Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 43

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.

Elite 42 was bit of a disappointment, even though I was glad to see the Nasty Boys get some figures. The lineup in Elite 43 is just beyond amazing. You have the first elites of three different superstars. The WWE Superstars included in Elite 43 are Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Alberto Del Rio and Kofi Kingston.

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Sweetbob’s 2016 NBA Mock Draft

The NBA Draft starts later today and we wanted to wait until the the NBA Finals were over before we posted our mock draft. We then realized that a lot of trades may happen early in the week since we know teams like the Knicks were looking to trade into the draft…so here we are, the day of, posting our 2016 NBA Mock Draft.

A lot can (and will) happen to shuffle the draft tonight. Teams will trade up and down, especially if a prospect falls farther than expected.

I’m smart enough to know that my mock draft will not be 100% correct. Mock drafts are more about gauging where players should go if nothing changes from now until the draft…but chaos is expected. I feel like I have a good feel for the pool of draft-eligible players. I can give insight on who teams ‘should’ pick or possibly reasons why they shouldn’t choose someone.

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Pacers Acquire Jeff Teague in Three-Team Deal

With the NBA Draft taking place on Thursday, NBA teams are trying to fill holes right before the draft.

The Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz got together on a deal on Wednesday that sent Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague to the Pacers, Indiana point guard George Hill to the Jazz and the Hawks would receive Utah’s #12 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The Pacers have been rumored to be interested in Teague for quite some time. They needed a third team’s involvement since a straight point guard for point guard swap wouldn’t work due to Atlanta’s possible salary cap issues and the fact that Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder has played well enough to now start at point guard for the Hawks.

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Is Las Vegas a Good Fit for MLB?

Major League Baseball is toying with the idea of having an expansion team in Las Vegas, which is something that has residents of the area and some players excited about the possibility of playing in Sin City. While the news won’t have an impact on baseball betting lines, it might in the future if the commissioner decides to award the city a team.

MLB isn’t the only sports league considering having a team in Las Vegas, earlier this year, the Oakland Raiders, who haven’t been able to secure a new stadium in Oakland, said they are seriously considering moving the franchise to Las Vegas.

The NHL recently also announced interest in moving a franchise to Las Vegas or awarding an expansion franchise to the city.

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2016 NFL Draft – Best Undrafted Players

NFL teams are really good at scouting players for the NFL Draft, but every single year, a handful of talented players fall through the cracks. They sign contracts soon after the draft ends and go on to make a difference in the NFL.

Players like Tony Romo, Arian Foster, Wes Welker and James Harrison are four studs that went undrafted. I’m not sure if anyone on this list will go on to be a Hall of Famer, but it could happen.

This list is usually made up of players from small schools, there are still plenty of those on this year’s list, but some good players for major programs went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft.

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Ozzie Silna, a Famed ABA Owner Dies at 83

If you are one of the several people caught up in your own world of online NBA sportsbook odds, you might have missed the news coming out of the game regarding the death of Ozzie Silna.

As co-owner of the Spirits of St. Louis, a struggling American Basketball Asociation team, the multimillionaire and his brother, Dan, agreed to dissolve the team at a time when the ABA was merging with the NBA (this was after the 1975-1976 season).

They agreed to the deal in exchange for a percentage of the broadcast revenue the NBA would earn in the future.

Silna was 83 years old when he died. According to his family, he died on Tuesday in Los Angeles, losing his fight with cancer.

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Sweetbob’s Hipster Music Playlist: May 2016

I apologize that it has been a few months since I posted a Hipster Music Playlist. I’ve been finding a lot of good music lately, but not quite enough to put out a list of 15 to 20 songs every month. I hope to keep churning these out every month from now on.

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. I love checking out all the recommendations you send. Keep them comin’!

I feel like this month’s list is fantastic. We super-sized the list once again with 20 tracks for your ears to drool over (also, don’t forget to check out our Spotify playlist).

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Favorite Songbird Ruled out of Kentucky Oaks

Unbeaten Songbird, who had been the overwhelming favorite for the Kentucky Oaks at the start of May, will now miss the race as the result of suffering from a fever. The Jerry Hollendorfer trained horse had previously been as low as 1/4 in the odds for the famous race, having made an unbeaten start to her career which includes victories at the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies and three other grade 1 races. Owners at Fox Hill Farm have now revealed however that she will miss the upcoming meeting, allowing an opportunity for others to claim what would be an unexpected win.

Songbird has come out victorious in all of her three races so far this year, but will be given time off to make a fully recovery. With the loss of Songbird, Breeders Cup runner up Rachel’s Valentina is set to take over as the favourite for the race, with bookmakers Coral offering her horse racing odds of 7/4.

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Chyna Passes Away, Legacy Lives On

I really hate adding wrestler names to my Dead Wrestler List post that I have updated the last few years. We have lost many in 2016 and we are only a few months into the year.

Chyna, whose real name was Joanie Laurer, was found unconscious last night and was pronounced dead. A friend couldn’t contact her and the police found her in her bed at her home in California.

She’s had her fair share of issues with both performance-enhancing and recreational drugs. It was documented in the reality television series ‘Celebrity Rehab’ a few years ago.

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Kawhi Leonard Named the Top Defensive Player In the NBA

The San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard won the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. The forward is the first non-center to win this award in consecutive seasons since Dennis Rodman did so in 1990 and 1991. Leonard was critical to helping give the Spurs some of the best odds in online NBA sportsbook reports.

Leonard won with a majority of the first-place votes from 130 writers and broadcasters. He head out the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside for the award. All three have been important for online NAB sportsbook odds but Leonard’s efforts have especially be more all-around. This comes as he has been strong from an offensive and defensive standpoint alike. His work has proven to be essential to the success of the Spurs in that he has been extremely productive and effective.

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It’s Time for Sports Leagues to Allow Marijuana

It looks like Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon’s NFL career could be over…all because of marijuana. It could cost him tens of millions of dollars in future earnings.

Gordon was busted by the NFL for having a diluted urine sample, which the NFL considers as a failed drug test. He missed a portion of the 2014 season and the entire 2015 season due to marijuana-related suspensions. He also had issues in college stemming from his marijuana use, like falling asleep in a Taco Bell drive-through lane as a sophomore.

Many will look at Gordon as someone without self-control or someone that has shown signs of being an addict. It’s a fair assumption since he’s been disciplined numerous times since college for smoking weed.

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Toy Crazy: Mattel’s WWE Elite Series 42

Mattel has been including more flashback figures, which I love. I think it’s largely due to the success of the Target exclusive Hall of Fame series (by the way, series four should be in stores later this year).

Elite 42 is in the unfortunate position to follow the stacked lineups from Elite 40 & 41. The lineup in Elite 42 isn’t bad, but the last two series have been all-time greats. The WWE Superstars included in Elite 42 are Xavier Woods, Neville, Kalisto, Triple H and the Nasty Boys.

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