by Howard Bender    

     Without offending any of you fantasy hockey, hoops or NASCAR participants, I have to say that usually this is my least favorite time of the year.  Fantasy football is long over, my NFL favorite NY Jets are rarely active in January, and with my interest in the NBA, the NHL, and auto racing ranking somewhere just below my desire for root canal, I can't even bear to pick up the sports page in my local paper.  Even the bar chatter dwindles as I rarely have anything to say that is pertinent to the SportsCenter broadcast.  I feel empy inside.

I need my baseball.  Unfortunately though, we're still 28 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting and unless I'm watching an old rerun on ESPN Classic, I have a month to go before watching the boys of summer take the field for Spring Training...a little more than 2 months before Opening Day.

But what that also means is that there's probably less than 2 months left to prep for your upcoming fantasy baseball drafts.  You might think that's plenty of time, but if you don't start making preparations now, the days will slip by before you know it and you'll find yourself struggling on draft day asking things like "What team does he play for?" and "Did anyone draft Carlos Delgado yet?"

Fantasy baseball magazines have already hit newsstands and the time to get yourself reacquainted with the player pool and your opponents is now.  It doesn't matter if it's a keeper league or a non-keeper league, a money league or a bragging rights league.  No one likes losing and the ones who don't do their homework are usually the one at the bottom of the standings each year.  Don't be that guy.  Don't be the guy who walks into the draft without a clue.  You'll inevitably own the worst team in the league and lose interest come late May.  Not only did you waste your own time, but that of the league's as they now have to sit with a "dead team" in the standings.

Be the other guy.  Be the guy that does his homework.  Be the guy who finishes in the money each year.  Be the guy who gets lauded by his peers for uncovering the latest hidden gem.  Be the guy who understands that fantasy baseball is a game and when we play, we play to win.

I mean, if I offered you money and praise or debt and ridicule, which are you going to choose?

Go grab yourself a magazine off the rack and start reading through it.  Go get yourself back into the frame of mind you need to be in to be successful and I'll be back each week to share some tips, some hunches, and a little bit of philosophy along the way.

You can also find plenty of fantasy assistance from me at Rotobuzz.com.

Baseball fever is starting.  Catch it while you can!

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Howard Bender is a freelance fantasy sports writer and a former champion in both rotisserie and head to head leagues.  For questions, thoughts or comments you can email Howard at Howard.Rotobuzz@yahoo.com.