2017 NFL Wild Card Playoff Games – Betting Picks Against Spread

I’m limping into the postseason after back-to-back near-.500 weeks against the spread.

I’ve already done pretty darn well picking games against the spread in the postseason. I find it to be easier than picking the games straight up. Injuries will play a huge factor this week as two teams are playing backup quarterbacks.

Three of the four playoff games are being played outdoors, so check weather reports before kickoff.

Will the teams that finished hot this year stay hot when the pressure is on?

Will the backup quarterbacks make a name for themselves and pull off upsets this weekend?

We pick every NFL Wild Card Weekend game against the spread.

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Review: New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 11

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year happened last night/this morning (depending on where you live).

The January 4th show at the Tokyo Dome has been a tradition for decades, but they have branded it ‘Wrestle Kingdom’ the last eleven years. The last few January 4th shows have been epic and this year’s card was stacked as well.

2016 was all about anointing new stars in New Japan after losing stars Shinsuke Nakamura and A.J. Styles to the WWE, and Kota Ibushi to, um, free agency? NJPW has been trying to push Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito and random other members of Los Ingobernables de Japon to the next level.

Could this be the show when New Japan crowns a new face of the promotion?

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2016 NFL Week 17 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I finished 9-7 last week and suffered a few bad beats. I want to end the regular season with a strong week, but Week 17 is usually a crap shoot.

I’ve spent the last couple days battling a horrible flu. I did have a chance to study who may sit Week 17. I also explain which teams still have something to play for this Sunday.

A lot of weird stuff happens during the last week of the season. We are almost guaranteed to have some receiver or running back have 200+ yards or some backup quarterback pull a ‘Matt Flynn’ and throw for a ton of yards. Can Raiders backup QB Matt McGloin be this year’s Week 17 surprise?

We pick ever NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 17 of the 2016 NFL season.

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Have NBA Referees Been Unfair to the Pacers?

Indiana Pacers star Paul George is getting frustrated and feels his team is being treated unfairly like a little brother by the referees. His comments came after a tough 90-85 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

George only made one trip to the free throw line the entire game. He only averages 4.3 free throw attempts per game, which is pretty low for a star player.

In regards to the Pacers not getting calls, he said, “Ever since I’ve been playing, ever since I’ve been in this jersey we’ve fought this battle. Maybe the league has teams they like so they can give them the benefit of the doubt. We’re the little brother of the league. We’re definitely the little brother of the league.”

Does George have a case or is he just mad the Pacers have lost three-straight games?

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Tension is Building in Denver Broncos Dressing Room

The Denver Broncos had a cracking season at their last attempt thanks to winning the Super Bowl in style, but since then some of their performances have been questionable in the new season. It seems they have taken their foot off the gas and the tension is not only clear to see on the field, but there have also been rumors of bust-ups in the dressing room. After losing 16-3 to the New England Patriots, it was clear players wanted to get things off their chest and did just that with a heated discussion in the dressing room. The incident involved two players in offensive tackle Russell Okung and Aqib Talib who is a defensive back, and both were quite unhappy with what has been going wrong with their game.

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2016 NFL Week 16 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I finished 9-6-1 last week after betting on a lot of covers. It worked in my favor and most of the favorites did well against the spread last week.

Betting games late in the NFL season does pose a few extra things to consider than betting early season games. Not only do you have to factor in weather issues, but a team’s motivation to win could be a huge factor. If a team has nothing left to play for, it could hurt their performance against the spread.

Also, you don’t want to make motivation the ‘end all, be all’ factor. Players on bad teams are still playing for contracts this offseason and roster spots next year. You have to toe a thin line at this point in the season.

We pick ever NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 16 of the 2016 NFL season.

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: Best of 2016

We post a hipster music playlist (almost) every month here on America’s White Boy. We looked through all of this year’s playlists and picked the best 20 tracks.

There was something we noticed while compiling this list. It was a strong year for female vocalists. Warpaint, eskimeaux, Phantogram and Sleigh Bells all put out some great music. I also need to give props to the guys, since Kishi Bashi and Grouplove released two of the best albums of the year. I actually had to put two Grouplove tracks on this 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. Keep sending me tracks via email or Twitter.

We created a specific Spotify playlist for our Best of 2016 list. Follow, listen and enjoy! Continue reading →

Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 48

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. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.

The lineup in Elite 48 is just all right. It is heavy on current Smackdown Live superstars with Cactus Jack and Boogeyman added as flashbacks.

This set could have issues selling out at retail since Dean Ambrose and Kalisto already have quite a few recent elites…but Boogeyman could be one of the best figures of 2017.

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2016 NFL Week 15 – Betting Picks Against Spread

I finished 9-7 and felt pretty good about it. I had a weak outing the previous week, so it’s good to get a positive week in the books to bounce back.

It is going to be brutally cold in the Midwest this weekend, but thanks to domes, it really only affects the Green Bay/Chicago game.

I’m feeling pretty strong on a lot of the favorites this week. I’m not a huge fan of taking favorites this late in the year, but there were some favorable lines this week. There are just a few double-digit point spreads that give me pause, but they are against teams that have already packed it in for the season.

We pick ever NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 15 of the 2016 NFL season.

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UFC Botches New Women’s Weight Class

The UFC announced that they will be starting a new women’s weight class at 145 pounds and will crown a new champion at UFC 208. The inaugural 145-pound belt will either go to former Welterweight champion Holly Holm or Germanie de Randamie.

Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino is the only reason why Dana White even thought of making a 145-pound class, but she is not in this match. Hell, she may not ever fight at 145 pounds again. In her two fights at 140 pounds in the UFC, she had to cut a ton of weight and her body nearly shutdown both times. In my opinion, she has too much muscle mass to fight at anything below 155 pounds on a semi-regular basis.

If you’re confused by that title match pairing since there is a glaring omission. This is one of the reasons why the 145-pound Featherweight weight class will be a huge failure.

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2016 NFL Week 14 – Betting Picks Against Spread

Your boy had a rough week. I finished 6-9 and really whiffed on some of the early games. I’d like to thank the Colts for making sure I didn’t end up with ten losses last week.

I’m going to write it off as just having a bad week. I think many of the teams will bounce back this week. Vegas catches up with teams this time of the year, especially when teams are playing in-division rivals for the second time.

I’ll rolling the dice with quite a few road teams this week. I think there are a lot of 50/50 games that could come down to the last few plays, so that explains why there are so many tight points spreads. Let’s hope for some covers this weekend.

We pick ever NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 14 of the 2016 NFL season.

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: December 2016

It’s almost time for Hipster Santa to ride his vintage Schwinn around the world to deliver record players and typewriters to all the good boys and girls.

December’s playlist is filled with new songs from all across the indie music genre. A few tracks even have an awesome music video. I was surprised to see Susan Sarandon appear in Justice’s new video for “Fire.”

Make sure to go over to our Spotify playlist where we add every track each month. There’s something for everyone there.

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