To Everyone this Affected

[Shake]

Hello dobbernation,


I wanted to write to everyone since its public knowledge on what is going on. I regret deeply some decisions I have made recently this year. I will spare you all the details as I am sure it will get spun 50 different directions and quite frankly life is way to serious and to real right now to read on how things get spun and or used as entertainment on here. I also do not feel its appropriate to bring in deep life issues on here in this manner. My life is not entertainment at all right now, however with that said I have responsibility here. I have been very active and committed to leagues and owners over the years. Some of you I have known for 10 years and exchanged many conversations and emails and interactions abroad on all topics in life. Some of you maybe only 1 or 2 years Yes some leagues I have closed after a season or two, but guys still got their pay. Up until this year I have always sent every owner their due payout. Some of the guys that were ripping me in that thread have also been paid out by me on numerous occasions. I am not a fraud. I am a person just like the rest of you and yes I totally take responsibility and accountability for my actions. Every single person here reading this post or not, has made mistakes in their life. I have had some serious shit sling my way this year and no I will not get into all details as they'll be used as just a means to continue a bash session. Look, I deserve some of this, I am not blaming anyone but myself. I am the one at fault here. I realize for some its easy to kick a guy in the nuts when he is down and I realize I have ruined trust and friendships here as well. I hate that, I truly enjoy all of you and have always shown respect to everyone. In 10 years of running money leagues, this year has been the only year I've screwed up. I feel shame and feel like a douche at the moment. I cannot mend some of the trust issues anymore. I am sure I've ruined things on here for me. I get that. But I can mend the actions that I've done. That I am doing now. I have started to give refunds to all affected by my actions and will continue to give refunds until every cent is accounted for. That is the plain truth. PERIOD. I know its easy to judge and type things at will, I get it, I have thick skin. I will not however get into a back and forth sessions or fighting,etc etc. I am just writing this as I see its a highly talked topic right now and I want to assure owners in my leagues will get their pay and or refund. This I promise to everyone.


Dobber contacted me to see if things were ok. I talked with him and gave him a brief reply back on some issues I have. He suggested maybe I give him commish access rather than having a 3rd party person do that, as it was not working well. I said absolutely, "I want these guys to know I am gonna handle this mess and fix it , all of it". He agreed to take the reigns of the league in a short term manner to help the " fixing" if you will.


Dobber community, I am sorry I have acted in this manner, I have had issues this year that none of you want to have. This is by no means no excuse as I realize I just royally F***ed up making snap decisions and doing things completely out of my character. Those that wish to forgive me I appreciate it, those that want to hate, I understand it. I am not a vicous person here, I am going to make the wrongs here right again. This I am 250% committed to.

I realize there will be tons of responses to this, some stuff justified and some of it will be shots fired randomly. I guess its all fair in love and war so to speak.

I will not talk about things here, this is just a post to let everyone know whats up and what will happen in hockey, baseball, etc. Dobber has my email, if you want to talk via email or ask questions, etc please PM him and you can contact me. I do not feel " life", personal life should be bandied about in ill manner, No one's life should be regardless of fault at hand.

So know this- these issues will be corrected. Period. Iron clad. I have already begun this process.


To those of you not effected I apologize for having to read all this stuff that is taking away from your hockey enjoyment on these boards.

Think about your life and think back on some things you wish you would of done differently? Think about mistakes you've made and thought damn I should of handled that a different way. In some ways this is no different. I realize in dealing with peoples money there is no excuse, I jacked this up but this will be fixed. I will make the wrongs right and that is just the way its going to be. I should of prevented all this in the begining but its easier said than done.

Again, I am sorry and I will be fixing all these issues.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Firstly...I'm not involved in the situation.

From an outsiders point of view... You f'd up. Badly. But you have admitted you were wrong and you are doing everything you can to fix it. I'm glad to see you post here to tell people that you are going to pay back money owed. You are now moving in the right direction.

Get well and do your best mate.

cheers,

AW

[Dobber]

Well said. Thank you

[blayze]

I have no idea what happened other than what I've read in the other thread, and quite frankly it's none of my business since I'm not involved.

