Are the Cleveland Browns Exploiting Loophole in NFL Rule?

Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, is known to bend a rule or two. Now, it looks like he’s trying to pull a fast one on the NFL.

It has been widely-reported that Kevin O’Connell will be Cleveland’s offensive coordinator. But, the Browns have yet to officially hire an offensive coordinator…at least it appears that way on paper. Oh, by the way, Mr. O’Connell personally trains Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

How is this not against the rules?

That’s what many top NFL team executives are asking each other.

Are the Browns playing dirty pool or just exploiting a loophole in an NFL Draft rule?

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: February 2015

February is usually a pretty bad month here in the Midwest. Tons of snow makes for quite a hermetic lifestyle. You watch a lot of Netflix and try to find something to pass the time. We hope this month’s Hipster Music Playlist helps out.

I always keep an ear out for new music. I love discovering new bands/songs, it’s a habit from my days as a music journalist. Even though this is mostly a sports blog, I still add quite a bit of music and pop culture content.

I have been called a hipster on more than one occasion. I like indie music more than any other genre of music. Don’t get me wrong, I can rock out to Richard Marx or Ace of Base (depending on the amount of alcohol in my system).

Here are 15 new indie songs I’m currently listening to. Your ears will thank you for listening!

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Early March Madness Betting Predictions by Mybookie.ag

Now that football season is over, it’s time to start thinking about March Madness.

We all want to feel like the smartest guy in the room. That’s what happens when you win your office NCAA bracket pool. It’s time to put down your Excel spreadsheets and start paying attention to college basketball. Check out who is starting to look like a March Madness betting favorite at this stage of the season.

Having a hard time picking between the Final Four teams in your bracket? The best way to maximize your March Madness earnings is to also throw some money on some of your favorites.

Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga and Virginia are all having great seasons. We pick a few favorites and a sleeper.

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Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Is a Done Deal

Our friends over at BlackSportsOnline reported that TMZ confirmed the deal between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is basically done. They are just waiting for Mayweather to sign.

All the parameters have been agreed on and the fight is set to take place on May 2nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was long rumored to take place at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, but those plans fell through. I assume one would need to make plans to hold a fight in that stadium well in advance of a three month time frame.

Boxing fans have been clamoring for this fight for years. Is this fight happening a few years too late? Does Pacquiao have enough left in the tank to beat the undefeated Mayweather?

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2015 Super Bowl XLIX Picks – Prop Bets & Against the Spread

I LOVE prop bets. I actually get more joy out of betting Super Bowl prop bets than betting against the spread. Yes, most are a crap shoot, but with the right research, you can end up winning a bet with very favorable odds.

I’m not saying you can research who will win the coin toss, but there are many other player and team prop bets out there that have nice odds.

Some prop bets aren’t worth the money (the vig isn’t worth the slight risk), but sometimes you just have to lay a few bucks down, cross your fingers and wish for the best.

I picked out some of the most popular (and the most absurd) prop bets for Super Bowl XLXI. We also pick the game against the spread.

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WWE Should Stop Making ‘Royal Rumble’ So Predictable

The 2015 ‘Royal Rumble’ pay-per-view happened last night in Philadelphia. Wrestling fans always look forward to this event every year. It’s arguably the second-best wrestling night of the year, just behind ‘Wrestlemania’. Unfortunately, wrestling fans were left disappointed.

The Rumble is the unofficial start to the ‘Road to Wrestlemania’. Not only are fans excited to see which surprise entrants will enter the Rumble, but the other matches help set the table for feuds through Mania. The WWE did a pretty poor job in every facet.

The WWE has been playing it safe since the WWE Network launched. Their storytelling ability has been stuck in the 80’s since they reverted back to a PG rating. What can they do to fix last night’s blunder?

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I Was Right – Peyton Manning Was Playing Injured

A few weeks ago, I wrote something about Peyton Manning. I pointed out that for the last month, Manning hasn’t been the same. I ascertained that he injured himself sometime after the San Diego game.

He has been listed on the Denver’s injury report as having a thigh injury, but only missed one practice. He suffered the injury against the St. Louis Rams. The injury report was pretty vague as it only listed Manning as having a ‘thigh injury.’

Well, it turns out Manning tore right quad and has been playing injured since. The Broncos have relied on running back C.J. Anderson more and more down the stretch.

Quad injuries can be quite painful. Quarterbacks with the injury get no power behind their throws. It explains why many have wondered what happened to Manning’s arm strength.

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2015 College Football National Championship Picks – Prop Bets

We are a big fan of prop bets. They are usually a crap shoot, but with the right research, you can end up winning a bet with very favorable odds.

I’m not saying you can research who will win the coin toss, but there are many other player and team prop bets out there that have nice odds.

Some prop bets aren’t worth the money (the vig isn’t worth the slight risk), but sometimes you just have to lay a few bucks down, cross your fingers and wish the best.

I picked out some of the most popular prop bets for the 2015 College Football National Championship game between Ohio State and Oregon.

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2015 NFL Divisional Playoff Games – Betting Picks Against Spread

Sorry about getting my picks up so late in the week. I’ve been on injured-reserve the last few days with a thumb/wrist issue. I feel like a pitcher who can’t hit 100 mph on the radar gun. I hope you still enjoy my 60 mph knuckleballs.

I finished the regular season with a record of 131-114-9 with my NFL picks against the spread. I missed a couple last week, but feel good about this week’s picks.

I had a decent year betting against the spread during the 2013-14 season (133-95-10). Any year you hit nearly 60% of the NFL games against the spread is a damn good year. I fared well in the playoffs as well.

We pick every game in the 2015 Divisional Playoffs against the spread. Can Dallas make people forget about all of last week’s favorable calls?

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Kenny Hill to Transfer to TCU?

Kenny Hill made a name for himself in his first game as the starting quarterback for the Texas A&M Aggies. He had huge shoes to fill since he was taking over the team Johnny Manziel left behind to enter the NFL. Hill threw for 511 yards in the opener against South Carolina.

The rest of the season didn’t go so well for Hill. He struggled in the middle of the season and then had to serve a two-game suspension. Highly-touted freshman Kyle Allen took over and lead the team to three-straight wins to end the season.

Hill saw the writing on the wall and asked for a release from his scholarship at Texas A&M. He cited the reason as he wished to play closer to his home near Dallas, Texas.

Where will Kenny Hill end up? Is TCU the only school in the running?

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10 Must-See Bands at Coachella (You May Not Have Heard)

Coachella is a three-day music festival held in Southern California every Summer. It has turned into a music lover’s dream with some of the biggest names in music. It even streams live on YouTube every year.

This year’s lineup for the event was recently announced. We all know the headliners (AC/DC, Jack White, Drake, etc), but this is a three-day festival. A ton of lesser-known bands/artists play and get added to the lineup in small print.

We are here to help point you in the right direction and maybe let you know about some bands you didn’t know existed…and will all be playing Coachella in 2015.

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Cavs Still Don’t Know How to Make LeBron Happy

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made a couple head-scratching moves. First, they traded Dion Waiters for Iman Shumpert’s flat top and J.R. Smith’s ability to get into VIP rooms. Then today, the Cavs traded a couple protected first-round picks to Denver for Tomofey Mozgov (who apparently survived that Blake Griffin dunk).

I get why the Cavs are making trades, but they feel like panic moves. LeBron James is battling knee and back problems and they need to right the ship in a hurry. It clearly wasn’t working out with Waiters and he needed a new home, but the deal they received could be more toxic than helpful.

Will these move put Cleveland one step closer to being a title contender or is it a step backwards?

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