Spieth shares lead at Junior Amateur

Golf Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - Ada, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Jordan Spieth shot a five-under 67 on Monday to share the first-round lead at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

Stephen Behr and Davis Womble also posted rounds of 67, while Wyndham Clark, Curtis Thompson, Bobby Wyatt and Shugo Imahira had 68s.

Spieth, 16, is attempting to become the second player in history to win multiple Junior Amateur championships after Tiger Woods, who won three in a row from 1991-93.

First, he will need to make it through another round of stroke play Tuesday, then six rounds of match play on the Egypt Valley course.

If Spieth remains on top after 36 holes of stroke play, he will become only the third player in the championship's history to earn medalist honors more than once.

Willie Wood did it in 1977-78 and Woods in 1991-92.

Spieth, who played without a bogey for his 67 on Monday, won medalist honors last year with a six-under 137 at Trump National.

He has played two events on the PGA Tour this year, tying for 16th place at the Byron Nelson Championship and missing the cut at the St. Jude Classic.

Spieth remained in contention late into the final round at the Byron Nelson, where he became the sixth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.

Wwwipodlounge Golf Betting News

<< Bucks sign PG Dooling
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks signed free agent point guard Keyon Dooling on Monday. Dooling is said to have inked a two-year deal and will slide in as the backup to Brandon Jennings after former Buck Luke Ridnour

<< UConn AD Hathaway to serve as Division I men's basketball chair
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA announced on Monday that Jeff Hathaway, director of athletics at the University of Connecticut, has been appointed chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee for the 2011-12 academi

<< Athletics put OF Sweeney on DL
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed outfielder Ryan Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list with right patella tendinitis on Monday. The move is retroactive to July 12. The 25-year-old is hitting a team-best .294 wi

<< Bulls officially sign Brewer
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls announced the signing of free agent guard Ronnie Brewer on Monday. Terms of the contract were not released, but it was earlier reported to be for three years and $12.5 million. The Bu

<< Jazz sign Bell
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz have signed guard Raja Bell to a reported three-year contract worth $10 million. This will be Bell's second stint with Utah after spending two seasons from 2003-05 with the club. He

Reds 3B Rolen remains sidelined >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Reds third baseman Scott Rolen missed his third straight game Monday due to a right hamstring injury. Rolen received a cortisone shot in his hamstring and could go on the disabled list in the

Report: Childress visits Favre in Hattiesburg >>
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress reportedly met with Brett Favre on Monday as he tries to gauge if the star quarterback will return for a 20th season in the NFL. WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg repo

Twins' Morneau to see specialist >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau will see a specialist Tuesday, as he continues to deal with symptoms of a concussion he sustained before the All-Star break. Morneau is on the disabled

Kang leads U.S. Girls' Junior >>
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danielle Kang shot a five-under 67 on Monday to take the first-round lead at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. Kang, 17, collected seven birdies against two bogeys at the Country Club of Nort

Mets activate Castillo from DL >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo, who has been out since June 2 due to a bruised right heel, was activated from the 15-day disabled list Monday. Castillo is hitting .241 with 14 RBI in 44 games this

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

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.