Fantasy Football!

So another year of fantasy football is here!  It has changed over the years a bit, there are still a few things that can help you in this years leagues. 
1. Stop planning for their bye weeks.
Although you may be the best planner ever this is not a hard thing to get caught up in.  I understand there may be a couple of teams that have bye weeks at the same time that have really good running backs.  The thing is you need to get the best available players and manage when they play.  It is not a good idea to pass on Philip Rivers just because he may have the same bye week as Drew Brees.  Do Your best to establish viable options at key point scoring positions.
2. Establish depth at key positions.
Now it is not advisable to draft 4 straight running backs in the current NFL Fantasy League formats.  In the early days of fantasy football the league was a run first league that made running backs the asset to have.  Now there are several teams that will have successful years running the football, but considering last year that Matt Schaub didn't make the playoffs with the Houston Texans and had the 6th best passing season in NFL history in terms of yards.  Yeah, I'm saying quarter backs are key here.  You can't just draft four rounds of running backs and then pick up the scraps.
3. You CANNOT build a perfect team.
Stop trying to live in fantasy world here.  I know a team with Peyton Manning, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Andre Johnson, Neil Rackers, Pittsburgh's Defense, Antonio Gates, and throw a couple other number one wide outs and running backs would be great, but there is one catch.  It is not going to happen unless you are the only one playing in the league.  I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you will have to settle a little.  It is possible to get Rackers, Peterson, Andre Johnson, Gates and maybe a quarterback like Schaub, Rivers or Romo.  That is still a very good team that you can manage a few good players together in and a good defense.  In that scenario you are still very hard to beat.  Remember this is a competition not a hey everybody watch John here win it all by week 10.

Good luck this year in your fantasy endeavors and please enjoy as much football as possible.

Relevance of Golf in the Fall!

So here we are the last week in August!  This weekend I watched some great golf played by the World's best golfers and some ridiculous baseball played by 12 and 13 year old kids.  I, as many of you, am excited about a few things coming up this fall. College Football kicks off this weekend, and the next weekend is professional football, followed shortly by the push for the playoffs in baseball leading to the world series, one of my favorite sporting events all year.  Which begs the question.  Can Golf compete with that?  I know there are guys like me who are sports junkies and will watch whatever is on television but come on if you had the choice to watch the Eagles and Giants play or watch 3 hours of Golf?  I'm not saying that golf is not a great sport because I love to play and love to watch it.  I'm just saying that at this point in the year football is king.
    When it comes down to ratings, revenues, and profitability then American football still has the top spot.  So I pose the question to you, is professional golf grasping at straws and spending extra money to get the same group of "loyal" followers or are they relevant in the sports landscape this time of year?

Little League!

What a time and place to grow and live! The memories I have from little league baseball are amazing! You can't replace the sense of accomplishment in seeing your family so proud of you. You can't beat the experience, that hopefully every kid enjoys at some point, of a "suicide" after the game. Now, I'm talking about a drink that is every fountain drink, that isn't diet, all mixed together in one cup. The thing is in today's game doesn't it tend to get a little over the top. I mean, how many times do you remember in little league throwing 85 pitches? What 10 to 12 year old kid needs to throw 85 pitches in one game? And then of those 85 pitches why are 40 of those pitches curve balls? This may just be my beef with little league and all the exposure of a young kid playing competitive baseball. The problem is now that most of these top level baseball players at age 12 who are playing in about 100 games of baseball per summer are either doing nothing else all year long or they are burned out by the time they are 16.
Now I understand there are people who are prodigy kids and they are all well and good, but you aren't going to get your kid drafted into the major leagues at age 14. The thing about baseball is that knowing how to do everything right is far more important than playing 100 games a year. My father always told me it was good for me to be active in almost every athletic competition. It is good for a young kid to have a chance to play football, basketball, soccer(football), and baseball (and any other sport not named here). It is good for them to be well rounded. Most of the major division 1 athletes and professionals in almost every sport played other sports and many still actively train and play, at least in recreation. So, instead of deciding at age 9 what professional sport your child is going to play let them pick it out and let them enjoy little league. It will be the time of their young lives, I know it was for me.

Head on a Swivel!

