ESPN hoops analyst Phelps recovering from cancer surgery

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

06/09/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Digger Phelps is recovering from successful prostate cancer surgery he underwent on Tuesday.

The legendary coach was diagnosed on April 28 and had the procedure done at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer and Research Center at the University of Washington Medical Center.

"Thanks to early discovery of the cancer during a routine physical dad is doing great and is on the road to recovery, said Phelps' daughter, Karen Moyer. "We are very thankful for the great people at the Hutch Center and the University of Washington Medical Center. Thank you to all of our friends and family for your prayers and warm wishes for my dad."

The 68-year-old Phelps spent 20 seasons as the head coach at Notre Dame (1971-1991) and went 393-197 with 14 seasons of 20 or more wins and has more wins than any coach in school history. He led the Fighting Irish to their only Final Four appearance in 1978. Phelps joined ESPN in 1993.

Offsmaker NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Rachel Alexandra versus four in Fleur de Lis
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, goes after her first win of 2010 on Saturday in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs. The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares will be the fir

<< Broken hand setback is small for Kansas' Selby
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self described it as a "very small setback" when incoming freshman guard Josh Selby broke his left hand Monday night while playing a pick-up game at the school. "Even

<< Regional round matchups announced for Coaches vs. Cancer
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh, Texas, Maryland and Illinois will open the 2010-11 basketball season by participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Those teams will serve as the four regional round hosts for the event.

<< Three added to 2010 Hall of Fame class
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Historic Review Committee of the National Museum of Racing has announced that nineteenth century horse Harry Bassett, trainer Michael Ernest 'Buster' Millerick and jockey Don Pierce have been el

<< Italy's Pirlo hopes to be ready for final group game
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo is hoping to be fit for his team's final group stage match against Slovakia on June 24. The AC Milan veteran sustained a calf injury in Italy's recent 2-1 friendly defeat aga

'Turfbreaking' set for EWU's red field >>
Cheyney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans All-Pro tackle Michael Roos will be in attendance for a "turfbreaking" ceremony at Eastern Washington on Saturday, as the Big Sky Conference university moves toward installing a red turf field.

Hewitt lands in Halle QFs >>
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. The two-time major champion Hewitt humbled Dutchman Thiemo De B

WPS announces All Stars >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Women's Professional Soccer announced the starting 22 players for its 2010 WPS All-Star game, which will take place on June 30 at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. The starting 22 players were

Kentucky-Notre Dame clash highlights SEC/Big East Invitational >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky and Notre Dame were among the eight teams chosen to play in this year's SEC/Big East Invitational, a two-night event held December 8 and 11 in Louisville and Pittsburgh. Joining Kentucky from

NCAA bans Portland State men's basketball from postseason >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The men's basketball team at Portland State has been banned from competing in the NCAA Tournament for the 2010-11 campaign after the school fell too low on the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) score list th

Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


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.