Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: Top 25 Songs of 2014

I’ve made a Hipster Music Playlist nearly every month this year (I think I missed one). Each playlist has 15 fresh indie songs, so I’ve posted 165 songs this year.

I glazed through my ‘America’s White Boy Hipster Music Playlist‘ on Spotify and picked out the best 25 tracks I’ve posted this year. It took me quite awhile to narrow the list down (the last five were really hard to omit).

I was thinking about doing a ‘best albums of 2014’ list, but I fear it would take forever to whittle down to an easy, round number. There are at least 75 albums that deserve to be mentioned.

This list is all over the place. It has a little something for everyone. Also, if you’re a fan of Nick Offerman, he’s in two videos on this list (FIDLAR & The Decemberists). I would love for him to exclusively be a music video actor once his Ron Swanson role wraps up on NBC’s “Parks & Recreation”

You can also find this list on Spotify in its own separate playlist. Enjoy!

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2014 NFL Week 15 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I finished 8-7-1 last week. I’ve been hovering around .500 for most of the season. I’ve had some nice underdog moneyline wins, but there are a few teams that I haven’t got a good feel for this season. I’ve whiffed on the Vikings, Rams and Falcons more the other teams. I now sit at 105-97-5 with my NFL picks against the spread this season.

I have no idea why Rob Gronkowski had a photoshoot with a kitten. I actually can’t explain anything he does, so it makes sense.

I had a decent year betting against the spread in the NFL last season (133-95-10). Any year you hit nearly 60% of the NFL games against the spread is a damn good year. Let’s hope my win percentage is near that this season.

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 15 of the 2014 NFL season.

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Jon Lester signs with Cubs, Fans Fear How This Will End

I’m a life-long fan of the Chicago Cubs. I’ve been through it all. I was born in 1980 and one of my earliest baseball memories was the Cubs’ 1984 playoff collapse. I dealt with numerous inept managers, a handful of ‘this is our year’ years and the whole Steve Bartman ordeal. The Cubs now have a stockpile of blue-chip prospects, but nearly all are position players. Chicago needs quality pitching and they just signed the biggest name this offseason.

Jon Lester, formerly of Boston and Oakland, signed a six-year $155 million dollar deal (with an option for a seventh year).

Theo Epstein and recently-named assistant Ryan Dempster both have a relationship with Lester. It gave them a much-needed edge.

I breakdown this signing and a few other ramblings about the upcoming Chicago Cubs season. Also, gaze upon my awesomely horrible MS Paint skills.

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The Nets Are Looking to Trade and Rebuild

The Brooklyn Nets have been trying to become New York’s biggest draw since before they moved to Brooklyn. Nets owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, tried to spend his way to a championship, but that didn’t happen. He ended up with dried-up veterans and other bloated contracts.

The Nets front office doesn’t like what they have seen so far and have put their three best players on the trading block. Brook Lopez, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson could all be headed out of town…but are any NBA teams willing to take on their large contracts?

Lopez, Johnson and Williams are the highest-paid trio in the NBA at $58.7 million combined. Not only will a trade partner need to worry about this season, but all three players are on the books for future money.

Let’s breakdown each player and if there’s a chance any team would take a shot on them.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 33

I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month.

WWE Elite Series 30, Elite Series 31 were both home runs (Elite Series 32…not so much). I mostly skipped Elite 32 (only purchased Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio) because I knew Elite 33 would be crazy awesome. They knocked a few of these figures out of the park. The Mattel design team did some great work.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 33 are X-Pac (Flashback), Junkyard Dog (Flashback), Batista (aka Bluetista), Cesaro, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Here are some pictures and a review of which accessories each figure will come with.

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2014 NFL Week 14 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I started out well (2-1 on Thanksgiving), but then the late games on Sunday stuck it to me. I finished 7-9 and completely whiffed on the Raiders/Rams and Giants/Jaguars games. I now sit at 97-90-4 with my NFL picks against the spread this season.

