07/04/2009 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The dominating Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, won the doubles final on Saturday at Wimbledon, just hours after the sisters faced each other in the single's final.
Serena and Venus needed just two sets to defeat the third-seeded Aussie pairing of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
It's the fourth time these two have won the double's final as they took home the championship in 2000, 2002 and last year. In the 2008 final, they topped Stosur and Lisa Raymond.
The result came just a few hours after Serena polished off her older sister, beating Venus and denying her a three-peat at the All England Club with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 triumph.
The Williams sisters have combined to win eight of the 10 Wimbledon singles titles this decade. The second-seeded Serena also had championships in 2002 and '03. She lost to Venus in straight sets last year in the final.
Serena and Venus are 9-0 in their career Grand Slam doubles finals, including a victory at this year's Aussie Open.
The sisters will split $377,000.
<< Lincecum again dominant; Giants continue to pound Astros pitching
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum fired seven innings of
three-hit shutout ball, and the Giants bats produced a second straight solid
effort in a 9-0 win against the Astros.
Lincecum (9-2), fresh off being named the
<< Angels bring back Kendrick; option Rodriguez
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels have recalled infielder Howie
Kendrick from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned infielder Sean Rodriguez back to
the club's top affiliate.
The move reverses a transaction originally made on Jun
<< Posada's RBI single in 12th helps Yanks down Jays
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge Posada's single in the bottom of the 12th
inning lifted the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over Toronto in the second of
a four-game set from Yankee Stadium.
Posada also hit a homer and finished with two
<< Woods, Kim share AT&T National lead
Bethesda, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods managed just an even-par 70
Saturday and will head into the final round at the AT&T National tied for the
lead with Anthony Kim.
Kim, the defending champion, shot a two-under 68 in the third ro
Padres rally past Dodgers; Ramirez homers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera went 2-for-4 with three runs
batted in, as the San Diego Padres used late rallies to down Los Angeles, 7-4,
in the middle installment of a three-game series.
Cabrera, David Eckstein and Adr
DeLaet leads Edmonton Open by two >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Graham DeLaet posted a two-under 70 Saturday
to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Edmonton Open.
DeLaet, who shared the second-round lead with Brady Stockton and Jim Rutledge,
completed 54 hol
Marlins get by Pirates >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emilio Bonifacio went 3-for-4 with two runs
scored to help the Florida Marlins take a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the second game of a three-game set.
Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a two-run
Valbuena and Francisco help Indians past A's >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Valbuena and Ben Francisco each went 3-
for-3, with Valbuena knocking in a run and scoring twice and Francisco adding
a two-run homer in Cleveland's 5-2 win over Oakland.
Carl Pavano (7-7) evened his
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.
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