Canada, France split opening singles in tie

Tennis Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made quick work of Vasek Pospisil while Canadian rising star Milos Raonic shut down Julien Benneteau in Friday's opening Davis Cup singles rubbers.

Former Australian Open runner-up Tsonga, No. 6 in the world, won 91 percent of his first serves (41-of-45) and saved the only break chance against him as he defeated Pospisil 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in the first singles match of the week on the indoor hardcourt at Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Raonic thrilled the hosting Canadian crowd by firing off 24 aces to Benneteau's seven as he edged the Frenchman 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 in the nightcap.

Saturday's doubles will pit Benneteau and Michael Llodra against a Canadian duo of Pospisil and doubles great Daniel Nestor, while Sunday's reverse singles call for Tsonga to face the 21-year-old Raonic and Benneteau to meet the 21-year-old Pospisil. Tsonga titled in Doha last month, while Raonic was a winner in Chennai in January.

Team France is playing without three of its top-four competitors this week.

France owns nine Davis Cup titles, with its last one coming in 2001, while Canada has never reached a World Group final. France is 1-0 all-time against the Canadians, with the victory coming in Paris back in 1966.

The winner here will face the Switzerland-USA victor in the quarterfinals in April.

Nflventureonline Tennis Betting News

<< Nowitzki leads Dallas past T-Wolves
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points as the Dallas Mavericks downed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-97, on Friday. Jason Terry added 16 points, Vince Carter had 12 and Jason Kidd returned from a six-game

<< Crawford lifts Portland past New Orleans
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford dropped a game-high 31 points and added a game-high eight assists off the bench, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New Orleans Hornets, 94-86, on Friday. Raymond

<< Milwaukee clips Cleveland in OT
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jennings had 24 points and eight assists, as the Bucks earned a 113-112 overtime win over the Cavaliers on Friday. Drew Gooden added 19 points, including six during overtime, as Milwaukee

<< Gerbe lifts Sabres past Stars in shootout
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Gerbe scored in the fifth round of the shootout to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars. In the fifth round, Gerbe deked to the backhand and lifted it high over Kari Lehtonen. M

<< Monroe helps Pistons rout Nets
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons rolled over the New Jersey Nets, 109-92, in the back end of a home-and-home series at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Jonas Jerebk

Gay and Grizzlies slip past Pacers >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay scored 21 points for the Grizzlies as they defeated the Pacers, 98-92, at FedExForum on Friday. The Grizzlies had five players in double figures, including 19 points and nine rebounds from Marreese

Lin scores 38, Knicks down Lakers >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Lin's coming out party continued on Friday as he dropped in a career-high 38 points with seven assists and four rebounds, and the New York Knicks downed the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-85, at Madison

Detroit edges Anaheim in SO, extends home win streak >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Bertuzzi supplied the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, as the Detroit Red Wings edged the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, to push their franchise-record home winning streak to 19 games. Following an e

O'Reilly's late goal leads Colorado past Carolina in OT >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. With time winding down, O'Reilly picked the pocket of Jus

Kings place Stoll on IR >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings placed center Jarret Stoll on injured reserve Friday with an abductor muscle injury. Stoll suffered the injury in the latter stages of the third period of Thursday's 3-1 loss

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.