Is that I have played with some teams in several leagues so I know how they think about some players and their general ownership philosophies. I have never met most of these guys in person so really the relationships are no different from those with other owners in the league except that I have 2 years experience in dealing with them. Hopefully over the course of a two year period most owners of one of the purebaseball leagues would become familiar enough with each other's teams and management tendencies that they would all know what buttons to push. It is a fact that these guys I have been playing with all are on my ICQ or AOL-IM buddy lists (and I have their e-mail/aol names, etc memorized because I have talked to them so much in past) so I am in contact with them more frequently than other owners. Sometimes if you want trades to happen you have to CONTACT people. There is one team in PB99 Trad 2 that I have made two trades with in the last month that I never knew before this league. It just so happens that he read one of my bulletin board posts and made an offer on one of my players. Then later I sought him out for another deal.

As for collaberation I *NEVER* make a trade that I do not think will help my situation either in the present or in the future (although I do sometimes make errors). Sometimes it helps the other team more than mine, less than mine, or they get an equal benefit. But I do not feel my responsibility is to make sure I help the other team in a trade (that is their responsibility). My responsibility is to help my team. If something gets too far out of whack Mike is there to question it.

I don't really feel that knowing 6 people in the league has a profound impact because I have made almost as many trades in two other leagues (K15 and Chall) where I know noone in the league. If you want to trade you just have to have talent you are willing to part with (for a reasonable price) and send out a lot of inquiries.