Silas Bales, the media and news coordinator, uses the tags “sibales1” and “m6+2” depending on if you follow his fire Twitter account or are playing him in Super Smash Bros. He has been the media and news coordinator for the past two semesters and will be stepping down to study abroad at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan for the next year.
Bales has been not only an incredible leader (he was my editor for both OU Esports and OU Daily last semester), but he is also one of the most dedicated friends I know.
Bales is an adventurous person who always seeks out new experiences.
“I just really liked going on adventures, even not playing games,” Bales said. “I’ve always loved going and doing adventurous types of things.”
Fun fact: He saw 26 movies in theaters last year and also went to South Korea!
Growing up
Bales, originally from Dallas, started playing video games at the ripe young age of six. He would play web games on his mom’s computer, but unfortunately many of those websites contained some not child-appropriate ads (it should be noted Bales was not seeking these out, he only wanted to play games), which inclined Bales’ parents to get him a Wii.
“I just remember (the Wii) being the most awesome thing ever because I only had one friend who had a Wii at the time, it had just come out,” Bales said. “That was peak gaming.”
His favorite game by far was Super Mario Galaxy, which set his course to be a gamer.
Editor’s note: I actually think Galaxy 2 is the superior game. The first game got me too frustrated when I was little.
While the adventure of the game kept him a fan when he was little, present day Bales has found a new type of happiness in games.
“I normally just play all my games with friends, it’s kind of where I’ve found my happiness most days,” Bales said.
Bales also found happiness within the media and news team. Before that, he joined the OU Esports Discord server and found out about the Smash Bros. team.
He played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on his high school’s Esports team. After talking with some people from the team, he joined and kicked butt with Pokemon Trainer and would later go hard at Steve until Steve was banned.
He joined the news team in fall 2020, his freshman year. The team did not meet in person until spring 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic, but he was still able to be connected with the team.
Leader and friend
After ongoing changes to news and media, Bales would become the media and news coordinator in fall 2022.
Bales’ work includes reviews, spotlights and event coverage. He is also the culture editor at the OU Daily student newspaper and the best-selling author of When Eyes Cross.
One piece Bales particularly enjoyed was event coverage for the in-person Esports Bedlam held at Stillwater in 2021. The event was a fun time for everyone to come together after so long of isolation.
“I think it was something that proves what we can do is special,” Bales said.
But Bales’ favorite part is the media and news team members themselves. The team hosts some of his best friends.
“It’s nice to see a few familiar faces once a week. You can talk about something that you all really enjoy, not just games, but also content and media news… but really the core importance for me is the people.”
Bales always asks how your day is going and if there is anything he can do to help. He’s probably the best storyteller ever, and I don’t just mean in article writing, but he always has a new and funny story to tell.
I consider Bales as one of my closest friends, and while I am sad to see him leave the States, I’m so glad he gets to live out his dream of traveling the world. I’ll finish with a quote from him:
”“There’s so many people that have come and gone, maybe just for weeks at a time, but those are the people and the reasons why I’ve stayed for three years.”
Good luck in Japan to our man, the media and news team wishes you nothing but the best.
