WEBVTT 00:00:13.520 --> 00:00:16.199 Hello and welcome to Good News York. Thank you 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:18.559 so much for tuning in I'm your host Danny Tripodi 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:22.899 and I'm super excited to Introduce the man the 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:25.359 myth the legend Rob O 'Connor. Thank you so much 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.260 for for coming Rob. How are you? I'm great, man. 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:30.280 Thanks for having me. This is exciting. Yeah, 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:34.520 yeah, definitely so Rob I know about elite gaming, 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.359 but tell people that might not know about elite 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.060 gaming. Yeah, there's a lot of misconceptions 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:43.100 about what we are. It's hard to describe to people 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:46.159 what we do without actually being there. A lot 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.359 of people have preconceived notions. They either 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.820 think we're like a Dave and Busters. or an internet 00:00:51.820 --> 00:00:54.439 cafe from years ago where you go check your AOL 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:58.759 email, right? But we're very much more of an 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.659 advanced or not professional gaming center, but 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:05.260 more advanced gaming center. And we also do a 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:09.640 lot with STEM, CTE, and technical careers as 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:11.900 well, because it's all related, right? When you're 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:15.849 playing games, you're... Excited about technology 00:01:15.849 --> 00:01:18.049 usually so you want to learn about technology. 00:01:18.049 --> 00:01:20.549 In fact this morning We have a field trip there 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:23.730 and we're going we're doing some fun minecraft 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:26.739 Programming and things with the kids. So it's 00:01:26.739 --> 00:01:28.819 really exciting. So it's a little bit of everything 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:33.040 really we do a lot of events we do You know, 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:35.700 we teach kids how to do exactly what we're doing 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:38.599 now with podcasting We have a content creator 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:41.900 studio there for them. We do video streaming 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:44.959 So like when we're playing matches for eSports, 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:47.019 we stream them out on our twitch and YouTube 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:49.319 channel So we teach students how to do that. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.719 We also have dipped our toes into drones and 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.719 Lego robot because it's all related, right? I 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:59.260 mean, we're living in a technological society 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:02.400 and now we're technically, you know, in the micron 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.079 era, right? So here we are. That is fantastic, 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:11.680 Rob. What made you want to start Elite Gaming? 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:17.189 Oh, man. Do we have long enough? But well, it 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:19.849 was really a passion for gaming that really got 00:02:19.849 --> 00:02:22.669 me and my business partner, Matt, excited about 00:02:22.669 --> 00:02:25.610 it and started. We actually started talking about 00:02:25.610 --> 00:02:28.909 this like pre COVID doing something like this. 00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:32.169 And originally, it was just going to be an event 00:02:32.169 --> 00:02:34.449 we were just going to do. And that was before 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:37.490 we even knew about retro game con, which is an 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:39.669 amazing event, by the way, we go on and on about 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:44.509 that. But We're just like getting like a like 00:02:44.509 --> 00:02:47.289 a eSports tournament and a little bit of a trade 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:49.909 show thing You know for more of like the you 00:02:49.909 --> 00:02:51.990 know, the eSports and gaming video gaming the 00:02:51.990 --> 00:02:54.889 modern games type stuff but as we got into it 00:02:54.889 --> 00:02:58.090 we realized that Syracuse really didn't have 00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:01.750 a Big community for that or a place for the community 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:05.430 to get together for those type of games So we 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:07.689 said we you know, we we kicked around some ideas 00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.199 and we decided well everything's kind of shut 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:12.939 down now, so we really can't do anything. Let's 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:16.199 travel around a little bit and tour some facilities 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:20.159 that do esports and find out what they're doing 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.780 right, what they're doing wrong, what their challenges 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:25.180 are, what their successes are, and maybe we can 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:27.960 make something work. And you know, after three 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:31.120 or four years, COVID finally started dying down, 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:36.080 so we took the plunge. moved into the most museum. 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:37.919 We run it a wing there for a year and a half. 00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:41.960 We had like 20 PCs, a small stage. And we quickly 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.439 realized we had some people come in doing tours. 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:48.080 And some of those people were educators, principals, 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.419 school administrators. And we quickly realized 00:03:51.419 --> 00:03:53.979 that there was a need or there was a definitely 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:56.280 an interest from school districts to figure out 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.219 how to engage their kids because they're gamers 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:02.530 anyways, right? They're going home gaming. And 00:04:02.530 --> 00:04:05.650 a lot of these kids are not engaged with school. 00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:07.849 You know, they're just they're not traditional 00:04:07.849 --> 00:04:11.349 sports kids, right? Yep. So that's kind of how 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:16.089 we kind of took our spin into where we are now. 00:04:16.689 --> 00:04:19.649 We quickly outgrew our space. We now have 60 00:04:19.649 --> 00:04:23.269 PCs and a bunch of consoles and things like that. 