How many of us here are pro's?

[fletcher]

Jeff i was burnt out on coaching , came to vegas to coach at unlv and just was not into it anymore after so many years.

I have my MS in occupational therapy and am board certified. So it was not like i was forced into this to make ends meet infact i worked 2 years at halifax hospital in daytona beach after one of my coaching burn outs. Money was very good but delt with a lot of stroke and brain injuries because i was in acute care and just saw things that i did not like,lots of death and heart break when you deal with the brain things can really progress and the same with storkes then next thing you know something just goes wrong in the body and the person moves on to the next life.

And the smell stayed with me , anyone that works in the med field can tell you death has a smell and when you go home you still smell it. just was not me went on to coach 8 more years and kept my cert with ceu's but never thought i would use it again.

Went through burn out and the hard life on the recruting trail and it just got to me again.

So had alway been around gambling being from the pittsbugh area and having uncels running shops in youngstown and pittsbugh so i was not knew to it. one thing lead to another learned some lessons along the way and made it work.

As for me telling people what i do yes i am proud of what i do,i am a full fledge corp in the state of nv, Fletcher's Sports Consulting Inc. pay taxes the whole deal and have branched out.

The family thing was a shock my mom was like confussed as why i would do this after all my schooling and baseball contacts, it took a few years but the last 3 years before she passed she would even tell people with out even batting an eye . My father was pissed that i left coaching be he is one of my biggest backers, it took awhile and had to have help but paid off and i enjoy it but it's not easy to do. But it's what i choose to do.

Scott if i take my time and write with out being pissed off i can do ok, It's just many times i am either pressed for time or pissed off and just rapping away at the key board with out rechecking what i have written. There are still draw backs in sentence structure and spelling because i really don't take the time to read over what i wrote.

I am not a hick with out an education like a few peple think, just spelling has always been a draw back to me. But you don't get into ot school and pass boards by being stupid ,i'm not a cota i am a full fledge ot and that will always be there as well as coaching back down south if i ever wanted to go back into either one. I have worked very hard at this and have a few other parts of the business besides my site so it has growen in the last 6 years better and better. I don't hype bs or have games of the year and shit, it's a new day evey day and my cash winnings match up with phils steel and north coast at the sports monitor in ok city. beat him and many others in baseball and in front of them in football nfl for profits won so far college down a few games but 1 day will change that. So i am happy with the job i do.

And in this business there are going to be down weeks and you just have to learn to except that and for those who say there is not or they have inside info and scouts at practice thats bs remember i was a coach for over 10 years and come from a family of college coaches so i know what is fact and what is sales.

Nothing wrong with sales as long as they can live with themself. You can check out some news lettersand they have some game but then on game day they have the other side on late phone service and i know because i see the reports and know lot of people in this field. But to each it's own not saying phil does that but i can name 5 right off the top of my head that does in one way or another on a steady basies. But that's not my concern my concern is my family and others who are associtied with me.

Well hope that helps out with the q&a started this to try to open the eyes of someone before they make a bad choice or not so much a bad choice but a poor game plan which will turn his choice into a bad one.

 

[SixFive]

nicely written, and informative, fletcher. Thanks.

I know what u mean about that smell! I have smelled it too many times whether it be cancer, blood, near death, or death, and I have found putting cologne under my nose or trying to clean out my nostrils to rid myself of that smell that just lingers. However, that's just a small part of it, and the good things outweigh the bad for me.

About Occupational Therapy, imo the OTs are going to work themselves out of a job. Many of them seem to want to be PTs and not OTs if u know what I mean. With all the new modalities like NDT and Pilates, none of them seem to work on what I see as the most important task for an OT, ADLs. What could be more functional than teaching someone to bathe, dress, pull their pants up, wipe their own bottom, etc? I really like OTs, especially the one I live with (who by the way is a COTA and can work circles around any OTR in town ) , but I think a lot of them have lost focus of their own profession. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

Here's to winning days for you without as much as much work! The life u detail doesn't sound like too much fun to me, and I don't see how anyone does it.

 

[THE KOD]

here is a similar argument.....my favorite thing in the world to do is play golf.....question would be -- why shouldn't i become a club pro? I would get to be at the golf course the whole time and serve people by helping them to enjoy the game -- improve the quality of their life by expanding their interest in a healthy, leisurely activity -- a great service to people.....why wouldn't i do this??? because then my whole focus woudl be on golf and the golf course.....

...

The reason you wouldnt be a club pro would be that your whole focus would be on golf and the golf course. So what would happen is you would take something you love and turn it into a job and eventually something you hate. So if thats the case then why wouldnt you pick something else at the golf course. Own the sports bar in the country club, sell golf clubs if you are in sales, be a instructor and give lessons for the ppl interaction. You got to find something you love doing or its the pits I agree. Most people always seem to pick the obvious instead of thinking of something on the periphery. That way you dont get burned out on what you love doing. Just my thoughts. Its one of the toughest questions in life.


Scott-Atlanta

 

[fletcher]

sixfive you are right ot is or is supposed to be all about the ADLs,
the gate traing and movement skills are pt but some where along the way i to have seen many not enjoying what they went to school for and pressing to do the job of pt. nothing wrong with cota's did not mean it to come out that way it is the same job with just a few less classes and a little less of the paper work.

