SteemSports based on TRUE facts. My writer's perspective.
Behold, Writingamigo enters the party
Yes, I have decided to join the party and write about @steemports too. What can I bring to this Swedish table full of trolls, entrepreneurs, gamblers, and technology geeks? Well, contrary to some other respected members of our community, I will bring some true facts and avoid careless speculations, right @klye? Just kidding... No, I am not.
Quick note: I kind of respect everyone's opinion, but I believe that I am entitled to have my own as well. This post is not meant to offend anyone, but rather to bring some clarity and understanding.
Why am I writing now? Well, my last post for @steemsports just got flagged...
Before, I thought that articles from SteemSports are being flagged for mysterious "draining the pool with vote-buying" reasons, but now, when the pay-for-free model is shut down and posts are only receiving 20-50 dollars, I can only come to the conclusion that the quality of my writing was shit... or someone just truly hates Milwaukee.
Yup, I need to defend my good writer's name and introduce you to my routine on SteemSports. But first... let's talk about my credibility.
Writingamigo and sports
I will save the time for anyone, who might ask:
Writingamigo, you are part of this rotten, capitalistic, money stealing, and community dividing company as well?
Yes, I am part of it, and I am proud of it. Why?
Well, my life was always by sports as long as I can remember. I do everything from kick-boxing to playing basketball, and I will always encourage others to join as well. Also, it happens to be that I love watching how 10 people are chasing one ball (classic, right?), or two grown up men are beating the shit out of each other. I just do.
That brings us to now. With my 15 years of experience doing sports, 4 years of experience professionally betting, countless hours spent on analyzing games, and countless more spent on learning how to write so that people would enjoy reading, I came to the conclusion that I can start getting paid for what I enjoy doing.
Off-topic: if you do something good, be sure to get paid for it. There is no shame in that. Anyone, who will ever disagree is just stupid. "But you are already having fun, so you don't have to be paid" argument is also stupid. Just remember that those people will never pay the rent and other bills for you.
So I am currently working with a couple of sports magazines and getting paid at least 20 dollars per my article. That is not much, but it is a good start for me. That also gives me a lot of confidence in what I do. I know that my articles are being appreciated by the readers. I am also sure that my knowledge is enough to deliver the highest quality.
So why I should not get paid on SteemSports as well? Well, I see no reason. Also, I see a lot of potential in SteemSports to become one of the leading sports platforms in cryptocurrency world. Don't we all want that to happen?
For someone who might say that I already earned a lot, just know that after it started raining with delusional trolls, my earning per article dropped to 2-5 dollars.
What it takes to create an article
I need at least 1 or 2 hours of writing to prepare a review for a game. The research will take about 1-2 hours as well. Sometimes more depending on the situation. On top of that, I have to watch a lot of the games, because reviewing a game based on stats is the same as having sex with yourself... The quality will never be the same. So that is 2 more hours per game.
For instance, to write a good review on Bucks-Knicks game, I had to watch them play against each other 3 days ago and analyze all the players and tactics. Also, don't forget that I have to adapt my deepness of the review according to the public. Most of the people here don't watch basketball and in order to grab their attention I have to avoid using words like pick'n'roll, ISO, or small-balling.
So, taking all into account, I need at least 4 hours to prepare a good article. Also, I need my 15 years of knowledge in sports to be able to see things that people with less knowledge would miss. Do you still think that SteepSports adds no value to the Steemit platform?
A question of added value
That is just another vague argument of people attacking SteemSports (or any other project/person). I would love to see a formula, which calculates added value to the platform.
Also, save your arguments that 4 trending posts from @steemsports look bad to new investors. It is long gone and since then @steemsports has changed the frequency of posts and whole business in overall. But who cares about the facts, right?
So, let's get back to the value. I can guarantee you that if you read every single post of mine, by the end of NBA, Euroleague, and tennis season you will have enough knowledge to hold a sports conversation with anybody. That is really valuable in my eyes.
Also, I have enough betting experience and I was pretty accurate with my predictions so far. I am sure that there are people (and with time there will be even more) who will find my betting tips valuable while risking their own money. Pretty freaking valuable, isn't it?
Also, while so many keeps talking that we should promote Steemit to the wider public, SteemSports already does. But that's no value as well, right?
If a quality post on psychology, philosophy, cryptocurrencies, or any other topic is always encouraged by the community, so why do we need to keep on bashing sports?
Or you just never read any of the reviews made by @steemsports?