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:26.170 So that's kind of in a nutshell. That's how we 00:04:26.170 --> 00:04:29.600 started. Nice. That is fantastic. I mean, and 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:34.000 it is a beautiful facility if for people at home 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.920 watching it. It's so impressive that Syracuse 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.420 has something like this and I think it's something 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:43.860 that kind of mystifies the older generation because 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:45.339 they're like Well, what are they doing down there? 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:47.660 But that leads me into my next question What 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:51.600 is something that most folks get wrong about 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.660 the younger generation and gaming because you 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:55.740 know, I've heard it before It's like ah these 00:04:55.740 --> 00:04:57.800 kids they're always on their computers that I 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:58.720 don't know what they're doing. They're playing 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.160 the fortnight Could you talk about that a little 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:05.959 bit? That's exactly what they say to you. Yeah, 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.139 there's a lot of, you know, for the last, I don't 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:12.740 know how many decades and decades it's been pounded 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:15.680 into their heads that gaming is the devil. You 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.100 know, it'll rot your brain. You're going to end 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:20.220 up smoking weed in your mom's basement the rest 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:22.720 of your life. And, you know, you're going to 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.399 be unhealthy. Your your brain is going to rot. 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:29.100 So. It couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:31.180 you know those stereotypes are stereotypes for 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:33.560 a reason because obviously that did happen, right? 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.100 But now it's evolved so much even in the last 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:42.439 five years. It's evolved so much that it's really 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:46.699 cool when we finally get like a parent or a teacher 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:50.220 or a Superintended a school superintendent there. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:53.480 Yeah, and they see our space. They see the kids 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:57.800 interacting with each other they see That it's 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.800 more than just video games. I had one dad come 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.079 in or me was a teacher Come in and says I don't 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:05.199 understand what they're doing. All they're doing 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:07.579 is mashing buttons They're not really doing anything 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:09.939 and I'm like, well, that's like saying chess 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:11.980 is moving pieces of plastic around on a piece 00:06:11.980 --> 00:06:14.939 of wood Yeah, I said we on the surface. Yes, 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.519 that's what it looks like but if you take a minute 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.360 step back get rid of your preconceived notions 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.879 and Take a deeper look at it and really understand 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.300 what's going on. It's way more than that And 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:30.379 conversely, we've had moms come in after their 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:32.040 son or daughter has been in our program for a 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.800 while, like tearing up because their son or daughter 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.899 has done like a 180. You know, their personality 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:40.040 is coming out. They have friends. They're looking 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.540 forward to going to school. They're engaged. 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:46.160 Their grades are going up. They want to go to 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.439 school because they can participate in this. 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:51.420 They have a friend group. Their confidence is 00:06:51.420 --> 00:06:54.120 rising. And now like, oh my God, they're thinking 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.829 about college. They didn't think about college 00:06:56.829 --> 00:06:59.050 before. That's amazing. Right. And there's now 00:06:59.050 --> 00:07:02.889 college programs for esports, right? Oh, hundreds 00:07:02.889 --> 00:07:05.910 and hundreds. It's amazing. It's basically like 00:07:05.910 --> 00:07:09.850 it's the new age athlete, you know, esports player. 00:07:10.529 --> 00:07:13.810 Yeah, for sure. I mean, as of the last time I 00:07:13.810 --> 00:07:17.430 ran some reports, there's over 200 colleges nationwide 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:21.990 that are actively recruiting with scholarships. 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:25.819 Really? Four students, right? SU is one of them. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:28.360 Yeah, I was familiar about that. That's crazy. 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:30.600 I didn't realize the number, though. 200 schools? 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:35.279 Plus. Wow. Yeah. Yep. And last year, they awarded 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:40.000 about $25 million in scholarships. Wow. So, and 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.439 these aren't pro esports players. A lot of people 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:44.100 think you have to be a pro player. Right. You 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:47.459 don't. Yeah. If you do well in high school... 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:50.279 you get recruited, you just continue to play 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.240 in college. You don't have to be a pro that goes 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.060 to the big multi -million dollar tournaments 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:57.879 and stuff like that. You don't have to be. But 00:07:57.879 --> 00:07:59.879 that's the exciting part. And what's cool about 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:01.839 it is a lot of people think, again, that if you 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:03.939 go to school and you play esports, you gotta 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:05.939 do something. You gotta be a computer programmer 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.560 or a computer science major or whatever. No, 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:13.060 you can be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, and 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:15.750 still play esports. Yeah, it's just a sport. 