Rate Report IX
The 9th Edition of the F|RR
Good tidings, Sports Fans! With this being the final Friday of 2024, I'm feelin' festive and fun. You can tell because I stamped this Rate Report with a "2024 Rate Recap" graphic featuring some funky typography with names like Ribeye Marrow and Rampart One. I even tossed a friggin' disco ball in there and dressed up the logo in it's finest New Year's color way. If that doesn't get you in the holiday spirit than perhaps I can offer you some more graphics and words instead.
That's all I got though, this is just a newsletter. BUT it's the ninth edition at that! That's right, we've officially entered the "X" era of the Roman Numeral system. When I look back at F|RR "I" it's pretty remarkable how bad I was at graphic design. When I look back even further, to the very first UX mockup I made for RateGame in Google Slides...well...you be the judge:
Do me a solid and judge silently, and please, don't show this to anyone that you care about. Their eyes need not see this. Yes, RateGame Version 0.1 was rough around the edges. Well technically it was round, but you get it. The date on that puppy is January 31st of this year. I sent it to a couple of my buddies in what I'll graciously call a "Pitch Deck" that was equally shoddy and desperately designed.
I say desperate because at the time I was recently unemployed. Let go from a job that I didn't really like, during the time of year in New York City that I really really didn't like (and still don't, a probably never will, Old Man Winter can kick rocks and you can tell him I said so). Couple this with the fact that I had just spent the better part of 2023 in full search of my own soul, after my sports gambling addiction nearly destroyed it to smithereens on Final Four weekend when I blew $26,000 (and change) of my own hard earned money in 48 hours....and ya, things were pretty bleak folks.
When I initially broke the news to my fairly new girlfriend/brand new roommate, who's stuff was still in moving boxes waiting to be unpacked, I was thinking at least I'd save her the hassle of having to re-pack on her way out. Thank god that didn't happen.
For some reason, she believed me when I told her I had self-destructed for the last time. But words are only as strong as the actions behind them. It was time for me to get to work.
Shortly after my 33rd birthday, I banned myself from all the gambling apps, a process known as "self-exclusion". I then worked out a painful and embarrassing payment plan with my very close friend who had gotten me a $7,000/week credit line with his bookie (which I begged him to keep increasing and then proceeded to max it out...2 times over). And lastly, I did the hardest thing of all, I stopped watching sports.
For six months I attended meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, basically all the anonymized addiction groups I could find. I went colder than a frozen turkey in the freezer aisle. It was brutal. I missed sports very much. I would try to watch my favorite New York teams from time to time but I'd find myself placing fake bets and tracking them in my head. Spoiler alert: I lost a lot of imaginary money.
Fast forward nine months and one engagement later 🥳 And there I was, in very the same spot on my couch where I had depleted my entire net worth in two days time. I had mustered up the courage to watch NFL Championship Sunday, like any good unemployed sports fan would. The Lions were up by 14 points at half time of game number two and looked poised for a celebratory Kneecap Buffet in the postgame locker room.
That's when it happened. In the blink of an eye, the Lions failed on two fourth down conversions and squandered away their lead. The Niners quickly capitalized and completely flipped the script. The crowd at Levi's roared back to life as Brock tossed the rock to Aiyuk, CMC umm CMC'd, and Elijah Mitchell iced the cake. The atmosphere in that stadium was electric. As the confetti fell and the Niners donned their NFC Champ hats, I sat in silence on my couch, taking it all in.
I was happy. I was inspired. For the first time in a long, longgg time, I was not thinking about the spread. Or the over, or the under, or the [insert prop bet here]. I was thinking where that game ranked in my own personal database of NFL Championship games. It was that good. Nay, it was great. Great Game....Great....Game.....hol' up......RateGame.
So there you have it! From that moment back in January, to the 38 Days it took me and some Masterful Macedonians (group pic above) to ship Version 1.0 on March 19th for the start of March Madness (funny how life works 🙃), to right now at 6:20am EST; 2024 will go down as the single best year of my life.
Oh, I almost forgot the BEST part! That girlfriend, turned roommate, turned fiancé of mine? Her name is Mollie and we've been married almost 4 months now 🥰
So what's the point? Why did I just write out my cheesy little life story on the internet?? What on god's green 🟢 🌎 giveth, thy brother?!? Well, I recently read that in order to tell a good story and inspire strangers, you need to be vulnerable. So there's that. Also RateGame is now mature enough that you can see the Top Rated Games of the Day/Week/Season/All Time (as promised 😇).
No but seriously, here's why: Do not underestimate the power of belief. Mollie's belief, not in this little idea turned app of ours, but in me, the person, is what enabled me to believe in myself. And achieving self-belief is what enables us humans to do things we did not think possible. It is the greatest unlock I have ever known. Bar none.
Self belief is like this renewable energy source that I tap into every single day. It's what I imagine Tiger Woods' Nike golf ball felt like when it rolled itself to the precise millimeter of the 16th hole of the 2005 Masters, paused for dramatic effect, and then "bloop" just dropped in like it was no biggie. *Disclaimer: in this scenario golf balls are living things and can feel feelings and whatnot.
Just trust me on this one, should you ever decide to go for it, believing in yourself almost to the point of delusion is an absolute necessity. "It" being whatever it is in your life that brings you joy. For me, it's sports. Always has been. Gambling nearly ruined that for me, but I scratched and I clawed, and I got it back. Sometimes all we ever need is for someone to believe in us. You can be that person to someone. You can be my Mollie.
TLDR: I was addicted to sports gambling until I hit rock bottom, met the woman of my dreams, and made the single biggest bet of my entire life. I bet on me. Happy New Year and let the Rates....continue! 🔴 🟡 🟢 🫡
Sincerely a Sports Fan,
Nick
nick@rategame.io