Donovan's late goal helps Galaxy tie Earthquakes

Soccer Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Landon Donovan scored in the 90th minute and the Los Angeles Galaxy remained unbeaten at home in Major League Soccer with a 2-2 draw Thursday night against the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center.

Edson Buddle scored his 12th goal of the year, also in the second half, as the Galaxy (12-2-4) erased two deficits to extend their season-long home unbeaten streak to eight games.

Bobby Convey scored his first goal of the year just two minutes into the match and cleared a Buddle shot off the line and Brandon McDonald added his first of the year as San Jose (6-4-5) earned its sixth result in eight road matches.

San Jose got off to a dream start when Convey fired home a rebound inside two minutes. Cornell Glen had the initial chance deflected by L.A. goalie Donovan Ricketts, but Convey ran onto the loose ball on the left side of the area and slotted the rebound home.

Convey, who is second in MLS with eight assists, was added to the MLS All-Star roster earlier Thursday by L.A. coach Bruce Arena.

Buddle had three chances before half to level, but fired wide left in the 23rd and wide right in the 41st before heading high in first-half stoppage time.

L.A. trailed at halftime for the first time in 17 games this season, but coach Bruce Arena sparked the club at halftime and Buddle equalized 14 minutes into the second half.

Dema Kovalenko had a shot pushed over the crossbar by San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch in the 48th and Buddle followed with a header that was cleared off the line by Convey in the 49th before L.A. finally equalized.

Donovan helped set up the goal for his MLS-high 11th assist by dropping a pass off to the left to Todd Dunivant, who made an overlapping run. Dunivant rolled a low cross through the six-yard box to Buddle, who had an easy finish into an empty net at the right post in the 59th.

Juninho had his free kick pushed over the bar by Busch in the 70th, as L.A.'s second-half momentum slowed after the tying goal.

San Jose capitalized in the final 20 minutes when McDonald fired home a loose ball from inside the six-yard box. Convey played a corner kick from the right and, after Ike Opara's initial shot was deflected by Ricketts, McDonald tapped in the rebound in the 72nd.

L.A. avoided its first home defeat of the season when Donovan scored from just a few inches out in the 90th. Tristan Bowen's initial shot was mishandled by Busch, who then got his hands on Buddle's rebound effort, but couldn't prevent Donovan from sending the second rebound into the back of the net.

San Jose returns to MLS action July 31 when it hosts Seattle Sounders FC. L.A. hosts the Chicago Fire on Aug. 1.

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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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