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02/01/2012 - Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatian tennis hero Ivan Ljubicic went by way of a second-round upset, while reigning champion Ivan Dodig of the host nation was an opening-round winner Wednesday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis event.
The top-seeded Ljubicic was sent packing by last year's Zagreb runner-up Michael Berrer, as the left-handed German posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory, despite an 11-ace effort from the big Croat.
The former top-five star Ljubicic was the Zagreb champion back in 2006.
Berrer will meet Austrian qualifier Jurgen Melzer in Friday's quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Dodig downed Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 on the indoor hardcourts at Dom Sportova.
Dodig defeated Berrer in last year's finale here.
In some other second-round action, seventh-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase outlasted German Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3, while Melzer upended fifth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi in a mild upset, 6-2, 6-3.
Additional first-round winners were Slovenian Grega Zemlja, Israeli Dudi Sela and Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
In some second-round action here on Thursday, Dodig will face Garcia-Lopez and sixth-seeded former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis will encounter Poland's Lukasz Kubot. The Cypriot Baghdatis was the Zagreb champ in 2007.
This week's titlist will collect $90,000.
Zagreb and Montpellier, France are the first European stops on the 2012 ATP World Tour calendar.
<< Panthers F Versteeg out Wednesday with flu
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Panthers forward Kris Versteeg will
miss Wednesday's game against the Washington Capitals with the flu.
The 25-year-old also missed practice on Monday and Tuesday with the malady.
In his first s
<< Irving, Rubio named NBA's top rookies for January
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio were named the top rookies in the
Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, for games played from the
season'
<< Simon, Gasquet roll in Open Sud openers
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French favorites Gilles Simon and
Richard Gasquet were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the Open Sud de
France tennis tournament.
The second-seeded world No. 12 Simon subdued Italian Fla
<< Thibodeau, Brooks named NBA's top coaches for December and January
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls' Tom Thibodeau and the
Oklahoma City Thunder's Scott Brooks have been named the top coaches for
the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, for December and January.
Thibode
Rapids hand three-year extension to technical director Bravo >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids announced on
Wednesday that the club has signed technical director Paul Bravo to a three-
year contract extension.
Bravo has presided over Colorado's soccer operations since
Galaxy adds Nakazawa from Philadelphia >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Galaxy acquired midfielder Kyle
Nakazawa and a second round pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for an
international roster spot on Wednesday.
Nakazawa was selected in the third roun
Nationals sign RHP Durbin >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on
a minor-league contract with veteran relief pitcher Chad Durbin on Wednesday.
MLB.com, which cited a baseball source, reported the deal and said it includes
an in
Eight set to go in Robert B. Lewis Stakes >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eight three-year-olds get back into action
Saturday afternoon in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
The 1 1/16-mile race is an important prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby
on Apri
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.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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