00:08:15.889 --> 00:08:17.350 Yeah, it's just like all the football players 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:19.610 up at SU they don't they're not going to school 00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:23.430 to be a football coach. Yep. Right. So it's the 00:08:23.430 --> 00:08:26.449 same sort of thing. But we're noticing the the 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:30.290 preconceived notions are slowly slipping away. 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:33.809 The older even some of the older generations 00:08:33.809 --> 00:08:38.730 have that light bulb moment where like, oh, okay. 00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:41.230 Yeah, you know, and what I really enjoy is when 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:46.840 mom and dad come in. and they see their son or 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.840 daughter competing, you know, in our facility 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:54.480 and, you know, high fiving their friends, you 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.720 know, walking, maybe walking away with a trophy 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:59.259 and getting their pictures taken and, you know, 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:02.340 things like that. It really that's the light 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:05.080 bulb moment that we like live for. Yeah, because 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.580 they realize that their son or daughter has found 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:09.919 something. They found their tribe. They found 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.419 their people. You know, the saying I use is when 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:14.019 you're in a room full of nerds, you're not a 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:16.360 nerd anymore. You're just like everybody else 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.639 sitting next to you. I like that. And as a parent, 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:21.759 that's all you really want for your kids is to 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.039 be happy, healthy, and to have a productive life 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:27.440 and be excited about getting up every morning. 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:32.620 Yeah, absolutely. No, that is fantastic. So I 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.679 was going to ask you, can you tell me about a 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.950 moment or a student that... remembered why your 00:09:40.950 --> 00:09:42.850 work matters, but I think you kind of answered 00:09:42.850 --> 00:09:46.110 that. If you do, though, is there one that really 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:48.789 stuck out to you? There's been actually quite 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:52.529 a few, actually, which is exciting to say. Nice. 00:09:53.169 --> 00:09:56.909 Yeah, there was one kid he graduated last year 00:09:56.909 --> 00:09:59.809 when he first came to us when he was a freshman. 00:10:01.029 --> 00:10:02.809 Wasn't going he didn't go to school the first 00:10:02.809 --> 00:10:05.990 like three weeks of school. Wow. Um, Syracuse 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:07.750 city school student didn't go to school for the 00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:09.350 first three weeks of school. And then he decided 00:10:09.350 --> 00:10:12.009 to show up at our place. I'm like, well, that's 00:10:12.009 --> 00:10:14.049 great. You're here, but you can't stay. You have 00:10:14.049 --> 00:10:16.730 to go to school in order to be part of this. 00:10:16.990 --> 00:10:19.330 Okay. I'll go to school. So now he started going 00:10:19.330 --> 00:10:21.610 to school. So he's going to school on a regular 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:24.250 basis, which wasn't happening before. He was 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:26.590 having a good time at e -sports, making friends. 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:29.929 And then we get it as, you know, they have to 00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:32.950 read, do it. Give us the report cards. They can't 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:35.570 come unless they have good grades. So his grades 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:37.370 weren't great. After a little while, we're like, 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:40.269 well, you got to get your grades up, dude. You 00:10:40.269 --> 00:10:43.029 can't. You got to hit the pause button with esports. 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:47.110 Got to get your grades up. OK, fine. Next semester, 00:10:47.389 --> 00:10:51.190 his grades were fine. Going to school. Came in. 00:10:52.169 --> 00:10:54.490 He got in trouble one day doing something he 00:10:54.490 --> 00:10:55.710 shouldn't have done in school. I don't even know 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:59.029 what it was. Sorry, dude. You're on probation 00:10:59.029 --> 00:11:03.919 at school. Can't come in. Yeah. Okay, fine. I 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:05.600 won't get in trouble, you know, whatever. Yeah, 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.279 so fast forward four years He's now in college 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.600 for computer science doing eSports in college 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:16.539 So that's amazing. It's it's pretty cool. And 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:19.299 like I said, he isn't the only one but he was 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:22.059 kind of like our first one Yeah, we currently 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:26.320 have a Syracuse City School senior Being actively 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.500 recruited by SU really to play Super Smash Bros. 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:33.759 Nice And SU currently has the number one Smash 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.480 player in North America. Really? Up there. On 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.960 a full scholarship. Wow. A full scholarship to 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.179 SU. Yep. By playing Smash Bros. Yep. That is 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:45.960 amazing. It's crazy, right? Man, my parents. 00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:49.360 They lied to me. They said, you gotta get up. 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:52.460 Video games aren't gonna pay the bills. Man, 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:55.820 I'm jealous. That's amazing though. And the other 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:59.259 story, I mean, you guys helped change that trajectory 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:04.620 of that guy's life. I'd like to think we helped 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:06.940 a little bit. I can't take full credit for it, 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:11.809 but if we can change a few lives. I mean, finding 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:14.450 a community, like you were saying, where you 00:12:14.450 --> 00:12:17.169 don't feel alienated, I'm sure that had to have 00:12:17.169 --> 00:12:19.850 felt good and reason why he kept coming back, 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:22.190 you know? Yeah, yeah, I think that's a big part 00:12:22.190 --> 00:12:24.330 of it. Yeah, because you have common ground with 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:26.389 everybody in the room, right? Whether you play 00:12:26.389 --> 