NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: The fall of the AAF, David Ortiz update and ghosts

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 Thursday and the weekend is coming, are you ready or what?!

Good deed of the day

AICF and Mark Clayton Scholarship Golf Tournament, it's a golf tournament to benefit a scholarship fund and help kids get to college and better their lives. It's awesome. #NerdsUnite

The fall of the AAF

ESPN did an interesting piece about the fall of the AAF. It's an interesting story and obviously everyone is trying to spin things in their favor because there are still lawsuits going on and also there's a PR war going on for "who is to blame" but there's some real meat in this story. It paints Dundon in a better light than I had viewed him in, he transforms a little bit from corporate raider to guy who sees a failing business and is looking to get out. Ebersol does take a big hit in the credibility department, it looks like his first funding partner Fowler was an absolute criminal and is in fact facing federal indictments unrelated to the AAF.

Another issue is Ebersol grossly undervalued the costs associated with running a league. He should have put together about $400 million dollars, instead he thought he needed $300 million and sold a third of the league to Fowler for about $120 million. That's not enough. For his part Polian didn't seem to be realistic about costs associated with the players involved and honestly, Dundon for his part should have done a better job of getting players home and paying vendors, but all of that will get taken care of in terms of legal issues. Great read though.

Sounding suspicious

In one of the weirdest stories in pop culture and sports is David Ortiz being shot in his home country of The Dominican Republic last week. He is now resting comfortably in the United States and all the people directly involved in the overt act appear to have been apprehended. There's a lot of weird stuff to this story, a criminal called The Surgeon and another criminal called Red are involved and now the AG of the Dominican are saying there's someone in the states that's involved in this and that it might be a case of mistaken identity. One of the most famous Dominicans on the island was shot accidentally and was mistaken for someone else? I don't think that sounds very believable. I'm not "Crisis Actor" guy and I'm not trying to go way down the rabbit hole, but seriously a mistaken identity over David Ortiz? Ok.

Why are we listening to these guys?

So one thing that I always think is crazy is that the sports networks always hire former front office guys and head coaches and that gives credibility to the networks. Except when you start thinking about it, how the heck does that happen? Rex Ryan for example was a terrible head coach, but he for sure knows football and is a great defensive mind.

But why should we listen to him talk about running a franchise or making personnel decisions when the Jets were awful under him? Same with guys like Mike Tannenbaum. They know football it's been their whole lives, I agree whole heartedly with that but when they put his resume up on the screen, I'm always like "but why should we listen to him?" It's a weird thing, if they were better at their jobs they'd still be in the league. They aren't semi-retired like Bill Polian, they're on the back half of so-so careers. It's weird, right?

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

So apparently they're working on another Paranormal Activity movie, and before anyone says "why?" do this math, they spent about $15,000 and made over $190 million dollars. They'll be thinking about making these movies forever. If they do in fact make this movie, it'll be the seventh movie in what has become a bizarre and complicated franchise. They got less and less scary and got more and more ridiculous over time and by the end they were a complete joke. It's an intriguing idea to bring the franchise back, even if you do only a little ok and spend $30 million and make $150 million, it's still a great day.

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 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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Nick Caserio's history of drafting injury prone players has become a problem. Composite Getty Image.

Nick Caserio was hired to serve as the general manager (GM) of the Texans on January 7, 2021. Some saw it as another nod to the organization's obsession with the Patriots. Others saw it as the team finally getting their guy after pursuing him previously. They were even hit with a tampering charge while trying to talk to him about the job. Since he's been on the job, there have been highs and lows.

Recently, the news about Kenyon Green and Derek Stingley Jr put a stain on his tenure. Green was placed on season-ending injured reserve (IR) and Stingley Jr is expected to be placed on IR, likely missing six to eight weeks, per Aaron Wilson. Both guys were Caserio's 2022 first rounders. Both guys are starting to look like busts and have fans a little more than just upset.

Green's case was curious because he was said to have needed surgery before he tore his labrum during the Saints preseason game. He had knee surgery this past offseason. There were knee injury concerns when he was coming out of A&M. Adding to his injuries, Green has played poorly. To make matters worse, the Chargers drafted fellow guard Zion Johnson two picks later. Johnson played all 17 games last season as a rookie at right guard and has moved to left guard this season. The pick used to draft Green was part of a trade back with the Eagles. They used the 13th overall pick to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis, a guy at a position this team could desperately use.

Stingley Jr was a highly touted recruit coming into LSU as a freshman. He played as well as any corner in the country that year. Oh, and they won a national title with arguably one of the best teams in college football history. His net two years in Baton Rouge were marred with injuries. Some believed his junior year was more him holding back to stay healthy for the draft. It worked because he was taken third overall, one spot ahead of Sauce Gardner. Gardner went on to be an All Pro as a rookie. While he's surrounded by more talent on the Jets' defense, people will forever link them because Stingley Jr hasn't lived up to expectations. He missed six games last season and is set to miss at least that many this season. When he has played, he's looked okay. “Okay” isn't what you want from a guy drafted third overall ahead of the other guy who was widely considered better than him.

For the 2021 draft, Caserio was handcuffed. He had no first or second rounders, and made a few trades that lessened his draft pool from eight to five picks. Of the five guys drafted that year, only Nico Collins seems to be a player. The 2022 draft was more productive. Although Green and Stingley Jr were the headliners and haven't played up to the hype, the others are carrying the load. Jalen Pitre and Dameon PIerce alone make that draft class dope. This past draft was seen as the one to save the franchise so to speak. Getting C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr got the team a franchise quarterback and edge rusher with picks two and three overall. The price paid to move back up to three was hefty and puts more scrutiny on Anderson Jr. They appear, so far, to have also found a couple other nice players. Tank Dell being the hidden gem of this class.

While people can't, and shouldn't, base Caserio's performance strictly off of the guys he's drafted, one must call it into question. The '21 draft was a wash. The '22 draft looks suspect, but has some redeeming qualities. The '23 draft will most likely be his saving grace. But should it? Former Texans GM Rick Smith nailed almost every first rounder he drafted. Even he was almost run out of town because folks didn't like what he did. Why should Caserio be any different? So what if he cleaned up the mess by the previous regime! That's what he was hired to do!

“Keep that same energy!” That phrase is used when people try to hold others to different standards. Where's that energy everyone had for Bill O'Brien, Jack Easterby, Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, David Culley, and Lovie Smith? When others weren't performing well, their heads were called for. I see some people holding Caserio accountable. For the most part, it appears as if he's getting a bit of a pass. I'll be interested to see if this continues should the team has another subpar season. If that pick they traded to the Cardinals is another top 10 pick and the Browns pick the Texans own isn't...if Green can't come back and/or Stingley Jr doesn't show any signs of being a lockdown corner...then what? Let's hope none of this comes to fruition. If it does, we'll have to revisit this conversation.

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