NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: The Mandalorian, Thanksgiving and Undercity Tales
Nov 25, 2019, 6:36 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!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This is one of the best charity ideas I've heard yet. It's called "Let's Bring 'Em Home" and the charity buys tickets for soldiers in the Armed Forces and flies them home from overseas. Nerd Thug Radio and The Adventure Begins Comics, Games and More will be holding an event to benefit these guys on December 13th. The Nerd Thug Takeover of Adventure Begins will happen starting at 6pm and on December 13th and all proceeds from sales will go to benefit "Let's Bring 'Em Home".
UNDERCITY TALES
Undercity Tales is a great Kickstarter success story. Mike Tener is a guy I found when he was running a crowdfunder for Black Jackets earlier this year. At the time I talked about that project and had him on the radio show to talk about it, it was a success and it was also a great project overall, one of my favorite this year. Undercity Tales was his next project and I recently got my copy of it in the mail, and it only continues his successful run of work. Created and produced by him, it tales a story written by Scott Wilke with art by Brian Balonado, colors by Bryan Arfel Magnaye and Letters by Matt Krotzer. Everyone does a great job and it's a great single issue story to introduce you to the world Tener's created. The story is a single issue murder mystery and it doesn't disappoint, tons of great characters with an interesting story, there's a bit of a pacing issue in the beginning as they rush you through the early details of a murder mystery that in a regular Law and Order episode would take a little longer, but overall it uses the saved pages to give a better finale to the story. Very much worth the read and whatever is coming next from Mike Tener is worth reading, because in my book he's 2/2 on awesome first issues.
THE HOLIDAYS
This time of year for a lot of people brings up complicated feelings and bad memories. Not everyone loves the holidays as much as they could and that's because of things that might've been out of their control as well. Check on your people, say nice things and be there for each other because as unexcited as you are for the in-laws to visit, they're even more unexcited for even the day on the calendar and all the focus on holidays and family and all of that. No matter what they turn off or tune out, something else is rubbing this time of year into their faces and that's a problem for them, so just make sure your people are ok for the holidays.
THE MANDALORIAN
Honestly, this show is great. This is what I've always talked about when I talked about how interesting the Star Wars Universe was but it was being crowded with conversations about Luke Skywalker kissing his sister. There was more to this universe than just the Skywalker family and this is exactly the kind of story I'm talking about. A mercenary trying to do right by his people finds a higher calling when asked to do the unaskable, kill a baby. You have to check this show out if you haven't and it's worth the $12.99 for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
This week I got to do something SUPER cool and had my first event as Cory de la Guardia the comic book creator. It was a signing at Space Cadets Collection Collection on local comic shop day and it was very cool. I made a few new friends/fans and helped them sale a couple copies of my book, it was a very cool experience and I would like to thank Jen King for helping make it happen.
Feel free to check out my brand-new comic book Another Day at the Office 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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96 games down, 66 games to go as the Astros tackle a fairly significant series in Seattle to open up the figurative second half of the season Friday night. It’s actually just over 40 percent of the schedule remaining. With the Astros having closed within one game of the Mariners in the American League West it’s the biggest series possible for them as the season resumes. But it’s not remotely make or break. Measuring by run differential the Astros should already be out front. They have outscored their opponents by 49 runs while Seattle is just plus-19. The actual standings can be explained in no small part by this comparison: in one-run games the Astros are a pitiful 7-17 while the Mariners are 19-14.
The spectrum of outcomes this weekend ranges from the Astros sweeping and leaving the Emerald City two games on top, to getting swept and heading down the coast to Oakland four games behind. Of note, the Mariners beat the Astros in five of the seven meetings to date this season. So if Seattle wins this series it clinches the season series and playoff tiebreaker should a spot come down to it. The Astros and Mariners have another series to come after this one, three games in Houston the final week of the regular season.
Trade deadline looming
What may be even more important than this weekend’s games is who gets what done between now and the July 30 trade deadline. With Justin Verlander clearly not close to returning, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss both performance question marks, and both Ronel Blanco and Hunter Brown being asked to handle unprecedented workloads for them, the Astros’ rotation needs obvious fortification. The Mariners’ rotation is second to none in the American League and their bullpen is good. Seattle’s lineup is atrocious. The Chicago White Sox are on pace to be one of the worst teams of all-time. The ChiSox’ offense is a joke with a team batting average of .220. The Mariners’ team average is .219. Only the White Sox and pathetic Marlins are scoring fewer runs per game than the M’s.
The Mariners have 11 players with at least 100 at bats this season. Eight of them have an OPS of .690 or lower. Cal Raleigh has the highest at .734. The Astros have 12 guys with at least 100 at bats including Jose Abreu. Abreu, Chas McCormick, and Mauricio Dubon are the only .690 or worse OPS guys. Kyle Tucker is the Astros’ OPS leader by a significant margin, .979 to Yordan Alvarez’s .912. What’s that you ask? Who is this Kyle Tucker? 35 missed games and counting for “Tuck” with his leg bone bruise, with return not imminent. T-Mobile Park is a notably better pitchers’ park than is Minute Maid Park, but not enough to shrug off the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude. The Mariners team payroll is more than 100 million dollars below the Astros’ payroll. The Mariners have the clearly better farm system from which to deal. If Seattle doesn’t add offense, its ownership and front office will deserve a continued fade in the second half, on top of the Mariners’ 8-15 gimp into the All-Star break.
Don't forget about the Rangers
With the Astros and Mariners going at it this weekend with the division lead in the balance, a reminder that this is not a two-team race. The Texas Rangers rallying to take the final two games at Minute Maid Park last weekend sent up a flare that the reigning World Series Champions are definitely still in the picture. The Rangers sit four games behind the Astros, five back of the Mariners. If the Rangers manage to win their series in Arlington with the Orioles this weekend, they are guaranteed to gain ground on at least one team ahead of them. The Astros-Rangers season series sits tied at five wins apiece with three games left, it will be decided in Arlington the first week of August. The Rangers and Mariners play seven more times.
In broader view, as measured by opponents’ records, the Astros have the toughest remaining schedule among the three. Among the 30 big league clubs the Rangers have the fourth easiest slate left, the Mariners have the fifth easiest, the Astros have the 15th easiest. If the Astros ultimately are not to win the West, there is the Wild Card race to keep in mind. The Astros are seven games behind the Yankees, four behind the Twins, and three and a half back of the Red Sox. Those three currently hold the Wild Card spots. The Astros are also a game and a half behind the Royals. The Astros have already lost the season series and tiebreakers to the Yankees, Twins, and Royals. The Astros and Red Sox have all six of their meetings yet to come.
Remembering Ken Hoffman
This is my first column since the passing last Sunday of my friend and eventual colleague Ken Hoffman. I originally learned of Ken’s quirkiness and wit through his columns at the Houston Post. He was a big sports fan. Our friendship was driven in part by our shared passion for tennis. We played probably more than a thousand times over nearly 20 years. Tennis and baseball were Ken’s two favorite sports. His two favorite athletes were Roger Federer and Jose Altuve. Well, after he and his wife Erin’s son Andrew, who was a pitcher on Trinity University’s 2016 NCAA Division Three national championship-winning team.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.