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06/05/2007 - Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC continued to turn its season around last week despite losing a number of players to national team duties.
After losing the first four games in franchise history, Toronto has won three of its last five and has lost just once during that stretch.
With goalie Greg Sutton, among others, playing for the Canadian National Team last week, the expansion club proved it has plenty of firepower to compete in Major League Soccer.
With goalie Srdjan Djekanovic making his MLS debut, Toronto posted a 2-1 win over Colorado, which is second in the Western Division. It helped give Toronto (3-5-1) some momentum for Wednesday's home match against Red Bull New York (5-2-2).
In addition to playing well recently, Toronto has already developed one of the best home-field advantages in MLS. Toronto has all three of its wins at BMO Field and has won three of its last four in front of crowds averaging just under 20,000.
The most impressive of those victories was last week. After going through a tough stretch early in the season where the roster changed almost daily, the club had started to gain some consistency. But there were concerns about chemistry and depth with so many players lost to the national team.
"I felt (Saturday) was a vital three points. We had guys missing and our schedule was very tough coming into this," Johnston said. "When you analyze the last four or five games, this team has battled. They've shown character and resilience."
The biggest concern was in goal, but Djekanovic played well and made two saves in his debut.
"I felt he handled it well, he thought he could have got to the goal, but when you come in (first start) - he recorded his first victory, I'm very happy for him," Johnston said.
It didn't hurt that Danny Dichio and Andrew Boyens - who was only available because New Zealand's game was canceled - scored in the first 29 minutes to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.
"I felt in the first half, we opened up a very good team," Johnston said.
Newly acquired striker Jeff Cunningham hasn't scored in two games with Toronto, but Johnston knows his goals will come. The 2006 Golden Boot winner has made a huge difference on offense already, and does have one assist.
"We created a bunch of chances - they didn't go in - but you know what, they're going to start going in," Johnston said, "because the amount of chances that (Cunningham) gets, he's going to start finishing them."
New York is coming off just its second loss of the season - 3-2 to Kansas City - but it was hurt by playing down a man for more than a half when Clint Mathis was given a red card for the second time this season.
"Obviously playing with 10 players certainly helped our opponent, although that's not an excuse," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said. "But obviously that is one of the differences."
New York had a 1-0 lead thanks to Juan Pablo Angel's fourth goal in as many games when Mathis was sent off late in the first half. K.C. star striker Eddie Johnson took advantage in the second half and notched his second straight hat trick - a first in MLS history.
"I wouldn't say they only played the long ball even though a bunch of balls beat us over the top. We played very poorly to start the second half. We got caught out," Arena said. "Give Kansas City credit - they did a good job of getting Eddie Johnson behind us."
Although New York has fallen to third in the Eastern Division, it is one of the most dangerous team's in the league and it won't lose any players to international duties in the upcoming weeks.
That could help the Red Bulls regain the top spot in the Eastern Division with first-place Kansas City losing Johnson and second-place New England losing Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston and Michael Parkhurst. All four players are on the United States' roster for the Gold Cup.
New York is without Mathis and the injured Hunter Freeman, and regular goalie Ronald Waterreus is listed as questionable on the injury report. The Red Bulls did get Claudio Reyna back in the lineup last week after he missed time with an injury.
New York could be all alone in first place by the end of the weekend because Kansas City and New England are off. The Red Bulls have just four days until they plays again, visiting D.C. United on Sunday. A win in either game will put New York back atop the division.
Toronto will have a week off before hosting Western Division leader FC Dallas on June 17.
<< Back-to-back homers lift Braves over Marlins
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buddy Carlyle tossed seven brilliant innings,
and Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Chris Woodward connected on back-to-back homers
in the seventh inning to lead Atlanta to a 3-1 win over Florida in the front
end of
<< Overbay placed on DL
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays placed first baseman Lyle
Overbay on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a broken right hand.
Overbay suffered the injury on Sunday after being hit by a John Danks pitch in
the third in
<< Cardinals release three players
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals released guard Milford
Brown, defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy and fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo.
Brown started in 12 of 13 games last year for Arizona while Clancy started all
11 games h
<< Tigers activate Rodney
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers activated relief pitcher
Fernando Rodney from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
Rodney had been sidelined since May 21 because of biceps tendinitis.
The right-hander has appeared in
Young stars ready to emerge for U.S. men >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coach Bob Bradley used five starters and a
number of subs with almost no national team experience when the United States
played it final tune-up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts this week.
If their
Report: Donovan back to Gainesville >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic are set to release Billy
Donovan from the five-year contract he signed on Friday of last week so he can
return to the University of Florida.
According to a report in the Orlando Sentine
Report: Dolphins deal for Green >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins finally completed the deal
that has been in the works for months, sending a fifth-round draft pick to the
Kansas City Chiefs for quarterback Trent Green.
The Miami Herald reported Tuesday
Sabathia tosses gem as Indians down Royals >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.C Sabathia tossed a five-hit shutout as
Cleveland edged Kansas City, 1-0, in the opener of a three-game set at Jacobs
Field.
Sabathia (9-1) did not walk a batter and fanned eight en route to his fif
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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