07/17/2010 -
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta and Estonian
Kaia Kanepi both moved into the finals at the $220,000 Palermo International
tennis tournament with straight-set wins on Saturday.
Pennetta of Italy rolled over Germany's Julia Goerges, 6-0, 6-4, in a little
over 65 minutes on the red clay at Country Time Club.
The fifth-seeded Kanepi reached the final with a smooth 6-3, 6-2 triumph over
Italian wild card Romina Oprandi.
Pennetta, a nine-time winner on the tour, is 3-2 all-time against Kanepi,
though they have not met since 2008.
<< Rockets agree to 3-year deal with C Miller
HOUSTON (AP) -Free agent center Brad Miller has agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract with the Houston Rockets.Agent Mark Bartelstein said the 7-foot Miller will back up All-Star center Yao Ming, who's expected to return healthy next season a
<< Ilgauskas joins new-look Heat
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has officially
joined former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James in Miami.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Plain Dealer of Cleveland
reported earlier in the w
<< Kings sign Richardson for one year
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings signed forward Brad
Richardson to a one-year contract on Saturday.
The Belleville, Ontario native is coming off a career-high 27-point season
(11 goals, 16 assists) while playing
<< Polanco returns for Phils
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies activated third
baseman Placido Polanco off the 15-day disabled list on Saturday.
Polanco has not played since June 25 due to inflammation in his left elbow. He
had been playing
<< Serena to miss three events due to foot injury
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams is scheduled to undergo
surgery in the near future after cutting her foot on broken glass in a
restaurant.
The injury will cause the No. 1 ranked player in the world to miss ev
Celtic inks Mexico international Juarez >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mexico international Efrain Juarez has
agreed to a four-year deal with Celtic and has met up with his new teammates
in Seattle on their preseason tour of North America.
The 22-year-old has been gra
Woods unable to get anything going >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time Open champion Tiger Woods
mixed four bogeys and three birdies in a round of one-over 73 Saturday at the
British Open.
Woods finished three rounds at three-under-par 213 and is currently
Martino to remain Paraguay's manager >>
Asuncion, Paraguay (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerardo Martino has agreed to a four-
year contract extension to remain in charge of Paraguay's national team,
although he could still leave following the Copa America tournament.
Martino's new
Monfils, Montanes to battle for Stuttgart title >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France's Gael Monfils and Albert
Montanes of Spain will square off in the final of the Mercedes Cup tennis
event following their semifinal wins Saturday.
The third-seeded Monfils was taken
Report: Brad Miller signs with Rockets >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets have agreed to a three-
year deal with veteran center Brad Miller.
Miller's agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed the pact to the Houston Chronicle
and indicated it to be worth just shy of
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
Football Betting
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.
NFL Betting Lines
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