In getting ready for the NFL Draft arriving soon on this coming weekend, all week long IQFB will bring you their famous Little Known Facts about different aspects of the NFL Draft. Today, we start with Little Known Facts About The NFL Draft itself:

• The NFL Draft has been held in New York City since 1965, but was first broadcast on TV in 1980 by ESPN.
• Tickets to the NFL Draft are free and given out one-per-person the morning of the event.
• Teams pick in reverse order to how they finished the previous season, with the worst team picking first. To break ties, strength of schedule is used, in the event that there is a tie in strength of schedule, a coin is flipped to determine who picks next.
• There are 32 compensatory picks that are awarded to teams that have lost more qualifying free agents than they gained in the previous year. Compensatory picks are selected at the ends of rounds three through seven, depending on the value of the free agent players lost. In the event that all 32 compensatory picks are not used, they are put into a makeshift eighth round and distributed first to the teams with the worse records from the previous seasons.
• The NFL Draft is not where it ends, for players who did not declare their eligibility before the draft but then lose or give up their college eligibility before the NFL season starts there is a Supplemental Draft in the summer. Teams can choose to participate in the Supplemental Draft or not. If a team uses a pick in the Supplemental Draft, they then forfeit that pick in the following year’s NFL Draft.

Watching the NFL Draft is a great tradition to start or continue with your family and friends. It is easily made into an all-day event and can be combined with a barbecue or other distractions as you wait for your favorite team to pick its next player. More little known facts about the NFL draft to come this week.

As we work our way through Spring and Summer approaches, its time to think about full blown vacations as well as three or four day weekends. A well planned out trip to a great location can make your time off from work or away from home feel absolutely incredible. There are so many destination choices out there that sometimes it becomes almost like work itself just choosing where to go. Lets look at a great natural area to go to and enjoy, Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas.

Whether you’re 80 years old or 8 years old, Shangri La has the unique ability to connect you with nature. You’ll see things you’ve never seen before, especially in this part of the country. You may even come away with a newfound respect for nature and the world around us. With its offering of free educational tours among other things, a visit to Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center is a great learning opportunity as well.

The Shangri La Gardens is also a recognized worldwide leader in the “green” movement. They are very proud of their grounds and structures and have worked hard to make them environmentally friendly. All this hard work paid off when Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum Certification fo LEED-NC, which verified that both the construction and design of the Gardens reached the highest performance measures for green building. These high standards that the Gardens imposes on itself are seen throughout the park in their other features as well.

Located in Orange, Texas and sitting on more than 250 acres of land, Shangri La Gardens is a magnificient oasis of vegetation and animals. The gardens themselves contain more than 300 different plant species arranged in five sections. There is also an adjacent bird blind where you and your family can view nesting birds. The Gardens are very proud of their available hands on displays too, allowing visitors to touch, feel, and participate in the happenings going on there.A lot more information about the Shangri La Gardens is available at their website, ShangriLaGardens.org, and there are many more things to see and do in the Orange, Texas area. Located on the southeast edge of Texas, the city of Orange boasts beauty and culture with their parks, gardens, and museums. The city sits on the border between Texas and Louisiana and is a deep water port to the Gulf of Mexico, so there are also outdoor recreation opportunities as well. A visit to Orange, Texas and the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center are sure to please just about anyone. Enjoy your trip.