00:12:29.429 Smash or Rocket League or Fortnite or, you know, 00:12:29.490 --> 00:12:32.470 Rivals, you all have some common ground. You 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:34.490 know, you're all there, you're competing against 00:12:34.490 --> 00:12:37.149 other schools and, you know, and they don't just 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:38.850 come, a lot of people think that they just come 00:12:38.850 --> 00:12:41.039 and hang out and play games. That isn't what 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:45.139 we do there. We It's very structured. We have 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:48.039 practices We have scrimmages and then we have 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:50.639 matches against other high schools. So it's it's 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:52.899 very structured It's very much like a ball sport 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:56.399 structure. Yeah You know and we hold them accountable 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.279 just like I explained. Yeah grades attendance 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:02.679 discipline You got to be on point or else you 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.279 can't be part of a team and and part of what 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.360 a big one of our biggest challenges if I'm being 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:13.019 perfectly transparent is The kids who come to 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:15.799 us initially aren't used to being part of a team 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:19.440 Right gamers aren't right. You're at home usually 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.539 by yourself Yeah in your room bedroom, whatever 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:25.059 and you're communicating with people But you're 00:13:25.059 --> 00:13:27.000 not used to being in the same room with them 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.039 and communicating with them and being part of 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.960 a regular Team yeah, right. So that's a different 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:37.799 dynamic that a lot of kids aren't used to yeah, 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.600 but They learn how to do that, right? They learn 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.379 how to be accountable to their teammates, you 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:45.879 know, you're playing rivals You have five other 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:49.080 teammates. Yeah, right and you play usually you 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:51.919 play a very specific role Yep, whether you're 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.320 a tank or whatever, right? And your team counts 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.240 on you to be there when you have a match against 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.379 another school and they expect you to show up 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:02.080 to practices so you know what the other teammates 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.500 are doing and build your skills together. So 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:08.059 that's a dynamic that we tend to have to work 00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:12.600 on quite a bit. But guess what? That's an employable 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.820 skill that these kids have to learn. Absolutely. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:19.200 Could you talk a little bit more about that? 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.700 Because being a gamer myself, I have a little 00:14:22.700 --> 00:14:24.820 bit of a bias towards other video game players 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:29.289 because That's something that I know that these 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:31.990 younger generation have a lot more of is being 00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:35.490 able to communicate with one another. Just being 00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:38.409 a team player from from this aspect of e -sports 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:41.009 and like working together to accomplish something 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:43.570 or win it at games. You know, could you talk 00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:47.509 a little bit about that? Yeah, I mean, it's the 00:14:47.509 --> 00:14:51.279 the communication skills. We've talked to a lot 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.940 of colleges, SU, Herkimer, we work with those 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:55.980 folks. We've talked to a lot of the SUNY schools. 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:01.120 Their biggest shortfall they see with high school 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:04.179 students coming into colleges, lack of, they're 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:07.019 not prepared for that environment, right? Their 00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:10.279 lack of communication skills, their lack of time 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:14.039 management, right? Their problem -solving skills, 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:18.559 their critical thinking skills, motivation, right? 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:22.929 All that stuff is baked into eSports. I mean 00:15:22.929 --> 00:15:25.750 in any traditional ball sport as well. Yeah. 00:15:25.750 --> 00:15:29.289 You know, I have two boys two sons 28 and 24 00:15:29.289 --> 00:15:31.110 now they're off doing their own thing now. Yeah, 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:34.049 but my oldest this is before eSports They're 00:15:34.049 --> 00:15:36.570 both gamers by the way grew up gaming with them 00:15:36.570 --> 00:15:39.370 on my lap we had tons of fun ratchet and clank 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:41.750 and Jack and Daxter and you know all those games 00:15:41.750 --> 00:15:47.649 and But in school my oldest found marching band 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.200 Nice loved it. He started out when he was in 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:51.960 seventh grade all the way through high school 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:53.840 had a great experience He learned a lot of life 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:56.120 lessons He learned how to interact with people 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:58.019 how to interact with people you didn't necessarily 00:15:58.019 --> 00:16:01.320 get along with Right how to resolve those conflicts 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:04.279 and kind of put him aside and focus on the work. 00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:07.659 Yep And then my youngest was a soccer and lacrosse 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:11.480 kid. So he experienced stuff that way. Yep But 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.269 my point is is they're both well -rounded young 00:16:15.269 --> 00:16:16.970 men, at least I think they are, they're doing 00:16:16.970 --> 00:16:20.230 well. And I think a large part of that is because 00:16:20.230 --> 00:16:23.570 of what they experience at school and all those 00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:25.990 lessons they learned. How to be coachable, how 00:16:25.990 --> 00:16:28.110 to show up on time, how to be ready to work when 00:16:28.110 --> 00:16:30.950 you show up. Those are all skills that unfortunately 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:34.809 a lot of the gamer kids aren't exposed to because 00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:38.240 a lot of high schools in... and other things 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.200 don't have those kind of activities for them 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.659 to do. So they're just kind of filtering around, 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.659 right? They're on the fringes. Esports captures 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:48.299 those kids that are just kind of on the fringes. 