posted Dec 24th, 2010 - It is Christmas Evening in the USA, and today's NSL News story does not offer any breaking news or information. The NSL News work on this day actually turned into a time for reflection and eventually appreciation.

I walked into the office later this morning after a few days of vacation in the Sweetwater Springs wilderness of the Ocala Forest, one of my favorite spots on the planet, and was ready to begin with the daily update of the Skyleague.com website before heading home and celebrate with the family.

There is never a lack of interesting information for NSL News stories, thanks to the teams and competitors who contribute to the content by doing what they do. However, something stopped me from beginning with the daily routine, and i was trying to find out what it was.

Of course, i wanted to keep it short, as Becky and the kids would be waiting for me at home. However, there was more behind the hesitation, and finally i realized that today was not only a day to keep it short or not work at all. It is also the right time to say thank you to some special people in the NSL world.

There are a lot of special people. In fact, the whole skydiving community is special to me and the NSL News since there would be no National Skydiving League, no NSL News, no Skyleague.com without the people who are in the sport.

The participants provide the scores, videos, photos and the content for the stories, which the NSL News loves to write about. The DZs provide the environment and logistics for the events. The sponsors and supporters, most of them in the skydiving industry, make sure that the information can be delivered to the audience. In addition, there are even participants who help the NSL with donations.

This all went through my head when i was trying to get started. There is so much more about it, and it is very difficult to put it all in words. However, eventually i decided to just start writing down my thoughts and then went even a step further.

I felt like doing something that i do not really like very much. It is difficult enough for me to anchor the NSL Talk sessions, even though i very much enjoy discussing things with the teams, competitors and other VIP's of the sport. I still do not like to speak on camera, espcially not alone.

I forced myself to get over it for a simple reason. I wanted to say thank you and express my appreciation in person. It is impossible to do this with each individual who is somehow connected to the NSL Network. I thought that this might be the best way to get as personal as possible. So i recorded a short clip, which also actually has a very short message: "Merry Christmas 2010 - Happy Holidays - Thank You".