The SoBros Mailbag 309: A Lot of Work Questions for Some Reason

Let’s face it – every day we are routinely bombarded with questions. When you’re an emerging media company in Nashville, people just want to know what your opinions are on everything. It’s only natural. And, since our duty is to serve the people, well, we have no choice but to be present. That’s the SoBro Way. Also, aren’t mailbags just a barrel of laughs anyway? Welcome to the newest weekly recurring feature up in this bitch: The SoBros Mailbag. As always, hit us with those mailbag questions @SoBrosNetwork on Twitter, email ’em to me anonymously at thesobrosnetwork@gmail.com. And, holy shit, I need to update this terrible intro paragraph that I’ve been using literally ever since I started writing this column…

Question:

Answer:

I’m up to 23 overall prospects, but for OL only, I have the foundation for six reports so far. Here’s how I have ’em ranked:

  1. Will Campbell
  2. Jonah Savaiinaea
  3. Donovan Jackson
  4. Kelvin Banks, Jr.
  5. Josh Simmons
  6. Anthony Belton

I honestly don’t know that I do balance myself out. My SoBros/Stacking The Inbox/FWords/Hot Read work doesn’t really feel like work to me, so in a way, it is my outlet from the stress of everyday life. I also tend to hyperfixate on things…if I don’t have something to work on, not only do I get bored easily, but I begin to feel as if I’m not really doing anything with my life. It’s a shitty way to be wired, I admit. I can’t say I really understand it…I think I feel a deep compulsion to just do it. It’s almost just an impulse…I feel something, and I write it out.

So, with that in mind, it doesn’t happen often that I really need to press pause and walk away from it all. I always joke with my friends that I just need one day on the couch every few months, and that’s enough to rejuvenate me.

Question:

Answer:

Man, I love a good tequila sunrise. I’m also a basic bitch that loves a good paloma and a margarita. I keep it simple with tequila, and for what it’s worth, my favorite way to consume it is on the rocks. Also, mix in some Shedeur Sanders highlights. I know people won’t want the circus, but he really does have some wild throws on his tape.

Question:

Answer:

It is not yet, though I’d really love for it to be. I’ve worked in big data for the last 11 years of my life – it’s been nice and flexible to pair with an aspiring writing career. SoBros Network and the various odd jobs I’ve picked up writing over the last 11 years have made enough money to support the hobby and occasionally send me to Mobile to cover the Senior Bowl, or to Atlanta to cover a film festival, etc.. If I get to talking about what it takes to really make money from a digital media startup, we’ll be here all day. I’m getting there – I do believe that.

Question:

Answer:

That’s a fair description, but I actually think my feet are so gross that I don’t get pedicures because I don’t want to put the poor workers through that.

Question:

Answer:

First of all, Butcher & Bee rules. One of my favorite places over in that part of town. If you haven’t already been to Dino’s, it’s a staple among the locals. I’d also recommend Two Ten Jack. If you’re into trendy cocktail bars, try Pearl Diver out. Don’t do it too often these days, but I always loved hanging out out east whenever we had the chance.

Question:

Answer:

We love Calabria out here in Mount Juliet – it and Salvo’s in Hermitage are probably the closest we’ve found to actual NY style pizza (my wife’s from Jersey, so we’re comparing it to the real deal). In Nashville proper, I’ve grown to be a big fan of Dicey’s Tavern’s pizza.

Question:

Answer:

Travis taking the mailbag to a deep dark place today. I think I definitely eat too much and struggle to stop myself at a big meal, especially when I’m stressed out. For too long, my response to being overwhelmed was going to Taco Bell and pigging out. Now, I’m 38 years old, my metabolism has slowed down and I’m dealing with the effects of that with stubborn weight that feels impossible to lose. It impacts my confidence, and I catch myself not wanting to leave the house on days when I feel like my shirts just don’t fall on my body right.

Really, self-care as a whole is difficult for me. I do have a hard time slowing down and prioritizing my own body. I don’t sleep enough. I eat like shit, and outside of some light stretching just about every day, I don’t move a lot anymore. Sometimes, I tell myself “I have to work more or else I’ll never get what I want out of life,” but you know what, Travis? I think the real demon is knowing “I have to work more or I might start wondering why I feel so dissatisfied with my legacy.” Do I work because I really have to? Or, do I work to distract myself from my true emotions? It’s something I really contemplate every once in awhile.

Keep the questions coming – catch y’all next week!

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

SoBros Network and Stacking The Inbox have teamed up for the greatest premium content collaboration in the history of Nashville. Get all of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft coverage you need on top of premium SoBros Network content such as The Movie Review Rewind Podcast, Sports Punch, and much more! Only $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers! Sign up on Substack today!

Tank the 401k: Keep Betting Through It (Again)

Welcome all degenerate gamblers back into our weekly American football betting column here on the SoBros Network, Tank the 401k. Call your bookie and empty those retirement accounts (actually, don’t really do that – this is just sarcasm. Our lawyers say we shouldn’t claim to be experts on anything because we’re not)! Each week, the SoBros team up to offer their five locks of the week – obviously, we’re not professionals here so take this advice with a grain of salt and don’t sue us if you piss all of your money away. That’s not our fault. Okay, I think we’re all set here – here are this week’s SoBros gambling picks.