I just want you all to know that if you think that SteemSports should die, you are also saying that any other platform related to sports must die as well.
I am also encouraging everyone to read my reviews and start a discussion on sports rather than just hating in order to hate.
Steem on my friends and remember that we all want Steemit to succeed, so trying to poke sticks into another person's wheels will only result in your own miserable crashing.
As for now:
For more of my ideas, poems, observations, reviews, and thoughts, you can visit my lovely blog on Facebook!
Any follow, upvote, or(and) resteem is highly appreciated!
My job is to bring quality content to your feed. Your job is to interact (no one loves a nice discussion more than I do)!!!
Have a nice day, my fellow steemers! :)
I wouldn't worry too much about the trolls. They're just a few inconsequential squawkers who are incapable of seeing the bigger picture. What would concern me if I were @steemsports is the withdrawal of support from the whales who had been supporting the project.
Over the past two weeks, I've been sucked into this nonsense with my own posts, getting flagged by users who have no clue what "vote-buying" is. (I don't even have a voting requirement to enter my contests.) Also, these same crusaders seem to be completely oblivious of other users who actually publish posts that would be considered vote-buying. They're only targeting the popular sports posts, as far as I can tell. So their crusade isn't even about principles...it's about the trending page - and successful projects/users.
The saddest part about their accusations and attacks is that they claim it's happening in order to "save Steemit" because what we're doing is "harmful for the platform." Meanwhile, they're actually creating a hostile environment with their constant accusing and flagging based on ignorant assumptions and a complete misunderstanding of what's actually occurring. And the latest @steemsports post about their magazine interview/promotion highlights how easily perceptions can be damaged by ignorance and malicious behavior.
That being said, one thing I will point out is that there ought to be a more professional PR face for the business here on the platform. Some of the back-and-forth that I've seen is not at all helpful for the @steemsports brand. That needs attention.
Yeah, I still find a hard time understanding how others cannot see that this hostile environment can only bring losses to all of us. It might be those ignorant assumptions as laziness to look into the facts as you say, but that still amazes me.
I totally agree that losing whale support is the worst that happened to @steemsports during the last weeks. Also, that part about PR is also right. Looking at the bright side, the best time to learn is during the beta. I really hope that everyone will take some valuable lessons out of this meanless game of accusations and will continue to do business in a more professional manner.
Also, all the best with your games. I might come back to play it again before Super Bowl. Sadly, I know nothing about NFL, apart from watching a couple of Super Bowls during my life. Your games might be a great chance to learn something about NFL, tho.
Thanks for your insights, @ats-david
Logic is not something you can apply to this situation - because it defies it. We prepared these posts with the reader in mind - not enough content and we don't get voted for - too much content and its not worth it. Now we are being pushed from out homes by the very people who voted on our games.
I miss bringing some life to the Toronto games I watch and enjoy - the other team was always for everyone else in my mind. I did the MLB postseason (American and National), the World Series, and I was really hoping to play out the whole season for the Raptors - with the odd Maple Leafs game for good measure.
I think you are right though - I got flagged on a Bucks post too. Maybe Willie Nelson was right:
And at the airport in Milwaukee,
They refused to let us board the plane at all,
They said we looked suspicious,
But I believe they like to pick on me and Paul.
haha. It was always about Milwaukee... I knew that there must have been a reason #MilwaukeeGates #FakeMilwaukee
You might still finish with Raptors. It is a long season and couple of bad weeks don't mean anything.
Annoyed but not deterred. I'll keep putting up those Raptors and Leafs games . I was waiting for Ukrainian Christmas - I figure people are still on holiday that's why they aren't voting.... #MilwaukeeBucks suck #WeAreTheNorth
The whales hate Milwaukee
Now we can't play the fucking games at all
They said WE drained the reward pool
I guess Steemit felt its back against the wall
Bring back steemsports!!!
It is still there, just going through a little transition. Have you tried pay-to-play yet?
Nope, steemsports was sold to me as a redistribution scheme, now that that has changed, I'm out.
I would love to see it back as well. Not my decision to make, tho. I believe if reward pool would go back to where it used to be, the scheme would get back. As for now, it does not make any sense
The organized attacks seem to have ceased, the upvote amounts would have returned to pre-conflict levels .. there is no reason not to continue free-to-play, unless it is a kind of "Fuck You!" to the STEEMIT community, which would be totally uncool.
https://steemit.com/steemsports/@kurtbeil/steemsports-should-always-provide-a-free-to-play-option-for-all-games
As one of who showed disagreement, my main concern is there is no explicit usage of illiquid rewards, which consists of 50% of total payouts. SteemSports is very innovative service in terms of utilizing voting power for entertainment, but if all SP rewards are given to the owner as a profit, it can be a very easy way to monetize supporting whales voting power into one's income.
