Bruins edge Rangers in key battle for East playoff spot

Hockey Betting Lines

03/21/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuuka Rask stopped 23 shots as the Boston Bruins got a big win with a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

Both teams are struggling for their playoff lives, but it was the Bruins that came away with the two points and they now have 76 on the season, three more than Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York is stuck at 71 points with 10 games to play.

Miroslav Satan and Dennis Wideman each scored a goal for the Bruins, who came into the game having lost five of seven.

Michael Del Zotto scored the lone goal while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the loss for the Rangers, who have dropped three straight and seven of their last nine to fall to the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Hocey Hockey Betting News

<< Johnson, Syracuse have little trouble downing Gonzaga
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Johnson poured in a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading Syracuse to an 87-65 victory over Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Andy Rautins scored 24 for Syracuse (30-4

<< Rooney, Park lead United over Liverpool
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored his 26th EPL goal, Ji-Sung Park added the match-winner, and Manchester United edged Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday to move back into first place. United regained the lead

<< Davies tops Oosthuizen in Morocco
Rabat, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rhys Davies fired a seven-under 66 Sunday to come from behind and win the Hassan II Golf Trophy. Davies, who led after the second round, completed his first European Tour victory at 25-under-par 266. The

<< Suarez leads Ajax into second
Waalwijk, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Suarez scored two more goals to raise his Eredivisie-leading total to 29 and Ajax hammered RKC Waalwijk 5-1 on Sunday at Mandemakers Stadion to move into second in the Dutch top flight. First-pl

<< Miami-Ohio receives top seed in NCAA hockey tourney
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Ohio, Denver, Wisconsin and Boston College have been selected as the top seeds for the 2010 NCAA hockey tournament. Miami-Ohio will be the top seed in the Midwest Region and will open

UConn dominant as usual >>
Norfolk, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles posted 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies to a 95-39 romp over the 16th- seeded Southern University Jaguars in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Maya

St. Francis (PA) no match for Ohio State >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jantel Lavender racked up 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes to a 93-59 triumph over the 15th-seeded St. Francis (PA) Red Flash in the first round of the NCAA Tournam

Hamburg denies Schalke top spot >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Pitroipa scored with 13 minutes remaining and Hamburg denied Schalke the top spot in the Bundesliga with a 2-2 draw Sunday at HSH Nordbank Arena. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored before half for Hamb

Vanderbilt survives scare against DePaul >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Merideth Marsh scored 26 points as the Vanderbilt Commodores staged a late rally to down the DePaul Blue Demons, 83-76, in overtime of a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament. Hannah Tuomi score

Brooks gets hot late, lifts Rockets over Knicks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Brooks scored seven of his 16 points late in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets held on for a 116-112 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Martin led all scorers wi

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.