Yea! I Scored Daddy
By John Swartz
Jeremy Rupke estimates 20 million people have viewed a little video he uploaded to Youtube a week ago. Everyone who posts videos on line wishes for that kind of response. The problem is they don’t have Mason Rupke as their star attraction.
Mason is the subject of 4 Year Old Mic’d up at Hockey. Dad, Jeremy was curious about what his son was doing on the ice at Rotary Place during hockey practice.
“I was Just watching Mason out there talking to his friends and stuff and I was thinking – I wonder what he’s saying. He always says funny stuff around the house, so I figured I’d throw a mic on him and see what he’s saying out on there rink,” said Jeremy.
A lot is the answer, and not much of it has to do with learning to skate or handle a stick. Here’s a sample of what Mason said in the video.
“15 more minutes, and be done and get a baby happy meal.”
“Are we going to go BaDonalds after?”
“I’m going to go to go to BaDonalds after with my dad.”
“My legs are hanging out.”
And of course, “Yea!, I scored Daddy.” The kids in the learn to play hockey program weren’t playing a game. They can barely stand up on skates.
The video is 6 minutes and 12 seconds of pure laughter. It showed up on Reddit early last Saturday morning and took off from there.
“Oh it was on the news in Australia, it was on the news in New Zealand, it was on the news in Ireland, so it really spread,” said Jeremy. He lists countries from all around the globe as places he’s received inquiries about using the video.
“I wasn’t surprised it got picked up locally. TSN I thought might re-post it, I thought the NHL might because it’s a pretty cool video. When it started spreading outside of hockey, just like to the news, that was a bit surprising. It’s caught on now,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy said there have been 3 million views on Twitter. Currently there are more than 6.5 million views on Youtube and Jeremy says including other platforms where the video shows up means 20 million people have watched Mason’s antics on the ice.
A conversation after his latest hockey practice about his fame went like this:
Q: What do you think of the video your dad made?
A: I like shooting videos.
Q: Have you ever been to Toronto?
A: No
Q: Not even to see the Leafs play?
A: No. Yes I did (after being reminded he has).
Q: More people have seen your video than live in Toronto, is that weird?
A: Yeah.
Q: What do you think about that?
A: It’s good.
Q: what is your favourite part of the video?
A: Playing hockey.
Jeremy says Mason is kind of oblivious to all the excitement.
“He has no idea. He got McDonalds (coupons) in the mail, so he’s happy about that. Besides that he doesn’t know what’s going on,” said Jeremy
“I want a blue drink,” Mason interjected, referring to his favourite from the snack bar at Rotary Place.
Jeremy has some experience making videos, or more importantly putting them together, which is far more important than just shooting them. He has a website, How To Hockey, he uses to explain aspects of learning the game.
“When I started coaching there wasn’t any website for people to play hockey. I couldn’t find any good ones, so I said I’ll make videos then,” said Jeremy.
Kids are curious about things their parents do, as long as it looks interesting, or if they can involve themselves. Making videos are no exception.
“He likes it. We’ve got cell phones recording the kids all the time. He always likes to watch them, especially slow motion. He always likes the videos that we do,” said Jeremy. The one making Mason a star is no exception. “He laughs every time he falls. That was his favourite part.”
Here at home, some people are aware of Mason’s fame.
“We went to a practice and we had a few comments for sure. It was like, oh there’s the superstar,” Jeremy said of other parents – not so much from the kids because they’re no more aware of the world beyond when is the next McDonalds visit than Mason is.
While speaking with Jeremy he’s suddenly mobbed by members of the Orillia Terriers Pee Wee rep team – all wanting to take pictures with Jeremy. It wasn’t the whole team but enough if they were on the ice someone would be getting a too many on the ice penalty. It can’t possibly be because of the video, can it?
“Oh yeah,” said Jake Curran. “My sister showed me it.” His teammates nod heads indicating they’ve all watched it.
It’s odd, even people who regularly appear on TV are startled to see themselves, or something they made, on the screen when their image pops up out of context, watching for some time before suddenly thinking, “oh, that’s me,” or, “hey, that’s us,” and so far Jeremy hasn’t been caught by surprise seeing his video in the middle of some other program.
“I haven’t seen it myself on TV, but some of the people who follow me on Instgram have taken screen shots and sent it to me, or recorded the video. It’s pretty awesome. It played on every single NHL game on NBC,” said Jeremy.
If you need a reason to smile, take a moment to watch the video. The best part is near the end when you hear Mason say, “Dad I love you so much.” Yeah, that’s the best part.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)