NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Scandals in politics and college sports, plus pot pies

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!

Wednesday, by now your week is starting to take shape and you can visualize all of your successes, right?

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This Sunday at 10am, The Texas Brotherhood is asking you to come out and help them raise money for First Responders who have made the ultimate sacrifice and in doing so they promise "a little bike ridin', makin'music, makin' friends, cookin', rafflin', drankin' and eatin'" So that sounds like a fun thing to do. #NerdsUnite

An Amazing News Story

A Congressman representing California in The House of Representatives, Duncan Hunter is at the center of the messiest campaign finance fraud case in recent history. First him and his wife were accused of misusing campaign funds for personal, non-campaign uses like flying a pet bunny around (not an exaggeration) and to essentially finance their lives. News then broke that the wife turned state's evidence against Duncan Hunter and then he made the ultimate classy move of pointing out that she was the Campaign Manager so if something inappropriate did in fact happen (hard turn from "we're innocent") it would have been from her. Now it's come out he used campaign funds to carry on five separate affairs including buying ten beers at a concert, so now his wife is cooperating against him, his bunny takes flights cross country and he's vaped in committee meetings before. Can't wait for the next big twist in this crazy case.

MORE COLLEGE SPORTS CORRUPTION

So on Nerd Thug Sports, I regularly discuss how completely corrupt college sports has become. The people who say college sports is "pure competition" are completely delusional. There's nothing pure about a 7-6 Birmingham Dragons playing in the Mountain Dew Papa Johns Hawaii Bowl under a coach who gets paid $6 million dollars while the athletes are playing under year to year one sided agreements for scholarships and if you think there is then your definition of pure is kinda obscure. But don't worry, Oklahoma State is out to prove that there's nothing pure about college sports by hiring the big brother of the number 2 prospect in the country to be an assistant coach. This continues a trend that colleges recently have embraced where even peripherally appropriate hirings are OK including the father of Michael Porter Jr being hired by two separate colleges where eventually each of his kids played. There is no way these colleges can promise the funds being paid to the relative won't go to the player, and obviously there is no way the school cares. This is a blatant bribe to a family and would only be appropriate if the student agreed to not take a scholarship and not play sports for the school. Hiring a brother to a position he's never had before at the collegiate level is a fairly obvious move, isn't it?

HAVE YOU TRIED THIS?

KFC recently rolled out their very own 2 for $6 menu in an effort to position themselves against Burger King's 2 for $6? I'm not sure where they came from on this angle, but the other day I decided to go take advantage of it and compare the two. Now the Burger King 2 for $6 is one of my favorite deals in fast food because honestly I don't eat healthy so I try to just eat once a day, it's the deal I make with myself to limit my fat unhealthy caloric intake to human levels. Anyway the whopper is one of the bigger burgers in the market and the grilled chicken sandwich is delicious so it's a great deal to me, now on to KFC. The pot pie and the chicken strip sandwich are the ones I went with, the pot pie was awesome and the sandwich is a good value, overall it isn't as good as the Burger King 2 for $6 but man, that Pot Pie is awesome and I had forgotten that little fact. I'm getting hungry thinking about it right now.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

So I'm a freelance writer, it's something that I think has come up here once or twice *AHEM I'M FOR HIRE AHEM* and so there are other things I do to try and keep putting cash in the bag, you know? One of them is selling shirts at Side Hustle T's an etsy store I set up. Etsy about a month ago sent me a message stating that in all of their research they've found "free shipping" to be an incentive customers really enjoy so they recommend I do it. Here's the thing, shipping costs differ around the country so I charge a flat fee and just roll with it, well Etsy saw that and recommended I raise my prices by that flat fee. How is that good for my customers? Free shipping means not paying for shipping, so if I raise my prices to cover shipping how is it free? It's just a hidden cost at that point, nothing free about it. My first question is, is this legal? Don't stores get busted for offering sales prices after they raise prices? Anyway, I raised my prices $3.50 and now there's free shipping, considering I was charging $5 for shipping, I feel like this is more fair than what Etsy was saying to do.

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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Keep an eye on Tank Dell this Sunday. Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images.

I remember thinking how in the world can these little frail guys survive at the NFL level? I mean, I saw Joe Theismann and Ed McCaffrey's legs snap. Drew Bledsoe got his chest caved in. Seeing 300-plus pound men cry when injured is humbling. So when a guy like Tank Dell comes along, I'm always a bit apprehensive. Especially when they come with a ton of hype.

For every eight to ten big strong players that get hurt, there's one or two little fellas that have relatively healthy careers. The comp that came to mind when looking at Tank was DeSean Jackson. Listed at 5'10 and weighing a heavy 175 pounds, Jackson was arguably the best “small guy” in NFL history. Dell being about two inches shorter and about ten pounds lighter, while also playing a similar role, is in line to be a similarly electrifying type of player. I put my assessment on the line and doubled down with my predictions on what his, and others' season totals will look like last week:

Tank Dell: 68 catches, 1,105 yards and 6 touchdowns- Dell will be a really good slot, but has some outside skills. Namely, his speed. He's more slippery than if Mick had greased that chicken before Rocky tried catching it. I could see his production going up as the season gets longer because Stroud will begin to look for him more and more as they build chemistry. Yes, I know I only have him with six scores. Keep in mind this is a run first offense. At least that's what we can deduce from looking at where it came from in San Francisco.

In his debut game last week vs the Ravens, he notched three catches for 34 yards on four targets. He was tied for third on the team in targets with Noah Brown and Mike Boone. While Robert Woods and Nico Collins were one and two in targets last week, I think Dell will ascend that list starting this week. Word came down that Noah Brown is headed to IR, meaning he'll miss at least the next four weeks. The chemistry he and fellow rookie C.J. Stroud have developed is palpable. From working out together, to attending UH games together, these two seem to have a nice bond already.

Woods is a solid vet two years removed from an ACL injury. Collins was a third rounder with size who hasn't done a whole lot. Dell is easily the most exciting option at receiver this team has. John Metchie III was expected to be the next guy up. Unfortunately, cancer had him take a backseat, until now. Metchie is back at practice this week, so a debut is imminent. He could potentially challenge for more playing time, but it may take him some time to get used to things and get going again.

As far as my statistical prediction for his season, he only needs to average four catches for 67 yards per game, and get a touchdown every two to three games for the remainder of the season. Given Brown being out the next few games, Metchie not quite being up to speed, Woods being an older player on a short-term deal, and Collins not really being what everyone thought he could be, it leaves things wide open for Dell to step up.

Playmakers come in all shapes and sizes. Levon Kirkland was a 300-pound middle linebacker in a 3-4. Doug Flutie led teams to playoff wins as a 5'9 quarterback. In football, size matters. The bigger, stronger guys normally win out. When it comes to receiving and returns, you want speed, quickness, and agility. Dell has that in spades. Add his competitive nature and chemistry with his quarterback and you have a recipe for a star in the making. I know I'm not the only one hoping the Texans continue Tank-ing.

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