From the limited interaction with you on these forums I always thought you were a class act and this proves it. Good on you for manning up.

I hope you get everything sorted out that's going on in your life. Best of luck and keep your head up.

[dmvincent]

We say things we regret and do things we regret all the time in life. I apologize for posting that thread about you, I was just frustrated that's all.

Thank you for the explanation, I forgive you and I believe you will live up to your word.

[NoWayOut]

Brandon your to be commended for owning up to your mistake(s) in this matter. I as well made a mistake in this matter by chiming in on a matter that did not involve me, and taking a stand against a friend without all the facts first. For that I apologize.

As AW put it, though I will word it a bit more delicately, you really dropped the ball and you acknowledge that. The main thing at this point is you've admitted it, and have started the process to right the wrongs, and enlisted the help of a true friend and good man, Dobber, to help square things. At this point as long as you follow through there's not much more that can be asked for, other then take the lessons that come from this and never forget them.

And also here's hoping that the upcoming year will see your luck turn for the better and see back on your feet again.

[gainerama]

And the truth shall set you free. Apology accepted!

[DerekReese]

Hey man, It takes a big man to admit he was wrong and I thank you for doing this. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out in one way or another. We at Dobber are here for you and we wish you what ever you are going through that ends quick and everything works out for you.

Hope to see you back on the boards again everyday.

All the best,

Derek Reese

[27Blue]

right on brandon... solid move.

thanks.

hang in there man!

[PrairieDog]

Hope things get better for you B - sometimes stuff snowballs, happens to the best of us.

[sanstanya]

Thanks Brandon. For the record, being one of the members of the league in question, most guys weren't looking to string you up or vilify you. In fact, there was quite a bit of genuine concern for your well being. It was, as is often the case, the absence of anything tangible where imagination starts to fill the void. It goes quick form wait where's the money? to holy shit did we just get robbed? And with no answer it gathers steam. Too bad you weren't able to say this sooner it might have saved a lot of unnecessary drama.

For my own part, I didn't much give a shit about the money (though of course I did care about the principle and I will graciously accept the refund) but was more bitter about my time investment. Putting all that effort into a huge league like this to have it implode was way more a kick in the nuts than the $ to me.

Take care man.

[frost]

My name is Nikos Kioussis, I have already apologized privately, but after making the issues so public I wanted to also apologize publicly. I met the person known as Shakedown 4 years ago on the dobberbaseball messageboard. He invited me to join my first fantasy baseball league. Since then I have been introduced to a group of fantasy sports nuts that I have had such a great time getting to know and interact with, and Brandon was the heart and soul of that group. After everything that has occured over the past few months I was feeling hurt, betrayed, and frusterated. I have said things on this site that I regret. The person known as Shakedown is a good person. I have considered him a friend in the past and I hope that we will again be friends in the future. He has made some mistakes and now he is working to fix them. We all make mistakes in life, including myself. What is important is how we handle those mistakes and move forward from them. I think now the man known as Shakedown is doing things to fix his mistakes. For me that is all that matters. For myself, everything is forgiven. I just hope that he can forgive me.

[Dakkster]

Kudos for stepping up like this, Shakedown! I was never involved in any of your leagues, but I couldn't keep myself from following this whole situation. I think most people here are supportive of you to get better and you should do whatever it takes to get to that place.

I don't think you've ruined yourself in this place, especially not after writing that. It looks to me like things spun out of control when information got cut off and people were looking for answers. That's been remedied. The lesson here is to always be honest and up front, even if you're having a really shitty time. Most of the time we help each other.

Again, huge kudos for this. I hope you get your life sorted out soon!

[Bomm Bastic]

Hope things get better for you B - sometimes stuff snowballs, happens to the best of us.

Amen to that, PD.

Props to you, Shakes. Keep pushing forward, brother, it's all we can do.

[Ross The Boss Palmer]

This is a damn fine community.


Shake,
Have you considered a crowdfunding campaign? There are campaigns for all sorts of things and a few different platforms (websites) that you can launch a campaign on. Indiegogo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe to name a few, many others listed on Wikipedia. All the best dude!


Ross