Dear Fansided: Do Better!
Grab your popcorn. Buckle up, everyone. This is going to be a good storytime. You’re going to want to sit down for this one. Dear Fansided… DO BETTER!
I understand that I’m not famous enough to where everyone knows my story so I’ll start from the beginning. I don’t think I have actually written this blog or have told this story out loud yet so now feels like the perfect time to share this.
Here.
We.
Go.
Once upon a time, I worked at Fansided. I wasn’t there for a super long time but that’s where I was prior to starting Vendetta. I wrote for four different platforms before starting Vendetta. Fansided was easily my least pleasant experience (minus being somehow rejected for the scouting blog but a story for another day and I’m sure one day it will be told).
I have two stories for you that will make you understand why I hate their guts. Then we will get to why we’re really here.
Imagine starting your argument with James Johnson… K. Yes, that screenshot is over five years old. Trey never forgets. There is a certain way to treat people and rejecting an article simply because you disagree with it and were later proven wrong is something that simply cannot be part of any journalistic outlet. Sorry, it’s just true.
Some of you might be thinking to yourself, “What did I just read”? Well, that’s some scrub by the name of Ian Levy that decided that my Kelly Olynyk article wasn’t good enough to publish. It was an article that talked about why Miami would regret the contract (four years, $50 million) that they handed out for Olynyk. Of course, I ended up being right and Miami regretted the contract to the point where he was shipped out of town in the Victor Oladipo trade along with Avery Bradley.
Because of course, Trey was right. What great idiot thought that Miami got a bargain giving Kelly floppy hair $50 million? Apparently, the dirt bag at Fansided. By the third year of the contract, Olynyk was averaging less than 20 minutes per game and 8 points. Yeah, not great, Bob!
For those thinking it’s not a big deal, tell me what organization shows clear bias to the point where they won’t publish an article simply because they disagree with the opinion on a sports contract? That’s a pretty slippery slope don’t you say? Where does it end once that post gets declined? That should have been the day Trey walked out the door but I gave them a second chance. A chance they didn’t deserve but I’m still glad I got the confirmation.
As for Ian Levy, who knows what that guy is doing but does anybody care? Maybe he’s still at Fansided. Maybe he’s passing out fries at McDonald’s. The more concerning part is why does Levy think he has to authority to say what can and can’t be published simply because he doesn’t agree with the take? A take he was wrong about but carry on. An editor like that couldn’t work for me but we already know the bar is lower at Fansided obviously. Again, didn’t spend a ton of time with Levy but during the time I was there, it was very clear he knew nothing about basketball.
The second story is a bit briefer. Before Vendetta was a thing, the stock report series was featured at the Penguin site. I never got paid for the stock report posts despite the fact that they were sponsored and was promised payment (a story for another day). At Fansided, I gave them all of my fantasy football content.
They didn’t have a fantasy football department because apparently, they’re brain-dead so I got promoted to lead that chase within about two hours. The main guy Matt seemed great but the whole organization was just a clown show. Never knew when posts were going out to the point where my tight end cheese post was just totally botched on their end.
Long story short, you could call my experience at Fansided to be not-so-pleasant. That was the end of my Fansided tenure as it should have been. The only way I’ve ever been successful in this industry is by doing things my way and I think it’s pretty safe to say going out on my own is one of the best decisions I ever made. I don’t regret it for a second and I don’t want to imagine what my life would be had I not made the leap. Way less enjoyable had I just accepted no as the answer.
I thought that was the end of my Fansided story… until I got this email.
I didn’t include the guy’s name because I don’t want to blame the wrong person. This could have been a higher-up or a random intern told to contact us. Say whatever you want about Trey but I always shoot to do the right thing. Regardless, the name isn’t important. The principle is.
I responded to this guy the way that you would expect I would. I told him I used to work for Fansided but didn’t necessarily enjoy myself. However, I am happy to accept the link if I am properly compensated for doing so. I’ve accepted guest posts and link insertions previously for payment so I was happy to bury the hatchet if Fansided truly wanted their content to be featured on Vendetta.
Of course, that’s not what happened. Fansided doesn’t act as I would. They choose to do the wrong thing over and over again. They wanted the link on our site free of charge. I was supposed to just simply bend over and take it out of the goodness of my heart. If you’re laughing out loud to yourself reading this, imagine how I feel.
Fansided never reached back out after I requested payment for doing them a favor. We get these types of emails all the time because people want their content on Vendetta. If you ask me, kinda embarrassing a company of that size didn’t offer payment the first go around. You would think a company with the net worth that they do wouldn’t try to act like peasants but here we are.
If you know Trey, this won’t end well for Fansided. Somehow, someway, they’re going to pay for this. We already know that’s going to happen. The best part about this for me is that I know those dopes are paying attention now. I’m on their radar and the boogeyman is coming.
Do better Fansided. Do better.
