Dear Taylor Swift, Spotify Doesn’t Need You

Taylor Swift recently made news when she pulled her new music from the popular streaming service Spotify. She wasn’t the first artist to take a stand and pull their material. The Black Keys pulled their “El Camino” album back in 2011, but it was only off the service for the first few months of its release. They clearly wanted strong sales and not many other artists have pulled material since.

Swift sold 1.2 million copies of “1989” in its first week. It is the first album this year to have eclipsed one million in sales…for the year!

There isn’t another artist that could have done this and survived. One could argue that she would have sold just as many or slightly less if she kept her music on Spotify. It could have went bad in a hurry, but she’s Taylor Swift and can do no wrong.

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2014 NFL Week 10 – Betting Picks Against Spread

After getting roughed up in Week 8, I bounced back. I went 9-4 on the week and now sit at 68-63-2 against the spread on the season.

I received something last week that was even better than going 9-4. The return of ‘The Walking Buttfumble‘ Mark Sanchez into my life! I can’t wait to make Twitter jokes at his expense on Monday night. You can follow me on Twitter at @Sweetbob.

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 10 of the 2014 NFL season.

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2014 NCAA Football – Week 11 Betting Picks Against Spread

I had a pretty nice week. I ended up going 13-7 and hit on some underdog moneyline plays. My record is now 98-78-3 on the season.

I haven’t heard much about the weather being a huge issue this weekend. It is expected to rain in the Midwest. The weather isn’t expected to fall below 33 degrees, but check the national weather map as Saturday approaches.

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 (November 8th, 2014), and picked some smaller conference games as well. Enjoy!

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: November 2014

I’ve been writing so many NBA previews and NFL & college football ‘picks against the spread’ posts. It gives me time to listen to new music while I research everything. I listened to hours of music while writing last month. I’m more than prepared for November’s Hipster Music Playlist.

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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2014-15 College Basketball – All-Name Team

We have many new entries this season, but I’m sad great names like God’sgift Achiuwa have graduated. We do have plenty of fun names to him.

We picked through every Division-I college basketball roster and a few smaller schools for our list. This year’s class is solid and better than last year’s All-Name Team. We went through a rebuilding year and we are a better team.

My name is Bobby Roberts, so I am often jealous of people with unique names. The most unique thing about my name is that I was not born ‘Robert Roberts’, Bobby is my given name. I don’t know too many grown men named Bobby.

This list consists of names that we wished he had and ones we find humorous. We even included some famous kids of former NBA players.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 32

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 and Elite Series 31 were both home runs. I bought most of those sets. I was kind of hoping Elite 32 would be filled with figures I’d want to skip (I need to catch up on some earlier Elites I missed). My wish was granted and I don’t feel bad skipping most of these figures.

The WWE Superstars included in Elite 32 are Daniel Bryan (short-lived run with the Wyatt Family), Big E., Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio (WCW Flashback).

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

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The 10 Best Pumpkin Beers

I’m a sucker for anything pumpkin. It could be because my birthday is in the Fall and that I routinely ask for a ‘birthday pumpkin pie’ instead of a cake (Yes, it exists).

I even learned a few garnishing tricks to make drinking pumpkin beers even better. If you coat the rim of the glass with brown sugar (like you do with salt on a margarita glass), it enhances the pumpkin flavors.

Since the craft beer industry exploded a few years ago, nearly every brewery releases some sort of pumpkin or yam beer. I opted to include only the traditional pumpkin beers (there are some great ones aged in barrels). I strayed a bit from the list by including Southern Tier’s Warlock, because it’s so damn good.

I know the ladies love Pumpkin Spice Lattés. They can have all the PSLs to themselves. Just leave me the pumpkin beers. I compiled a list of the ten best pumpkin beers for the Fall/Winter of 2014.

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2014 NFL Week 9 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I had a rough week, guys. I tried to change up my betting style a bit and it didn’t work out. I was 5-9-1 on the week and now 59-59-2 against the spread on the season.

It might be time to jump off the bandwagon of some teams you’ve been riding this season. Also, keep an eye on the injury report. There are some key players currently questionable.

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 9 of the 2014 NFL season.

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2014 NCAA Football – Week 10 Betting Picks Against Spread

I felt pretty good about going 11-8-1 last week. I called a few nice upsets and missed a couple by a single point. My glaring mistake was picking against TCU (oops). My record is now 85-71-3 on the season.

I haven’t heard much about the weather being a huge issue this weekend. It is supposed to be the 40’s in the Midwest, so if any Southern teams have to do some traveling, it could be a shock to their system, but it’s nothing that would deter production.

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 (November 1st, 2014), and picked some smaller conference games as well. Enjoy!

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2014-15 NBA Team Preview: Washington Wizards

Washington has built a fun team to watch. They have one of the best backcourts in the league with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Washington can do things around the perimeter while also having two huge men in the paint.

The East is a top-heavy conference. Cleveland and Chicago are the two teams many put on top, but shouldn’t Washington also be mentioned?

Could John Wall be a sleeper MVP candidate?

We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.

Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Washington Wizards.

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2014-15 NBA Team Preview: Utah Jazz

Utah did the smartest thing they could do this off-season. I’m not referring to drafting Dante Exum or signing Gordon Hayward to an absurd contract. I’m talking about them getting rid of Tyrone Corbin as head coach. He was just horrible at his job. They upgraded by hiring Quin Snyder. He resurrected his career in the D-League and then as a player development-focused assistant coach in the NBA.

Speaking of Exum, Utah can wait to see what he becomes. They have Trey Burke and Alec Burks as their starting back-court. I actually want to see what they do this season.

Utah isn’t expected to compete this season. How many years will this rebuilding process take?

We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.

Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Utah Jazz.

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2014-15 NBA Team Preview: Toronto Raptors

Toronto was the surprise team in the East last season. Their corps of young talent blossomed. They even traded Rudy Gay mid-season, which shed considerable cap space. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri helped turn Denver’s franchise around when he was in charge. He has quickly done the same in Toronto.

Can Toronto upset Cleveland and win the East?

We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.

Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Toronto Raptors.

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