You may have never heard this, but I heard the phrase many times in my sporting days. "Get your head on a swivel." Keep a look out for what might be coming. It is important to understand this concept in football. If you play linebacker it is especially important, because you are the second level of the defense. You have the ability to react to the play before a blocker gets to you. Now, if the offensive lineman is doing his job and has studied properly he is going to know where you will react and go to and how to get in your way. It really won't take much more than that if everything else is taken care of. Just getting between you and the ball carrier, even if he doesn't block you all that well, adds a couple of yards to the play anyway. So keep your head on a swivel! If you are able to not only get to the spot you need to be, but also get there without being blocked then you are in a much better position to make the tackle for little or no gain. After all down and distance always favors the defense. Now this lesson is particularly important to everyone involved because eventually you will have a life to live and know there are specific things that you must do. The trick is maintaining an awareness of everything going on around you and seeing things that are coming to be able to adjust and still make your mark.
Tricky thing this head on a swivel idea. It is easy to get so focused on avoiding the block that you miss the play entirely. Don't forget that making the tackle is your first priority not avoiding being hit. Stay focused and you will get there, and don't forget to have a look out for what else may be coming. In other words, keep your head on a swivel.

Leadership and Learning are very much the same

I found a blog post earlier today that talked about when everyone starts new things they are ignorant.  And the truth is they're right.  When we start something new we are ignorant and are fooling ourselves to think otherwise.  When we first start learning to play baseball for instance we have to be taught how to do everything.  We need to know how to throw and catch.  Then that evolves into catching fly balls or fielding grounders and being able to judge that as the ball comes off the bat.  Next we need to be more fluent in our attempts to do that, and we throw in being able to hit a ball thrown from a person and not just fed into a machine or lobbed to us from our dad.  We have to work on batting stances, proper swings, balance, timing and positioning.  Then base running and signals come into play, as well we begin to play situational baseball and needing to know what to do with the ball when there is a runner on 2nd with 2 outs and the ball is hit into the alley.  How do we respond?  In order to grow to this point we have learned from whoever was willing to teach us and that is the trick.  We must learn the right things to do and grow into leaders on the field by spending time to know what to do and when to do it.  No matter what stage of athletics you are in right now this will help.  You will not succeed until you know what to do and many times why you are doing it.

Raising the Athlete!

In today's world it is incredible how early many people have their kids trying to do "major league" things. So what is the right thing to do? What can we do with our young athletes to prepare them without tearing them up? Fundamentals! Fundamentals my friends! There is nothing that changes about fundamentals. They are something that your young athlete will never not use. It is far more important for an 8 year old to know how to throw properly and far less important for them to be effective at throwing curve balls. It is coming up on football season and if you think there is any sport that is less about fundamentals you would be wrong. The best athletes in the world may be good, but without proper technique they are gobbled up as they get into higher ranks of football. If you have a lineman teach them to "fire off" the line and find their opponents chest with there hands and head. Teach them to avoid looking for their eyes, and to avoid standing up straight. As they get older, into their preteen ages and early teen ages, work with them on flexibility, agility, and explosiveness while still recognizing that their fundamentals are still important. The same is true with quarterbacks and receivers, fundamentals in route running, footwork, hand placement, stance, release point, etc., are the things that they will use for their entire careers. Also, if you can teach a young kid that you build on basics and grow from there through time, perseverance and hard work they will be better equipped for life circumstances.

A More Consistent Golf Game!

How consistent is your golf game?  If you are reading this you would like it to be more consistent.  You, like me, understand that more consistency in your golf game will lead to a more consistent, lower score.  So for many of us we feel that equipment is the key to consistency.  We should go out and get all name brand equipment and play only a certain kind of ball and that will make us better.  In this thought process, sure your equipment fitting you properly will consistently help you be a better golfer.  The problem is most of us that are frustrated with our game have already picked out a set of clubs we think will fit us.  We still don't score well all the time.  We score an 82 one time out and a 78 the next and then on the same course we shoot a 95.  There were bright spots in the 95 but the 78 looks far better on the score card right.  Well, just like everything else consistency is the key, but in order to play consistent golf you must play consistently, meaning tines that you play.  You may say I don't have that much time.  How about this?  I know golf is not your life, but you want to be good enough to play competitively with your friends.  Driving Range time!  It only takes about an hour for you to focus on one specific part of your game; driving one day, chipping/putting one day, and irons another day.  That would be three hours a week on three different days and would equal out to one round a week or so.  What does that do for me?  You might say this isn't going to help. 
It will help you be more consistent.  When you do play you will know what club to grab from your bag on almost every shot.  Confidence is the key to being consistent.  If you don't have any confidence in your game, no matter what sport, you will never get better.  Give it a try and see it make you better!

This is so complicated!

