Sweetbob’s Saturday Betting Bonanza

I miss college football, so on Saturdays, I find myself watching everything. I use the word ‘everything’ because I seriously watch any sport that pops up on my DirecTV. At the moment, that means a lot of the Winter Olympics.

As I’m in the vortex of random sports, I find myself doing my fair share of betting. I had a great NFL and college football season and historically, I’m even better at college basketball.

This Saturday is filled with more than luge and figure skating. You have some great college basketball matchups (Syracuse at Duke) and UFC 170.

I pick February 22nd college basketball games against the spread and also pick the winners of tonight’s UFC 170. Will Ronda Rousey defend her title?

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End Of An Era: Pacers Trade Danny Granger to 76ers

Today, NBA teams were scrambling up until the final minutes to make something happen before the 3pm trade deadline. The day is always filled with hype and hopes their team can make a blockbuster trade to either stockpile draft picks or build for a playoff run…but only minor deals were made today.

The biggest trade of the day was made between the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers. Indiana sent former All-Star Danny Granger and a future second-round pick to Philly for former Ohio State standout Evan Turner and backup power forward Lavoy Allen.

This marks an end of an era for the Indiana Pacers. Granger has been with Indiana since he was drafted in 2005. He was the face of the franchise after Reggie Miller retired that same year. I think his biggest accomplishment is that he survived the Jim O’Brien head coaching era (that was brutal).

How will Evan Turner be used in the Pacers rotation? What does this mean for Lance Stephenson’s impending free agency?

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Please, Stop Giving Kevin Durant Horrible Nicknames!

NBA fans, and those who make a living covering the NBA, have been trying to make a nickname stick on Kevin Durant since his rookie season. Attempts have ran the gamut from just his initials ‘K.D.’ to the horrible ‘Durantula’ moniker.

This is Durant’s seventh season in the NBA. I cannot remember a time when an athlete in any major sport got a nickname to stick this late into their professional career. A nickname is usually something a player receives at a young age and sticks throughout the rest of his career. If the nickname doesn’t stick, it’s not a good nickname.

Well, basketball fans (especially ESPN‘s Bill Simmons), are still obsessed with a Durant nickname. On The B.S. Report podcast, Simmons even asked Durant what he wanted to be called. His answer was worse than expected…

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Review: “Wrigley Field: An Oral And Narrative History Of The Home Of The Chicago Cubs” by Ira Berkow

Spring Training is fast approaching and so is the season when great baseball books are released. “Wrigley Field: An Oral And Narrative History Of The Chicago Cubs” could be the gem of the year.

Ira Berkow went all out and made the most all-encompassing book about Wrigley Field ever printed. Not only are there interesting stories, but the photos in this book are amazing. Panoramic shots from various seats in the bleachers and rooftop seats to intimate portraits of early Cubs players.

This isn’t a small book. It’s a ‘coffee table’ book in size, but with enough written content to read and not just flip through.

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New Orleans Pelicans Make Mascot Less Frightening

The New Orleans Pelicans mascot, Pierre the Pelican, went under the knife. The team announced he was having plastic surgery to fix his beak.

The picture on the right is the ‘before’ picture. He was scaring kids and looked like something in a bad furry movie. Who approved this mascot? Was it the same guy who approved ‘Boomer’, the Columbus Blue Jackets failed cannon mascot that looked like, ummm, a ‘cannon’ and two round things below it. I’m trying to keep it PG-13 around here…at least when it comes to mascots.

See what the new and improved Pierre looks like now…after the jump.

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2014 NBA All-Star Weekend: Betting Odds

The first-half of the NBA season is nearly complete and NBA All-Star Weekend starts this Friday.

The most anticipated events are the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest and Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on Saturday and the actual All-Star game on Sunday.

The betting odds for these three events are very interesting. There are a few favorites in each event, but some underdogs interest me. You could get a bit lucky and win a nice chunk of change.

