Creating a Baseball Fantasy League by: jay moncliff

Baseball Fantasy Step #1 Calling all Teams The first baseball fantasy step to creating a league is getting your teams together. This basically means you need to get 8-12 friends together to create teams. Remember, if you have less than 8 teams or more than 12 your season will not be as enjoyable. The suggested 8-12 baseball fantasy teams mean you will be able to have a competitive season. Baseball Fantasy Step #2 Elections Every baseball fantasy league needs a commissioner, or someone who is in charge. This person will be responsible for compiling each team’s statistics on a weekly basis and distributing them to all of the players. Be sure you elect a commissioner who is responsible and takes the position seriously. Baseball Fantasy Step #3 One League or Two This can be a tough decision, but it must be made. This is the decision of whether or not to use only one league or both the American and National Leagues. Baseball Fantasy Step #4 The Draft Acquiring players can be done in many different ways, and the best way for your baseball fantasy league to do this is what works best for all teams. Sometimes a draft works, other times an auction, decide what works best and then stick with it. Baseball Fantasy Step #5 Rules Each league has rules so far as statistics and how points are accumulated. Whatever rules apply to your league make sure all teams are aware and follow the rules. Baseball Fantasy Step #6 Have Fun Remember to have fun and enjoy your baseball fantasy league. This has been going on for years and millions of Americans really enjoy this activity. Some play for money, some play for trophies, and others simply play to win. Whatever you choose to play for, make sure all teams are in favor. About The Author: Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.baseballcenter.info a blog focusing on the Baseball, resources and articles. This site provides detailed information on Baseball. For more info on Baseball visit: http://www.baseballcenter.info

Colorado Fly Fishing – Bait Huckin' vs. Fly Fishin' by: Richard Chapo

It was one of those fishing trips. You know, everyone catches fish but you, you loose six or eight of your most expensive streamers, it rains buckets, and you sink the boat. That’s right; I got skunked at Steamboat Lake over Memorial weekend. I was determined to show those meat huckers (worms and power bait) that a well chosen and strategically placed fly was as effective as anything a conventional fisherman could load on a hook and hang under a bobber. Well, no such luck, I got stomped. The fish were rising like mad on a midge hatch, and I threw everything in the box at them. I could swear I saw a hefty rainbow nudge my fly to the side to eat the natural laying only centimeters from my damn near perfect replica. As we watched the group of 12 year olds add another 18” fish to their stringer (full loaded, I might add) I decided it must be a lake thing. I don’t fish lakes often. I usually have good luck with a streamer in faster moving water, so I head for one on the several tributaries hoping to get the boat up far enough to make a make a few good casts. No such luck, here comes the wind. Determined and frustrated, I proceed to lose several of my best streamers in the dense shrubbery surrounding the mouth of the creek (can’t retrieve them since the current is too strong to get the boat any further up the creek). On the way back to camp we are passed by a couple of boats with stringers of fish crashing off the bows of their boats (hmmm, are they just rubbing it my face, or are they tenderizing the meat?)Questioning my decision to become a fly fisherman, I head over to the dock to pick up my 5 year-old son and a fresh styro of night crawlers. I'll let my son fish the meat before I crumble and load one up on the spinner myself. Surprising, no luck with the meat either, and hear comes the rain. I throw my arms up and ponder my karma activity of the past year. We charge for shore as the lake turns to white caps. The rain and lightning moves in fast. Did I mention that we got the boat for free and have no clue what to do in the rain? We pull the boat up close to shore near our camp, outside of the no-wake zone. We leave all of our gear and head for the soggy camp. Well, apparently it’s best to leave your boat in protected cove in the no wake zone. From what we could tell, our boat was hammered with 300 to 400 gallons of water from the waves and boat wakes from boaters rushing back to the dock. Yes, it sank in 18 inches of water. I didn’t realize a boat could sink in 18” of water! All of our gear is floating around the shore. The gas tank and gear which included an Orvis waste pack with hmmmm, some 500 plus flies. Every box any fly had to be opened and dried on the dashboards of our trucks. We bail the boat, load the truck and haul our soggy gear and crippled egos back home. Next memorial day, it’s back to the river!!! Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of writing journals for outdoor activities and travel. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read outdoor activity and travel articles.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Travel Journals - makers of writing journals andBusinessTaxRecovery.com - recoverying overpaid business taxes for small businesses.

