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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!
One of the first news stories of the day is the announcement of the first female African American CEO in esports as Peak6 Investments bought the independent team Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses has a long tradition in the esports community and also it's history is one that is shared by many esports teams in this growing arena with several ownership changes over the years. It was initially sold to Twitch as part of its gaming group but that dissolved and eventually EG wound up on its own but all the while maintained a strong footing in the gaming world especially in the league of legends style DOTA2. Peak6 is an investment firm that specializes in tech but has also crossed into traditional sports numerous times and reality is for them this is simply the next realm of investing. Peak6 has named Nicole Jameson as the CEO and tasked her with growing the brand and also with handling the day to day operations of the esports organization.
The lawsuit filed by TFue against Faze sports just got even uglier. In the lawsuit which basically boils down to unfair contracts, TFue alleges he signed initially with the team when he was under 13 years of age which is the minimum for all of these agencies and groups that gaming goes through. You can't be an affiliate Twitch streamer, you can't be a youtuber, you can't be in the fortnite events if you aren't at least 13. Well Faze disputed those claims obviously, except now it's come out that an active player on the Faze roster is only 12 years old themselves and have been with the team for over a year, making them at best 11 when they signed with the team and the family was encouraged by Faze to lie about the kid's age to be able to compete in the events. He's already won over $5k in Fortnite events that he shouldn't have even be eligible to enter, what's the penalty for knowingly playing ineligible players? In college sports it's at the least vacating wins and potentially the death penalty for a program, so what's esports options?
The idea of recruiting children and having them lie to boost their eligibility isn't a good sign for an organization being a trustworthy and fair bunch. Overall this is the kind of thing that esports overall need to avoid, it's a bad look and suddenly the focus becomes on exploited children and not on the competition of the leagues. Overwatch League requires you to be at least 18 to compete and that's a reasonable standard, but having such a low age as the barrier for entry isn't a great look overall, it's reminiscent of women's gymnastics and how often nations accuse other nations of using girls that are too young to compete and it gets messy very quickly.
Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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