NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Sandman, Young Justice and Spider Man
Jul 1, 2019, 6:30 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!
Monday is back! Let's make this week our bitch guys! It's a short week so this should be really easy!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This week is the Fourth of July, get pumped and be excited for people and for this great nation and help people in need. While you're grilling and relaxing and having a great day, remember there are tons of people who don't have it as good as we do and it's not looking great for them. Reach out to them and help them out. #NerdsUnite
YOUNG JUSTICE RETURNS
Today is comic book heavy, tomorrow to the DC App Young Justice: The Outsiders returns. This has been one of the most consistent and entertaining superhero cartoons in recent memory. This show has been an awesome portrayal of some solid superhero combat and great characters and some awesome long form storytelling. The series has also been telling one long form story over these three seasons eventually building into this story about a war with Apokolips and superhuman trafficking. The introduction of the Outsider characters and the story of an undercover super hero team is awesome to watch and I wish more cartoons took this long form storytelling method and took the idea of superheroes as serious as Young Justice has.
SPIDER MAN! SPIDER MAN!
It's debuting here in the states tomorrow after debuting overseas this weekend. Kevin Feige the godfather of all things Marvel Films is saying that this is the proper end to the Marvel Infinity Stones saga or Phases 1 through 3. This film tells the tale of a mourning Peter Parker dealing with a world without Tony Stark and feeling the pressure to become the next Iron Man. From the previews it looks like Happy Hogan is heavily involved in this story as is Nick Fury, in a post snap world. This movie tells the story of what that world looks like now that there are people who were gone from the world for five years come back to a world that's moved on without them, including Spider Man. The Mysterio villain is a great movie character to use as he is the master of Illusions, so there's no telling where this could go. The idea of a multiverse is interesting but let's see if they stay on that path after the reveal of it in the previews, but I think potentially it's a trick.
SAY WHAT?
Netflix made an interesting decision and announced they have picked up the rights to Vertigo's Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, this is an incredible tale featuring the story of Morpheus the sandman, who sees the dreams of humans. The series was in the late 80s, early 90s crazy period of DC Comics where they were experimenting with Vertigo Comics and trying to find a way to bring great comic books back to the industry which was suffering from a lack of creativity at the time. Gaiman is one of the most creative and daring writers in comic books and fiction in general, so he sat to work creating one of the most amazing and entertaining series in the Vertigo line. It's translated into more than likely one of the most expensive shows potentially in the history of Netflix. It's been positioned as a movie before and in 1996 it would have been a $100 million cerebral fantasy series, now it'll probably be a $150 million fantasy series instead of a movie. The evolution has been long and winding but now the show is at the place that might be perfect for it after HBO/Time Warner/ATT passed on it due to possible show budgets. This is an interesting development in the streaming wars, as a possible sign that these two could work together against Disney, but that seems unlikely for any real length of time.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
It's going to be all over TV today, but obviously NBA free agency is going on these next few days and I love it. This is one of those awesome wild times in sports where a bunch of people get a bunch of money from a bunch of teams and there are always several surprises in the mix. In the always disappointing department it's already come out that The Knicks didn't offer Kevin Durant a max contract so he decided to not even meet with them. What are they smoking? The Nets have formed a Big Two and a Half with Kevin Durant actually signing there, Kyrie Irving signing there, Deandre Jordan joining LeVert their surprise stud of the roster. The Bucks gave Kris Middleton a very large contract to keep him in Milwaukee and help the Greek Freak get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami was able to get a trade for Jimmy Butler much to the chagrin of Houston (seriously, ugh!), and now all of a sudden Kwahi might go to the Lakers ruining The Clippers and Toronto's offseasons. Stay tuned and remembered, all the contracts are guaranteed.
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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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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