J
8 I The Blue Banner I 223.200.
Bulldog hot on
Natalie Pearson
NGPEARSO@UNCA.EDU
SPORTS EDITOR
The IJNC .Asheville men’s soccer team
consists of eight forwards, eight midfield
ers, six defenders, one substitute goalkeeper
and one YouTube sensation
Lassi Hurskainen, a Junior who also
doubles as the team's starting keeper,
exploded into the world of social media a
week and a half ago His video, a 3:45 mon
tage of soccer tricks, ball skills and spon
taneous dance moves, has since amassed
more than 2 million views,
“I knew it would be pcfiular, but 1 didn’t
think it was going to be this popular,” Ken
ny Paradiso, Hurskainen’s friend and
video collaborator, said "Any athlete in
college is going to receive attention for a
trick shot video, but this is huge."
The video was in response to the Univer
sity of Connecticut’s quarterback Johnny
M^Entee, who uploaded a similar video
showcasing his football talents jast days be
fore. Paradiso saw the 'Trick Shot Quarter
back” and began to formulate a plan
“I saw it and shared it with l^si and I
knew how talented he was and I was like,
‘Lassi you could do some of these tricks,”'
Paradiso, a senior multimedia arts and sci
ences student, said. ‘The idea wasn’t to film
it at first, but I knew how much lassi likes
to make videos and stuff so I said we should
just do a video of our own and he svas really
stoked.”
The pair went to the drawing board to
brainstorm ideas and possible tricks They
then enlisted the help of Jesse Tanas, a bi
ology student, to assist in filming.
Tanas. 22, said he received a lot of atten
tion for his part in the prcwcs.s.
‘‘A lot of random people come up to me at
schcx>l and say, ‘Hey are you Jesse? Did you
film that video? I got to know if it’s real,’
and I’ll tell them it is real," he said.
'I'he video was filmed in six evenings and
in .small increments
“We all had a lot of classe.s so we had to
film it in the dark and turn on the lights,”
Hurskainen said, ‘The tapes were only one
hour so each session wa,s one hour long. ”
Hurskainen then employed the skills he
learned as a mass communication student to
edit and produce the film at home, He up
loaded it on YouTube in the small hours of
V^atentinc’s Day morning
“We were all taking bets of how many
views it would have the next morning and
I said 3(X) views," Hurskainen said “’fhere
w'ere 100,000."
Aside from racking up an incredible audi
ence size, the video made an impact on a
global stage.
‘‘It’s received attention from around the
w'orld,” Hurskainen said ‘‘Japan, Mexico, :
France, it’s all over the news It's reached
every single country in the world”
Hurskainen and his comrades have also
garnered attention on the Internet and in na
tional and local media
‘‘I had 2.50 friend requests in two days and
three fan pages made about me,” Hurskain-
en said, ‘The video has been on the Huff-
ington Post, W1X)S and ESPN has asked
me for permission to use it on any of their
shows ”
With attention comes criticism, and Hur
skainen’s video has bea)roe victim to claims
his tricks are fake, that the ball disappears
and he employs the use of electronic devic
es How'ever, Hurskainen brushes them off
with a modest air
‘‘I don’t want to say anything bad,” he
said “I think everyone a>uld do this video
if they just had the effort and the lime ”
.Although the team's endeavor thrust them
into the limelight, Ptiradiso insists notoriety
was not their intention
"We weren't trying to make l-assi fa
mous, we just put it out there because he
likes making videos and it's really axil," he
.said.
After (he success of Hurskainen's first
video, the group said they might make a se
quel, but not immediately Instead, the pos-
, sibility of acoHaboration with senior men's
basketball player and slam-dnnk artist,
Check out more
from Lassi's
photoshoot at
TheBlueBanner.net'
,Iohn Williams, may be on the table
"1 want to see John do well and he’d
like to make a video," Paradiso said ‘‘If he
wanted to fd be ready and w'iliing ”
Williams, who has already shot into sUir-
dom this year by making SportCcntcr’s Top
10 with a dunk against Big South Confer
ence rival Liberty, said a video may be on
the horizon.
"Kenny mentioned doing a collabo with
I-assi like where he kicks the hall up and 1
dunk it somewhere crazy,” Williams stiid “1 ;
said.‘Yeah, ni do it '” : ;
With Hurskainen’s video accumulating j
views and spinoff versions conshintly, it ;
would be easy to think one could get lost in ■
the spotlight. Luckily, UNCA’s men's soc- '
cer head axteh. Matt Kern, gave Hurskain- ;
en a few words of advice t
"Coach Kern told me you have to enjoy %
it, but at the same time there’s going to bs a;;
lot of people crilid/ing you,” he said "Lfc ::
told me ni,>t to let thi.« distrtict you because it %
could be quite interesting ”
Photo by Ian Shannon - Contributing Photographer
Photo by Megan Dombroski - Campus Voice Editor
Photo by Megan Dombroski - Campus Voice Editor 'i