Bird Watching – Writing What You See by: Richard Chapo

No bird watcher is complete without his or her bird watching journals. When you go bird watching, you need to keep your life list. The Life List If you are or become an avid bird watching enthusiast, you’re going to need to keep records. The reason for this is you want to keep a running list of the various bird species you’ve seen. Since there are a zillion species, the list can become quite long. Frankly, it becomes a life long project that is very enjoyable. Trust me, you’ll start planning vacations and trips around it. A business trip will soon evolve into a chance to see new species. Part and parcel to your bird watching life list is your journal. Some bird watchers combine these two while others keep them separate. The bird watching journal is used to fill out your sightings. Information kept in the journal includes things like where you were, whom you were with, the weather conditions, the lighting, time of day and your overall impressions from the sighting. When keeping your journal and lists, you are going to have sightings of species you’ve seen previously. Most bird watchers will add such sightings to their journals, but not their life lists. The reason for this is there may be peculiar or significant factors in the sighting. Perhaps the bird is not typically found in the area in question or perhaps it is exhibiting some unique characteristic. New Sightings When it comes to bird watching, there is no greater joy then sighting a bird you have never seen before. Often called “life birds”, the sighting can be added to your life list and is a feather in your cap. When you first start watching birds, you’ll obviously have a lot of new sighting. As time passes, however, they will become less frequent and you will come to enjoy and value them even more. Bird watching is an addictive hobby. Part of the thrill is watching your life list grow and reading through your journal of sightings. Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of writing journals. Bird watching journals are great bird watching gifts for bird watching tours and vacations. Visit NomadJournalTrips.comfor more bird watching articles. This article is free for republishing

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Travel Journals - makers of writing journals andBusinessTaxRecovery.com - recoverying overpaid business taxes for small businesses.

Bird Watching Competitions – I Spy With My Little Eye by: Richard Chapo

Bird watching typically conjures up images of people pursuing a relaxing day of staring into the sky with binoculars. Ah, but then there is the competitive side of birding. Flying Emus…err, Elbows For many people, something is only worth undertaking if there is an element of competitiveness. With bird watching, no such element really exists unless you include adding to your life list as a competition. Even if you do, it is a rather vague, indirect form of competition. This is where bird watching competitions come in. Also known as “bird days” or “big days”, bird watching competitions are typically one or two day events held in a specific geographic area. The idea behind the competition is to bring a bunch of birding enthusiasts together and see who tally the most species in a particular time period. Since the honor code is tied into reporting your tally, the competitive aspect of such competitions isn’t overdone. This isn’t a situation like bass fishing where they roll you into a stadium afterwards to count your sightings in front of screaming crowds. Then again, perhaps an opportunity presents itself… Can you imagine ESPN covering the event? “Bob, it looks like Longbill Louie is in fine form today. Look at the way he balances those binoculars and what rotation!” Probably not, but a man has to dream! Back in reality, participating in a bird watching competition is a good idea for two reason. First, the organizers tend to pick spots with lots of species you may not have documented before. Second, it is a tremendous opportunity to meet other people who have caught the itch. This often can lead to future opportunities to bird watch with new friends in previously unknown areas. If you must compete, there are official bird watching competitions. The World Series of Bird Watching is put on by the New Jersey Audubon Society. Teams of birders are formed and pitted against each other in early May of each year. With humorous names such as the “four loons”, “stokes stompers” and so on, it is a good time. The next competition is May 13, 2006, so you have plenty of time to get in top birding form. Birding competitions are a bit serious for me, but to each his own. Having a Big Day, however, is a great way to get kids interested in watching. Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of writing journals. Bird watching journals are great bird watching gifts for bird watching tours and vacations. Visit NomadJournalTrips.comfor more bird watching articles. This article is free for republishing

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Travel Journals - makers of writing journals andBusinessTaxRecovery.com - recoverying overpaid business taxes for small businesses.

Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods by: John Tiger

Fishing Tips - Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods Beyond a doubt the best fly fishing rod material is good bamboo properly selected, cured, split, glued, and correctly proportioned. It possesses strength combined with lightness, resiliency, pliancy, power and balance in greater degree than either steel or solid woods. Formerly anglers and rod makers could draw fine distinctions between male and female Calcutta and Tonkin " canes," but under present conditions good Calcutta is very rare and the word " Calcutta " is beŹcoming merely a trade term. Good bamboo of all kinds is more difficult to obtain and a good piece of Tonkin is better than an indifferent one of Calcutta. Male Calcutta, however, is supposed to be superior to either the female or Tonkin. The cheapest split cane is known as steel vine or African cane. It is light colored and makes up into good, inexpensive bamboo fly fishing rods. Six Strip and 8 Strip Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods We assume that you know that bamboo is split and then glued together in order to utilize the hard outer enamel and reduce the diameter of the pieces. Some rods are made of bamboo split into six sections (hexŹagonal) and some in eight (octagonal) but the six strip construction is more often used. Some makers claim that the eight strip, being more nearly a true cylinder, possesses better action but this seems to be more theoretical than practical, while the tiny tips of an eight strip rod are likely to be " soft" due to the comparative amount of glue necessary to hold the pieces together. Eight strip rods cost more than the six strip and if the angler wants a round bamboo fly fishing rod they are preferable to the six strip planed down as planing certainly must injure a rod. As a general rule a well-made six strip rod leaves little to be desired. Special Feature Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods A novelty in bamboo fly fishing rod making is what is known as the " double built " rods which are made of two layers of split and glued bamboo, one within the other. They are heavier and strong, and it is claimed, hold their shape better, than ordinary rods and are popular for sea and salmon fishing but unnecessary, I believe, in single hand fly rods. An English innovation is the steel center rod which consists of a fine piece of well-tempered steel running as a core through sections of regular split bamboo. The makers claim this construction gives a rod of superior casting power with only of an ounce added weight. Friends who possess rods of this kind are enthusiastic admirers of this construction for heavy fishing. An American maker supplies a rod of " twisted bamŹboo " which he claims equalizes the strain and proŹduces better action. I have never tried a rod of this type so am unable to pass on its merits, but Perry Frazer, in his " Amateur Rodmaking," speaks well of it. To get more fishing tips then make sure you visit http://www.fishingcenterguides.com Will M has been fishing for over 10 years and picked up a lot of good tips for catching many types of fish

Backyard Croquet by: Peter Jay

Backyard croquet is a gift that keeps on giving. You can use a croquet set and you can use it again and again and again and again for friend or family entertainment. I recently bought acroquet set and played a game of backyard croquet or poison croquet – another form of backyard croquet – with my family in my backyard. We had a nine-wicket, six player croquet set. Now that we have a set, we can play it as much as we want as a free, fun family outdoor activity. Anyone in the family can also invite their friends over for some cheap outdoor entertainment. They can also take it on dates or other group activities. For my family it is especially nice to have outdoor games such as croquet to play. Each Friday we have a family barbecue and find ways to entertain ourselves during the barbecue. Outdoor games provide a form of entertainment that we can enjoy many times over for an affordable price. We also have other outdoor games like ping pong, frizbee, Kubb, and more. We just had to buy one croquet set and now we can use it as often as we like. The last time that we played outdoor croquet in my backyard, during our barbecue, hardly anyone in my family had played it before, so I got to teach them all how to play. It is always fun when it is someone’s first time, especially when they learn the rule of roquet or of placing your foot on your ball, next to another player’s ball, to hit their ball far out of play. During our first game, the lawn was not mowed, so it made the game a little more interesting. It was harder to aim and set the correct distance for your shot, so it made it more difficult for the experienced players to get an easy win. My brothers and sisters were able to keep up with me or at least keep pretty close throughout the game, although, I had not played for years myself. My sister just younger than me even pulled ahead of me near the end. I thought she might even beat me. My brothers and sisters thought it was fun to roquet or hit my ball, since I was the experienced player. Everyone always gangs up on the leading player in any game, it seems like. My sister missed the wickets at the end and passed them, so it gave me the opportunity to pull ahead hit the final stick and become poison. I stayed close by my sister just younger than me for a while, threatening to kill her ball with my poison ball, to stop her, but also to give the other member of my family the chance to catch up and feel like they had a chance to win before I crushed them. Finally, I finished my sister off, and subsequently defeated all of the others. Even though none of them had ever played before, I still felt a sense of pride from defeating them. We mowed the game for the second game, and this time everyone knew how to play and understood the rules, so I did not have to play that time. So it was a little better. I recommend playing on a nice cut lawn. It is more fun to be able to hit your ball a further distance without hitting it hard. The second game was probably a little more fun for everyone once they knew the rules. We did not have to stop and explain things to anyone either, so it flowed a little quicker and more smoothly. Peter Jay is a Vice President with Yard Game Central and a manager and web administrator with PlayCroquet.com. For more information about croquet sets, visit http://www.PlayCroquet.com.