Why the hell is Justin Bieber surrounded by New England Patriots players? Rob Gronkowski looks happy as hell (but when doesn’t he look happy as hell?).

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 14 of the 2014 NFL season.

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2014 NCAA Football – Week 15 + Conference Championships – Betting Picks Against Spread

I ended up doing pretty well last week. I went 13-7 and hit on a few moneyline underdogs plays. I want to thank Georgia Tech for the outright win against Georgia. My record is now 143-112-3 on the season.

Conference Championship games can be a crapshoot. Pay close attention to injury reports and make sure to check weather reports (just in case). Most of the games this week are played in nice weather and/or in domes. It shouldn’t be a huge factor.

We were 134-79-8 against the spread betting on college football games last season. We hope to keep it going and help you guys out again this season.

We pick against the spread for all the big college football games on Saturday (December 6th, 2014), and picked some smaller conference games as well. Enjoy!

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Brian Hoyer to Remain Browns Starter…for now

FOX Sports reported this afternoon that the Cleveland Browns will keep Brian Hoyer as their starting quarterback for this Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.

This comes as a surprise to many after Browns head coach Mike Pettine benched Hoyer in favor of rookie Johnny Manziel in their loss to Buffalo last week. Manziel moved the ball well and had a few moments that reminded us all of what he was able to accomplish in college.

Hoyer may have a short leash against the Colts. If he struggles in the first half, Manziel could see time. If he does appear, it is rumored that Cleveland will go with Manziel for their final three games.

This could be Hoyer’s last shot to make it in his hometown of Cleveland native.

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Could the Hornets trade Lance Stephenson?

As many of you know, I’ve been a vocal fan of Lance Stephenson since he was drafted by the Indiana Pacers. I would champion his skills and wonder why he was sitting at the end of the bench. He then took Dahntay Jones’ spot and went on to fill-in for an injured Danny Granger. He took advantage of the opportunity and should have been an All-Star last season.

Stephenson left Indiana and signed a nice deal with the Charlotte Hornets. He hasn’t quite fit in with Charlotte and they find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Michael Jordan did not expect last year’s 7th seed to fail this bad.

On December 15th, NBA teams can officially trade players they signed this offseason. With all the drama surrounding the situation in Charlotte, could Stephenson have a new home before the end of the calendar year?

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: December 2014

It’s the last month of 2014 (that was weird to type). It was a pretty memorable year in music, but the only album to exceed one million albums sold was Taylor Swift’s new album (sorry music industry). It’s unfortunate because a ton of awesome music was released. People intake music in different ways, but mostly it’s via torrent.

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. All of the songs are fresh and most have only been released within the last two months.

Your ears will thank you for listening!

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Will ‘The New Day’ Succeed in WWE?

WWE hasn’t had much luck recently debuting characters after a lengthy series of vignettes. The string of recent failures can be traced back to Brodus Clay’s re-debut as the Funkasaurus, the laughable ‘Lord Tensai’ debut and let’s not forget Fandango’s debut (his entrance music was more ‘over’ than him). It might be a bit too early to label Bo Dallas and Adam Rose as busts, but it has been months and they have yet to gain traction.

Yes, there have been some successes, with The Wyatt Family being the biggest, but it isn’t always the performers’ fault.

Have vignettes lost their appeal? Will The New Day continue the string of failures?

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2014 NFL Week 13 – Betting Picks Against Spread

After dominating the previous week, I broke even at 7-7-1 last week. I had three close misses, but still feel like I made smart picks in those three close non-winners. I now sit at 90-81-4 with my NFL picks against the spread this season.

I do have to pat my back a bit by picking Oakland last week. I even mentioned that Latavius Murray would have a big game.

There are some awesome games lined up this week. There is only one double-digit point spread this week. I can’t wait to dive into a turkey, watch football, dive into turkey leftovers on Sunday and continue watching football.

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 13 of the 2014 NFL season.

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