Report: Nuggets to name Ujiri GM
Basketball Betting Lines
08/25/2010 -
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are reportedly ready to name
former team scout Masai Ujiri as the new general manager.
According to The Denver Post, Ujiri, 39, was working with the team late
Wednesday to finalize contract details.
Ujiri has a lot of history in the Nuggets' and Magic's scouting departments,
having worked for four seasons with Denver and as an international scout with
Orlando.
The Nigeria native played six years professionally in Europe.
The general manager position was opened up when the team did not renew the
contracts of vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien and vice
president of player personnel Rex Chapman.
<< Phillips suffers bruised right hand
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Reds second baseman
Brandon Phillips left Wednesday's game against the Giants in the sixth
inning after getting hit by a pitch in the previous frame.
Santiago Casilla had j
<< Guerrero's homer lifts Rangers over Twins
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero's 430th career home run
leading off the sixth proved to be the difference, as the Texas Rangers beat
the Twins for the third straight day, 4-3, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Guerre
<< Morehead State men's hoops placed on probation
Morehead, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morehead State University announced on
Wednesday its men's basketball program has been placed on probation for two
years due to major violations in recruiting.
The violation, which is related to
<< Wieters, Matusz lead Orioles past White Sox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Wieters collected two hits and drove in
two runs in support of seven strong innings from Brian Matusz, as Baltimore
slowed down Chicago, 4-2, in the middle session of a three-game set.
Brian Roberts
<< Wozniacki, Dementieva land in New Haven quarters
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former U.S.
Open runner-up Elena Dementieva were each second-round winners Wednesday at
the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
Denmark's
Dodgers hold on to beat Brewers >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney drove in two runs and the Los
Angeles Dodgers took a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of a
three-game series.
Andre Ethier hit a solo home run while Matt Kemp drove in one fo
Blake exits, Baghdatis advances at Pilot Pen >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion James Blake was a
second-round loser, while top-seeded Marcos Baghdatis was a third-round winner
Wednesday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S.
Open tu
Padres dominate D'Backs at home again >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Gonzalez's three-run blast capped an
early offensive attack, and the San Diego Padres continued their home
dominance over the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 9-3 victory at PETCO Park.
Gonzalez
After not taking a snap in'09, Dallas' Kitna fresh >>
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) - Jon Kitna has looked pretty good this preseason, especially for a quarterback pushing 37.Then again, he's well rested.Tony Romo took every snap for the Dallas Cowboys last season, the only NFL quarterback to do so. That made Ki
Oakland Raiders 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Oakland Raiders still have the gall to refer to
their organization as the "Team of the Decades," they had better clarify which
decades they mean exactly.
In the first three of the 10 years comprising the just-passed
Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Colts give the ‘D’ its due
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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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