{"id":8661,"date":"2020-11-16T10:33:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T15:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=8661"},"modified":"2022-06-16T18:28:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T22:28:43","slug":"steve-linkowski-the-man-behind-urinatingtree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2020\/11\/16\/steve-linkowski-the-man-behind-urinatingtree\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Linkowski: The man behind UrinatingTree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Linkowski<\/strong> uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, “UrinatingTree,” titled \u201cThe Haters Guide to the 2017 NFL Playoffs<\/a>,\u201d on Jan. 2, 2017. At the time, his subscriber count was somewhere between 550 to 650. The next day, he had a hundred more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m just sitting there like, \u2018What? Wait, what,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I thought I was just like, I was losing my mind or maybe there was a typo on the computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The view count, he added, was around 10 to 15,000; at a time when his videos only got hundreds of views.<\/p>\n

Thinking it was a fluke, he uploaded a follow up, titled \u201cThe Haters Guide to Super Bowl 51<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ends up getting even more,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I’m just sitting there like, \u2018OK, I think I’ve drunkenly stumbled on to something (and) I have to keep going.\u2019 And that’s when I made the decision, \u2018OK, I should focus on this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At that moment, Linkowski committed the direction of his channel, \u201cUrinatingTree,\u201d to shitposting about sports.<\/p>\n

The beginning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a huge turn from his original plans.<\/p>\n

While in high school, he dreamed of a career as an anchor on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing the morning announcements (I was) like, \u2018I like doing this,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018You know what? Maybe I can do this as a career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, he went to college to pursue a career in broadcasting.<\/p>\n

While there, he reviewed video games to supplement his training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to experiment with a bunch of different things at the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to yell at old Sega Genesis games, but that was back when I was in college. I just needed a creative release.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first video Linkowski uploaded to his channel, at the time named \u201cESchlasser,\u201d was a review of \u201cSuperman 64,\u201d<\/a> a game for the Nintendo 64 console.<\/p>\n

Sometime, afterwards, he changed the name of the channel to \u201cUrinatingTree,\u201d which he\u2019s better known as than his real name (he\u2019s not publicly revealed it, yet, but tells it to anyone who asks).<\/p>\n

The early days of UrinatingTree<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you watched any of his earliest videos, you\u2019d think you\u2019ve discovered an ancient civilization. And that\u2019s not lost on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is completely different,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was just like throwing shit at the wall. I didn’t even care about views. I did not expect to be doing this. So back in the time, it’s just like, \u2018What the hell did I stumble into? This is like a different channel.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One aspect that\u2019s carried over from his early days, however, is his sense of self-deprecation. Though he\u2019s not sure from where he got it.<\/p>\n

UrinatingTree’s hiatus and return<\/h3>\n

In 2012, after he uploaded \u201cHalf-Assed Theater: The Great Debate<\/a>,\u201d he stopped uploading for four years.<\/p>\n

Linkowski returned to YouTube in 2016, because of the presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat ended up happening was I got pissed off and I’m just thinking like, \u2018OK, this is bullshit,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018I just want to ramble on about it for a couple of minutes.\u2019 So, I’m like, \u2018You know what? Let’s do a YouTube video about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought the video would get a few views and he\u2019d move on with his life.<\/p>\n

To date, the video, \u201cThe Mainstream Media Needs To Die<\/a>,\u201d has around 139,000 views.<\/p>\n

In terms of quality, \u201cit was bad,\u201d and he wishes it hadn\u2019t aged well (in terms of content). However, it \u201cfelt good\u201d to have that creative release, again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, just getting fucked over for promotions and felt like I was in a dead end situation,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I was just like, \u2018OK, I’ll just use this as like a creative release.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

UrinatingTree’s pivot to sports<\/h2>\n

The catalyst for his pivot to sports came in late 2016, after he watched a video, titled \u201cOnly in Cleveland: The Cleveland Browns since their return to the NFL<\/a>.\u201d While he thought it was fantastic, he disliked that it only went to the beginning of Jimmy Haslam\u2019s ownership of the Browns.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs anyone who follows the Browns can attest,\u201d he said, \u201cthe Haslam era has been a fucking shit show.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, Linkowski got the idea to bridge that video with the current era<\/a>, when the Browns were on the verge of a possible 0-16 season (they went 1-15 in 2016, then 0-16 in 2017).<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know if I did that well in that regard,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that was what my goal was.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, it\u2019s his sixth-most watched video.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, he made a similar video on the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>, which just went 2-14, fired head coach Gus Bradley and their franchise quarterback, Blake Bortles, played terribly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I’m just sitting there like, \u2018Man, this is bullshit,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018This team’s terrible.\u2019 And I’m like, \u2018You know what? Let’s just make a video about it.\u2019 So it became like three minutes of just me rambling about Jacksonville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Combined with the aforementioned videos on the 2017 NFL playoffs and Super Bowl 51, he committed himself to sports videos.<\/p>\n

