My biggest pet peeve when it comes to fantasy football is how many points each player gets in real-time. I know Yahoo provides this service for a fee and many other sites do to. But, how nice would it be for you to see your fantasy points pop up on your TV? Let’s just say Randy Moss scores a TD on a 75 yard pass, it would instantly pop up a little bubble -a la VH1’s Pop-Up Video and give you a quick update on your score in Yahoo!, ESPN, or CBS Sportsline. Another sticking point would definitely be the data service available on your cable provider. Now if everyone has the Verizon FiOS Cable, then we might be in business.

This would get rid of any axious moments towards the end of the season when you have to wait until the next morning to see what you team scored. This kind of service will also change the way that we pick up free agents and even make the games on TV that much more interesting for girls to participate in. I call that a win-win situation. Now onto writing this business plan to make this happen for the masses.

1. The most important thing about what to look for in a driver is feel. How do YOU feel about the driver when it contacts the ball. Do you like the sound the ball makes off of the face? Does the ball jump off the club face and has the correct trajectory for your swing? Here in Maryland we have Mammoth Golf outlets that have swing mats that let you see the launch angle of your ball. Whether you are a high ball hitter or a low driving trajectory, this machine will tell you everything. I don’t know how accurate it is for distance, but it sure does allow you to try several clubs before choosing one. Best of all, it’s free!

2. Some people fail to look at the shaft that the club comes with. I know many guys that try swing a stif shaft and their club speed is barely 85 mph. Which puts you down to a Regular flex shaft. The point of the flex in the shaft is so that the shaft flexes and ‘kicks’ at a certain point to maximize your distance. If you swing hard and you use a regular flex shaft, the club head never actually catches up with your hands because it is still in its ‘kick’ mode. So when you actually contact the ball, it feels like you are hitting a baseball with the club. Not a good feeling. So go get your swing speed and select the right shaft.

3. Loft is a another biggie. I know you have had a buddy, that has said that he can’t get the ball up in the air, and now you just take a look at his loft on his club and see if he is hitting something below a 10.5 degree. For amateurs, the higher the loft, the easier it is to get in the air. As you get better you can drop down into the single digits, but it has been noted that the higher you hit the ball, the more distance you can get (at the proper launch angle of course and good course conditions with a little bit of luck). So find the right loft and go hit it at the range, you’d be surprised at the results.

4. You get what you pay for. There is a major difference in clubs even at the expensive level. The technology ahs changed and clubs are hitting longer everyday. A Taylor Made 360 made about 3 years ago, will not be the same as hitting the R7. And the same goes for each other manufacturer. Some people go out and buy the $100 MacGregor at Wal-Mart and they are not doing themselves any favors. The new drivers are much more forgiving and give you more distance. And as with everything consumer-wise. You get what you pay for.

1. First and most important rule. NO TALKING suring someone’s pre-shot routine and swing. The most annoying thing is when you are trying to concentrate on not duffing the ball and putting a ball out on the fairway somewhere. There are already a million things going through your mind during your routine. We don’t need someone giving a soliloquy about how you fell off the toilet.

2. Keep pace. I know we are all amateurs and we occassionally (ok, most of the time) shank a ball into the woods or water. Take a quick gander around the area where the ball landed and if you cant find it in 2 minutes, drop a ball and hit it. Or it would help if the person that hit the best shot, help out in finding the ball before going to his/her ball.

3. Never walk across someone’s lie on the putting surface. Before galavanting onto the green and lining up your putt, take a quick look at who’s where and make sure you don’t walk across someone’s line. Footprints on the green actually affect some putts. We are mostly terrible putters anyway, so please don’t help the cause.

4. Don’t take a mulligan on every bad drive you hit. Golf is a game of integrity. And if you honestly want to learn how to play, take EVERY stroke. Don’t shave strokes off your game just cause it saves face. No one really cares how you shoot. Hitting one into the woods is embarassing, but taking a mulligan and doing it again makes it that much MORE embarassing.

5. Leave the cell phone on vibrate. This is corollary to rule number 1. You are out with your friends and you are playing golf not conducting business on the golf course. So shut that phone up and put it away for 5 hours. This is quality time with your buddies.

In other news, The head of Hooters Inc. has died. Apparently a healthy helping of wings and breasts (literally and figurateively) is hazardous to your health!

1. Check out Ebay for its great deals on putters and drivers. Sometimes, you can find some great deals on brand name clubs with scratches for a great price. Scratches on a club shouldn’t matter to you cause if you are just starting out, 9 times out of 10 YOU will put marks on them.

2. Go to a local golf course and befriend a golf pro. This can help you in many ways. One of which is discounted lessons if you really become a good friend. I just happen to get lucky and worked as a driving range picker and got to practice hitting clubs the pros didn’t want. It was pretty fantastic. They are always getting clubs to play with and you can sometimes score a great deal on a free club that they didn’t want.

3. Play it Again sports always has a great inventory on used clubs and bags. Once in a while you can find a gem laying around. I found one of my Cleveland wedges this way. So find your local Play it Again and see what they’ve got.

4. Play a quick nine during the twilight hours. Not only will you not get pressured from other golfers, you can get a quick 9 in for a cheap price. More often than not, courses will offer twilight hours prices and it can be over 50% normal peak time greens fees. This is the best time to play and practice out on the course.

5. Most of all have fun. Golf can be an intimidating sport and it is quite humbling. So go grab a good friend or your significant other and have a good time at the course. FORE!

Manny has a no trade clause in his contract where he controls where he gets traded to. The Red Sox must make a trade offer first before he can start negotiations with the team. Plus, the Red Sox won’t just take any chopped liver either. They will have to fill a HUGE void behind David Ortiz or else he won’t get any pitches to hit. I, personally, think this is a terrible move to move him. The nation loves Manny. I mean, check out this site .

It won’t be easy to pry Manny away, but the Angels, Mets, and possibly Philly. If you haven’t heard already, The Red Sox wanted Bobby Abreu. But that all fell through. As the teams go into winter talks in Dallas, I can assure you that some fireworks will fly.

First, the game must be sped up a little bit. This acn be done by instituting a pitch clock. This clock will force guys like Manny Ramirez from stepping out and having a sandwich and stepping back in to the batter’s box.

Second, if you can put little LCD’s everywhere, why not just put one in the umpire’s mask? This will aid the umpire in making strikes and balls. ESPN has it’s K-zone and Fox has its own system as well as Major League Baseball. But none really give an accurate look at the strike zone.

More to come…

Me and a few of my good friends all went rafting in West Virginia this past weekend on the might Gauley River. The Army Corps of Engineers released 52 degree water from the bottom of Summerville Lake. The water level was about 3-4 feet above normal and gave us a hell of a ride. We rafted every class of rapid including 5 class V’s and a couple of class V+’s. The Lower Gauley provided us with some memorable footage and we hit some pretty intense standing waves. Once we get the pictures that Rivers Resort took, I will put them here. So check back soon for an update.. Thank you to Perk-her-Later (guide) and Danny (guide). So I leave you with a little quote from John Denver:

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Look, you know I hate the Yankees. It’s well-documented. But you can’t have an All-Star Game without Jeter. You just can’t. The NBA mentality should come into play here — make sure your most visible stars are there on All-Star Weekend no matter how well they’re playing. I always love when people get all holier-than-thou about picking an All-Star team, like anyone’s going to remember in five years that Jose Guillen got shafted. Who cares?

Also now that I am watching this HR Derby. How hot is Sam Ryan? Here are just a few of the good looking female sportscasters:

Willow Bay
Melissa Stark
Bonnie Bernstein

Who are the other ones???