The Bulldogs are enjoying another terrific season at 20-4 and on Saturday they
continued their winning ways with a 74-62 besting of Wright State. The victory
improved Butler to a school-record 13-0 in conference play and a win tonight
would already guarantee the program at least a share of the HL title. The
Bulldogs have also won 12 straight games overall, marking the fourth-longest
streak in school history.
Loyola meanwhile, suffered a narrow 59-56 defeat on Saturday to Cleveland
State. It was the fifth loss in six games for the Ramblers, who are now just
4-9 in league play after going 9-1 against non-conference opponents.
As for the all-time series, Butler leads Loyola 47-30 and that includes a
close 48-47 decision in a meeting just last month.
A late 15-2 run by Cleveland State sent Loyola to a narrow 59-56 loss on its
home floor this past Saturday. It was a tough ending for the Ramblers, who
had 13 turnovers that resulted in 17 points for the Vikings. Ben Averkamp and
Terrance Hill each scored 12 points to pace the team in defeat, while Walt
Gibler had 11 and eight boards. On the season, Hill is the squad's leading
scorer with 11.6 ppg and he is also collecting 4.5 rpg. Gibler, who does his
damage coming off the bench, follows with 11.2 ppg and he too is solid on the
boards, grabbing 5.2 rpg.
The Bulldogs shot an unconscious 67.5 percent from the floor and went 16-of-18
at the foul line, as they downed Wright State over the weekend. Leading the
way was Willie Veasley, who tallied a career-high 19 points on a perfect 9-
of-9 shooting from the floor. Matt Howard tacked on 12 points and five boards,
while Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack had 11 and 10 points, respectively. On
the season, Hayward tops the roster in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding
(7.8 rpg) and he also has 28 steals to his name. Mack adds 14.5 ppg and 3.2
apg to the mix, while Howard contributes 11.1 ppg and 5.2 rpg. Veasley rounds
out the double-digit scorers, with 10.0 ppg.
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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