Stoney’s Picks

WOOF – a rough week after another rough week for the Tank the 401k crew. I had to go and open my bigass mouth and talk about what a great start we got off to. Now, look at what’s happening. Our pets’ heads are falling off! Nowhere to go but straight fuckin’ through it. Always betting through it. Never stop. I’m terrified of the college board this week, so I’m going all NFL with this week’s picks.

  • Tampa Bay +1.5 – They’re a complete football team and I’m still terrified to bet anything on the Falcons.
  • Buffalo -1.5 – The Texans have played one good team this year, and they lost that game (to the Vikings) 34-7. Buffalo is a major ‘buy low’ candidate here.
  • Las Vegas +2.5 – Hear me out because this is a super vibes pick. Conventional wisdom says the Raiders just lost to a shitty Browns team while the Broncos are on a 2-0 run to claim the official ‘sicko team of the year’ crown. 2.5 points at home should be EASY MONEY, right!?!?! This is where I go Jedi mind trick and say that’s exactly what they WANT you to think.
  • Giants @ Seahawks, OVER 43.5 – I have no idea what will happen in this game, but I’m confident there’s going to be some points galore.
  • Chiefs -5.5 – I don’t even look at who the Chiefs are playing anymore. I just bet ’em.

McCash’s Picks

  • UNLV -6.5
  • Ohio St. -19.5
  • Ole Miss -10
  • Alabama -23.5
  • Baltimore -2.5

SEASON STATS

  • McCash last week: (1-3)
  • McCash’s 2024 W-L: (13-15) – 46.4%
  • Stoney last week: (2-3)
  • Stoney’s 2024 W-L: (14-11) – 56%
  • SoBros last week: (3-6)
  • SoBros 2024 W-L: (27-26) – 50.9%

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

SoBros Network and Stacking The Inbox have teamed up for the greatest premium content collaboration in the history of Nashville. Get all of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft coverage you need on top of premium SoBros Network content such as The Movie Review Rewind Podcast, Sports Punch, and much more! Only $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers! Sign up on Substack today!

NFL Vibe Check: October 2024

We’re a month into the 2024 NFL season at this point. It’s been an interesting start, that’s for sure – we’ve seen some sloppy offense or stout defense depending on how you look at it. It’s been a fun conversation. Teams are playing more two-high safeties. There’s more Cover 3. It’s been successful, and teams are trying to run the ball, but these hybrid quick/powerful/explosive interior defensive linemen are making that hard. Will offenses adjust? Or, is this simply just the result of cutting back on training camp practices and preseason games? Maybe that just made it so that it took longer for offenses to jell. We did see a little more scoring in Week 4, after all. I digress. Regardless, let’s take inventory of what we have in the NFL as we get into October.

Contenders

I’ve got six Super Bowl contenders right now – go ahead and get ready to hurl your tomatoes at me for a couple of the names you’ll read on this list.

  • Buffalo Bills – I’m not deterred by Sunday night’s performance and weird game plan. This is still a talented team playing some good football.
  • Detroit Lions – It felt like a lot of things came together for this team in 2023, and it doesn’t look like they’ve taken a step back. They’re well built from the trenches out.
  • Kansas City Chiefs – “They don’t quite look right yet, but they keep winning.” Yep – same old Chiefs.
  • Minnesota Vikings – Sam Darnold is leading the league in touchdown passes and passer rating. Justin Jefferson is Justin Jefferson. But, Brian Flores is on another planet in terms of how he’s coordinating that defense right now.
  • Pittsburgh Steelers – They’re just a well-put-together team like they always are. They have the offensive line and defense have the capability of controlling the game on going on a run when the weather gets cooler.
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Yeah, baby. I’m a fan of what Baker Mayfield is doing – he’s playing the best football of his career. The defense is firing. This looks like a complete team that can stockpile wins in a weak division.

Fun Potential

  • Baltimore Ravens – Since they’ve figured out what they have in Derrick Henry, they’ve started to take flight. The offensive line seems to be sorting itself out, meaning it could only be up from here.
  • Green Bay Packers – They need to get Jordan Love fully healthy in order to realize their full potential.
  • Houston Texans – Super talented, but they’ve played one good team and were beat 34-7. I want to see more before I’m confident in saying they’re among the contenders.
  • New York Jets – The defense is good, but the offense just isn’t as deep as we thought it’d be.
  • Seattle Seahawks – See the Houston Texans.

Surprises

  • Arizona Cardinals – The definition of fun feisty. There’s a ton of talent on that roster.
  • Denver Broncos – Undoubtedly the sicko team of the year so far.
  • Los Angeles Chargers – They’ve tapered off a bit after a good start. This roster is gross.
  • New Orleans Saints – Despite losing two in a row, the Saints look a lot better than I thought they would.
  • Washington Commanders – Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, Kliff Kingsbury is calling his ass off right now. Washington is getting a ton of contribution from their young players, and Dan Quinn’s presence has been stabilizing.

