Is Isner America's answer?

Tennis Betting Lines

08/06/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - "Big" John Isner has played in only two ATP events in the infantile stage of his pro career, but he's already appeared in one final by virtue of his very surprising showing in the nation's capital last week.

Unfortunately for the towering American, he was unable to defeat top-seeded Andy Roddick in Sunday's finale at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, in a bout that marked the ATP's first all-American championship match in over a year.

By the way, Roddick's victory marked his third championship at the quality DC event.

Isner headed to Washington ranked 416th in the world, and exited the tournament at No. 193. He was ranked down in the 800s as recently as six weeks ago.

"This was an amazing week," Isner said after succumbing to Roddick. "I couldn't ask for a better week. I got to play against Andy Roddick in an ATP final, it doesn't get much better than that."

The week before DC, the skyscraping American captured a Challenger event in Lexington. The Challenger circuit is basically the minor leagues of tennis.

Even at a beanstalkish 6-foot-9, Isner is only the second-tallest player on the tour, eclipsed only by 6-foot-10 Croatian slugger Ivo Karlovic.

Fortunately for the Greensboro, North Carolina native Isner, his game is almost as big as he is. As you would imagine, a tennis player approaching the seven-foot mark typically has a monster service game, and the 22-year-old "Is" is no exception.

He starred collegiately at the University of Georgia, which, led by its top star Isner, captured the men's NCAA tennis title this past season. And his beloved Bulldogs were the national team runner-up in 2006. As a matter of fact, mighty Georgia lost only one match in Isner's final two years in Athens.

In Washington, the lanky American beat the likes of once-solid Brit Tim Henman, German star Tommy Haas and still-promising Frenchman Gael Monfils en route to the final. The most eye-catching win of all came against Haas, who's been one of the top players on the circuit over the past several months. The large American used 30 aces to help himself stun the talented German in three tough sets.

Isner came from a set down before dismissing Henman in the opening round; he also came from a set down in order to defeat another German, Benjamin Becker, in the second round; and also dropped the first set against his countryman Wayne Odesnik in the third round before rebounding for yet another comeback victory. And in keeping with his dramatic come-from-behind theme, Isner, once again, came from behind in order to best the capable Monfils in the semis.

The altitudinous Isner wound up playing 17 sets in his six matches at the Legg Mason, and 11 of them went to tiebreaks (7-4). Why so many tiebreaks, you say? Well, that's because Isner is very difficult to break, and he has difficulty breaking his opponent, which of course could have something to do with him being a one-trick (massive serve) pony.

FYI, Isner received a wild card entry into the DC draw only after Chilean Aussie Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez withdrew from the hardcourt tourney. The American promptly went on to record his first-ever wins against Top-100 players -- no less than four of 'em to be exact -- as Henman, Becker, Haas and Monfils all reside in that Top-Hundy neck of the woods.

Tall Tale: The Redwood-like Isner's first-ever ATP match resulted in a loss against 6-foot-8 Belgian Dick Norman on the grass courts in Newport last month. Can you say men in trees? Or is it men like trees?

And the 6-9 Isner came really close to facing the even-taller 6-10 Karlovic last week, but "Dr. Ivo" came up short (get it?) in his semifinal against Roddick.

As far as I know, that Isner-Norman clash in Newport is the record for the all-time tallest matchup on tour. You can probably look it up, but why would you?

Okay, I'm not gonna sit here and say that Isner is the second coming of Pete Sampras, far from it, but it's certainly nice to see a young American doing well somewhere on the ultra-competitive ATP.

Isner's next ATP outing will come at next week's Masters/US Open Series event in Cincinnati.

How high will he soar?

Stay tuned.

Foorball365 Tennis Betting News

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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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