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:52.679 Just my head is full of statistics. They're in 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.679 New York State alone. There are between 500 ,000 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:00.440 and 600 ,000 students who do not participate 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.380 in any after school activity. So that's a half 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:07.759 a million students. that do not participate in 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.319 any school activities. So those are the kids 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.059 that are not experiencing everything they need 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:17.619 to experience to be successful later on, right? 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.220 They're missing all that, those soft skills. 00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:25.180 They learn, they're usually pretty good at the 00:17:25.180 --> 00:17:30.319 technical stuff. But all those soft skills, they're 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.119 kind of missing out on because they're not involved 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:34.619 in anything, because they go to school sometimes. 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:40.119 and they get good grades sometimes. And they 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:42.339 just kind of do their thing. They're just on 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.400 the fringes. And honestly, I was one of those 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.740 kids in school. I didn't play traditional sports. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.400 And I had a small friend group. I didn't do much. 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:52.859 I went home and rode my bike a lot. You know, 00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:57.359 that's what we did back then. But now because 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.460 kids go home and play games, they're comfortable 00:17:59.460 --> 00:18:02.500 there and that's okay. Getting them out of their 00:18:02.500 --> 00:18:05.490 comfort zone. Getting them involved with other 00:18:05.490 --> 00:18:10.009 people, you know and and and learning how to 00:18:10.009 --> 00:18:12.450 interact with people is a big thing because College, 00:18:12.509 --> 00:18:13.769 you know when you go to college you got to learn 00:18:13.769 --> 00:18:15.869 that because you're you're in the mix You're 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:17.809 not in high school anymore. Your professors are 00:18:17.809 --> 00:18:19.630 not looking over your shoulder saying no you 00:18:19.630 --> 00:18:22.109 need to redo this You need to redo that you hand 00:18:22.109 --> 00:18:24.730 in your paper. You get an F. The professor says 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:27.730 Better luck next time. Yep, right. Yeah, right 00:18:27.730 --> 00:18:29.349 and you're responsible on your own. You're in 00:18:29.349 --> 00:18:32.259 the dorm room Nobody's your mom isn't shaking 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:34.579 you to wake you up. You know, the bus is around 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:39.019 the corner. Yeah, so Being involved with stuff 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:41.220 like this and not just esports any after -school 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:44.920 activity Yeah makes kids better students and 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:48.299 they learn employable skills, too. I love it 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:51.500 So tell me what gives you the most hope about 00:18:51.500 --> 00:18:54.180 the future of what you're building at elite gaming 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:58.720 hmm, I I hope that we're making a difference 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:06.059 to some some kids. Yeah. And I hope that that 00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:09.619 eventually the tides will turn and video game 00:19:09.619 --> 00:19:11.859 playing video games won't be looked down upon. 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:16.079 It'll be looked at not even superior, but just 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.519 on the same level as a lot of other activities, 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.660 you know? Yeah, because I mean, you know, you 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:23.380 play video games, people when you tell people, 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:25.240 Oh, yeah, I was playing battlefield last night 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:29.880 like, Oh, right. nerd, you know, or you know, 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.319 I was playing Baldur's Gate or whatever you're 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:38.000 into, you know, there's still that negative stigma. 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:42.000 So hopefully we can change that too. But more 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:47.000 importantly, I hope that we can help kids find 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.640 their place, find their where they're comfortable 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:54.859 at and really excel and do well and Like every 00:19:54.859 --> 00:19:57.359 parent wants their kids to be happy, healthy, 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:01.039 excited, make a good living, and be a productive 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.339 member of society. And if we can do that through 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:08.319 what we're doing at Elite, I'm all for it. That 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:12.259 is fantastic, Rob. I truly, I wish you did this 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:14.759 a little bit sooner when I was in school. I get 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:18.299 that a lot. I get that a lot. I think being envious 00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:23.259 of it is hopefully it's a compliment. So before 00:20:23.259 --> 00:20:26.849 I let you go. Yeah. I have to do this to you. 00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:29.710 Sure. I came up with a few questions last night, 00:20:29.789 --> 00:20:32.450 just five questions, and I want to do kind of 00:20:32.450 --> 00:20:34.750 a rapid fire thing. I didn't print these out 00:20:34.750 --> 00:20:36.549 for my note card, so I apologize. That's all 00:20:36.549 --> 00:20:41.150 right. Go for it. So just off the top of your 00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:44.470 head. Are you ready? Yeah. What is the best video 00:20:44.470 --> 00:20:50.170 game of all time, according to Rob? Well, long 00:20:50.170 --> 00:20:54.420 answer is I have the best memories. Playing with 00:20:54.420 --> 00:21:01.839 my boys. Okay, so and we probably played Sly 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:04.720 Cooper Sly Cooper. Yep. Okay, it's like Cooper. 