Rennes pulls within point of top spot

Soccer Betting Lines

09/16/2007 - Lorient, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Etienne Didot scored his second goal of the season as Rennes defeated Lorient, 1-0, on Sunday to climb within one point of the top spot in France's Ligue 1.

Didot scored in the 35th minute, which was all the offense Rennes needed for its fourth win of the season. Rennes, Lyon and Bordeaux each have 15 points, just one back of first-place Nancy.

In Sunday's other game, PSG got goals from Sylvain Armand and Amara Diane to defeat Monaco, 2-1.

Wwwvisitalk Soccer Betting News

<< Rags to Riches injured; expected to return in 2008
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches suffered a hairline fracture in her right front pastern, and will not race again until 2008. Rags to Riches, the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes since 1905, returne

<< Hansen wins Mercedes Benz Championship by four
Cologne, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Soren Hansen eagled two holes on the back nine and shot a five-under 67 on Sunday to win the Mercedes-Benz Championship by four shots. Hansen picked up his second European Tour victory and first sinc

<< Oilers invite Carter to camp
Edmonton, Alberta (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers have invited forward Anson Carter to training camp for a try-out for the upcoming season, the club announced Sunday. Carter, 33, split the 2006-07 season between the Col

<< NFL Inactives (Sunday, September 16, 2007)
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of the players placed on the inactive squad for this week's NFL games. HOUSTON TEXANS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS, 1:00 P.M. (ET) Texans - WR Andre' Davis, CB Dexter Wynn, RB Samkon Gado

<< Simon rallies past Hanescu for Romanian title
Bucharest, Romania (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilles Simon of France rallied for a three-set victory over Victor Hanescu on Sunday in the final of Romanian Open. Hanescu, a native of Bucharest who gained a wild card entry into the event, rode

Winless England has eyes on quarterfinals >>
Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England advanced to the quarterfinals in its only other appearance in the Women's World Cup in 1995. The team is in a great position to do so once again Monday despite the fact it has failed to win eit

Texans' Johnson leaves game >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson left Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers early in the fourth quarter. Johnson hauled in a 10-yard pass from Matt Schaub and was immediately drilled by Ca

Garrard leads Jaguars to comeback win over Falcons >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Garrard threw for 272 yards and a touchdown as the Jaguars edged Atlanta, 13-7, at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Garrard completed 17-of-25 passes and added 20 rushing yards for the

Favre now No. 1 in wins as Green Bay pounds Giants >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes and DeShawn Wynn ran for a pair of scores to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 35-13 win over the New York Giants. Favre complete 29-of-38 passes for 286 ya

Germany should have no problem with Japan >>
Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany received a little dose of reality on Friday when it was held to a 0-0 draw by England after winning the opening game of the tournament 11-0 against Argentina. The Germans looked unstoppable in

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.