Whatever Happened to That David Gonos Guy?

Over the past four months, I’ve been scrambling around with my hands in a number of projects, which has really inhibited my ability to write and update for my own site. That stops today, just one month after celebrating my site’s two-year anniversary!

Well, it doesn’t “stop” so much as it just “changes,” as most of those other projects have either ended or slowed down enough for me to turn my attention back to DavidGonos.com.

This means I can go back to providing infotaining (patent pending!) Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football articles for anyone looking for help!

Today’s article is really just an explanation of where I’ve been and what I’m writing, and what I’m doing now.

Big Thanks to Chris Meyers and Devin Jordan!

While I’ve been scrambling around, trying to get everything aligned just write, Chris and Devin have taken over most of the writing at DavidGonos.com. They both first started writing for the site last year, and I can’t thank them enough for keeping the site going. Meyers is currently writing his “Three Up, Three Down” series for Fantasy Baseball every week.

And Devin Jordan continues to do deep dives into the world of statistics, like this week with his “253 Batting Average Risers and Fallers.” He looks at things a little differently, which makes for a great new Fantasy perspective.

As a thank you to both of them, I’m going to start a category for each of them on my site — called “Chris Meyers” and “Devin Jordan”!!! (Initially, I was going to go with “Sebastian Cornthatcher” and “Kinky Lee Tompkins,” but I thought these were better.) All of their articles will be posted under their respective categories, as well as under whatever other categories their articles deal with (Fantasy Football, Fantasy Baseball, etc.).

Thanks, Chris and Devin!

Back to Me: Work, Work, Work

First, I left South Florida and my full-time job at Acceller.com to move back to Central Florida to be back around family and friends. One huge key to this was that the Acceller powers that be allowed me to keep working as a contractor to run their DigitalLanding.com site. (It helps people with articles on cable TV, Internet and other digital services, so check it out if you have time.)

Going part-time means less money (they’re crazy that way), so I needed to pick up some free-agent gigs. Luckily, I’m still working with Michael Beller as the Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football experts at SportsIllustrated.com. After a tough football season writing the “Start ‘em, Sit ‘em” column for SI, I started doing Fantasy Baseball draft prep in February. I wrote 30 articles in about 45 days, and it just stretched me to crazy lengths. I loved doing it, though, of course!

Also in February, I signed on to become the Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Baseball expert at FantasySports.About.com. The team at About.com has never had a Fantasy Sports section before, and they just allowed their mainstream baseball and football writers to write Fantasy content. They’re redesigning the entire site, and — it looks awesome! This is not your grandfather’s About.com. It’s the 12th-most trafficked site on the Internet, and we’re hoping to climb into the top 10!

I’ve also turned my attention to helping other people create websites. Not necessarily sports sites, but just small businesses in general. In the past three months, I’ve created three different websites, and I’m trying to figure out where that revenue stream can fit into my everyday life.

I love making websites, but it’s stressful working with other people, trying to get their dream up on the web. It’s like drawing a picture you think is beautiful, only to have someone come in and say, “Hey, can we put this flower up in the right corner?” And you try to explain why flowers don’t belong in the sky! It’s stressful, but it’s a lot of fun, too!

Another site I created is one called DailyFantasyDaily.com, which is on hold right now. It was meant to be a daily destination for Daily Fantasy Baseball players, pointing them to the best Daily Fantasy articles on the web, but writing an article every day for it proved to be too much. My hopes were that I could recruit a couple writers to share the pain with me, but everyone that wants to write articles, not articles about articles, which I understand.

I haven’t completely abandoned this project, but it is on hold. Ever since I stopped writing for DFSEdge.com, I’ve tried to figure out a way to keep the Daily thing going, and this was my plan. I might just turn it into a three-times-a-week site, and have people yell at me for saying “Daily” on the site.

Home, Home, Home

As I mentioned, I moved from Fort Lauderdale Beach up to the Disney suburbs in Central Florida. I get a lot of crazy looks when I tell people about that, but I have loved every minute of it. Living up here is so much cheaper, allowing me to work from home on these freelance projects, and I can manage my time the way I like. (I went to see “Draft Day” yesterday at the Disney theaters at 1pm! I give it three out of five stars, by the way. They tried to work in a love story for no reason at all, and some of the trades that happen are just dumb. Plus, they act like teams never interview players before the draft. Just annoying.)

So now, my dog Frank and I live where I work – in my three-bedroom house. I have way too much room for the amount of furniture I have (remember, I’m coming from not-so-spacious homes in South Florida), with an office and a fenced-in backyard for Frank to poop in at his leisure. He’s an artist!

Articles, Articles, Articles

As I mentioned, I’m still writing for SI.com twice each week. I take care of the Hitting Report, which goes up every Monday. We talk about the topic of the week, dealing with lineups/hitters, and we share thoughts on the “Hitters of the Week” and the “Hitters of the Weak.” I share some specific “Buy, Sell, Hold” thoughts, and I list out some numbers you might find interesting. I also join Beller in a roundtable discussion, where we answer some interesting Fantasy questions each week:

• Fantasy Roundtable: Slow Starters, Base Stealers and More

Also, this week, I ranked the 30 leadoff hitters from a Fantasy perspective.

• Ellsbury Tops Leadoff Hitter Rankings

I’m also writing a weekly Fantasy Football article, as we get ready for the NFL Draft. Here’s my latest piece, as I talk about NFL prospects I think will be Fantasy-ready this season.

• Top 10 NFL Prospects Who Can Immediately Make a Fantasy Impact

Over at FantasySports.About.com, I’ve written both baseball and football pieces over there over the past couple weeks. Like, this piece on some lesser-known players that could still have a Fantasy impact depending on who drafts them. I also take a look back at last year’s rookie quarterbacks to see where they rank in Fantasy rookie QB history.

• 7 Later 2014 Rookie Picks Fantasy Football Owners Should Remember
• Reviewing the 2013 Rookie Quarterbacks

Screw the rookies – which players are in danger of losing their starting jobs in the NFL! And which veterans are about to get some help that will make them better Fantasy Football picks?

• 8 Fantasy Veterans Hating the 2014 NFL Draft
• 10 Veterans About to Get Help in the NFL Draft

And for Fantasy Baseball, I review the month of April, offering up some players to target in trade, and some to get ready to move.

• 8 Fantasy Players Off to Hot Starts That Will Fade
• 7 Slow Starting Fantasy Players on the Rise

Let me know what you think – and come back to this site to see the changes we make!

My Plans for DavidGonos.com

Now that I’m done with Fantasy Baseball draft prep, the other websites are built, I’ve moved my house and dog, everything is unpacked, and Fantasy Football Draft Prep is slowly beginning, and I’ve putting DFD on hold – I have time to write for DavidGonos.com again.

The biggest issue I’ll have is figuring out which content I’ll write where. In other words, I have to provide articles for SI and About.com, which means I’ll need different content for DG.

The DavidGonos.com site will continue to be a place that helps young Fantasy writers figure out the industry, as well as a place where Fantasy players can learn about the history of the Fantasy hobby.

Chris and Devin will have be helping with Fantasy Baseball, of course, and I hope to get them to contribute again as football draft season closes in.

I also want to get back into the habit of writing fun, goofy articles, like my future mock drafts and my “Best Chips Ever Mock Draft.” It’s time to get back to my roots!

Hey Gonos, Shut Up, Already

So thank you if you’ve been reading this site over the past few months still, and/or thank you for reading this piece! I hope to make DavidGonos.com a regular destination again for you over the next few months. Thank you!