Purgatory

Will they snap out of it in time to get things going this season?

  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Chicago Bears
  • Cincinnati Bengals
  • Cleveland Browns
  • Dallas Cowboys
  • Indianapolis Colts
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • New York Giants
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Tennessee Titans

Maybe Next Year

It feels a tad premature here at the beginning of October, but man, there are a handful of teams that feel like they’re reeling at this point. The book may be written on these four already.

  • Carolina Panthers
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Miami Dolphins
  • New England Patriots

Awards

  • MVP: Sam Darnold
  • Off. Player of the Year: Nico Collins
  • Def. Player of the Year: Aidan Hutchinson
  • Coach of the Year: Dan Quinn
  • Off. Rookie of the Year: Jayden Daniels
  • Def. Rookie of the Year: T’Vondre Sweat
  • Super Bowl prediction: Chiefs-Vikings

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

SoBros Network and Stacking The Inbox have teamed up for the greatest premium content collaboration in the history of Nashville. Get all of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft coverage you need on top of premium SoBros Network content such as The Movie Review Rewind Podcast, Sports Punch, and much more! Only $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers! Sign up on Substack today!

Poem: Late Night in Nashville

This piece was born out of checking my inbox and noticing an email from the Nashville Scene promoting their “The Late-Night Issue,” promoting the best spots to grab a bite to eat, to karaoke, to dance, etc. For some reason, it just reminded me of those feelings, stumbling around the city nosing around for something to eat after a good night out. I tried to capture the essence of that in this piece that will be in my next book. If you’re into this sort of thing, check out my first one on Amazon!

Late Night in Nashville

Heading to Dino’s
Maybe it was Five Points
It’s a little fuzzy, but I’m hungry
And it really doesn’t matter

The night’s winding down
As the echoes of Broadway grow faint
A neon glow brightens the sky in the rearview
I feel the adrenaline wearing off heading east

We stand in the street throwing crotch chops
Prime Attitude Era DX
We laugh to ourselves and in that moment
We are kings

Brandon decides to super kick me
We’ve been talking about wrestling too much
Luckily I see it coming and I step back
He whiffs and I lock in a full nelson

He says he won’t do it again and I let go
He grabs his neck and sells it like a pro
No one thinks this is cool – absolutely no one
But we think it’s cool – we are kings

The sidewalk is empty
A stray car drives by here and there
We pass a bar every dozen feet or so
Where the nightcaps are happening

Cologne replaced with sweat
A juicy burger dripping down my shirt
Who cares? The hay’s in the barn
The night is done

A quiet camaraderie in the bar
Someone plays Toto on the jukebox
I’m happy…restful…and grateful
In a city that makes you feel like a king

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

SoBros Network and Stacking The Inbox have teamed up for the greatest premium content collaboration in the history of Nashville. Get all of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft coverage you need on top of premium SoBros Network content such as The Movie Review Rewind Podcast, Sports Punch, and much more! Only $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers! Sign up on Substack today!

31 Days of Foreign Horror Films

The days have been long, they have been hot and at times, everlasting, but the best time of the year is finally upon us. Spooky season of last year seems like a lifetime ago and many of us have had to fill the days with random tasks and hobbies that have left us empty inside as we wait for the brisk change in the air that comes with the early days of fall. Now that the wait is over, it is important to take advantage of the season as it will pass before we know it and we’ll be left wondering where did the time go.

If you are like me and the other estimated 26 and a half million people who use language learning apps, you yearn for a chance to put your work to use. At no point in my life have I been friends with a native French speaker but that does not stop me from wanting to parler poétiquement en français néanmoins. My time spent dedicated to random hobbies in between spooky seasons is slowly attempting to learn a foreign language and since the pandemic, I have barely been on a plane let alone added an extra stamp to my passport by visiting France.

With the lack of travel I am left practicing my newly found vocabulary by watching unsuspecting Frenchman fight off evil spirits, crazed killers, and the supernatural through foreign horror films. I may not be able to order my dinner at La Tour d’Argent but I can tell you exactly why Marie wants to kill Alex in Haute Tension.

This year’s edition of 31 Days of Foreign Horror Films travels from all over the world including obvious stops in Italy, Korea, and Japan with stops in lesser known horror countries Lithuania, Finland and Sweden. This year’s list highlights include themes of paranormal activity, folklore, and family curses among others.

Pour yourself a cup of apple cider or anything pumpkin spice flavored with a big bag of popcorn and enjoy a great foreign film for everyday of the month.

Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75

SoBros Network and Stacking The Inbox have teamed up for the greatest premium content collaboration in the history of Nashville. Get all of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft coverage you need on top of premium SoBros Network content such as The Movie Review Rewind Podcast, Sports Punch, and much more! Only $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers! Sign up on Substack today!

The SoBros Mailbag 309: A Lot of Work Questions for Some Reason
Tank the 401k: Keep Betting Through It (Again)
NFL Vibe Check: October 2024
Poem: Late Night in Nashville
31 Days of Foreign Horror Films

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