2015 NBA Mock Draft: Early Lottery Edition

The 2015 NBA Draft has been hyped as a two-man draft with the top prizes being Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. I believe both big men will go onto have nice NBA careers, but this draft is deeper than most people think.

I believe Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell and Duke’s Justise Winslow could both be future NBA All-Stars…but just like any other player, they need to be in the right situation to develop.

Don’t worry international basketball fans, there’s plenty of overseas talent in this year’s draft. You have Croatian Mario Hezonja and Latvian Kristaps Prozingis as the top talents from Europe. Also, there’s an American high schooler Emmanuel Mudiay who went to China in lieu of going to college.

Here’s our early 2015 NBA mock draft for the NBA lottery selection.

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MLB: Underdogs Against Spread Having Great Start

The Major League Baseball season is roughly two months old and underdogs have been on roll against the spread so far.

Underdogs (home and road) have won in 63% of games this year. It’s not unusual for underdogs to get off to a hot start, but I could see the streak continue well into July.

Minnesota, Houston and the New York Mets all currently have at least a share of their respective divisions. All three teams weren’t expected to contend for their divisions this year (although I predicted a possible Wild-Card spot for the Mets), so they have all helped the underdog winning percentage.

Will these teams hit a wall when they begin to be consistently favored against the spread?

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 36

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.

Elite Series 33, Elite Series 34 & Elite Series 35 were all home runs (Elite Series 32…not so much). Even though Elite Series 35 just started to hit retail, Mattel’s Elite Series 36 is starting to come out to collectors that put in early pre-orders.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 36 are DDP (Flashback), Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas, Goldust, Startdust & Dean Ambrose

We give our thoughts on each figure and include some pictures.

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: June 2015

I didn’t post a Hipster Music Playlist last month because I ran into a wall. Not literally, but I just spent way too much time trying to pick 15 songs I enjoyed enough to share with you guys. There’s a trend going on in indie music that I do not enjoy. Many bands are using low-fi recording and mixing on their tracks. I understand if you’re broke and can’t afford quality equipment, but with DIY recording programs being dirt cheap these days, it comes off as disingenuous. I do not enjoy bands trying to fake a grainy sound. Here’s a tip, if your vocalist sounds like they are singing through a late-90’s PC microphone, you’re doing it wrong.

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.

Since I skipped last month, I decided to super-size this month’s Hipster Music Playlist and include five extra songs.

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Several FIFA Executives Arrested in Switzerland

It appears that the United States government is going after many expected to have received bribes during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. The U.S. asked Swiss police to arrest a number of FIFA executives while they were in Zurich to vote on the next FIFA president.

Switzerland has an extradition pact with the United States when it involves non-tax-related crimes.

The current FIFA president Sepp Blatter wasn’t one of the executives arrested in Zurich…and he isn’t expected to visit the United States any time soon.

Which FIFA executives have been named as those allegedly arrested or detained? We give you a list of those we’ve heard so far.

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MLB Best Early Over Bets

Baseball bettors are a month into the 2015 MLB campaign and if you’re a regular of sportsbook online betting, you’ve noticed these teams lighting up the scoreboard to start the season.

Here are the most outstanding – but still early – MLB Over bets:

Oakland Athletics (11-16 SU, 20-6-1 O/U)

Not all great Over bets are great scoring teams. Some are horrible defensive units. And then you have the perfect storm of great offense and poor defense, such is the Oakland A’s. They’ve been bashing the cover off the ball through the first month of play, averaging 5.11 runs on a .268 BA, but also giving up plenty of runs on the other side of the plate. Oakland’s bullpen is to blame, boasting a chunky 4.93 ERA and five blown saves already. The A’s are a profitable 12-1 O/U in the Bay Area but don’t return home until May 11, facing a pair of Sox – Red and White – for six games.

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Best Players Not Drafted During 2015 NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is seven rounds and you would think teams are scraping the bottom of the barrel in the last rounds, but that is not the case. Quality players like Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Antonio Gates and Arian Foster all went undrafted out of college.