00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:09.940 Yep. In fact, I was just at I'm getting the name 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:14.920 wrong mega Who's Alex's in Sun's place? Oh Megaton 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:17.519 Megaton games. Yes. I was just there. Yep earlier 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.039 this week I bought a ps3 disc with all three 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.569 of the Sly Cooper games on it nice And I'm going 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:26.069 to I'm going to do them again. I love it. Yeah. 00:21:26.130 --> 00:21:29.170 Number two, Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo. What 00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:31.829 do you prefer? I'm a PlayStation guy. PlayStation 00:21:31.829 --> 00:21:33.670 guy. PlayStation guy. Always have been. I've 00:21:33.670 --> 00:21:37.910 had a PS one all the way to now PS five. Really? 00:21:38.109 --> 00:21:41.410 Yeah. I've never and I have access to PCs. Yeah. 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:45.890 I was waiting for you to say PC Master Race. 00:21:46.230 --> 00:21:50.049 No, no. Yeah. Number three, what matters more 00:21:50.049 --> 00:21:53.230 gameplay or graphics? You're a gameplay guy or 00:21:53.230 --> 00:21:57.430 does it gotta look really pretty? Wow. Graphics 00:21:57.430 --> 00:22:02.109 grab me first when I'm watching a trailer or 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:05.690 a screenshot, but the gameplay I think is more 00:22:05.690 --> 00:22:08.470 important. I love it. The graphics grab you, 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:12.710 but if the gameplay is crap, I'm on to the next 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:16.430 game. Two more. Tekken, Mortal Kombat, or Street 00:22:16.430 --> 00:22:20.190 Fighter? I gotta go Street Fighter because I 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:22.269 played it in the arcades. Growing up. Yeah, and 00:22:22.269 --> 00:22:24.390 the on the cabinets man. So you're an OG. Yeah. 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:27.789 Yeah, I suck at it I'm horrible at it. My muscle 00:22:27.789 --> 00:22:31.569 memory is not good at all I even screw up now 00:22:31.569 --> 00:22:33.029 when I'm playing battlefield or whatever, right? 00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:36.069 I I go to reload but I'm now I've got a rocket 00:22:36.069 --> 00:22:39.170 launcher on my shoulder. So I'm horrible at that 00:22:39.170 --> 00:22:41.170 stuff because those type of games I'm horrible 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:49.569 at What What game franchise has the most toxic 00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:58.980 fan base? Oh Geez It's it's a big one There's 00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:02.579 two yeah, there's two that stand out to me I 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:06.259 want to say I want to say call duty. Okay, and 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:09.880 and for tonight for tonight. Okay, dude. Yeah 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:14.400 and Yeah, yeah, it gets a little sweaty it gets 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.940 it gets toxic man. It does you know, but to back 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:21.519 up a little bit too, and part of what we're doing 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.539 at Elite, not to get back into that, but we teach 00:23:24.539 --> 00:23:27.039 kids how to be responsible digital citizens. 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.480 So there's no toxicity allowed. It's so important. 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:35.000 It is. We're slowly changing the culture because 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:37.519 now we're actually, another big thing we do is 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.119 we help school districts start eSports programs. 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:44.099 We do everything. We go in and they tell us, 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:46.319 here's a classroom. We want an eSports program. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.200 We design everything from the floor up. We sell 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.220 them the chairs, the desks, the PCs, the consoles, 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:57.359 monitors, headsets, gaming mice, whatever. And 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:00.740 then after that, we help them build the program 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:05.119 the proper way. Because there's been a lot of 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:07.500 schools that have tried it. They hopped on that 00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:10.680 trend. They fell right on their face because 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:12.940 they didn't know what they were doing. Usually 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:16.579 a teacher was kind of voluntold that you're the 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:19.220 eSports coach. Hey nerd, come over here. That's 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:21.299 exactly what happened. Bill, you know Mario Kart, 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:24.579 right? Right. That's exactly what happened. And 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:29.000 again, gamers in that generation, the teaching 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:30.900 generation, 30s or something like that, they 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:33.180 didn't grow up being part of a team again, right? 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:35.599 So they don't know the team dynamic. So that's 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:38.609 what we do is we help them. get started, we help 00:24:38.609 --> 00:24:41.470 them be successful. We have support for the teachers, 00:24:41.630 --> 00:24:45.410 the coaches. Yeah. And we do have actually have 00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:48.750 one on one or digital coaching for the students. 00:24:49.069 --> 00:24:52.549 Really? Yep. And then we we have reporting back 00:24:52.549 --> 00:24:55.650 to the administration and we really make sure 00:24:55.650 --> 00:24:58.990 it's successful. The the analogy I use with schools 00:24:58.990 --> 00:25:01.690 is like, if they don't have a football program 00:25:01.690 --> 00:25:03.569 and they decide to start a football program. 00:25:03.750 --> 00:25:07.130 Yeah. and you pull up with a truckload of helmets 00:25:07.130 --> 00:25:10.730 and pads and then say drive off and say good 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:13.690 luck. That's exactly what schools are doing when 00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:15.410 they buy computer because you can buy computer 00:25:15.410 --> 00:25:17.509 equipment anywhere. Yeah, you go to Amazon and 00:25:17.509 --> 00:25:21.470 buy computers, right? I mean, it's everything 00:25:21.470 --> 00:25:24.769 afterwards to engage the students and to run 00:25:24.769 --> 00:25:28.130 a structured program. And that's where they start 00:25:28.130 --> 00:25:29.890 seeing the benefits. If they're just showing 00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:32.509 up and playing games like they do at home. Yeah. 00:25:33.390 --> 00:25:35.650 What's the point? Right. School administrators 00:25:35.650 --> 00:25:37.890 kind of lose interest. Teachers lose interest. 