NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Raptors, Lakers and Heroclix

Jun 17, 2019, 6:21 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!

Hey Nerds!

It's Monday, I'm still here and we have lots to do!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This week we're going to focus on the AICF and Mark Clayton Scholarship Golf Tournament it's a scholarship fund and a golf tournament, which are things that everyone knows and loves. Let's get together, have a good time and help people go to college. #NerdsUnite

THE BIG TRADE

So the LA Lakers finally landed Davis. First congrats to LA for going and being aggressive and getting the guy they targeted this whole time. Secondly, everyone is talking about the great haul New Orleans got, I honestly don't think there's very much value to all of these pieces. Consider New Orleans missed the playoffs this year with AD playing the first two thirds of the season and LA fell out of the playoffs once LeBron wasn't available to carry the team.

Everyone is talking about the haul of players and picks, here's the dirty little secret about NBA draft picks that people don't tell you, there's a rule in the NBA that first rounders can't be traded away every year. So for LA to give New Orleans 3 first rounders will be over six years, going every other year. LA will have their own first rounder next year, and again two years later.

The other thing negotiated were a few swaps, New Orleans can pick which pick they use between theirs and LA's (presumably whichever is lower) . I bet New Orleans picks will be lower by the time those swaps come into play because New Orleans has made one good roster move in four years and that was resigning Davis to a max back then. I honestly think this is a steal for the Lakers.

THE DEATH OF WHATABURGER?

Whataburger sold a controlling interest of itself to a Chicago based firm for an undisclosed amount of money. People are upset and wondering why they sold at all and why not to a Texas based company? There's one simple reason for that, MONEY. You don't start a franchise to make people feel warm and fuzzy and you don't take money for goods and think, yeah I am not in this for a profit. I know it's cute and warm and fuzzy feeling to think that Whataburger is here for Texas and is "one of us" but which of us doesn't dream of cashing out on our hard work?

CONGRATS TORONTO

This one may be a little sports heavy but it's cool right? So a couple of things, first of all, shout out to Toronto Raptors for gambling on themselves and making the moves to get a couple pieces like Gasol and Leonard and going all in this year. The thing people will be talking about for a while though are the terrible injuries that have closed the book on the Golden State Warriors.

The torn Achilles of Kevin Durant won't keep him from opting out, and the blown knee of Klay Thompson won't stop Golden State from offering him the max, which means this time of Curry, Green, Iguodala, Livingston, and Looney will have to begin the process of rebuilding a team that will be relevant but never threatening. With the expected departure of Cousins and Durant and the extended absence of Thompson means by the time this team is ready for another run, Livingston and Iguodala will also likely be gone, this makes the team Curry, Green and Thompson with a new cast of characters and I don't think it will be enough.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

This Friday, Joey Savage and I are going to get back to our Nerd Thug roots and playing Heroclix at Adventure Begins on 1488, come hang out with us and lets have a grand old time. I really love the game and it's a great fun thing to play, it's like chess with superpowers and who doesn't love superpowers?

I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Monday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Tuesday 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 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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THE LEFT TURN

Coca-Cola 600: This could be the most important race on the schedule

After a short turnaround, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to their Mecca at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the famed Coca-Cola 600. Of all the races in NASCAR, after Daytona this race may be the most important race on the schedule. The tradition started back in 1959 when former driver and hall of famer Curtis Turner teamed up with Burton Smith to build the track and upon its completion, they decided to make the first race at the new track on the same day as the Indy 500. In an effort to draw fans, they made the race 100 miles longer and from there the rest was history. This year's rendition will be somber though as no fans will be permitted to enter due to Covid-19, but even in this time of unrest it will be a relief to continue to see our heroes take on NASCAR's longest race.

For the first time, NASCAR pulled off it's first midweek race and it was a doozy. For most of the race there was a wide range of characters who were up front. Clint Bowyer set the tone early as he went on to win the first two stages but after getting caught in traffic he fell back. To make matters worse, Bowyer was involved in an accident that ended any chance of victory. While it wasn't the outcome he would have hoped for, to see how well he ran is a sign of good things to come for the Kansas native. I look forward to seeing how he rebounds.

With Bowyer out of it, the attention shifted to Chase Elliott. All night it seemed like he had the second best car and looked to be on his way to another victory but after the caution for Bowyer, Elliott lost a ton of track position after a bad pit-stop. This left the sports most popular driver stuck in traffic, but he was able to make his way back to second. In the final laps, he was easily the best car and appeared to be on his way past Denny Hamlin to take the victory but Kyle Busch had other ideas. The defending champion made a sudden right hand turn and veered into Elliott sending him head on into the wall.

It was safe to say that Elliott was not pleased as he gave Busch the one finger salute as he drove by under caution. The race was not able to resume as Mother Nature intervened giving Hamlin his second win of the season. Many fans and experts alike were critical of Busch's stunt, Jeff Gordon was quoted as saying "Not sure what that was all about." When the race was over, Busch was confronted by Elliott's Crew Chief Alan Gufston. When it was said and done security had to be called to separate the two. While it might not have been intentional, Busch has opened up a can of worms in the future for retaliation. It will be fun to watch what happens next.

Overall, the response to NASCAR's midweek race was overwhelmingly positive as it was the third highest watched event on television. As NASCAR continues to be fluid, more and more people are becoming interested. NASCAR journalist and reporter Adam Stern tweeted that more than thirty percent of the viewers of Sunday's race were new viewers. Even though we may not always agree with the way NASCAR does things, I have to say they have done an outstanding job at putting this schedule together. I hope that in the future, NASCAR continues this new tradition.

Moving on to Charlotte, The driver I have winning this weekend is Chase Elliott. In every race this season, Chase has been a force to be reckoned but has simply run into circumstances he can't control. At Vegas before the shutdown, he seemed to have the race in hand until a flat tire ended any chances of victory. Two weeks later at Phoenix, he led ninety-three laps until fading to a seventh place finish and with a new-found fire lit under him after Darlington, Elliott will be like a bull in the china shop come Sunday. While he has been great at every track he has run at, he has been especially fast at Charlotte. He currently has a 10.60 average finish there and has consistently led laps. This week, I think Elliott will get redemption and claim his sixth career victory in one of NASCAR's crown jewels. Look for him to take his #9 Napa Camaro to victory lane.

(All stats and information used in this article is brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com the best website for all NASCAR stats)

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