Fantasy football takes over the lives of millions of Americans every year, along with this comes football experts who try to predict who will score the most points that week. Although the majority of these so-called experts struggle foretelling the incalculable statistics of the National Football League, some have it down to a science. This is what former LHS student Gage Gohl (who now attends Gustavus Adolphus College) has attempted by creating his social media brand, 1st and Gohl.
Gohl fell in love with sports at a young age, playing sports all the way up through the high school level and into college. He participated in varsity tennis and basketball at LHS where he won multiple state championships in tennis. In his free time, he consumed every bit of professional sports possible.
“I created a story on Snapchat in high school for anyone who wanted to join and listen to me talk about sports. After a couple years of that, people said I should create a platform for everyone to see, so I thought why not do it,” said Gohl.
Gohl went right to work, creating a YouTube channel, an Instagram account and a TikTok account all named 1st and Gohl (a play on words involving his last name and a football term, first and goal). He has created a small but lively community of sports fans, amassing almost 1,000 followers and subscribers across his social media platforms.
“I didn’t really have a goal to be honest. I just wanted to be able to interact with different people who shared the same interests as me,” said Gohl.
A short term objective for Gohl has been fantasy football oriented, helping fantasy owners win their leagues this year. With his advice, many of his followers have improved their odds of winning this season. On the other hand, Gohl looks to expand his platform to a wider array of topics in the world of athletics.
“Looking long term, my hope is to begin to have guest speakers on the channel and continue to broaden my topics from sport to sport to hopefully continue to get more people invested in the channel for the future,” said Gohl. With Gohl’s life being so busy, occupied by school and sports, finding time for 1st and Gohl can be difficult.
“Balancing school and videos is tough,” said Gohl. “Summer is a very easy time to study and analyze sports as much as I want, but once school starts all of my studying goes towards my classes and tennis. I try my best to find times where I’m not too busy to make some posts or shoot a quick video,” said Gohl.
1st and Gohl thrives on audacious yet informed predictions. With his Instagram bio reading: “A real analyst isn’t afraid to be wrong and stick out!” Gohl has certainly created some enemies with his bold predictions. His comment section accumulates many undesirable remarks regarding these statements. However, a wide range of opinions can also be healthy for a community such as Gohl’s.
“Sports are something that everyone has all sorts of different opinions on, so you always have different conversations you can have with so many people,” said Gohl.
Not listening to his fantasy football advice could end up badly for fantasy owners, and he even calls out bigger fantasy football creators when they are wrong. Gohl is quick to point out when he’s correct, as he did when he accurately called the decline of the Los Angeles Rams wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua: “I tried to warn you guys… I really did… there’s only so much I can do.”
Ultimately, a community to share his interests was all Gohl wanted for 1st and Gohl.
“This channel is just another way for me to be able to do what I love and hopefully involve other people who share the same interests as me,” said Gohl.