NFL teams do their due diligence during the pre-draft process. They dig deep into a prospect’s personal life and can sometime do a little too much work. Many players fall through the cracks due to off-the-field issues or a perceived idea that a certain player doesn’t fit a team’s current scheme.

I’ll leave all the draft grades and winners & losers posts for the so-called ‘experts’ that can tell the future. Here is a list of the best college players who didn’t get drafted during the 2015 NFL Draft.

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2015 Projected Major League Baseball Standings

We finished every 2015 MLB team preview this season and now it’s time to show you a condensed version of our projected standings for the 2015 season.

MLB finally got the hint that opening the baseball season in places like Japan or Australia wasn’t the best idea, so this season they decided to nix that horrible idea. The first game of the year takes place April 5th at Wrigley Field when the Cardinals face the Cubs. The rest of the league will begin the following day.

Plenty of big names have changed teams this offseason (Matt Kemp, Jon Lester, Hanley Ramirez) and some big names are coming back from Tommy John surgery (Matt Harvey, Jose Fernandez). There’s plenty of reasons to tune into baseball this year.

The San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series. Can they win their fourth ring in six seasons?

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2015 MLB Team Preview: Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals season ended in the NLDS when they were defeated by San Francisco. The Giants was a team of destiny and went on to win the World Series. The early exit doesn’t look as bad when the team that defeated you goes on to win the title…but Washington really needs to get to a World Series while this core group of guys are all in their prime.

Bryce Harper is fun to watch (even if his peers think he’s overrated). He goes all-out on defense and often swings for the fences when he’s at-bat. Unfortunately, his playing style could lead to his early demise. He has missed 108 games the last two seasons due to injuries suffered in the outfield. If he can stay healthy for a full season, he could put up big numbers…but that’s a huge ‘if.’

Stephen Strasburg threw 200+ innings for the first time in his career in 2014. Can do it again this season?

Here is the 2015 MLB season preview for the Washington Nationals.

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2015 March Madness: #5 Arkansas vs #12 Wofford

The SEC doesn’t have a very good track record when an above average SEC team faces a small school in the opening round. Georgia, Auburn and even Arkansas have been bitten in the ass by Cinderella in the past.

This is Mike Anderson’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament as the head coach of Arkansas. He took over the job in 2011 and the team’s record has improved each season. They hope to build on last year’s NIT experience.

This is Wofford’s fourth appearance in the Big Dance. They have yet to win a game. Their closest loss was in their first tourney appearance in 2010, when they lost to Wisconsin 53-49.

Who do you think will win? We help you fill out your bracket.

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2015 March Madness: #5 West Virginia vs #12 Buffalo

There are some intriguing #5 vs #12 games in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. This is where I believe at least one true Cinderella could come out of the opening round.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins hasn’t been in the NCAA Tournament since 2012. This year’s 23-8 squad finished with his second-best regular season record since he’s been in Morgantown. Can he get the ‘Neers to their first Sweet Sixteen in five years?

Bobby Hurley took over Buffalo’s program last season after serving as an assistant at Wagner College and Rhode Island. He was an accomplished college point guard at Duke in the early 90’s. This is his first appearance in the tournament as a head coach. How much did Coack K and his legendary father rub off on him?

Who do you think will win? We help you fill out your bracket.

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2015 March Madness: #6 SMU vs #11 UCLA

UCLA lost a lot of talent to the NBA this offseason. Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson and Zach LaVine were all drafted while Travis Wear caught on with an NBA team after Summer League. That’s a lot of talent that has gone bye bye.

SMU and their head coach Larry Brown (who always looks like he can’t find his keys) have been nearly automatic since early-season losses. They have learned to be patient with the ball. The Mustangs finished the regular season in the top 25 in both assists per game and field goal percentage.

Can Alford quiet all the ‘UCLA shouldn’t be the tournament’ naysayers?

Who do you think will win? We help you fill out your bracket.

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