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08/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants will try to continue their dominance of the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks when the two clubs open a three-game series tonight at AT&T Park.
The Giants hold a slim half-game lead over Philadelphia and a 1 1/2-game advantage on St. Louis for the final playoff spot in the NL. They hope to pad that lead in this upcoming series with the Diamondbacks, who have lost seven of nine matchups with San Francisco this season. The Giants have won seven in a row and 20 of the past 27 meetings with Arizona.
With the Phillies and Cardinals struggling as of late, the Giants have also been playing poorly, having posted six losses over their previous 10 contests. They were aiming for a three-game home sweep of Cincinnati, but dropped a 12-11 decision in 12 innings in Wednesday's series finale.
Barry Zito took the mound in relief in the 12th and gave up a two-out RBI single to Joey Votto to suffer the loss. Madison Bumgarner started the game for the Giants and did not figure into the decision after allowing eight runs -- seven earned -- in just 2 2/3 innings of work.
"It was a tough loss, obviously, but we feel inspired because we didn't throw in the towel," Zito said. "A lot of times when there is no momentum in your favor and you muster it back up from nothing, that says a lot about how much heart a team has."
Juan Uribe finished 3-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while Andres Torres and Pat Burrell both knocked in a pair of runs for San Francisco, which recorded an 18-16 edge in hits.
The Giants will also host Colorado on their current nine-game homestand and will send two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum to the mound Friday night. Lincecum hasn't pitched like an award winner lately, having lost four straight starts to go along with an 8.38 ERA. He lost at St. Louis last Saturday and allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 5-1 setback.
The right-hander is 11-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 26 starts this season and has lost eight starts for the first time in his career. Lincecum is 7-5 in 13 home starts and 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 11 career starts against the Diamondbacks.
Arizona has been playing .500 baseball in its last six games and ended a three-game losing streak with Thursday's 11-5 win over the NL West-leading San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Ian Kennedy threw seven shutout innings and struck out 12 batters for the win. Stephen Drew belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI and Mark Reynolds cracked a two-run shot for Arizona, which got four RBI from Chris Young and three hits out of Gerardo Parra.
"I was just throwing a lot of strikes," Kennedy said. "Our team scoring a lot of runs early on lets you pound the strike zone. The offense makes it easier on yourself."
Drew owns six hits, including three homers, and six RBI in his last two games.
The last-place D'Backs will send rookie Barry Enright to the mound this evening, and he's 4-2 with a 2.73 earned run average in 10 starts. Enright has won his last three decisions, spanning seven starts, and defeated Colorado last Saturday with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
Enright, a right-hander, faced San Francisco for the first time in a 3-2 loss at Chase Field on July 25. He limited the Giants to a pair of runs on eight hits in six innings for the no-decision.
<< Dodgers ready for big series with Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of NL West foes trying to keep their postseason
hopes intact collide tonight in the Rocky Mountains, where the Colorado
Rockies begin a three-game series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors
Field.
Colorado has
<< Braves seeking to bounce back in opener with Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-slumping Atlanta Braves hope to maintain a
seemingly comfortable lead atop the National League East standings when they
begin a three-game series versus the Florida Marlins tonight at Turner Field.
Atlanta was
<< Surging Astros head to Big Apple to take on Mets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooklyn-born righty Nelson Figueroa returns to his
hometown for a starting assignment when the Houston Astros visit the New York
Mets tonight to open a three-game series at Citi Field.
The 36-year-old Figueroa, who's pitc
<< Indians, Royals to begin set between divisional foes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals will pay a visit to the American
League Central-rival Cleveland Indians tonight for the first of three straight
games at Progressive Field.
The Royals have won five of eight meetings with the Tribe t
West Ham signs Nigeria striker Obinna >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Ham acquired Nigeria striker Victor
Obinna on a season-long loan deal from Inter Milan on Friday.
The 23-year-old Obinna, who spent last season on loan with Spain's Malaga, is
the sixth summer sign
Columbus hosts red-hot Hoops at Crew Stadium >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew have their work cut out for
them when they host red-hot FC Dallas on Saturday at Crew Stadium.
Not only are the Hoops (9-2-9) on an 11-match unbeaten run in Major League
Soccer play, but
Middle Tennessee St. QB Dasher suspended; reinstatement sought >>
Murfreesboro, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Middle Tennessee State has declared
quarterback Dwight Dasher ineligible for competition because of a violation of
the NCAA amateurism legislation, but is seeking his reinstatement.
Athletics direc
Tottenham tries to regain focus for Wigan >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham enjoyed one of its biggest
moments in the history of the club on Wednesday as Spurs overturned a 3-2
deficit from the first leg to win 4-0 against Young Boys, booking themselves a
place i
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
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