NERDS AROUND TOWN

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

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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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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