Meet the Blogger – Jackie Dawson

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Jackie for a while now, and I’m sure most of you have heard of her before as well. On twitter she’s known as @JackieDee16 and of all of us here at the Oilers Rig she by far has the most followers. In fact I recall she was named one of the top tweeters in Edmonton last year. But beyond her twitter persona, Jackie is a friend, she’s a great writer and someone we are all glad to have on board with us here at the Rig.

Here’s our interview;

When did you start writing about hockey? What got you into it?

­

I’ve always been a big hockey fan, I grew up watching it and I played it so it’s always been a big part of my life. I’ve also often thought about starting my own blog because writing (and talking) have always been passions of mine…regardless of the topic. In about 2011, I looked for ways to marry the two passions and I started reading articles that people had written about sports in general and wondered if there were any sites dedicated to the Oilers.

The first site I found was Oilogosphere.com, there were tons of writers and a point system based on top views and feedback on articles and I thought it looked pretty cool, but I didn’t see any women writers, so I approached Raine and asked if there was a chance that maybe I could write a blog or two. I wrote my first article and received a lot of positive feedback from writers on the site that were constantly posting blogs and gaining points. I took my cue from them and continued to write and as social media began to pick up steam, I joined twitter and started posting my articles there.

In 2013, I was approached by Melissa Andus from faceoffviolation.com, a site that had a webpage for every NHL team and was strictly female writers. She asked if I’d be interested in becoming the lead writer for the Edmonton Oilers page and Loyal To The Oil was born. I began to write post game blogs and opinion pieces and soon became so busy that I had to recruit two more writers into the mix to help me keep up. In October of 2013, I was approached by Dave Gordon at The Oilers Rig and started becoming more involved with the site as it started picking up steam and the rest is history.

Are there any writers that you look up to? If so, who are they and why?

I really enjoy articles from people that are willing to stir it up a bit and create controversy – not to the point of being antagonistic or arrogant, but just enough to say what’s on their mind, fully aware that they’re going to make fans angry and be confident enough to back it up. As for writers that I look up to, I can’t say that there is any one writer that I want to be like because I want my writing to reflect myself, but there are several writers that capitivate me and make me envious of both their writing style and knowledge of the game. A few examples are Jonathan Willis, Bruce McCurdy, Kady Hobbins, Lowetide and Jeff Chapman. They’re amazingly talented and if I could model my style after them while still maintaining my own twist on things, then I’d be a happy camper.

If you could give any advice to people interested in getting into writing about sports…what would it be?

If it’s something that you want to do, just go for it. People aren’t always going to like what you say and you need to develop a thick skin because you will receive negative feedback…there’s no getting away from it. Being a woman in the blogging world isn’t easy either. There are a lot of people who still apparently live in the 1950’s and believe women have no business even attempting to write and they will be twice as hard on you just so that they can attempt to prove that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Those people suck.

My advice – do what you love, and if it happens to be writing about hockey…so be it. However, make sure that you edit, re-read, edit, re-read and then edit again. Once you do post an article, be open to constructive criticism and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.

Do you specialize in types of writing (analytical, post/pre game blogs, prospects, opinion pieces…all of the above)?

I don’t specialize in anything except eating Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. I’ve got that down. When it comes to writing, I’m not huge into analytics only because I haven’t studied up on it. I prefer to write opinion pieces, generally based on something that happened during an Oilers game. Luckily (or unluckily) enough, the Oilers have sucked for the past 8 years so there’s always something to say. Most of my opinion pieces have stemmed from something that someone said that either pissed me off to no end and I just had to come up with a retort – or something that I completely agreed with and just felt as though I needed to reiterate it with my own spin. I also really enjoy doing pieces that get the readers involved. You’re nothing as a writer if you don’t have people reading your pieces, so if you can find a way to include them whether it’s doing polls, or contests – then you’re doing ok.

Do you have a favorite article that you’ve written or one that got a lot of positive feedback or criticism? Tell me a bit about it.

I have a lot of pieces that I’m really proud of, most of which are me purely venting my frustration and saying things about the Oilers or certain players that many people think, but would never say out loud (or on the interwebs). I’d have to say that the article that gained some serious momentum for me was one of the more recent articles I wrote surrounding Taylor Hall, Dallas Eakins and the water bottle throwing incident. This article helped break a single day viewing record on The Oilers Rig site and I couldn’t have been prouder. I stirred up some controversy that day and surprisingly, many agreed with me – I couldn’t believe it, I was sure that I’d have been burned at the stake for knocking the golden boy himself.

I also started The Oilers Rig’s Tears Fears and Cheers bi-weekly blogs. This series is basically a social media recap that highlights the best tweets and Facebook posts regarding the Oilers. I got the idea from reading the Edmonton Journal’s venting section and thought that it would be a good way to engage readers and get them involved. It has become quite popular and I’m happy to say that it will be back again next season.

What sites do you currently write for? Favorite team(s)?

I had my hand in a few sites at once but it was a lot to handle and I now write solely with The Oilers Rig. I am lucky enough to work with a great group of guys in Alex Thomas, Dave Gordon, Jeremy Wright, Shawn Kelemen and the very mysterious Romulus’ Apotheosis. I learn a lot from these guys and the support that I receive from them is second to none.

I was born and raised an Edmonton Oilers fan – and despite their less than stellar performance over the past decade (nearly), I will continue to cheer for them come hell or high water.

I’ve also been a fan of the Los Angeles Kings since Gretzky was traded there, so I consider them my second favorite team. When the two play each other – it’s no contest for me though, I’m cheering for the Oilers.

Where can we find you on social media? Twitter/Facebook etc

You can find me on Twitter at @jackiedee16 and occasionally tweeting from @TheOilersRig account.

On Facebook, I am generally found at The Oilers Rig messing around on our page.

Little known fact about Jackie, here at the Rig she has earned the nickname Fedex, because if any of us are trying to find something or do something related to the Rig and are having trouble, Just ask Jackie, she always delivers. She’s one hell of a woman to have in your corner, I’m sure glad she’s in ours.

Thanks for Reading.