Meet the Mets<\/h3>\n

While most of Linkowski\u2019s videos are one-offs, with the occasional \u201cRevisiting *insert team*\u201d video, his July 1 videos about the New York Mets turned into an annual tradition.<\/p>\n

He uploaded the first one<\/a> in late June 2017, a few days before \u201cBobby Bonilla Day<\/a>\u201d on July 1 (commemorating the day Bonilla\u2019s paid $1.19 million by the Mets<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I just thought like, \u2018Oh, it’s just a match.\u2019 But then end up, everyone’s getting injured, the bullpen’s a fucking mess, Sandy Alderson’s not really doing anything. The Wilpon\u2019s (former team owners). So, the problem is like every consecutive year, they turn into this massive shit show, despite their expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though this tradition might end, because the Wilpon\u2019s sold the team to Steve Cohen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UrinatingTree’s love\/hate relationship with Pittsburgh sports<\/h3>\n

As a native of Pittsburgh, Linkowski\u2019s a die-hard fan of the steel city\u2019s professional sports teams. With that said, however, he\u2019s not afraid to chuck those teams into the fire, when they deserve it. His eight-most viewed video is his first video on the city’s NFL team, titled \u201cThe Pittsburgh Steelers: Professional Football\u2019s Pharisee<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike his other lolcow videos, however, he wanted a challenge, and not just another terrible team to mock. It came down to either the Steelers or the Green Bay Packers, because of their management issues, inactivity in free agency and wasting the talents of Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, he chose the Steelers, because he \u201cmarinated in this shit for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s like you want one that has a different angle to it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the Steelers have been kind of getting on my nerves for a good bit and on the terms of that regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think that’s what makes it technically a better video, instead of like, \u2018Oh, this guy’s dispassionate.\u2019 It’s like, \u2018Oh, this guy has followed this team since he was a kid.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sportsball<\/h2>\n

At the same time, Linkowski began another experimental video series, titled \u201cThis Week in Sportsball<\/a>.\u201d In these, he recapped the previous week\u2019s NFL games in a similar manner to shows like ESPN\u2019s NFL Primetime, but with a comedic and lighthearted tone.<\/p>\n

At first, he didn\u2019t plan on doing it every week, but rather every two weeks. But outside forces convinced him to make it a weekly series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my first year, the time I noticed I had to do them every week was once Donald Trump started bitching about players kneeling,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I’m like, \u2018OK, we\u2019ll have to do this every week because this is a fucking shit show.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Halfway through the season, however, he felt that he hit a wall with it. In his Week 17 recap, he said he wasn\u2019t sure if he\u2019d do this again in 2018.<\/p>\n

While he continued weekly NFL recaps in 2018, he posted recaps of the AAF and XFL on a bi-weekly basis. For the AAF, it was because there were four games a week — compared to 12 to 16 NFL games, most weeks — and his disillusionment with the league, because of its financial perils. For the XFL, he feared that it would shut down halfway through, just like the AAF.<\/p>\n

Congrats<\/h2>\n

Sprinkled in between all his videos are \u201cCongrats, *insert team*\u201d videos, which he uploads when, ironically, a team absolutely drops the ball in a playoff series.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it’s just a random idea I have,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes just as long prepared. It varies on what it is. Sometimes I feel like a spectacular moment needs that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though some aren\u2019t ironically named. Such as his 2019 video on the St. Louis Blues<\/a>, which won the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the videos aren\u2019t lighthearted and comedic. Some are Linkowski blowing off steam, like he did with the Steelers, after they lost to the Jaguars in the 2018 AFC Divisional Round<\/a>; a loss he \u201csaw that coming from a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you looked at (the Steelers) games from 2017, they followed the same formula,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would play like shit for most of the game. They’d have huge flaws against really bad teams. They didn’t even play a legit starting quarterback. Like (the) Packers didn’t have Aaron Rogers. The Texans didn’t have Deshaun Watson. And then they’d follow the same formula, like Antonio Brown would make this great catch. Ben would make a spectacular play. Le’Veon Bell would make these great moves. And then Chris Boswell would kick this 50 to 55-yard field goal right in the middle. Steelers would win, end of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I’m just sitting there like, \u2018You can’t survive like this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And survive, they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Despite a second-half rally from a 14-point deficit, the Steelers lost to the Jaguars 45-42; the same Jaguars team that beat them 30-9 in Week 5.<\/p>\n

And Linkowski was dumbfounded, because the Steelers validated his pessimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren’t doing nothing but talk shit the whole past week,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that one was just like, \u2018OK, I got to get this shit off.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dumpster Fire<\/h2>\n