If there is reasonable distribution/use plan about VESTS of steemsports, I am not against their free play games.
No, not at all. The Free PLAYS aren't sustainable because we will keep getting attacked for it by today's and tomorrow's purists who view it as vote buying. We do have another hybrid approach that we can unveil and will experiment with soon. We thank you for your support so far, you are a valued fan of @steemsports.
It's OUR VOTE!!
Isn't that what we hear when we complain about the echo chambers?
It's not about price, most of the money I made was when the price was lower than now.
I'm guessing that it was passing too much power to the plebes?
The redistribution was happening at too great a rate, and 'draining' the reward pool is an excuse?
lol. Thank you for the shout out. It's always an honour.
First off man, You're not a shit writer. I actually enjoyed reading this bit.
Second, I was off on 1 point which I admit was amateur hour on my behalf.
Thirdly, I'm sorry if anything I posted took food off your plate or potential earnings out of your wallet. That was not my intention with my post at all.
If steemsports goes on to be successful with their website endevour and monopolize sports betting on the STEEM block chain for a while power to them. I'm hoping you're successful as well man. Nothing stopping you from doing your own sports write ups show or brand on here and making mad cash.
You are welcome, man! Thank you for reading it as well!
Also, reminding you of that mistake just sounded funny in my head, so I thought it will serve well for my article. Nothing personal and I actually appreciate that you admitted being wrong.
Also, I understand you did not want to hurt me and I think it is only fair that you do what you think is right. Cudos for that. If I lost some dollars because of that, let it be. It is my problem. That is why I posted this post, to show that not everything is that wrong with Steemsports. Especially now, after making so many adjustments and fixing those problems, which you guys did not like.
As for now, I am sticking with SteemSports. I see a huge potential in it and I don't think that creating a new brand of my own is right for this moment.
I really hope that in the end, we will all be able to come to some adequate compromise, which would bring benefit to every single one of us. Cheers!
Great post my friend, and it is a pleasure to edit every one of your posts for steemsports.
To be perfectly honest I actually really enjoy your content and it has helped me get familiar and even a little interested in basketball, which prior to your posts wasn't really a sport I enjoyed much.
Thanks for being a huge part of the steemsports team:).
I am glad to hear it @cryptoiskey it is a pleasure working with you! You might even start watching those games one day, believe me, it is even better than my writing lol
I haven't watched a lot of basketball this year (because I'm a Chicago Bulls fan). I was a season ticket holder for 6 years prior to this year when I finally gave them up. I also had season tickets in the early 90s when they were simply awful. Anyway, this the second day in a row where I saw the basketball post and it reminded me to check out the game. I flipped on OKC vs Houston just in time to see an awesome 4th quarter. Today I have caught a bit of the Knicks vs Bucks game. Porziņģis and Antetokounmpo are two of the most fun young players to watch. I don't know how much of Rose you saw 5 or 6 years ago... but he was amazing. He played like a tazmanian devil. So much speed and effort. But man was it fun to watch. There is no way his body will allow him to play that way any more. I am glad I got to see him play when he could still do it. He was just so fast in person. It's sad that now people need to point out that he actually dunked. He used throw it down two or three times a game. Thanks for reminding me that there are other teams worth watching ;)
You might be a little spoiled by Jordan's Bulls, because this year's team is doing pretty awesome, taking into account of what was expected from them during the off-season. They might even make it to the play-offs... and they just beat Cavaliers, so not everything is so bad. But I bet that you would want them to be contenders again... maybe one day, because Butler is a really talented young man, who just needs some good role players around him.
Yeah, it was a really nice 4th quarter between OKC and Houston. I did not believe that OKC could find themselves back into the game, but when you have Westbrook, impossible is nothing.
I think that Antetokounmpo is my favorite player to watch at the moment. Cannot wait to see him in few years. Greece national team will be great in this Eurobasket.
Yeah, I saw how Rose played 5-6 years ago. Youngest MVP ever... Such a shame that he had to spend more time in a suit and tie during those stupid injuries. Rose could really be a legend and now he is like a 40-year-old man, who is proud to still be able to dunk. However, he is still relatively young, maybe there is a chance.
