Hoeness hopes Ballack will retire from Germany

Soccer Betting Lines

06/04/2010 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has pleaded with Germany captain Michael Ballack to retire from international football.

The Chelsea man has been ruled out of this summer's World Cup after picking up an ankle injury in their FA Cup victory over Portsmouth last month and, at the age of 33, Hoeness wants the talisman to concentrate on his club career.

Speaking to Sport Bild magazine, he said: "As a friend, I would recommend Michael to concentrate solely on his club after the World Cup.

"I don't think it would be clever to set the European Championship in 2012 as a goal. Even if it is bitter, you have got to be able to realize when the time has come to say enough is enough."

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)

Sartluck Soccer Betting News

<< Schieber joins Nurnberg on loan
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart have allowed striker Julien Schieber to join fellow Bundesliga side Nurnberg on loan for a year in order to aid his development. The 21-year-old made 19 appearances last term but fail

<< Fletcher completes Wolves move
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scotland international striker Steven Fletcher has completed his switch from Burnley to Wolverhampton. The 23-year-old scored 12 goals in 38 appearances for the Clarets last season although hi

<< Wooden 'resting comfortably' in hospital
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary basketball coach John Wooden is resting comfortably at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to a release from the UCLA athletics department. The medical update said Wooden, 99, s

<< Stosur, Schiavone will decide French Open champ on Saturday
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Aussie Samantha Stosur and 17th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone will be the surprising combatants in Saturday's ladies' final at the 2010 French Open. Stosur and Schia

<< Mihajlovic named new Fiorentina manager
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fiorentina have named Sinisa Mihajlovic as their new coach after Cesare Prandelli confirmed that he will be succeeding Marcello Lippi as Italy's manager. The Serbian resigned from his position as Ca

Big 12 commish hopeful league remains intact >>
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The head of the Big 12 Conference says he is ``comfortable'' that the league will remain intact amid rumors of a breakup.Commissioner Don Beebe spoke Friday after a week of meetings in Kansas City. He says the Big 12 is in a

TV ratings up 17 percent for NBA finals Game 1 >>
NEW YORK (AP) -The opener of the Celtics-Lakers NBA finals matched the teams' meeting two years ago for the highest preliminary rating for a Game 1 since 2004.Los Angeles' 102-89 win Thursday night on ABC earned a 10.4 overnight rating, up 17 percen

Artest sets the tone >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you use the 20/20 vision that hindsight provides, it's pretty clear why the Los Angeles Lakers lost the 2008 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics -- they got punched in the mouth. The defensive-minded Celtics were simply fa

UC Davis QB Denham won't play in 2010 >>
Davis, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a surprising decision, quarterback Greg Denham of reigning Great West Conference champion UC Davis has decided against returning for the 2010 season in order to pursue a career in the ministry. Aggies head coa

Struggling Wizards visit Red-hot TFC >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards travel to BMO Field to face Toronto FC on Saturday in hopes of snapping a seven-game winless streak. Wizards (2-5-2) head coach Peter Vermes has seen his team lose four of its last

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.

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.