Rapids, Dallas both gunning for points in Western showdown
Soccer Betting Lines
07/30/2010 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids host FC Dallas at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night.
The Rapids (6-5-5), who are winless in six league fixtures, should have their hands full because not only is Dallas (6-2-8) unbeaten seven, but only has one road loss this season.
"I think its a physical thing," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman told mlssoccer.com of his team's recent surge. "The guys are prepared for the contest, for the war. I think it's a mental thing where every time we find ourselves coming back, it just builds confidence that we can come back. If we keep working hard, we know we'll get the goal and the result."
A lot of it also has to do with the lay off 2010 MLS All-Star David Ferreira, whose four goals and two assists over the last 10 games only show part of what he has been contributing for his team.
"We're starting to put it all together," Hyndman said. "This is a huge game for us. This is a really important game because Colorado just lost on the road and they're behind us, so it's a six-point swing. They're looking for something to feel good about."
The Rapids are coming off a 2-1 loss at Seattle last week in which they gave up two goals for the first time in four games. The Rapids are winless this season when they allow more than one goal.
"The start killed us, but after that we played all right," Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens told mlssoccer.com. "They had limited chances, but they scored. We had way more opportunities than they did. Being away from home, it's overall a decent performance, but we didn't get the points. Giving up two goals is just unacceptable on the road. We need to really tie it down."
Rapids coach Gary Smith was happy with his squad's performance after the first 20 minutes, when both goals were scored by Steve Zakuani.
"They showed a lot of spirit, a lot of determination," he told mlssoccer.com about his team. "For probably the vast percentage of the game we were the better team overall. Better chances, more clear-cut chances, better football; I thought we looked the more composed and more efficient. The two big stats were the goals that they scored, and they've gotten the points."
Now the Rapids will be gunning for the points on Saturday in an effort to move into a tie with FC Dallas.
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC will go for their third straight win on Saturday when they visit Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders followed a 1-0 win over D.C. United with a 2-1 vi
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straight-up records point in a favorable direction at 41-28 over the last two
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Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a disappointing season to so for the Kansas City Wizards, but the Major League Soccer club is hoping it can use a 2-1 win in an exhibition against English premier League side Manchester United
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Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have signed three
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins continue to prove that it takes more
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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.
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