00:25:37.950 --> 00:25:39.829 They get burnt out and then the program fizzles 00:25:39.829 --> 00:25:42.490 out. Next thing you know, the secretary has an 00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:45.470 Alienware computer on their desk, right? You 00:25:45.470 --> 00:25:46.750 know, because they're like, what do we do with 00:25:46.750 --> 00:25:49.809 these things? And that's not exaggerating. That 00:25:49.809 --> 00:25:52.789 has happened. I've seen it. I believe I walk 00:25:52.789 --> 00:25:55.470 into the reception office and there's an Alienware 00:25:55.470 --> 00:25:59.829 computer and she's doing Microsoft Word. Outlook. 00:25:59.970 --> 00:26:06.880 This outlook screams on this. So we're there 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.500 to help school districts get started and do it 00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:10.779 the right way, because you can do it the wrong 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:17.839 way really quickly. And now we're getting into 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:22.150 a STEM, CTE, and AI. Programming that the schools 00:26:22.150 --> 00:26:24.930 can do with their gaming PC. Really? Could you 00:26:24.930 --> 00:26:27.450 talk a little bit about that? Yeah is the big 00:26:27.450 --> 00:26:30.349 that's a huge buzzword right now I feel like 00:26:30.349 --> 00:26:32.250 a lot of people want AI, but they don't know 00:26:32.250 --> 00:26:34.890 exactly what a right. Yeah, you talk a little 00:26:34.890 --> 00:26:36.890 bit We like robots. We don't like robots, you 00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:40.269 know, what do we do? Yeah. Yeah, so there's actually 00:26:40.269 --> 00:26:45.829 there's several Game development AI tools right 00:26:45.829 --> 00:26:50.170 now. Yeah, where a student can go in and write 00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:54.490 some prompts. And literally, the AI will develop 00:26:54.490 --> 00:26:57.490 the game for them. Wow. And then what the exciting 00:26:57.490 --> 00:26:59.349 part is, is then they get the gameplay, right? 00:26:59.410 --> 00:27:01.309 They type some prompts, and they say, I want 00:27:01.309 --> 00:27:05.269 to do a parkour, you know, Minecraft style parkour 00:27:05.269 --> 00:27:09.049 course, with this, this and this. Yeah. AI generates 00:27:09.049 --> 00:27:11.569 that for them. Then they get to play it. And 00:27:11.569 --> 00:27:14.730 they say, like, okay, well, but then here's the 00:27:14.730 --> 00:27:17.230 exciting part is, you then you task the student 00:27:17.230 --> 00:27:20.210 like, well, do you think You know, how come you 00:27:20.210 --> 00:27:22.150 don't have a starting line? Do you need a timer? 00:27:22.569 --> 00:27:25.190 Do you need this, you know? So what the AI does 00:27:25.190 --> 00:27:27.849 it takes away all the mundane, you know Python 00:27:27.849 --> 00:27:30.529 programming and stuff, you know, but it lets 00:27:30.529 --> 00:27:33.549 them concentrate on being creative The gameplay 00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:36.250 right like we talked about not so much the graphics 00:27:36.250 --> 00:27:38.170 and the environment that'll come later Yeah, 00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:40.950 it's more about the logic in the gameplay, right? 00:27:41.069 --> 00:27:44.710 So you're you're kind of You're kind of you're 00:27:44.710 --> 00:27:46.509 kind of programming. You know, you're kind of 00:27:46.509 --> 00:27:48.640 doing those if then statements, but yeah you're 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.920 not actually typing them out. It reminds me of 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:54.039 the old typing games that they would train little 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:56.539 kids, you know, like a K through third, you'd 00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.420 have to type out the words. It's like a more 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:00.319 advanced version of that. So they're learning 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.099 those skills without actually thinking about 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:04.819 it. Right. Right. That's fantastic. I mean, because 00:28:04.819 --> 00:28:06.900 because realistically, I mean, if you if we don't 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:09.660 want to be perfectly transparent. Yeah. Computer 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:13.000 science, computer programmers, those kind of 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.359 jobs are going to be definitely affected by AI. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.599 Right. So for being honest, That's the way it 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:21.799 is. But they're not predicting that AI is going 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:25.559 to be as creative as humans are. They're not 00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:28.039 going to know how other humans want to interact 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:31.839 with a game. They just do what they're told. 00:28:32.579 --> 00:28:35.319 So there's always going to be a place for that. 00:28:35.859 --> 00:28:41.180 So it's more of an AI augmented type thing than 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:45.519 just AI doing game development. And there's going 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:48.329 to need to be a workforce to do that, you know, 00:28:48.410 --> 00:28:51.150 it's just like the analogy. You know, people 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:53.690 are, you know, really scared of AI and, you know, 00:28:53.990 --> 00:28:56.250 and roughly so in some degree, you know, it's 00:28:56.250 --> 00:28:59.069 valid. But, you know, the same thing can be said 00:28:59.069 --> 00:29:02.250 about, you know, when Henry Ford started making 00:29:02.250 --> 00:29:04.529 cars. It's true. People are petrified of those 00:29:04.529 --> 00:29:07.470 horse market went downhill. Right. Literally. 00:29:07.869 --> 00:29:10.609 Right. Yeah. And, you know, all the all this 00:29:10.609 --> 00:29:14.789 industry around horses equine. Yep. Gone. Literally 00:29:14.789 --> 00:29:17.690 almost overnight. Yep. as soon as Ford got that 00:29:17.690 --> 00:29:21.309 factory running. Yeah. So, you know, there's 00:29:21.309 --> 00:29:22.650 going to be another shift. It's going to be a 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:27.549 pretty seismic shift. Yeah. But I think kids 00:29:27.549 --> 00:29:31.750 that are embracing technology and those are our 00:29:31.750 --> 00:29:35.549 e -sports kids. Yeah. Embracing technology, learning 00:29:35.549 --> 00:29:40.490 about it, doing it the right way are going to 00:29:40.490 --> 00:29:44.809 be successful. Right. And and gamers. are three 00:29:44.809 --> 00:29:47.150 times more likely to become engineers than non 00:29:47.150 --> 00:29:50.470 -gamers. So it's just the way our brains work, 00:29:50.549 --> 00:29:55.130 right? And I've heard that story time and time 00:29:55.130 --> 00:29:57.009 and time again. We get a parent coming in and 00:29:57.009 --> 00:29:58.769 say, oh yeah, my older son, he's an engineer, 00:29:59.269 --> 00:30:01.329 or he does this, or he's an architect, or whatever. 00:30:01.390 --> 00:30:03.269 He goes, yeah, but he's a gamer. He still games 00:30:03.269 --> 00:30:09.369 with his buddies at night. So I think AI, it... 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:12.140 Nobody really knows for sure where it's going. 