Skating To The Puck
Some of you know I grew up with hockey. The Indianapolis Racers were one of my first homes, where the world of sports medicine and sports were really ingrained in me. Wayne Gretzky was there, for a short time.
He famously said that he was good because he skated to where the puck was going to be, rather than to where the puck is. I can’t say he said that to me - I was paying more attention to Andy Brown, the last maskless goalie, who might be a better metaphor for my career than the Great One.
But in my career, now 14 years of it, I’ve been lucky enough to skate to where the puck is going to be. I came to Baseball Prospectus when Nate Silver and Joe Sheehan came in. I went to Bleacher Report just before it exploded.
I think I’m doing it again.
There’s no question about where the puck is going in sports. The world is fragmented and as HBO announces HBO Now on this very day, I think I’m more right than ever. Cable is dying, slowly, but dying. MLB.tv was just the first of many that would go straight to mobile.
(That said, you can see me occasionally on MLB Network.)
Is mobile the pure play? Maybe, but I think the best place for me is not only where the views are going but where the money and attention is going – and let’s focus on that last one. Clicks are one thing, but attention is another. That’s the key to the future. Control attention and the increasingly valuable time of the people and you own the market.
So if I’m skating where the puck is going to be, I’m following the attention. That should make it clear.
To go full LeBron, I’m taking my talents to …
No, wait, that didn’t work out well for LeBron. Sure, he won a couple rings, but The Decision is probably the low point of his career. I’m not stealing that metaphor.
What I’m doing is following the money, following the attention and ending up at the industry leader.
FanDuel.
That’s right, FanDuel and me. I think it’s a perfect partnership. Their players are already reading my stuff in multiple sports and now, they won’t have to leave the site (or the app.) My injury information will populate down before you set your lineup.
This is an amazing fit. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this, though I guess I just did. I hope you’ll check out my work at FanDuel, starting soon, and I hope you’ll check out FanDuel if you’re not already playing their daily fantasy games.
I’m not the Great One. I’m just a guy who writes about injuries. Follow me again.