Hurricanes' Thomas granted extra year

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

08/18/2010 - Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Florida forward Adrian Thomas was given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA after injuries cost him nearly two full seasons.

Thomas suffered back-to-back season-ending injuries four games into the 2006-07 campaign and again four games into 2007-08.

"It's a relief to get this approval from the NCAA," said Thomas. "I'm excited to have another opportunity to play college basketball, and I think we will have a really special group this season that can accomplish great things."

Thomas averaged 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds last season and was the ACC's top three-point shooter, connecting on 42.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

"We're very pleased to have Adrian officially back on the team this season," said Hurricanes head coach Frank Haith. "He is very well respected among his teammates and has a great work ethic -- both on the court and in his graduate studies. He will continue to be a key player for us this season."

Miami was 20-13 last season, ending the campaign with a loss to eventual national champion Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

Wwwislandcasino NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Kershaw pitches Dodgers past Rockies
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-0 win over the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a three-game series. Kershaw (11-7) allowed five hits and recorde

<< A's surge late to beat Jays
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coco Crisp went 3-for-4 with a walk and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, as the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle contest of a three-game series.

<< Rolen, Arroyo help Reds top D'Backs
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Rolen went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in to back Bronson Arroyo's solid performance on the mound, as the Cincinnati Reds rallied from an early two-run deficit to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2, in

<< Royals put Bannister on DL
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have placed pitcher Brian Bannister on the 15-day disabled list because of right rotator cuff tendinitis. Bannister has not pitched since August 2. In 22 starts this season, the

<< Thome's HR in 10th pushes Twins' division lead to four
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome played hero against his former team, drilling a two-run homer off Matt Thornton in the 10th inning, as the Twins edged Chicago, 7-6, to widen their lead to four games over the White Sox in the

Eli Manning back on the field with Giants on Wed. >>
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -Eli Manning is back on the field.The New York Giants quarterback joined teammates for stretching on Wednesday morning at training camp at the University at Albany.Manning, who needed 12 stitches to close a gash on the left side of

Yankees resume series with Tigers in the Bronx >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will once again be without star third baseman Alex Rodriguez this evening when they continue their four-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. Rodriguez left Monday's tilt with

Als seek return to win column in clash with Bombers >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to bounce back from just their second loss of the season, the Montreal Alouettes entertain the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McGill Stadium on Thursday night. According to the most recent power rankings in t

Hamilton visits Toronto in pivotal Eastern Division matchup >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Currently tied for first place in the Eastern Division, the Toronto Argonauts try to continue their recent run of success as they face off against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a divisional showdown at the Rogers Cen

Slumping Cards turn to Wainwright in finale with Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten a first-hand look this year at just how dominating St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright can be. Looking to play the role of spoiler, the team gets a chance this afternoon to deal the All-S

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.

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards