As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangs sports analyst. Seriously. Before graduating elementary school, in fifth grade, we were assigned to list our “dream jobs” so they can be posted under our school pictures in the yearbook. Every other sports-obsessed 11-year-old wrote “football player”, "basketball player”, or “baseball player.” Me? “Sports Journalist”. What kind of prepubescent boy knows that they love sports so much, yet already knows they aren’t good enough to play it professionally, but also knows that he’s more knowledgeable when it comes to sports than 99% of the world? This guy.
When I graduated from the University of Maryland in 2014 with a degree in communications, I had no clue what I wanted to do. All I knew is that somehow, someway I needed to end up doing something in sports. Eventually. However, as life tends to do, other paths presented themselves. After a few months looking for work, I needed to start making money, so I took a job in recruitment, working as a financial services headhunter. While I didn’t have a passion for this work, I’m incredibly grateful for it. It taught me many things, including the value of making your own money, work ethic, getting up every day and going to work, and how to talk to people. I did this for almost two years, when I reached a crossroads.
I was 24-years-old, and on pace to make over six figures less than two years into my professional career. However, deep inside me was still that boy who dreamed of a sports career. So, when I saw an entry-level job posting at MLB Advanced Media, I went for it. I knew a friend of a friend who worked there and helped me get an interview. It wasn’t quite sports journalism, but it was sports media, working on the MLB.tv streaming product. The only problem? It paid $16 per hour to start. I was about to make nearly 4x that in the job I still had. Any sane person probably laughs at that offer. I looked at it as a foot in the door, and I knew I had to take the leap at some point. And, so, my “career” in sports began.
I made the most of that opportunity. I got to watch and work around baseball for a living, so despite the weird hours and crappy pay, I enjoyed it. I made great friends, eventually worked my way up to a more senior member of the team, and made a somewhat more respectable salary. I had been playing FanDuel dating back to early days of college, but around this time, I also started playing DFS more as a side hobby.
Fast forward to the pandemic. We’re all working from home, and I’m trying to figure out how to grow my career in sports. I started taking DFS more seriously. I subscribe to sites like Establish the Run. I figure out how to leverage projections and ownership in my hand builds. (I wasn’t quite at an optimizer stage yet). And, boom, on August, 7th, 2020, on a late-night only slate during the NBA bubble, I binked my first tournament.
https://twitter.com/ghartman314/status/1291587177709805573
From there, things moved pretty quickly. DFS went from a hobby to a side hustle. Two weeks later, I came in third in another GPP and won another $18K during the bubble playoffs. The Lakers win their bubble title and the NBA sadly comes to an end; but then football begins.
At this time I’d like to give proper credit to someone in a way I’ve never really been able to. During the pandemic, I lived at my now wife’s childhood home, and we had a full house. It was my fiancée at the time, her parents, her grandmother, our future sister-in-law, and her now husband, my wife’s brother, Matthew. Matthew is only a year younger than me, and before the pandemic started, we started getting a bit closer, bonding over, of course, sports. He, too, was into DFS, and about halfway through the 2020 NFL season, we thought it would be fun to put our heads together toward an NFL slate. That week? Week 8, 2020. We stayed up basically all Saturday night tossing concepts around, going game-by-game, agonizing over projections, ownership projections, player pools, etc. We were a good yin-and-yang. He’s more math focused, and I’m more player-takey; it was a good marriage. We ran separate builds, but worked together, using our mixed analysis and break-downs, and then we each put in what we can afford for DFS on Sunday. (I landed on 89 entries in my build). And, on our first shot, we took down the damn DraftKings Millionaire Maker. Call it luck, call it kismet, but whatever it was, we nailed it. I’m forever thankful for that night and that win, and not only because I just won half a million dollars, but because my brain immediately went to “here’s my chance at making this a career.” I want to thank my brother-in-law for expanding my DFS horizons. He showed me how to initially use an optimizer, and helped frame my mindset as a large field MME player. I’m forever grateful to him for that. Matthew and I haven’t worked together in awhile, but we had plenty of success together, and that initial success allowed me to fulfill a dream. Since then, we’ve both had various levels of success, including plenty of individual success and tournament wins. Matthew is a great DFS player in his own right, and it’s about time I was able to properly credit him. (FYI: If anyone from DK is reading this, we never broke any rules or cheated, simply worked together on ideas and analysis).
