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06/04/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The day before the running of the 142nd Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, several of the 12 horses entered in the race had final preparations for the contest.
Ice Box and Fly Down, both trained by Nick Zito, went to the track to become familiar with the starting gate and then galloped on the 1 1/2-mile oval.
"Obviously, Ice Box has a great kick," Zito said about the Kentucky Derby runner-up. "I don't want to do anything to compromise his style of running. I've seen that before, changing styles, and it never works. Never, never, never. I hope he gets in position where he can run his race; that's all we can hope for. And, basically, he and Fly Down are the same type of horse.
"I guess everyone is going to pay attention to First Dude. He's got a good post (11) because he'll probably try and gallop out there. But I wouldn't change my horses' styles. I just hope my horses run the same way they have been."
Trainer Dale Romans had First Dude gallop around Belmont Park Friday morning. The Preakness runner-up is the 7-2 second choice in the program behind Ice Box.
"We're definitely going to be on, or close, to the lead," Romans said. "If someone wants to get out of their game and set him down inside of us, we'll let him go and sit right off.
"This horse doesn't have to be on the lead. If they let him get three-quarters in 1:14 like Seattle Slew, he'll be tough to catch. I don't think there's anyone in there that wants to sacrifice themselves and get out of their game and go chase him."
Stay Put, 20-1 in the morning-line, took to the track for trainer Steve Margolis. The chestnut colt galloped once around Belmont Park on Friday.
"Everything went well this morning," Margolis noted, "and we're excited and looking forward to it very much. We haven't plotted out the strategy, and we'll see what the weather looks like and figure out what we want to do."
Also taking a gallop around Belmont Park was Lone Star Derby winner Game On Dude.
"He's a very laid-back horse," trainer Bob Baffert indicated about the gelding. "He's got a good mind. He's very plain. But he's matured since I've had him, and, he gets over this track really well. It only took him one time around to get used to it."
The updated weather forecast for the Belmont Stakes calls for 50 percent chance of rain with variable clouds and scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Post-time temperature around 85 and winds Southwest at 10 to 20 m.p.h.
Post-time for the race is set for 6:32 p.m. (et).
<< Essien inks new Chelsea contract
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea enforcer Michael Essien has been
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the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
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<< Rays activate catcher Shoppach
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays have reinstated catcher
Kelly Shoppach from the 15-day disabled list.
Shoppach had been sidelined since April 11, undergoing surgery April 19 to
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<< Back sidelines Shockey from start of minicamp
METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Saints coach Sean Payton says Jeremy Shockey unexpectedly sat out the first practice of minicamp because of a recent onset of back spasms.Payton says Shockey's absence from practice had nothing to do with the star tight end's hos
<< Mass. gov raising funds with Lakers' Magic Johnson
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick is taking advantage of the NBA Finals being played in Boston to hold a re-election campaign fundraiser featuring Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson.The hoops legend and
Mets disable Castillo, designate Matthews >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have placed second baseman
Luis Castillo on the disabled list, retroactive to June 2, with a bruised
right heel.
Castillo underwent an MRI Thursday which was negative. He apparently s
Union, Fire both in search of third win >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between
the Philadelphia Union and the Chicago Fire will be a match between two-win
clubs hoping to get on track.
The Fire (2-3-4) were one of the favorites in th
NL East: Strasburg debut coming at right time for Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everyone who follows baseball knew that Stephen Strasburg's
2010 debut for the Washington Nationals was a matter of when, not if.
Now we all know the date -- Tuesday, June 8 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates --
and it couldn't
World Cup: Breaking down Group H >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain captured the Euro 2008 title to end
a 44-year drought in major competitions, and enters the 2010 World Cup as one
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Spain's starting 11 is easily the best in the Worl
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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