Will Lebron James and Kevin Durant battle for the All-Star game MVP? Is the second time’s the charm for Paul George in the Slam Dunk Contest? Can Stephen Curry hold off defending champion Kyrie Irving in the Three-Point Contest?

Here are the odds for All-Star Game MVP, Slam Dunk Champion and 3-Point Shootout winner.

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Curling: How To Play The Best Winter Olympic Sport

Every four years, I look forward to the Winter Olympics. Household names are few and far between and you learn how freaking quirky these athletes are.

The sport I end up watching the most is curling. I first started watching this sport during the 2006 Olympics and I must have watched a dozen hours. I knew nothing about it and learned the rules on the fly. It was a lot of fun, but you rarely ever see it televised during Olympic off-years.

Most people try to explain curling with the phrase, “It’s like shuffleboard.” Okay, unless you live in a retirement community, you don’t know much about that ‘sport’ either.

We explain the basic rules of curling and why it’s the best sport in the Winter Olympics.

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2014 National Signing Day: All-Name Team

For those who love high school and college football, National Signing Day is a lot of fun. It’s the one day of the year in which a university’s athletic department’s fax machine is the most important piece of equipment on campus.

This is the day when high school seniors can fax in their letter of intent to the college they wish to play football. You need to be offered a scholarship before you fax a letter of intent…sorry, guys.

I’ve researched all the top players in the 2014 senior class and picked out some of the best names and which school they will be playing for later this year.

My name is Bobby Roberts. I often get asked if my name is Robert Roberts, but no, it says ‘Bobby’ on my birth certificate. My name will forever sound like I’m eight years old…so different names always interest me. I think you will enjoy this list.

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The 30 Hottest Female Athletes of the 2014 Winter Olympics

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will begin this weekend. We want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. We have logged many hours scouting the female ‘talent’ who will compete in this year’s Winter Olympic games.

We wanted to make sure that we only list the female olympians you will see during the telecast on NBC. Every female athlete in this post are medal contenders in their respective events and a few could win the gold.

This list of the 30 hottest/sexiest female athletes who will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics come from a wide range of sports. We have ladies who compete in snowboarding, curling, skeleton, bobsledding, skiing and even hockey! A few of the names will be familiar to you, but we have picked out a few sleepers who will turn heads and make appearances on every sports blog the day after their event.

Have a seat, open a Red Bull, and enjoy the view…

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Super Bowl 48 Picks – Prop Bets

There’s one reason why I love the Super Bowl…even when my favorite team (Indianapolis Colts) is sitting at home. PROP BETS!

I have hit on many prop bets in the past and I’ve picked correctly on the length of the National Anthem in 8 of the last 10 Super Bowls. You can find a prop bet for just about anything. You can even find cross-sports bets like over/under Russell Wilson passing in Super Bowl vs. combined score of the Boston Celtics/Orlando Magic game. You can go over to SportsBettingDime.com to find all the sports betting sites that offer interesting props.

We’ll cover all the usual prop bets (coin toss, MVP, etc) and throw in a few curveballs for you to ponder.

I LOVE this time of the year! Continue reading →

Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: January 2014

I want to kick 2014’s ‘Hipster Music Playlist’ off right. I decided to super-size this month’s playlist (again) with 15 songs. January is usually a difficult month to find good, new music, but I didn’t have much trouble this year. Included in this month’s playlist is an hilarious video by FIDLAR that features Nick Offerman (aka Ron Swanson).

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! Continue reading →

2013 NFL Week 17 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I had to wait until the last minute to post my NFL picks against the spread. There was so many things that were unknown earlier this week. We know know the status of Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and even Jon Kitna…yep, THAT Jon Kitna.

I have a 124-88-10 record against the spread so far this season.

There are five games with double-digit point spreads and playoff spots and seeds are still up for grabs. This is an odd Week 17, since we have two ‘loser leaves town’ games.

I hate betting in Week 17, but it’s the last shot at betting a full slate of games. There is no such thing as a ‘sure thing’ this week, weird shit will happen, my friends.

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 17 of the NFL season.

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