A few weeks after that win, I saw a tweet from a fantasy mind I’ve followed, read, and watched for years: Drew Dinkmeyer. Establish the Run was building out their NBA DFS team and was looking for an NBA Operations Analyst. I jumped at the opportunity, sending him my resume and listing out my DFS accomplishments. I’ll never forget that Dink originally commented that he was most intrigued that a guy who just won the Milly Maker a few weeks prior was interested in this job. I explained to him that I’ve always wanted to make this into a career. The rest is history.
I started out as a back-end projections guy, and from there forced my way on camera and in front of a microphone. Growing up, I listened to WFAN in New York religiously, and deep down THAT was the type of sports media personality I wanted to be: someone who can give analysis, talk to listeners, and get to enjoy the day-in, day-out grind of the sports calendar. Establish the Run has given me that opportunity for the last three and a half years, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
So why this whole backstory? Because, sadly, this will be my last week working for ETR. Since jumping at that job posting, I’ve become a husband, a Manhattan home owner, and, most importantly, (as anyone who listens to the NBA DFS show knows), a father. It’s come to the point where I need to step away from my dream job to pursue what is best for my family. I’m going into a new career away from the DFS and sports space entirely, as I need to focus on my earning potential and career growth. Working only in the DFS space is not quite sustainable for living in New York City, owning a home, and having a child (with hopefully more in the future). Am I sad about it? Of course.
You know what though? I’m also excited! My priorities have shifted to my family. Not only that, but that sports itch has been scratched! I’ll always love sports, fantasy, and DFS, and over the last 8 years, and especially over the last three, I’ve been one of the lucky few to work in sports and do what they love. I’ve fulfilled that dream, and I feel beyond fortunate. Down the line, I would love to be able to work in this space again, whether it’s part time or just on a show here or there. But, for now, this is what I need to do.
I legitimately can’t thank you guys, the ETR subscribers, enough. The way you have all embraced me has meant everything. Whether it was NFL showdown shows, the first look show, XFL, Establish the Collection, or, of course, NBA DFS, you have all shown me so much love and respect. You’ve put up with my fast-talking, my rants, and my Knicks homerism. I will miss talking NBA with you all so much, and I’ll still be around on twitter, in discord, and in the DFS streets (when I have time!). And I plan on ending the season with the highest flag plant hit rate, with tons of red. Shout out Sheet Boyz.
I want to thank everyone at ETR for this opportunity. To Taylor, Adam, and Wiggins for not only agreeing to hire me and give me this chance, but for supporting me and trusting me as an on-air, front-facing personality to our hard-working, paying subscribers. To Gallagher for being the best possible NBA analyst on the planet and for teaching me so much. To Cody Main for putting up with me on so many shows a week, (whether it was ETC, XFL/USFL or Showdown) and for being a true friend. To everyone I’ve worked with on the NBA and NFL teams over the last three years, thank you. We truly do have the best team in the industry. You are all such hard-working, intelligent and fun people. I’ve learned so much from all of you and have had a blast being a part of this team.
And, lastly, to Dink. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss, mentor, or friend over these last three years. I’m going to miss talking hoops with you every day, but look forward to many more NYC beers. Also, I’m sorry for taking Nikola Jokic in the my guy draft. While I also have been obsessed with him since 2015, that was probably uncalled for. You can have him for the rest of the season, fee-free. Thanks for all you do.
Thank you all for reading this. It’s been cathartic for me to spell out how much this time has meant to me. While I’ll be away from working in sports professionally, I’ll never stop being that sports-obsessed fifth grader. I’m hoping to still be around for potential guest-spots on any type of show or podcasts in the future. And please don’t be a stranger on twitter or discord or if you ever see me in person. As I mentioned earlier, sometimes life presents different paths, and I’m finally okay pursuing a non-sports one. Go Knicks!