But when it calls for making the care plans and adaptive tools and carrying them out they do the same or more hands on then the ot, Any place with a good ot staff will have 1-2 ot's and 5 good cota's. My point is if you want to do pt should of gone to school for it,also you see the pt's wanting to be sports dr's its just like no-one is happy to do there part of the whole team. there are always battles in care plan meetings between nursing,pt/pt/and speech path. and the sad thing is to carry out a proper care plan and get it validated it takes the whole team. Most of the problems i have seen come from the rn's in the setting i was in and i am sure youwife can relate to that,and when it comes to charting they always sit at the station and have 6-7 charts out where they other group can't get them to chart their notes that was the thing that really pissed me off and to ask them to lend a hand to change a bed when there was a problem or having them help with a hoist if some one need a submersion bath was like pulling teeth, and when it comes to wound care don't even get me started ,they are clueless with the graphing of the wound and packing and unpacking it in the right way and debreeding it. always a power struggle in this type of setting and people fighting for time to get there pat. care in. And the ones who get the worst are the cna's they take more shit then i could ever put up with,because if someone is not ready for treatment it all get pushed at the cna's when infact most of the time it is the food services fault yes i said food service because if breakfast is not ready and servered on time and cleaned up it throws everyones treatment plan behinde which is like 3 times a week and its just a war once that starts.:shrug:

 

[acehistr8]

kind of similar with gambling.....it is an outlet from everyday stress and a hobby to have fun with....but go with it for a career and it will most likely consume you.....

Couldnt put it better. I have used sports betting and poker playing as my hobby the last few years that just happens to have developed into something I am good at making a decent sum of money at. I would never leave my job as a consultant as it provides security and experience that I hope to need down the road. While I have no doubt that maybe I *COULD* make a living from it and certainly could put together a starting stake for poker/sports, I wouldnt want to.

I think doing it full time devoting the kind of time I as an anal retentive person would devote, it would kill some of the fun for me.

And after all, the minute it stops being fun its time to hang it up.

 

[SixFive]

fletcher, I think I could work with u! I know u meant know harm about COTA's, just joshin' u there. BTW, I'm an RN, one of your favorite folks, lol All the stuff u listed, however, are things I routinely do. Sounds like u worked with a bunch of idiots (I'm guessing u might have worked at a nursing home?)! They fight about the charts here, too, lol, to some extent, but the nurses notes are separate from the charting, so usually not that conflict. I love an OT that gets in there and digs in and is not afraid to wipe a butt or 2. Heck, that's part of their job! U are right, a lot of people dump on the CNAs. Not me, I know that the CNAs can make or break me, and I treat them with the utmost respect. I like to train them right. I would rather have 5 great CNAs and 5 average nurses than the other way around. Anyway, if u want to get back into it at anytime, we have a great inpatient rehab here in town, and Kentucky is a great place to live, and a little closer to home for u.

 

[british bulldog]

As previously stated these are great posts. Fletcher is right, the stress levels are very great when betting for food and bills. I put in on average 60 hours a week, sometimes it all appears worthwhile while other days, weeks you wonder and doubt yourself if this really is for you. My wife has become acustomed to me being on the computer or watching sport. Even if I haven't had a wager, I still watch, I might perhaps paper trade betting in running. I find this keeps me zoned in and adds confidence when I decide the time is right.
I vacate annually for two weeks in the summer. I don't even think about sports betting, although it is hard and at the back of your mind you wonder what opportunites you are missing.
To anyone considerring betting for a living, think long and hard. This is no 9 till 5 job, it may appear a live of Riley, sweet smelling roses, god those films make it such a great life, a wad of notes in your pockets, endless cash to fritter away. Well if you think of the opposite you would be near to the fact of a professional sports bettor.
Fletcher is right when he say's that each day is a new day. What has gone before is history and tomorrow is the future. That is why you cannot just live of your bankroll and any gains when you start out. Ideally you will have two bank accounts, one for living one for betting. What if you encountered a losing run right at the start, your bankroll is deflated and your drawing further fund from it to live off.
THIS IS A BUSINESS, TREAT IT AS SUCH
I started by putting monies into both accounts, at first it was 25% business, 75% living, and after two years it is 35/65%. This is only due to the fact that stakes have increased as the bankroll has increased.REMEMBER THERE'S PLENTY OF ROMMELS (bookmakers) OUT THERE AS THEY'VE HAD MORE TANKS (bankrolls) THAN THE GENERAL HIMSELF
good luck to you all

 

[fletcher]

sixfive no nursing home i was at halifax hospital in daytona at the acute care center then went to sub acute center at halifax after that. it sucked at times but it was also great at times the power struggles were the bad side. delt with alot of vents that was tuff,male lpn's and rn's work i worked with 3 they were the best but it's the old hags who have there 15-20 in that were the pain are charts were all in one big book in a acute care center and were not allowed to leave the station but they did.


i worked with a company called j-care that put together the first gel coushin for weel chair bound people to help eleveate skin break down, we were the first to get them from j care in their studay so that made me look good, over all would go back but the over all team would have to function like a team and not department against department,least it is good to have that to fall back on.