Udinese deals Juventus first loss of season

Soccer Betting Lines

09/16/2007 - Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udinese gave Juventus its first loss of the season on Sunday at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino as Antonio Di Natale scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win.

It was a nice way to rebound from a 5-0 loss to promoted side Napoli last time out, although the hosts were unlucky to come away with nothing after Alessandro Del Piero was denied by the woodwork on two occasions, including one in stoppage time.

Roma is now the only perfect team in Serie A after securing a 2-0 victory against Reggina on Sunday.

The first half was positive for Juventus, and the hosts were able to create a couple of chances throughout the opening 45 minutes.

The first came when David Trezeguet sent a header just wide from eight yards out, and then Del Piero was given a pair of opportunities to put Juve on the board.

Pavel Nedved lobbed a short pass over the defense and into the box for Del Piero, who beat keeper Samir Handanovic to the ball and chipped a shot over the sliding netminder. However, the ball sailed over the crossbar.

In the 32nd minute, Del Piero was unlucky not to put the home side ahead from a free kick. He sent a dipping shot over the wall that left the keeper standing, but luckily for Handanovic, he watched the ball slam off the left post.

Gyan Asamoah had the two best chances for Udinese in the opening half, but both times he failed to hit the target from inside the box after getting into good positions.

Less than two minutes into the second half, the visitors moved in front. Gokhan Inler did well to hold off a defender inside the box and play a one- touch ball to Di Natale, who headed past keeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Nedved created a chance for himself in the 59th minute, cutting the ball back on the left inside the box, but firing a poor shot well wide.

Asamoah nearly doubled the lead for Udinese minutes later when his half-volley from the right smacked off the inside of the near post, but Juventus came right back with another dangerous Del Piero free kick. The Juve captain came close again after curling his shot around the wall but up and over the net.

With the final whistle just minutes away, Udinese once again dodged a bullet from a Del Piero free kick. The Italian international cracked his shot past the wall but it struck the bottom of the crossbar and bounced down inches from the goal line.

In other Serie A play on Sunday, Riccardo Zampagna scored in the 86th minute to give Atalanta a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, Genoa and Livorno shared the points in 1-1 fashion, Inter Milan recorded a 2-0 victory over Catania Calcio and Napoli won its second straight game by beating Sampdoria 2-0. Torino played to a draw in its third consecutive match by finishing 1-1 with Palermo and Parma tied Cagliari 1-1.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

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Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.

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.

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