Is Peyton Manning Playing Injured?

The Denver Broncos are limping into the postseason. It’s ballsy to say that since they are 4-1 in their last five games. I’m saying that because Peyton Manning doesn’t have the same kind of firepower in his arm he had last season. He has turned into a ‘hand-off first’ quarterback.

Since Denver’s 22-7 loss to St. Louis, Manning has only averaged 230 passing yards per game. He has thrown seven touchdowns and six interceptions during the five-game stretch.

After the loss to the Rams, Denver running back C.J. Anderson exploded with back-to-back 160+-yard rushing games, but has fell back down to Earth the last three games. He has averaged more than 25 carries per game in the same span.

Is Peyton Manning playing injured or are the Broncos saving him for the postseason?

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What the Heck are the Padres Doing This Offseason?

The San Diego Padres aren’t trying to use a slow-build process to rebuild their team. New general manager A.J. Preller is charging out of the gate. He was a scouting director for the Texas Rangers for the last decade. During his time there, Texas used their farm system to trade for MLB-ready bats and arms.

He appears to be trying to use the same method in San Diego.

The Padres have already traded for former All-Stars Matt Kemp & Justin Upton, former top prospects Wil Myers & Will Middlebrooks and acquired underrated talents like Derek Norris and Brandon Morrow.

Can the San Diego Padres instantly contend with the Dodgers and Giants in the NL West or will they need a year to tinker with their current roster?

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2014 NFL Week 16 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I’m sorry for getting this post up late this week. I was having a ‘man issue’ I couldn’t solve myself. The issue was that my car broke down and I’m horrible at man stuff, like use stainless steel tools and spitting. I finally got the issue straightened out and was able to research this week’s NFL games.

I went 8-6-2 last week. I now sit at 113-103-7 with my NFL picks against the spread this season.

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 16 of the 2014 NFL season.

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39 Snarky Reasons To Watch Every Bowl Game

There are 39 college football bowl games this season and to be honest, not all of them are worth watching. I do my best (and worst) to try to convince everyone to tune into every bowl game this season. I use cheerleader quality, famous alumni, hot girlfriends and I even quote the movie ‘Tombstone’ to coax you.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Nevada vs Louisiana-Lafayette (December 20th) – The game is played at the Superdome, so if you’re into watching a non-neutral site bowl game in which 90% of the fans are rooting for Louisiana-Lafayette, this is your game. Sorry about your damn luck, Nevada.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl: UTEP vs Utah State (December 20th) – I only know UTEP exists because I bet on college football. If I didn’t, I would only know UTEP because Tim Hardaway played basketball there…so watch a team you (may) have never heard of play football!

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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.

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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