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:14.859 Yeah, but I think the kids that are more technically 00:30:14.859 --> 00:30:18.599 oriented and Are encouraged to be technically, 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:21.099 you know to learn the basics, right? So that's 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:23.059 what we're there for to do is build that foundation 00:30:23.059 --> 00:30:25.839 Yeah, you know build a solid foundation So when 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:28.400 they go off to school or sometimes they can go 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:30.440 right to the job market some of the skills Yeah, 00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:33.140 they have a good foundation to work off of absolutely 00:30:33.140 --> 00:30:35.500 I mean you're you're providing them the the tools, 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:37.880 you know that I think that's one of the most 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:42.000 important things is getting involved in it at 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:45.180 the ground level, you know, versus, you know, 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:47.119 20 years from now, I was like, ah, no, I never 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.900 bothered to learn that AI stuff. Right. You know, 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:54.079 kind of use it or lose it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:56.779 Rob, is there anything else that we didn't talk 00:30:56.779 --> 00:30:59.160 about? that you would like to mention? Any events 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:01.019 that are happening or anything you want to bring 00:31:01.019 --> 00:31:04.500 up? Well, this weekend, I don't know when this 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:06.740 is going to air, but... Air tonight. Oh, really? 00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:09.940 Okay, great. Yeah, so this Sunday, we have one 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:12.539 of our high school invitationals. Nice. So we 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:14.579 have high school, we have over 100 students coming 00:31:14.579 --> 00:31:16.759 in from different high schools all over central 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:21.240 New York. We're doing Smash, Rocket League, and 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.730 Fortnite. But we also have some teams come and 00:31:23.730 --> 00:31:27.029 do some scrimmages for rivals and maybe Madden, 00:31:27.029 --> 00:31:29.349 I think like that too. So it's great to get the 00:31:29.349 --> 00:31:32.269 kids together. They're competing online in their 00:31:32.269 --> 00:31:34.990 own school districts, but it's great to get them 00:31:34.990 --> 00:31:37.410 together. They can meet each other. They've been 00:31:37.410 --> 00:31:39.869 playing each other for a little while now. They 00:31:39.869 --> 00:31:41.930 can meet each other. And dude, the friendships 00:31:41.930 --> 00:31:45.150 are just instant. Oh, I bet. They're absolutely 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:48.490 instant. And I saw this really cool dynamic a 00:31:48.490 --> 00:31:51.279 few years ago. We have a Syracuse City School 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.240 student. In fact, the one that's being recruited 00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:56.980 by SU, Smash player. And we had a school come 00:31:56.980 --> 00:32:00.759 from Central Square. My alma mater, by the way. 00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:07.279 Go Red Hawks. And the demographics couldn't be 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:09.660 more different. The social economic couldn't 00:32:09.660 --> 00:32:12.319 be more different. Up in Brewerton, Central Square, 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:15.099 there's cows and corn up there. Down here, not 00:32:15.099 --> 00:32:19.079 so much. They met each other for the first time. 00:32:19.099 --> 00:32:21.480 yeah within five minutes they're sitting on the 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:25.299 couch playing super smash talking talking about 00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:27.579 characters having a good time instant connection 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:30.099 it's amazing and i found out later they exchange 00:32:30.099 --> 00:32:32.779 gamer tags so now they compete against each other 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:36.059 on a regular basis they play nice so that's what 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:38.059 gaming really is you know and it's it's great 00:32:38.059 --> 00:32:41.630 to see that and and kids on the spectrum tend 00:32:41.630 --> 00:32:44.869 to gravitate towards gaming. So we're giving 00:32:44.869 --> 00:32:47.849 them a cool space to hang out and be part of 00:32:47.849 --> 00:32:51.230 something. And then, of course, kids with certain 00:32:51.230 --> 00:32:53.250 physical disabilities can still participate too. 00:32:53.349 --> 00:32:55.910 So that's what's really cool about it. That's 00:32:55.910 --> 00:32:58.789 another cool factor about it. I love it. You 00:32:58.789 --> 00:33:01.470 are making a difference in Syracuse. And thank 00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:04.670 you so much for doing that. I mean, it truly 00:33:04.670 --> 00:33:08.009 is a cutting edge. Thanks. Yeah, it's been a 00:33:08.009 --> 00:33:11.089 fun ride. It's been a great ride. And the exciting 00:33:11.089 --> 00:33:13.589 part is we're kind of just getting started. I 00:33:13.589 --> 00:33:16.650 love it. You know, there's so many like, just 00:33:16.650 --> 00:33:19.230 for instance, high schools that don't have esports 00:33:19.230 --> 00:33:23.069 programs. You know, only about 20 % in New York 00:33:23.069 --> 00:33:24.910 State of the 700 something New York State have 00:33:24.910 --> 00:33:29.589 esports programs. So we're really excited about 00:33:29.589 --> 00:33:32.950 the future of that. And, and it's getting easier 00:33:32.950 --> 00:33:37.500 to talk to Adults, yeah and and teachers and 00:33:37.500 --> 00:33:40.980 admins about eSports, you know Three years ago 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.779 four years ago. I was like mmm gaming at school 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:48.940 Algebra we want out more algebra, but I think 00:33:48.940 --> 00:33:52.500 they're realizing now that it gaming is a great 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:57.680 conduit To get kids attention and get them engaged 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:00.839 Right. That's all it is. It's just another way 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:04.769 to get kids engaged with school and The population 00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:08.449 of gamers in school, 70 % of the students walking 00:34:08.449 --> 00:34:10.449 the hallways in middle school and high school 00:34:10.449 --> 00:34:13.250 play games, play video games, whether it's on 00:34:13.250 --> 00:34:16.150 their phone or their Switch or their PC or whatever. 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:20.050 The culture is there. The population is there. 00:34:20.409 --> 00:34:24.710 Let's grab those kids that are kind of, you know, 00:34:24.769 --> 00:34:27.510 just again, floating around. Let's get them engaged. 00:34:27.909 --> 00:34:31.690 Let's get them excited and see what happens. 00:34:32.010 --> 00:34:34.510 I love it. Rob, thank you so much for coming 00:34:34.510 --> 00:34:36.530 on and truly appreciate it. Thanks for having 00:34:36.530 --> 00:34:38.469 me, man. This is awesome. Absolutely. I love 00:34:38.469 --> 00:34:40.769 the set here. Oh, thank you. This is this is 00:34:40.769 --> 00:34:44.190 I feel like I'm at home. This feels like home, 00:34:44.289 --> 00:34:46.789 man. This is awesome. Yeah. Welcome to my basement. 00:34:47.130 --> 00:34:51.909 Yeah. All right. Well, thank you again. And any 00:34:51.909 --> 00:34:54.070 time you have anything coming on, feel free to 00:34:54.070 --> 00:34:55.789 to let us know and we'll get you on Good News 00:34:55.789 --> 00:34:59.050 York. We'll do me. Love it. All right. And thank 00:34:59.050 --> 00:35:01.489 you for tuning in to Good News York. I've been 00:35:01.489 --> 00:35:05.130 Danny Tripodi and I'll see you next time. I've 00:35:05.130 --> 00:35:06.710 been Danny Tripodi. What the fuck?