Football is a game of X's and O's. A very complex game of strategy. We often break a coaches job down to play calling, but it has much more to do with preparation that leads to great execution. Often times we focus so much of our time trying to conquer the whole game when we don't have anything down just yet. It's important that you simplify things just a bit. Pick an area to work on first. If you are wanting to focus on defense then start with practicing specific habits daily, like shedding blocks, tackling form, angle tackling, coverage drills, etc., and build from there. After you have developed that area of your team then use the same principle with the other aspects of the game. If you use this process to develop your team at any level you can be successful. Execution is a result of proper practice habits. Don't over complicate things it only hurts your ability to execute.

Block that Guy! Get him out of my backfield!

You've heard it just like I have.
Jones! What's that guy doing in my backfield?
You know we can't win many games with a defensive tackle always causing problems.
So how do we remedy the problem?
Here's a quick tip on successful blocking habits. Pick a target first. No, not just a person.
It won't do you any good to just be a "head hunter". The point is imagine a target on their chest and aim for that. Don't get caught up looking them in the eyes. Don't think you will be able to see their eyes to tell where they are going. Get your face mask and your hands to their chest as quickly as possible, because all the moves a defensive player has are lead in direction by his chest. Also if you are a running back as well the linebacker coming at you is going a hundred miles an hour and you have to stop him. Explode into him, get your hands to his chest and get your head just under his chin. Once you are able to do this, he will go in the direction his head takes him. Use these tactics and strategies to blocking and you will be successful more times than not.
Consistency is the key in the long term and only practice will continue to make you consistent.
Now get out there put it to good use.

Supplements vs. No Supplements

There are many of you out there lifting regularly or beginning to lift weights. And you have the choice to use a vast array of different dietary supplements or do everything naturally. Now most people choose to use some kind of supplement to help them in the way they need. There are some that are designed to build mass, some designed to burn fat and others still for faster recovery. There is no definite, scientifically proven results that have been associated with any specific product. The thing that has been proven is that every person is different and the only people that are qualified to give you any suggestions or direction as to supplements you should take is your personal physician. They should know all of your personal medical conditions and/or allergies associated with any supplements. The one common thing that has been refined to much more to this point is proteins to help muscle recover faster.
The bottom line is that in order to build muscle and tone your body the way you want, you must find a regular workout routine with proper parameters for your desired results, along with adequate recovery time to ensure you are getting the best out of your body.

If you decide supplements are right for you here is a link to a good source for whatever you are looking for.

Marathon Training

Are you looking forward to running in the big race?  Marathon day is fast approaching now so what are you to do?  How are you training?  It is time to turn your training style around.  You see, most runners train by getting their endurance built up first and being able to run further.  Then work on their speed as race day approaches.  The problem with that is many top runners in the world are approaching it very differently than the average runner.  For instance, many of the top runners in the world are training for speed first.  figuring out what pace they need to maintain to put up a good time.  Once they find the pace that will put them in position to win they begin to work on distances.  The trick is they must maintain that efficiency.  Think about it this way.  If my goal is to make it 6 minutes per mile, then I need to be able to at least do that for ten miles before trying to do it for twenty six miles.
Think about it in this game efficiency is the key.  After that is established you can add the endurance.

Good running to you.

Traditional Weight Training vs. Emerging Training Methods

There has been a lot of hype coming out with all the new types of workouts hitting the market. All of these programs offer something different and want to appeal to a certain crowd of people but is it right for what you want to accomplish? Well let's take a look at them and see what they can do for you. Let's start with traditional weight training. With proper instruction and balance to a traditional weight training regiment along with speed training you will definitely be able to see increases in strength, size and explosiveness. The advantages of doing a traditional weight training method includes the number of different exercises possibly allow for the workout to be customized slightly to motions you are more comfortable with while still targeting the desired muscle group, although the training time to see the results may be prolonged slightly the results are more consistent, and depending on what results you are specifically looking for there are a number of exceptional sources for information online that an help you obtain your desired results best of all they are typically free to access online. Now the emerging training methods, such as P90X or the insanity workouts, use body weight exercises to increase strength, flexibility and endurance. Most of the exercises are designed to sculpt and tone muscles though a series of exercises that take advantage of high repetitions with little to no added weight. The advantages to these training methods include typically quicker results, improved flexibility, and they are designed to be full body workouts, so no muscle group gets left out. The emerging training methods typically are a specialized program that unless you spend the money and buy the materials to help you learn new ways to use the workout for better results. Now for most athletes especially those in competitive team sports typically traditional weight training is the best choice because the vast amount of information to help you change the workouts ever so slightly to make sure you are getting the desired results. Also it does allow for better control over which phase in the training cycle you are in so the trained athlete can be peaking at the optimum time for his/her sport of choice.