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GOOOOOOOL!!!!

2010-06-23 (said on 2010-06-24 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded -1 days later) · letter vlog · Hank, John · 3:40 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning (also: Sports, Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, self promotion

Hank, who doesn't care about the World Cup, marks the US advancing and YouTube winning its lawsuit against Viacom, and argues that winning is valuable only because of the hard work, frustration and losing that come before it.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Screams across Missoula, #goal on Twitter, John's phone footage and broken glasses; the US advances; Hank doesn't really care

  • ★★ Reading in bed with his wife in hot Missoula, windows open, Hank heard simultaneous screams across his neighborhood and checked Twitter on his Droid: every tweet said goal. — 00:00:00 · Missoula, Montana, Katherine Green, Twitter
  • ★ Hank quips that Twitter knows the news before the news knows the news. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Twitter
  • ★★ Hank shows John's own cell-phone footage of the goal, in which John says he sees 'two images'; Hank says John apparently broke his glasses. (hedged) — 00:00:35
  • ★★ Hank reports that the United States is moving on to the next round of the World Cup. — 00:00:35 · United States
  • ★ Hank apologises to John for not really caring about the World Cup. — 00:00:35

00:01:05 — Another win: YouTube won its lawsuit against Viacom, celebrated as a goal; ties to the brothers' conversation about losing

  • ★★★ Hank reports another wonderful win today: YouTube won its lawsuit against Viacom, which he celebrates like a goal. — 00:01:05 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank links the wins to the brothers' conversation that everyone loses eventually: we all play games we can't ultimately win, and soccer is an excellent example. — 00:01:05

00:01:34 — Soccer's false hope and the stoppage-time goal; winning is better if it hurts; frustration gives winning value; the US won't win the World Cup

  • ★★ Watching soccer is mostly false hope, Hank says, until a stoppage-time goal makes all the exertion, exhaustion and frustration pay off. (playful) — 00:01:34

  • ★★★ Hank argues winning is more wonderful if it hurts on the way there: fun isn't fun unless there is unfun stuff to compare it with. — 00:01:56

    “fun isn't fun unless you have unfun stuff to compare it with.”

  • ★★★ We think succeeding is the success, Hank says, but winning is the culmination of hard work and frustration; without them there's nothing there, and they give winning value. — 00:01:56

  • ★★ The harder fought the win, the better, which is why Hank feels so good about YouTube's freedom from the Viacom lawsuit and about the US advancing. — 00:02:26 · YouTube, United States
  • ★★ Hank says he knows the United States won't win the World Cup and fans will end up frustrated, angry and disappointed. — 00:02:26 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank concludes that all that frustration is part of being a successful and ultimately happy person; he doesn't know why, and wishes we didn't need it. — 00:02:55

00:02:55 — VidCon is about 50 tickets from selling out; get tickets now; see you Friday

  • ★★ Hank calls it a colossal win for him, Nerdfighteria and YouTube that VidCon is about 50 tickets away from selling out. — 00:02:55 · VidCon, Nerdfighteria, YouTube
  • ★★ Hank tells viewers who want VidCon tickets to get them now, because it is almost sold out. — 00:03:24 · VidCon

Humor (significant)

  • John's phone footage shows him seeing double after celebrating the US goal. — 00:00:35

    “My guess is that your glasses are not the only glasses that were broken.”

  • Hank celebrates YouTube's court win over Viacom the way soccer fans celebrate a goal. — 00:01:05

    “Goal! See, that's what I would break my glasses.”

  • Hank wishes the pub had shown the Viacom ruling instead of soccer. — 00:01:05

    “Why didn't they have that on the big screen down at the pub? I would have gone to watch that.”

  • Hank describes what watching soccer is like. — 00:01:34

    “it's all false hope and watching and watching and watching and watching.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: FIFA World Cup · Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. · VidCon · YouTube

Also: Katherine Green · Missoula, Montana · Motorola Droid · Twitter · United States · Viacom

Only in the description or credits: Algeria

Also centred on FIFA World Cup: Mmmm....PARTS · You're Gonna Die · ALL THE SHIRTS (and some paths to community) · Who Should We Root For? · Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup · Sports are Dumb

Also centred on Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.: YouTube vs. Viacom The Battle Explained · Viacom PWNED on Piracy · Should We Sue Viacom?

Replies to

  • continues · You're Gonna Die — “it brings to mind the conversation that we've been having about the fact that we all lose eventually.”

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