It's Time For The Rays To Upgrade With A New Stadium

The Tampa Bay Rays are in first place in the American League East. They have a 9-1 record at home and they are one of the best teams in baseball. The Rays have an exciting team, with good pitching and defense. You would think all of their games are sold out, but they are not. Monday night, the Rays beat the Seattle Mariners in front of 9500 fans, last night the Rays beat the Seattle Mariners in front of just under 10,000 fans. Tropicana Field holds 37000 fans, more if you open up all of the covered seats in the upper deck. The question is why the Ray's attendance is low at Tropicana Field.

Tropicana Field Itself-Tropicana Field is ugly from the inside out. The stadium does not look like or play like a Major League Baseball Stadium. The downstairs is well-taken care of, but the upstairs is ugly. The downstairs is cleaned well, but the upper deck is dirty and stays dirty the entire year. When it rains, the upstairs leaks all over the place. There is nothing upstairs for children. All the fun stuff is downstairs. If you don't have the money to pay for the good seats, you get stuck in the upper deck prison of Tropicana Field. The people in the stadium are nice, but it does not make the stadium nicer. The only thing upstairs is a party deck, bar and a few food stands which are not open when the stadium is empty. Tips-during slow weekday games, the owners of the Rays should have $5 tickets and food specials to get more fans out to the stadium. You don't make a dime from empty seats. Put something fun upstairs for children. Give fans a reason to come back to Tropicana Field. There is no longer free parking at Tropicana Field, the food and drinks are too expensive.

St. Petersburg-St Petersburg is not a fabulous town. The place is fun to visit, but the beaches are the most desirable part of the city. St. Petersburg is touted as the most depressing and most dangerous city in America. Makes you want to visit the place. St. Petersburg is dangerous, the economy is bad and many homeless people walk the streets. There are also gangs around the city who are looking for some action. Tropican Field is in a horrible location, a place where people just don't feel safe. It is in an area where even police officers have been killed. The only person who thinks the Tampa Bay Rays should continue to play in Tropicana Field is the mayor of St. Petersburg. Even the expensive mall downtown went out of business.

Location and Transfer-The population around Tropicana Field does not have enough people to guarantee a sellout every night. Many people in St. Petersburg are fans of other Major League Baseball teams. There are NY Yankee fans, Boston Red Sox fans and other fans from other Major League Baseball teams. They come when their team is playing and their team is not the Tampa Bay Rays. Many of the Spring Training stadiums are sold out every game because their fans support their team. Sadly, most of the Spring Training facilities are better baseball stadiums than Tropicana Field.

Can The Tampa Area Support A Major League Baseball Team?-yes, but the team has to be good (The Tampa Bay Rays are excellent) the stadium has to be up to date (Tropicana Field is outdated) The location has to be accessible to more people (Tropicana Field is accessible to a small group of people) Large companies have to support the team (The Tampa Bay Rays do not have enough support from large companies)

A New Stadium-The Tampa Bay Rays will have to build a new stadium in a new location or they will move to another city. Major League Baseball is already complaining about the Rays attendance. The owner of the team is complaining about attendance. If you have been to the stadium, you know it is time to upgrade. The Tampa Bay Rays do things right on the field, it is time the team is supported as one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. The major of St. Petersburg needs to take one for the team instead of playing his selfish games. It's time for the Rays to upgrade with a new stadium.

How To Play Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Like The Pros

It's that time of year again; baseball season is just around the corner. MLB teams and their players have reported to spring training and they are ready to play ball. You want to play Yahoo fantasy baseball for free online and you want to know the ropes. Yahoo fantasy baseball is a fun, free and easy game to play online. Get your computer and sign up for Yahoo fantasy baseball now.
Things you will need

• Computer

• Internet Access

1. Go to Yahoo.com and write Yahoo fantasy baseball in the search bar. Click on the link that brings you to Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. If you are signed into Yahoo, you will automatically be signed into Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.

2. You will have two choices for free Yahoo fantasy baseball; create a private league or join an existing league and play against other players. If you have enough friends, create the private league, if not click on the button on the right to join an existing league and see how you do against the competition

3. Click on the league type you want to join, for this one we will choose join an existing league, there are three choices under join an existing league in Yahoo Fantasy Baseball; join custom, browse custom or assign to public. If you are new player choose the assign to public.

4. You will have choices in the assign to public; Make your choices, I usually choose rotisserie, competitive and live online draft. If you are not available for an online draft, choose the live Standard draft. They also have a live auction draft which is new; don't choose this unless you are an expert Yahoo fantasy baseball participant.

5. If you chose a live draft, you get the option to choose when you will draft your players. Click a day on the calendar and on the bottom; choose a time for your draft. Yahoo fantasy sports will email you when it is close to the time for your draft. You can also write the time down to help you remember.

6. A live draft on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is fast and furious. If you don't know the players, they will be listed in order for you to choose the best players. If you are smart, you will go to sportsline.com or Yahoo sports and check out the best players at each position. You will have to choose a certain many players in each position and reserves. Choosing your favorite players does not guarantee you will win Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

7. When draft day comes around, you will either be in a live draft or the computer will choose a team for you. If you are new, let the computer choose your team. Sometimes
the computer chooses a better team for you than you can choose for yourself.