Thanks for a nice comment, @hanshotfirst I am glad that I inspired to watch you some games. There are really some great teams this year.
I am old enough to truly appreciate the Jordan years. It was a wild time here. But he was a once in a lifetime player. I can't expect that ever again. I do like your positive attitude though. Who knows maybe Rose will get a little lift on his outside shot and he can reinvent himself.
I can only imagine how cool it would be to have Jordan on the court right now. But we never know when someone like him will walk in again. LeBron is pretty close to Jordan, IMO. Especially after the last year.
I honestly think LeBron is the most physically gifted player I have ever seen. But Jordan was a flat out killer. His hatred of losing (it was actually a mania) pushed him to be the greatest I have seen (I never saw Wilt Chamberlain or Oscar Robertson, etc.)
Yup, Jordan had perfect mindset to be the greatest. It is always hard to compare players from different times. I would love to see what Jordan could do in this kind of NBA, where physical power and fast tempo is the biggest value.
I am not even talking about Chamberlain and Robertson. The game was completely different back then. But from what I read Chamberlain was the most dominating player ever to brace the basketball.
I watched the Jordan era as well. Lebron is probably more "trained" than him (better trainers and nutrition) - But Jordan is Jordan.. I remember high school gym class - everyone would stick their tongue out while they played!
Ran out of replies but I had to say something about this "But from what I read Chamberlain was the most dominating player ever to brace the basketball." One year Chamberlain averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds... and played 48.5 minutes per game. How many overtime games did they play? Did he ever sit down?
He either never sat down or there are a little overexaggerated stats. Also, there is only 1 photo from his 100 points game... Sadly, nobody filmed it back then.
However, he was still 2 heads taller than anyone else, so it made his dominance a little easier. Just like those mutant 7" 16-year-olds in U-16 championships. Nonetheless, Chamberlain's stats are crazy and if he played like 10 years later, everyone would probably call him the GOAT.
And I remembered Bird vs Magic times. Have you seen "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals"? This was a really good documentary on their rivalry and strange friendship.
Great work! I think the writers are the most important part of steemsports and they need to be well compensated. I still cannot understand why they get only 40% of liquid reward (20% of total) while the house is taking all il-liquid reward. I hope steemsports more compensates you with more percentage.
Hello clay!
We are 2 hours old and trying to do exactly what you have suggested. Not as slick as @steemsports, but we'd love to serve the same function that their free-to-play games did, for those folk that very much enjoyed the activity and the consistent little boost it provided.
We would very much appreciate any support!
https://steemit.com/free2play/@free2play/presenting-free2play
Thanks for your support, @clayop! There is also an editor who does a lot of work with graphics and preparing the post, so a big part of the money goes to him as well. As for the 50 percent which the house gets in SP, it will most likely be used to invest into SteemSports future. So when you do the math, nobody is actually ripping people off or got rich. Not yet at least lol.
All the rewards model fits me well so far and I can assure that @steemsports is not ripping people off. Of course, I would love to get paid more, but who wouldn't? Again, thanks for you answer! It is great to see some support, I appreciate that!
Yes editors are very important too! What I am worrying is "most likely" ( be used to invest into SteemSports future) part. There is no clear disclaimer or confirmation about this from the owner, so I am still not convinced. You know... this realm is full of lies and false promises...
I understand you. However, everyone is pretty optimistic about the future and running away with what is earned at the moment might end up being the worst thing to do.
Also, there will be some news going out towards the new system soon. It still on beta, remember.
and the last thing, it is actually business owners choice what he wants to do with his money. We all knew the concept from beginning, I, among most of the people and whales, didn't see anything being scammy. Still, from what I know, there will be a lot of investments into the future.
However, you are right. The only thing you cannot ever predict is people' action when money is involved lol. I trust my gut instinct this time, which says that SteemSports is going to be successful.
I agree with your point. The issue I raised was combined, high allocation of rewards to the house and whales' (who are not players) continuous support. This turns out to be "monetization of whale's voting power" to rich the house (if it riches players mostly, I don't care). I hope my point won't be misunderstood.
Anyway, thanks for your effort again and I wish you get more rewards! :)
Yeah, I totally get what you are saying! From what I see I can assure you that it is not the case. I might be terribly wrong as well, but I kind of trust in my judgement on this one. Cheers and thanks for the kind words!