Hi Rock:
Having dealt with some of these problems myself (who hasn't, I guess), a couple of thoughts:
On casting in wind: Like sailing, a big part of flyfishing is positioning yourself so you're not taking on the wind directly. When I was fairly green and the wind pushed flies back into my face I assumed the problem lay in my ability (or lack thereof) and figured that pros in the same situation would just blast off a cast hard enough to beat the wind. Nah. Like good pool players, the good casters prefer to position themselves for the easy shot, not pull off the hard one.
On stretching out a fly line: I must confess I've never done this. But it does seem to me that flyline tangles tend to result most commonly from the position your line is in at the moment you cast. When I used to use a stripping basket (into which my line was deposited in nice, concentric coils), I'd get knots all the time. Two years ago I ditched the stripping basket (this is wade fishing I'm speaking of) and just let my excess line trail off in the current. I rarely get tangles now.