8. When you have your team, check out the free agents through your team page. Before the season starts, you can pick up and drop whatever players you want to. When the season starts, Yahoo will automatically match you up against the other teams. The teams with the highest scores make it to the playoffs and the losers stay home. You will be ranked by the computer and you will always know where you stand.
9. Your job is to be the team manager of your team. You start the players you believe are the best players on your team. You sit other players that are not doing so good. You drop injured players and make trades with other team managers.

10. Use Sportsline.com and Yahoo Sports to keep up on injuries of players and to see who is doing the best or is hot. Fantasy Baseball gets you more involved in baseball and can actually make the sport more interesting to you.

11. If you have players who are not doing well, pick up free agents to replace them. Treat your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team like it is a real Major League Baseball team and you are the manager.

12. Playing Yahoo Fantasy Baseball for fun is just as enjoyable as playing for money, but you don't have to worry about losing your money. Gambling over what players might or might not do is not the smartest thing to do in the world. Don't get mad at the Major League Baseball players; they are just doing their jobs.

13. The writer of this article has been the champion in Yahoo Fantasy Sports in private and public leagues. He has also played in the past and won money, both are fun, but don't gamble away any money you do not have.

14. When the season is over, use what you learned to play other Yahoo fantasy sports. If you like NFL football, try out Yahoo Fantasy Football and you may get hooked.

15. This is a guide about how to play Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. This guide will not make you a winner in your particular league this is up to you to figure out how to become the winner in your league. This takes time, experience and sometimes a bit of luck.

You now know how to play Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. Go to Yahoo, sign-up and enjoy the competition. You will get what you put into fantasy sports. Enjoy Major League Baseball with a whole new perspective and watch your favorite players as they score points for you. Play ball.

Tips

• You are playing Yahoo Fantasy Baseball; you are not a Major League Baseball player. Enjoy the game and don't take it too seriously

• Playing Fantasy Baseball can make baseball more interesting and can help you learn more about the game and the players playing the game

• Do not gamble your life away, this is just Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

• The more you learn about players and stats, the better Yahoo Fantasy Baseball player you can become

• If you are logged into your Yahoo email account, you are logged into Yahoo Fantasy sports

• Do not get mad at Major League Baseball players, they are just doing their jobs

Sources

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

knowledge of Fantasy Sports

Spring Training in Florida (haiku)

Spring Training is here
Baseball Around Florida
The Season is Near

I Am An NFL Football Fanatic

Like most men, I love sports. My favorite sport is NFL football and I also love Major League Baseball. My favorite baseball team is the Tampa Bay Rays. I work as an in the stands vendor for the Tampa Bay Rays and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I love sports, but I am afraid to bet on sports.

I am one of those guys who knows a bunch about NFL football. I know the players and I know the teams. I know the rules and I play Yahoo Fantasy Football. I have won four fantasy football championships, but I know if I bet on sports I would get involved beyond being a casual fan. I would worry about every point scored, every touchdown and every field goal.

I have friends who love to bet on football and baseball. They are good at it and they often win money. I tried it once, lost and found myself worried about everything that happened in the game. I couldn't imagine Pete Rose when he bet on the Cincinnati Reds when he was their manager. He had a responsibility to the team while he was betting on the team. I could not imagine being in a situation like that. I was just a one time better and I was worried about each and every play that happened in the game I bet on.

The Tampa Bay Rays Still Do Baseball the Right Way in 2012

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB in 1947. He was the first black superstar at a time when racism was still a major part of our society. In 1947 there were still white and black bathrooms and black people were treated like second class citizens. Jackie Robinson led a group of black baseball stars into what we today call our national pastime. 

Today, the Tampa Bay Rays still do baseball the right way. They choose their players based on talent and what they will add to the Tampa Bay community. The Rays do not sway away from African-American players.The Devil Rays selected Carl Crawford in the second round (in the 1999 draft) and he became one of their greatest superstars. It is a shame he moved on to the Red Sox, but such is baseball. In 2002, the Rays selected center-fielder B J Upton as the second overall pick. In 2003, they selected outfielder Delmon Young as the number one overall pick. When they had the number one pick in 2007, the Rays selected David Price who is now one of their best starting pitchers. The Rays picked infielder Tim Beckham with the overall pick in 2008. He is playing in their minor league system and was selected to the All Stars Futures Game in 2011. 

"We're proud to have African-American players who are role models for the entire community, and proud of our efforts in renovating baseball fields throughout Tampa Bay so that even more kids can get into our game," said Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "What's great about baseball is that for many decades now, it has been a meritocracy. Skin color doesn't matter; how you act and how you perform do." 

In 1947, Jackie Robinson had to deal with prejudice because of the color of his skin. In the 1970's Hank Aaron receive multiple death threats because a black player passed a white player as the top home-run hitter in MLB. In 2012, color no longer matters in baseball. What matters is the talent of the player and what he will give to the community that surrounds him. 

During Black History month, it is great to be a fan of a team who chooses its players for how they perform and what kind of people they are. The Tampa Bay Rays bring a exciting product on to Tropicana Field. They choose young men who are both exciting players and good people. It does not matter what race they are, what matters is what they can bring to the team.....

Sources:
Tampa Bay Rays
MLB News