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tucker White has given money to UrinatingTree, via\u00a0superchats, on his podcast, “The Dumpster Fire.” While Steve Linkowski said this had no bearing on him taking part in his interview with White, we noted it for the sake of transparency.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around this time, Linkowski started a sports podcast with Adam of the channel, \u201cFivePointsVids.\u201d This podcast eventually became \u201cThe Dumpster Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the idea,\u201d Linkowski said. \u201cHe just figured it was like, \u2018Hey, let’s start a podcast.\u2019 (I\u2019m) Like, \u2018OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Days of our Steelers<\/h2>\n

Fast forward to 2018, he gives the weekly NFL recaps a second go. This time, he found his form and the 2018 season had \u201cjust enough craziness\u201d to give him fodder.<\/p>\n

In particular, he found a source of content with his beloved Steelers, which was a drama-laden mess in 2018. At first, it wasn\u2019t more than an extra two minutes to the recaps of the Steelers\u2019 games. But by Week 3, it got so long that he split it off into its own video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey nearly blew a 20-point lead to Tampa Bay,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I’m just sitting there like, \u2018Oh God, I got to split this off. Hopefully I’ll never do this again.\u2019 And then Week 4 happened, and Week 5 happened, and it just keeps going, off the field drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the drama affected their on-field performance and led to their late-season collapse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy like Week 17 and the beginning of the playoffs, I’m just like, \u2018Please stop,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018Please stop. For the love of God, I’m tired of doing this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then Antonio Brown keeps (it) going into the off season. It’s like, \u2018Jesus Christ. I’m not done? Fuck you!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers gave him an hour and 48 minutes of content for the 2018 season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These reasons for splitting off games into their own videos apply for his other series, too, such as \u201cDallas,\u201d \u201cSacksonville Abbey\u201d and \u201cThe Greatest Game.\u201d<\/p>\n

In which all optimism dies<\/h2>\n

Linkowski isn\u2019t above taking shots at himself. During an NHL trade deadline stream in 2019, he flipped out over the Pittsburgh Penguins acquiring defenseman Erik Gudbranson. The next day, he uploaded the snippet from the stream to his channel, titled it \u201cIn Which All Optimism Dies<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though his most famous video of this series is titled \u201cIn Which All Optimism Dies…Again<\/a>.\u201d This one featured his podcast co-host, FivePointsVids, and his reaction to his New York Giants drafting Daniel Jones, with the sixth overall pick, in the 2019 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

To date, Linkowski\u2019s uploaded five videos of this series. Three of them feature FPV\u2019s reactions.<\/p>\n

Long-term videos<\/h2>\n

Like many other sports YouTubers, Linkowski was affected by COVID-19 shutting down the sports world<\/a> on a scale not seen since the 9\/11 attacks. Though he waded through it better than others, because it let him work on long-term projects that he previously didn\u2019t have time to do.<\/p>\n

One of those was \u201cThe Toronto Maple Leafs: A Half-Century of Failure<\/a>,\u201d his longest video to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve wanted to make that for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was another bucket list vid of mine, for at least a couple of years, and I knew it was going to be at least 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

What drew him to it was the tenure of former team owner, Harold Ballard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dude was like a massive sexist,\u201d he said, \u201ca racist, like just that, (a) xenophobe, and not even by 2020 standards. This is by 1920 standards. He was bad and it just comes off, it’s just like… Seriously look up any of his stuff. It’s just like it doesn’t seem real. Like trading a good player and the best friend of the captain, because you think he’s gaining too much power in terms of labor negotiations, to try and one up him. And eventually break him to the point where you trade him for pennies on the dollar. Dave Keon, legitimately fucking him over for years to prevent him from going back to the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the credits roll<\/h2>\n

Years from now, when Linkowski sits on his rocking chair, reminisces about the \u201cgood ole days,\u201d he wants everyone to remember him \u201cjust as a shitposter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I’m just a dude,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m nothing that special. I just like, I shitpost on the internet. At the end of the day, it is what it is. It’s not like I’m trying to create this great legacy of me being a legend or anything like that. I feel like what I want to do is produce vids that don’t suck. I want to produce something that people want to watch, and that’s how it should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it’s just videos on the internet. It’s not like I’m reinventing the wheel or anything like that. I just, I shitpost about sports. And at the end of the day, it’s not really that serious. I hope it’s not that serious, because there’s far more important shit going on in the world, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: Interview with the man behind UrinatingTree, Steve Linkowski<\/a> (full interview)<\/strong><\/p>\n

TOP IMAGE: @FivePointsVids on Twitter<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Linkowski uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, “UrinatingTree,” titled \u201cThe Haters Guide to the 2017 NFL Playoffs,\u201d on Jan. 2, 2017. At the time, his subscriber count was somewhere between 550 to 650. The next day, he had a hundred more. \u201cI’m just sitting there like, \u2018What? Wait, what,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3353,"featured_media":8662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1446,1445,1444],"class_list":["post-8661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-profile","tag-steve-linkowski","tag-urinatingtree"],"modified_by":"Nathan Reynolds","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}