THE NERD REPORT
Nerds around town: What next for TV, not legal weed and Rockets
May 1, 2019, 6:24 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 Wednesday and we're already cruising through another week. From here we're a hop, skip and a jump from the weekend and maybe going to see Avengers again!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
The American Red Cross came to Houston during the hurricane a few years back and they helped out a lot of people. They weren't perfect and there were tons of people who got declined and had to deal with more issues but they also came here and put food in front of a lot of people who didn't have it, clothes on a lot of people who needed them and that's more than some churches *AHEM* did during the hurricane in their own hometown where they take money and resources in the name of a certain lord and savior who was known for turning the other cheek and giving charity and aid for those in need. I'm just saying. #NerdsUnite
ANADARKO BUYOUT
For a little while The Woodlands will be the center of the oilfield world as Anadarko is in the middle of a rather interesting buyout deal. Two competing offers, one from Chevron and one from Occidental, a much smaller oil company than Chevron with Chevron's being smaller in value than Occidental but Anadarko chose to sign a "walk away" agreement where if the deal falls apart Chevron gets a billion dollars in cash. A billion dollars. The deal got even crazier as now Warren Buffett has stepped in and bought a ton of preferred shares with an option to buy more preferred shares at a set price later, injecting even more cash into Occidental to help make this purchase go through. Shareholders of Anadarko have votes to make, for the fate of their shares, then Occidental or Chevron has votes to make to decide to follow through on the purchase or not. We live in interesting times.
WHAT'S NEXT?
With Avengers over, Game of Thrones coming to an end and the Star Wars story ending this December it is time to start looking ahead to what's next? Amazon is gearing up to begin making their Lord of the Rings television series, HBO is working on as many as four prequel shows from the Game of Thrones universe, there are of course going to be more Marvel Universe movies and there will be streaming shows from Disney set in the Star Wars universe, but really, what's next? What will be that next thing that catches fire and becomes the big unexpected hit? This is a real opportunity in the world of Nerds to make the next big thing, find a way to spark America's zeitgeist and steal the pop culture wave again. I'm going to say it's going to get harder and harder to find the next big thing because of streaming services dividing audiences. Shoot me an e-mail and give me your picks, corydlg@gmail.com
IS IT LEGAL YET?
So I saw a headline the other day that basically said the marijuana bill in Texas' Senate is basically dead. What kind of nonsense is this? Are we really going to be the last state to get on board the legalization plan? This is crazy, we can't have casinos but for some reason we can have lotteries, dog tracks and horse racing. Now we're going to hear that in Colorado they brought in almost a billion dollars in tax revenue from pot and we still want to be the guys who go, "naw, we're good."? Are we crazy? We want more money for schools, we want money for roads, we want money for firefighters but we don't want to do the things to bring in more money? How is this going to go exactly? What's the plan?
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
There was a ton of conversation in the build up to Rockets game 2 matchup against Golden State about the referees. I have a few thoughts on this. First of all, if the Rockets have actually put together an accurate report showing that some 70 fouls were missed over the seven game Rockets vs Warriors series then it bears being turned in and discussed before this series. If I'm the Rockets, I want the league to have a talk to the refs before the playoffs and remind them to call fouls equally and fairly and correctly. The two minute reports are destroying the league's credibility, no one in Houston wants to hear that Curry should have been fouled out well before he makes the three pointer that puts the Rockets away, no one. I also would say that complaining to the refs isn't a good idea but then I remember the Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban putting together a film package of Yao Ming not being called for his moving picks in 6 games and in game 7 he was in constant foul trouble and Dallas won by double digits because Yao was on the bench. So it's either brilliant or a terrible idea…. It's tough to say.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Wednesday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Thursday 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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Counting up "should win" and "should lose" results is routinely a fool's errand. That said, the Astros enter a stretch which features a bunch of "should win" games. On one hand, beginning this weekend at Daikin Park, the Astros run a gauntlet of 10 games in 10 days, then after an off day, they play another 13 days in a row. On the other hand, over the first 17 games of the 23 in 24 days, the Astros play 14 of them against losing teams: seven vs. the American League East cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles, three vs. the utter joke Colorado Rockies, and four vs. the not awful but below .500 Los Angeles Angels. Additionally, the Astros get 10 of those 14 games at home.
The only good team they face until after Labor Day is Detroit, with three games at the Tigers next week. That series looms large. If the Astros are successful in fending off Seattle and yet again winning the American League West, they have a real shot of finishing even with or ahead of Toronto and Detroit. Finishing with the best record in the AL is the ideal, but having the second -best record among the division winners means a bye past the high peril best-of-three first round series. The Astros' 2024 postseason was over in an eyeblink because they had the third-best record of the AL division champs, and then had the Tigers dismiss them in two games.
If the Astros can take two of three in Motown next week, they not only gain ground on the Tigers, but clinch the season series (Astros beat the Tigers two of three in Houston back in April) and with it the tiebreaker should that come into play for playoff seeding. The Astros swept the Blue Jays three straight earlier this year, so winning just one of three games in Canada next month would secure that tiebreaker.
Growing pains
Big picture, it's been a fine rookie season for Cam Smith. Nothing special, but plenty acceptable for a guy with just 32 games of minor league experience before earning/being handed the primary right field job coming out of spring training. Smith's tools and athleticism are clear, so are a couple of holes in his game that need patching if he is to develop into a star. The standards are different for a rookie making the minimum MLB salary of 760-thousand dollars versus a big ticket free agent signing making 20 million dollars, but a higher percentage of Smith's official at bats have ended with strikeouts this season than have Christian Walker's.
Along with improving his rate of contact, Smith needs to tweak his swing path to hit the ball in the air more. With his strength Cam can hit it hard. But hard grounders aren't the objective. Cam has a pair of two-home run games this season. In late June he homered in back-to-back games. In the other 100 games Smith has played, he has just one other homer. One in 100 games. His last dinger was June 28. 138 at bats later he's still sitting on seven for the season. Mauricio Dubon and Taylor Trammell have higher slugging percentages, as did Zack Short in his limited time with the team.
Smith has been feeble since just before the All-Star break, posting a paltry 13 hits in his last 90 at bats for a .144 batting average. He figures to play less down the stretch, a lot less should Yordan Alvarez actually return to the lineup. If ever back, Alvarez figures to slot only as the designated hitter, reducing Jose Altuve's DH opportunities. When Altuve plays left field, Jesus Sanchez is the clear better option to play right against righthanded pitching.
Jose Altuve at his best
Credit to manager Joe Espada for realizing that Altuve at 35 years old needed his load lightened. Should have happened last year, but live and learn. Altuve has been the DH 35 times this season (just five times last year). It is highly likely not a coincidence that after a hot start last year, Altuve was mediocre the last three-quarters of 2024 with a .740 OPS over his final 119 games. This season Altuve started atrociously. He was a straight up lousy player into late-May, waking May 22 with his batting average .238 and his OPS a woeful .629 over 47 games played. In 70 games since: .316/.947. In his 2017 AL Most Valuable Player season Altuve finished with a .957 OPS.
Astros HOF weekend
The Astros retire Hall of Famer Billy Wagner's number 13 Saturday. 12 players wore 13 after Wagner's time in Houston ended. They do not exactly comprise a Who's Who of Astros lore. Tyler White may have been the best of the dozen. Hey, I said the pickings were slim! Cooper Hummel goes down as the last to wear 13 as an Astro in an official game. Hummel wore 13 last season, before being assigned number 16 when he rejoined the team this season.
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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