My Story

[Dobber]

As mentioned on the boards Saturday night, I met an NHLer and the story is interesting not because of the NHLer, but because of the situation and it\'s implications on the world of fantasy hockey!

I was working as a buyer/planner for a company for a couple of years, but I was also moonlighting as a THN writer. In November of 2005 I launched a cheesy FrontPage version of DobberHockey and in 2006 began to sell playoff draft lists. I also started freelancing with the Forecaster.

Needless to say, it was tough working full time and doing all this in the evenings... so working overtime pretty much stopped. I\'m not the type to work extra hard for other people anyway, but the results of what I do still beat most of what they would get if they had me replaced.

Anyway, September rolled around and I sold my first fantasy guide and traffic had picked up to several hundred per day. In October, my boss sits me down for the annual review and he tells me that my work ethic has dropped (which it did...but who cares about work ethic if the results are good, right?). So he was going \"withhold\" a raise for six months and we will review again.

That\'s just dumb. If you want to keep a person, you have to give that person inflation at minimum (otherwise, you are basically giving them a pay CUT). If you are happy with the person, you give him much much more than that. If you don\'t want him, you fire him. No raise at all...never acceptable. The only reason I didn\'t quit right there, was because I was married.

So with all this reeling through my head (it was the end of the day), filled with anger, I get off the elevator and bump into Wade Belak. Just me and the Wadester in an empty foyer. Obviously, my brain isn\'t working full force at this moment, so all I can say is \"Hey... Wade Belak?\"
He says \"Yeah.\" and he waited for a moment, expecting me to say something more. All I said was that I\'m a big fan and gave him my card and left it that (he was with his little girl). He was nice enough to feign interest in my website haha. Anyway, not on my game there, but I\'ll always remember it because the next morning I walked into work and quit my job.

I had discussed with the wife and decided to give DobberHockey a try full time. Between that and freelancing, I could make ends meet.

I haven\'t looked back.

Yes, Wade Belak has a place in DobberHockey lore :lol:

[JagrBomb]

wade belak was the heart of the leafs. why they traded him beats me. did you ever see that thing on youtube where he was asking to play on a line with sundin? ahhah man he killed me. newayz, good choice dobber, im sure your raking it in right now with all the guides being sold

if i ever met wade belak, i would try and fight him. i no i would get knocked out in approximately 3 seconds, but hey, how many people do you know that fought wade belak?

[DAW]

Nice story Dobber. I just rather not work at all.. but for some reason i need to pay the bills and pay this thing called tax. Its funny the more I make the more I pay this thing called tax. :S

[smoothfun]

dobber all i can say is \"smoothmove!\" , cudos to you for taking a chance on your dream ; i\'d say its paying off.i\'m sure the money is good but self satisfaction has a value much higher than money.to get up each day and to be happy with what you\'re doing is of the up most importance , pool on buddy!p.s , i purchased the complete guide package a few days ago and have\'nt recieved anything yet , i know you\'re busy so i\'ll hang tight a few more days before i send out the hounds!,lol.

[Dobber]

The guide is downloaded - just go to your downloads section and pick it up anytime buddy

[Noriculous]

Great story. This is how entrepreneurs are created, they get pissed at the system and create their own.

Btw, just a suggestion but maybe you could have some kind of visual in the download section when each updates are available. ex: the background or the link of the \"item\" in question is another colour.

[Shoeless]

Win-win Dobber - sounds like your boss got what he wanted too - I remember the day you announced you had quit and were going to do this full time. I remember thinking how that must have been a tough decision - didn\'t realize you had a little Belak intervention.

There is an old adage - \"Do what you love - the money will follow.\" Move over Warren Buffett - here comes Dobber.

[repenttokyo]

i left my job to pursue freelance writing full time this year as well, and i have had incredible success. it\'s hard to take that step of leaving what seems like a steady paycheck for the unknown, tho. the reality is, job security is mostly an illusion, and i would prefer to be in control of my own destiny.

[wizworm]

I remember when you made the switch to Dobberhockey full time. I\'m glad it\'s working out for you!

[mister_mcgoo]

Wow Dobber, I had no idea this was your full time job, that\'s crazy. It musta been scary when you first took the plunge but good for you!

So this begs the question though, since fantasy hockey is now your job as well as your pastime do you ever just get sick of hockey? Like do you overhear some numbnuts at a sports bar talking about how the Leafs will top their division next year and just go over and slug him? B)

[Dobber]

I love it - I would love to talk hockey with a stranger in a bar. Hell yeah. Although, I\'m getting tired of talking about the Leafs...which tends to be the case around Toronto when I run into casual hockey fans.