THE NERD REPORT
Nerds around town: Sonic, poker raids, comicpalozza and more
May 2, 2019, 7:14 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, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
It's Thursday and we're almost through it, if you squint you can basically see the weekend and maybe going to see Avengers again!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
The American Red Cross is a charity that comes to people when they are down and steps in to try and help out. They aren't perfect and there are tons of fair criticisms to be made about these guys, but imagine a world where they don't exist. It's not the world we're trying to make right? Let's help people out. #NerdsUnite
WHY IS IT EVEN BEING MADE?
Sonic the Hedgehog released a trailer and it was horrific. This trailer may be the worst thing I've seen in a little while and I'm honestly confused why is it even a movie? I know everyone thinks every property is a movie now and honestly I thought the Detective Pikachu movie sounded like a horrible idea but the trailer came out and it looked pretty good. Not good enough for me to go see it on my own, maybe if a lady wants to go I'll take a nice nerd lady out to see it, but on my own? Not likely, but it did look good at least. This one though? Sonic looks unwatchable, and here's the weirdest part about all of it, Sonic has been animated in cartoons, video games and other things, we know what Sonic is supposed to look like, they completely redesigned him for this movie. They didn't base it on the old ones, they didn't update or make it modern, they made a brand new looking Sonic. What the heck? Who asked for this? Where was the demand? This movie looks awful.
WTF?
So I guess we're going to continue the trend about talking about if something is legal or not. The police raided a poker room yesterday and took the position that poker rooms are against the law again. Last year people asked the state attorney general if he was going to go after poker rooms and he didn't, now they're getting raided and words like money laundering are getting thrown around. They are saying all kinds of things and obviously this is going to go to trial and get sorted out, in the comments to the news article I saw some people mad at the police chief. That doesn't even make sense, he didn't issue the warrants on this, this is clearly coming down from a state level. Also, in other news the Kraft tapes might be getting suppressed because people were having their privacy violated while they were committing prostitution. Is that relevant? I thought if you are in the process of committing a crime privacy isn't important. I mean it's a weird thing to think a sex crimes unit thought prostitution was going on, got a warrant for that, filmed it occurring and then the judge in a trial says "people were going there with an expectation of privacy" yeah, to commit crimes. That's an odd decision.
COMICPALOOZA
Next weekend is the biggest nerd weekend in all of Houston, Comicpalooza. This year Emilia Clarke is one of the guests and by Sunday night there will only be one episode left of Game of Thrones. I am one of the hosts of Comicpalooza currently booked to host a few panels and who knows what other troubles I'll get into while I'm there but man I am pumped. I love Comicpalooza it's always such a big weekend so many people out there in the world, going and getting their nerd on. It doesn't matter what your fandom is or who you follow or what you're nerdy about it's all there and it's all in good fun. There will be costumes and cosplayers and artists and celebrities all in one place all having a great time. If you've already bought your tickets, check out the website because they're about to start letting people pick up their tickets early. It is a great time to be a nerd.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
So I have many pet peeves, many, many pet peeves. I think I might even be described as a grump. Perhaps one of my biggest pet peeves though is when people don't respond to text messages. Man, everyone has their phone on them these days, everyone checks their phone every ten minutes, so who are we kidding for the sake of my sanity, return my text messages! My little brother is the biggest culprit of it, he'll even talk to me about text messages he didn't return which makes it even worse in my book. That's like a double sin. Anyway, I'm just venting.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Thursday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Friday 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 $.50 from every shirt is donated to a good cause or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me 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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