl was held in Houston in 2004, clubs and restaurants sprung up downtown practically overnight, only to disappear virtually the morning after. When it came to downtown development, the expression “less is more” turned out true. At least that Super Bowl.

I asked my contacts in government and the Houston welcome wagon, is this a good idea, building a hotel and entertainment complex next door to Minute Maid Park? Do we need it? Can we sustain it?

The answer every time was a resounding yes! For a couple of reasons: first, downtown Houston, coming out of Covid, is booming, leadership is creative and budget-minded these days, and most important, if Jim Crane is behind the idea, you can trust it’ll work. The guy’s got a track record.

“In 2004, the idea was to turn downtown’s Main Street into Bourbon Street. Is that what we really want? It was a misguided plan, the wrong philosophy, and businesses opened and closed in short order,” a source told me.

It was a different story when the Super Bowl returned to Houston in 2017. This time Houston saw the Marriott Marquis, a 1,000-room hotel complete with an iconic Texas-shaped swimming pool, open in time for the tourist onslaught. Also, Avenida Houston greeted downtown visitors with new restaurants and entertainment venues. Both the Marriott and Avenida Houston have continued to thrive long after the Super Bowl left town.

“We want our downtown to attract visitors while providing services for the growing number of singles and families who are making their home downtown. As we continue to host major events and conventions, there will be a need for more hotel rooms,” the source said.

The Astros’ plan to build a sprawling hotel and entertainment complex originally was discussed in 2021 but was put on hold due to Covid. Now Crane and the Astros are ready to come out swinging. Similar complexes operate successfully next to the baseball stadium in St. Louis, Chicago and other cities.

An Astros-themed hotel adjacent to Minute Maid Park is particularly intriguing. The lobby could be home to an Astros museum and team Hall of Fame. Rooms and restaurants could be decorated in honor of Astros legends – the “Nolan Ryan honeymoon suite,” or “Strech Suba’s Bullpen Bar and Grille.” There could be meeting space for autograph and memorabilia shows. There could be a broadcast facility for post-game interviews and analysis. And maybe one day, fingers crossed, a betting parlor like the Cubs have at Wrigley Field.

The Astros have a contract to play at Minute Maid Park through 2050 – the only long-term contract that doesn’t make Crane cringe. Anything that enhances the fan experience and generates revenue is good for the team and the city. I might even consider going downtown on non-game nights.

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