UConn's Calhoun receives five-year extension
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
05/07/2010 -
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut handed longtime
men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a five-year contract extension running
through the 2014 season on Friday.
The deal is effective retroactively from July 1, 2009 and is weighted with
lofty figures for appearances as well as performance and postseason
incentives.
Calhoun will receive a base salary of $325,000 for 2009-10 with a $25,000 bump
in each additional year. In addition to the base salary, Calhoun's agreement
calls for $1,675,000 in year one of the agreement for institutional speaking
engagements and media-related appearances and will increase in each year
after. The combined figures will total $2,300,000 for 2010-11, $2,700,000 for
2011-12 and $3,000,000 for 2012-13 and 2013-14.
"I am very happy that this new contract will allow me to finish my coaching
career here at UConn," Calhoun said at a news conference Friday to announce
the pact. "This is a tremendous show of recognition and support from
(Athletics Director) Jeff Hathaway and (President) Michael Hogan."
Calhoun, who turns 68 on Monday, recently completed his 24th season as head
coach at UConn and his 38th as a collegiate head coach. It was a trying season
for both the program and Calhoun, who experienced health problems and left the
team for seven games with an undisclosed condition.
The up-and-down campaign saw the Huskies finish 18-16, including a lowly 7-11
mark in conference play. An embarrassing 75-53 loss to St. John's in the first
round of Big East Tournament preceded a loss to Virginia Tech in the second
round of the NIT.
"Jim is one of the elite coaches in college basketball," remarked Hathaway.
"He has taken UConn Basketball to the national championship level, and he is a
valued representative of the University and the State of Connecticut."
A 2005 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Calhoun guided the Huskies
to a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004 and has gone 575-221 in his 24
years at the helm. He also coached 14 seasons at Northeastern, compiling a
record of 248-137.
In 2009, Calhoun became the seventh Division I coach in NCAA history to reach
800 career wins. The year also saw the program mired in an investigation into
NCAA rules violations related to the recruitment of Nate Miles. That and a
myriad of health concerns led Calhoun to question his future in coaching
following the Huskies Final Four loss to Michigan State.
Calhoun has survived cancer three times, including prostate cancer in 2003 and
skin cancer in 2008.
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NFL Football Betting Online
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
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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
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