6 Winning Strategies Guaranteed to Improve Your Coaching Skills

Are you sure you're doing everything you can to be the best coach possible? Absolutely sure? I've been a coach and I've had a lot of coaches. You know what I've found? Some coaches put all the pieces together and some just don't invest time developing the coaching skills that make a difference. I can't turn you into a coaching superstar overnight but I can get you started with these six powerful communication skills. I'll break them into two groups: Verbal and Non-verbal. Three verbal communication skills you must master: 1) Consistency Don't send your players mixed messages by telling your team something today and then two days from now completely contradicting yourself. Your players must be able to trust the words that come out of your mouth. Also, keep your tone consistent with what your words are intending to get across. I had a coach once who, when one of us messed up, would say, "That was great" in a dripping wet sarcastic tone. Talk about sending us a negative message and beating team morale into the ground! 2) Honesty Be honest with your team and always in a positive way. Your team knows when mistakes are made so don't try to ignore them. If you try to gloss over them, you'll lose your team's respect. Just be sure to correct mistakes in a positive way that helps a player see what was done correctly but also feel good about fixing the mistake. When pointing out a mistake, first say what was good, then say "and if you follow through properly, you'll get the proper spin on the ball", rather than "but if you follow through properly, you'll get the proper spin on the ball". 3) Be Concise Don't speak to your team unclearly. Think through what you want to get across ahead of time and deliver your thoughts in a clear, concise manner. Come right out and say it. Don't go off on tangents and bore your players with unnecessary talk. Get to the point and then get the troops moving. Three non-verbal communication skills you must master: 4) Facial Expressions Be aware of how closely your team pays attention to what your face is "saying". Don't be a phony by trying to hide what you really feel with a fake smile or a serious blank stare. Realize, also, that just a simple smile can do wonders for a struggling player or a player unsure of what they're doing. Show them that you're behind them, glad to be with them and there to help. Don't overdo this, though. Your players will pick up on that. Be genuine in your coaching efforts. 5) Body Language If you're standing on the sideline in a way that shows you are happy to be there and confident, how will your players respond as opposed to you scowling around all hunched over and looking angry? Remember to present body language that represents enthusiasm, class and character. Body language can also be used in the form of physical contact such as a pat, a handshake or an arm around the shoulder. Stay ethical, of course, but physical contact can show your players the many emotions you feel about them - happiness, concern, affection, approval, etc. 6) Listen This one's huge! You need to pay attention to your players. You've got to focus on really seeing and hearing your players' verbal and non-verbal signals. If your players keep hearing you say, "What was that?" or "Did you say something?", you're in trouble and you need to work on your listening skills big time. Start practicing this coaching skill and watch how much more you instantly start to learn about your team. You'll see a player is upset over something even though he's trying hard to hide it. You'll see how each player reacts to not only you but to one another. Master these six coaching strategies and watch your coaching skills skyrocket. Your players must know you care way before they'll care about what you have to say. Remember this because too many coaches don't. Matt & Dave run http://www.basketball-plays-and-tips.com/6strategy and enjoy teaching basketball players and coaches more about the basketball plays, drills, fundamentals and tips that result in individual and team success. For our free report, "5 Keys to Discovering the Successful Coach Inside You", plus two additional player/coach reports, send a blank email to mailto:basketballtip@aweber.com . We give full permission for you to use this article in your newsletter or on your site as long as you include our Resource Box with our website link and email link included.

Matt & Dave of http://zero2hero2day.net have invested the last 6 years teaching others how to find the right business opportunity that lives up to the hype. Send blank email to mailto:thebestbizopp@aweber.com for our Free Special Report, "The Best Biz Opportunity You Can Find: How To Live the Life You Deserve!".