Connecting with Kevin Ed. 11

Welcome to the 11th edition of Connecting with Kevin. In this edition, we reminisce about my favorite activity in the fall, and talk about my oldest son's success with YouTube.

Tailgating is Life

On most Saturdays in the fall, you can find me in Lot W on Purdue's campus, amongst my people. Our core group of tailgaters have been together since 2019. We are dubbed the "Hammered Boilers", and you can interpret that however you wish. We have a block of 13 tickets in Ross-Ade Stadium for Purdue football, but the main event, for me, is always the tailgate.

As a general rule, we arrive the minute the lots are open. For noon games, that is 8AM. For night games, the lots open 8 hours before gametime. We are generally the first people in our lot, and nine times out of ten, we are in the same spot. There have been times when someone "took" our spot, and even people not in our group are incensed. Our specific lot has a unique section of grass that covers about 40 yards by 30 yards, and cars park all around the rectangle, leaving the middle open for cornhole, football throwing, and general tomfoolery. It is the epicenter of joy for me.

My role in this circus is that of the musical ring master. I have two large JBL speakers, a playlist 9 hours deep, and a penchant to know how to keep the party going with just the right song. At any one time, I could tell you what the next five songs to play are, and reserve the right to change them if the vibe isn't...well...vibing. At least 10 times a tailgate, I'll be mid-conversation with friends, family, or guests, and I'll say "I need to go check the music". I'll die on the hill that music is the soundtrack of our lives, and a simple song can enhance or completely kill the momentum of events like this. I've never been a disc jockey, per se, but going back to my days as a Purdue student, I'm usually the one behind the music choices, and the confidence to know whatever is playing will satisfy the majority of listeners.

There are usually 20-30 cars in the general vicinity of our group, and over the years, other tailgates stopped worrying about music, because they knew we had it covered. It has been fun over the years to get to know some of the other tailgates in our lots, sharing generator power, utensils, and living harmoniously with each other. On those 70 degree days in early October, night game on the horizon, cornhole bags flying everywhere, and laughter permeating the air, it makes me ridiculously happy. It is one of my two heavens on earth.

One of my favorite memories of this past season was a visit from my friend, Cody Stilwell . He handmade a full-sized Purdue Pete hammer out of wood, and gave it to me. Seriously one of the coolest things I've ever received. It is sitting behind me as I type. I need to find a cool way to display it before I use it on my kids. :)

Chip Off The Old Block

In the fall of 2022, my son Carson was in the middle of this fifth semester at Purdue. He had told me he was going to stop at "home" for a few things and wanted to talk. We went out to brunch where he told Cindy and I that he would like to take a gap year away from school because he didn't really like his major. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his career path, and needed some time to explore. He actually said "It doesn't make sense to spend money on a degree that I'm not going to use." Pretty smart for a 20 year old.

We completely supported that decision, but emphasized that he would need to be working, paying his bills, and making good decisions. When I asked him about his interests, he floated the idea to me that he'd really been exploring creating YouTube videos around different video games. Now, if you know ANYTHING about me, you'd know I have a history in that field, but mainly around my videos on Linkedin. I told him how difficult it is to break into that field and make any kind of money. That didn't stop him, and I'm glad it didn't.

After a few weeks, he sent me an example of what he wanted to do, and I was blown away by his talent, not only as a writer, but a producer and editor. The kid had some skill, wit, and charm. Color me impressed.

In January of 2023, he had 100 subscribers on his channel. Four weeks later, he had 1000. 6 months later he had 5000. Today his current subs are just over 13,000. He's getting a monthly check from google as well as Twitch where he streams every now and then while he's playing a game. He has several videos well over 250,000 views. Something his dad never came CLOSE to doing.

These days, he's taking classes for Information Technology, and continues to churn out entertaining content.

Proud Dad.

Here is his most recent video where he tries out various Steam games and reviews them. (PG-13 for language. I know you're shocked)

Until next time!

-Kevin

(A few more pictures from this last season's tailgates)