October 4, 2007. One camera. One lamp. Four walls. A young Toronto Maple Leafs fan named Steve Glynn sits in his childhood room distraught at his team’s loss (yet again). What is one to do when the team he believes in so much lets him down again and again?
He vents. Not at the team but at what the papers will most likely have on their headlines the next day. He expects some people to see it. What he doesn’t expect is taking one step into a world he has no idea that he would be a trailblazer for.
Steve “Dangle” Glynn is living a dream so many sports fans hope to have – being, what he refers to as, a “professional hockey fan”. Make no mistake – he is not perfect, he would be the first to tell you that – but there is something special about this particular fan; a reason why hundreds of thousands of people tune into his videos, line up for hours for his book signing, and travel far and wide to his live podcasts.
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As much as Rocky Balboa spoke to the underdogs of the 1970s, “Dangle” as he is more popularly referred to as, speaks to the average die-hard sports fan of the new millennia. He is a hockey fan, just like us.
Dangle doesn’t know everything (except that James Reimer is unhateable) but he knows just enough for people to understand his qualms with his childhood team and conveys it in a way that makes a strong impression with a first-time viewer. One thing is undeniable in these videos: he is passionate and it permeates through every video, every podcast, heck even every tweet.
There have been others that have tried to replicate his style for their own favourite teams but “Dangle” still remains supreme after all these years and it doesn’t look like he will be getting off his blue and white throne any time soon.
While the journey was difficult and he got lucky maybe once or twice, Glynn didn’t go to where the puck was, he went to where the puck was going. Whether he knew at the time or not, “Dangle” found his voice and boy did people listen which set the groundwork of an empire that is continuing to expand year after year. Wherever there was hockey, there was Steve.
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How can someone who has never played the game of hockey continue to make his way up the rickety ladder of hockey media influence? Because he is genuine, he is transparent, and he says what is on the minds of many hockey fans while also being able to step back and evaluate a situation with a level head. Underneath all the yelling and yelling and even more yelling, he is one of the most self-aware influencers in sports. Fans all over the world see that and they see themselves in this 30-year old Canadian in his basem*nt (which is actually his and not his parents).
His followers are as devoted to him as he is to the blue and white and if one has ever been to any of Glynn’s book signings, he is also devoted to them. Without them, he is not there and without him, they are not brought into the world of zany and entertaining recaps of their favourite team. However, it is fans of all teams across the league that have hit “like” on his videos, clicked “subscribe” when they really liked it, and told all their friends of this very peculiar Leafs fan they just had to check out.
Many people from other continents in the world have grown to love the game of hockey because they have come across Glynn’s videos. And while it is hard to describe what it is Steve “Dangle” Glynn does for a living to someone who is not familiar with “the tv but on the computer”, there is one thing that cannot be denied – “Dangle” is an original that cannot and will not be replicated. There are now two Canadians that have started their careers because of the magic of YouTube but while the world hates Canada for Justin Bieber, they now thank the country for Steve, the Everyman of hockey fandom and to an extent – sports fandom.
The funny, yet amazing thing is…he is just beginning. Along with his channel, his podcast, which he co-hosts with friends and media personalities Adam Wylde and Jesse Blake, is also on the rise. Insiders and commentators that Glynn looked up to and watched as a kid are now co-workers and friends who find themselves in the precarious positon of reading and talking about him. “Dangle” is special, there is no denying it, and his success is our success.
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On behalf of hockey fans everywhere, here’s to you Steve “Dangle” Glynn. Your fans raise their glasses of Crown Royale while on their kayaks next to their boxes of Panago Pizza and salute you for living a dream that nobody thought was possible to sustain. You’re doing it and continue to do it so well. You, sir, continue to reinvent the wheel with your magic and there are thousands and thousands of people who can’t wait to see what you do next. Also, did you know that John Tavares is a Leaf?
