A Response to *snap snap* “The Oaks”

I want to start by saying how disappointed I am in myself for even acknowledging this video.

I’m sure you’ve all seen (and laughed at) the video I posted of @OakleyInc (follow him – oh wait – the silly goose has a protected account!) ranting about how @Jeffler, me, and several others in sports media and the blogosphere are fakes, phonies, and we have essentially bought our way to success. I’m told he’s working on a sequel video, because that’s what sad, strange, lonely little men do.

So this is what I have to say in response, and then I’m done with the guy forever.

“I’ve often wondered why a guy like me who’s well-rounded, fun, entertaining, has, you know, 1,500 followers or whatever I have, and other people who seem to have the integrity of camel dung – tens of thousands.”

…A couple things with that.

When you say you’re well-rounded, fun, and entertaining, chances are you aren’t well-rounded, fun, or entertaining. Hey – at least you’re humble! As for the whole “Why them and not me?” question you ask, I’ll address that a little later.

Oakley goes on to say how myself, Jeffler, several bloggers, and several members of the mainstream sports media including James Mirtle and Bob McKenzie, have fake followers following our Twitters, and we are therefore the scum of the earth. War? Poverty? Nuts to that crap! The real issue is porn bots!

Well Troy, or should I say, “the Oaks”, fake accounts that tweet “Here’s my boobs” or “you’ve won an iPad 2″ tend to follow popular accounts (like mine) because we’re popular. They have a higher likelihood of being seen that way, so of course they gravitate to larger accounts. But logic be damned, you think we all just bought the followers. That will get us success!

I make videos. I post those videos to my Twitter. Now, if I have 10,000 followers, and only 50 of them are real, my videos would only get 50 views. Fake users can’t watch my videos, and therefore, don’t benefit me at all. That doesn’t explain the over 2.6 million views on my YouTube channel, does it, friend?

Which brings me to something you said that I didn’t like much. I’ll go through it piece by piece.

“This isn’t a vendetta. I never liked Steve Dangle.”

Yes you did, Troy. You asked me to take a picture with you. You repeatedly came to talk to me while I was working at Real Sports covering Leafs games. One time, you came up in an aggressive manner I didn’t really like because you were upset that I wasn’t following you on Twitter. Don’t be upset I’m just not interested in reading over 110,000 tweets, dude.

“I never liked Steve Dangle and I know that some of you sports fans think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’s a 20-something kid, OK? He’s no better than anybody else. I’m no better than anybody else, but at least every single one of my 1,500 plus followers are real.”

And skip ahead a wee bit…

“Listen, you guys have been using your fake followers to get positions where you are, whether it be at the CBC – I’m not gonna mention names. Who’s at the CBC right now? Oh that would be Lauren (@laurenonizzle) and Steve Dangle, and you’ve got inflated follower counts.

Where to begin…

Firstly, you don’t think you’re better than anybody else, huh? So what was that “Why them and not me?” stuff about?

If by calling me 20-something you meant to say 24, then yes. Awesome research, Anderson Cooper. Yes Troy, I’m a 24-year-old kid doing what you want to do, and you’re a little upset with that. I get it. But let me maybe explain what it took to get to where I am.

Despite claims from some of your (barely literate) followers that I’m “uneducated”, I graduated with a B.A. in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University in 2010. During my second year in that program (19-years-old), I began a YouTube channel that, to date, has over 2,630,000 hits (that’s larger than the population of Toronto). Also during my second year, I got an internship at the Fan 590 (what is now called Sportsnet Radio) while still attending all my classes. During my third year of school, I interned for a nationally syndicated junior hockey radio show called RBC Junior Hockey Magazine, and had the pleasure of interviewing the likes of Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, and so on, on a weekly basis. It wasn’t uncommon to book guests for that show during classes, arrive at the studio at 10am, leave the studio at midnight, get home for 1am, then get up for the 7am train to go back downtown for classes. During my fourth year of school, I began interning with Leafs TV, doing a number of things, but mostly video-editing. Also during fourth year, Nike contacted me about covering the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatchewan. We did such a good job that they sent my coworkers and I to Vancouver for 17 days to cover the Olympics (I only had about 2,000 followers then, by the way). The entire time that process was going on, I was helping my classmates with our practicum project that involved creating, filming, and editing a pilot for a reality TV show from scratch. We took 50-60 hours of footage and edited it down to 23-minutes. I then graduated and got hired onto the Leafs TV team, partially involving live television appearances, did many more things with Nike including the World Juniors twice more, hosted a commercial for the Toronto Zoo, co-hosted a NHL/KHL video blog/weekly television segment that was seen on Russian National TV, and work for CBC Sports. That’s not everything, but my fingers are tired.

In case you can’t tell, the “Steve’s some kid” argument gets to me. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard it. Am I young? Yes. But I bust my ass. I put in time. I do what it takes. Rather than do any of those things yourself, you scowl, sulk, and whimper to your camera asking “Why not me?”

Why not you? You’re 40-years old (just ask his YouTube channel profile), and you make videos like that. I’m not going to hurl insults at you. I didn’t write this for that reason. I genuinely feel bad for you, and I want to help you. Here are some helpful pointers:

• Never ever begin a video with the double snap point
• Give yourself any nickname you want, but lose “the Oaks”
• Don’t talk about how much integrity you have when the most viewed video on your YouTube channel is an hour long special on the Leafs you clearly just took from an old TV special. (75+ Years of the Toronto Maple Leafs – Maple Leafs Forever)
• Don’t call yourself well-rounded when the only button you used on your camera was “record.” Show me editing, you well-rounded man you!
• Don’t call yourself fun and entertaining before going on a nine-minute-long monotone diatribe
• Stop looking out the damn window. There’s nobody out there. You’re making a video. Look into the camera.
• Don’t say “I’m not gonna name names” and then immediately name names. Nobody’s done that to me since the sixth grade.
• Talk a little bit slower because you’re panting. I’ve done live television before and I recognize that little uneasy quiver in your voice. It’s adrenaline. Freaks you out a bit, right? It’s ok. It goes away with experience. It’s all in how you handle it.
• Fiddle around with basic editing software and figure out how to use it a bit. I only use iMovie. I used to use Windows Movie Maker. It isn’t difficult, and you’ll be glad you learned the skill.
• Organize your thoughts. It will help your videos be shorter than nine minutes.
• Stop looking off camera at your notes or to gather your thoughts. Read them before hand and memorize them. That’s also a skill that comes with time.
• Use exact numbers. Using “something like” numbers makes you sound like you’re making it up or just don’t care enough.
• Don’t complain when somebody embeds a video without your permission. They don’t need it. You put it on YouTube.
• Want more followers? Un-protect your Twitter account!
• Want to be well-respected in social media? Don’t make a nine-minute video trashing a bunch of people, delete all the negative comments, and then fill the comment box with two pages of your own comments

Anyway, I hope that helps, man. I know I’m just some 20-something kid, but if you’re willing to let me, I can help you learn a thing or two. I’m not the best. I’m learning, too. This is my sixth year in the industry and I still consider myself somewhat of a rookie, but if you want some pointers, I can help.

I hear you’re making another video about this. That’s unfortunate. I hope you don’t, but if you do, I won’t be watching it. You’ve had your say, and this is mine. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Advice? I’m all ears. This issue? No thank you. Not interested.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully this lockout situation clears up so I can go back to talking about hockey instead.

Steve

Link to Oakley’s video: http://www.stevedangle.com/guy-doesnt-like-jeffler-or-i-hilarious-video-ensues