Stars on Sports Intro: It's time for Stars on Sports! A podcast-radio show dedicated to sharing stories about our athletic program at Lansing Community College. LCC athletics has a strong tradition. 23 national championship wins! Over 170 All-Americans! 19 MCCAA All Sports trophies! Stars on Sports will introduce you to individuals that have contributed to our program success and give you the backstory on what it takes to develop it. We'll also dive into and break down the topics and issues facing athletic departments across the nation and right here at LCC. This is Stars on Sports!

Hello and welcome to another episode of Stars on Sports.

I am joined by our assistant AD and baseball coach, Steven Cutter and our producer today, Jereny. And today we'll be discussing sustaining success sports dynasties. We're wrapping up a successful fall season which we've kind of hit on on other podcasts, but I'd like to dive into that a little more regarding our success, but talking about in general sports dynasties and sustaining success over time. You and I have had a number of conversations on that, that that's our goal here at to sustain success, not achieve it. And then have it go away for a little while or a couple years in researching this and we'll talk about it. And I want Journey to tie him in too. When you think of dynasties and sports, what they are. But we're coming off a fall where our men's cross country team won their eighth national championship, our 24th overall and both cross country teams have won eight since the 90s. So I don't know, I was reading the article.

Pretty much a dynasty, right?

I would think so. I was reading an article on our league website or actually our region website and they called it a tradition like no other, you know, Lansing cross country winning. Is that the Masters, a cross country championship. And we're also coming off our volleyball team qualifying for the first time in national in program history. So where do they go to sustain that level? It's their first time there. So the tough part, as you and I have talked about and I'd like your input today, is trying to get back there and the pressure and the motor and the relief of that and when searching sports dynasties in history. It was pretty interesting and this isn't true for everyone, but it was almost like decade long. Like the 70s, there was a team, there was 80, there was a team the 90s, there was a team the 2000 and it changed a little bit. And then there's some that, you know, when you look at baseball, you could say the Yankees throughout history or you know, some other Sports like North Carolina, women's soccer. Tennessee was that first dynasty in women's basketball. Now UConn has been probably the last 20 years and that's even changing a little bit, transitioning maybe to South Carolina. But there have been dynasties in every sport. I know you watched a good documentary before, whether rugby or Australian world football. Regarding the New Zealand All Blacks, I believe that rugby were a strong and interesting dynasty. So when you think of sports dynasties, what do you think of?

Well, I think you brought up a lot of them, but I think of teams like the Bulls and you know, the Lakers teams and the Celtics teams and you know, there's certainly been some really good baseball teams like the Yankees and the Houston Astros and then you've got teams like the Tampa Bay Rays who just don't have a whole lot of superstars, but they show up every day and they, they win 90 plus games a year, you know, every season. So I think success comes in a lot of different forms and dynasties. It's really, you know, up to who's determined on what, what makes a dynasty, whether it's winning the final game of the season makes consistently the dynasty or you getting to the super bowl like the Buffalo Bills did, you know, where were they really a good football team? And I would say they were.

They, you know, did they lose four in a row?

Probably needed a better kicker at times. And so. Yeah, yeah.

Or weather or something. Journey. What do you think of dynasties, man?

Dynasties. I'm a big basketball head. I love the Warriors. They had a little nice run for a while. They still pretty decent. Even with the players they have now a dynasty. I think people don't really talk about the Spurs. Yep, the spurs had a real nice long run with Tim and Ginobile.

The NBA is an interesting one. That's when it was decades. It was the, the Celtics in the 50s, 60s, the Lakers maybe in the 80s, the Pistons late 80s, bold 90s, Spurs 2000 and then the warriors most recently. You could throw the heat in there for a little bit. And even talking about the warriors right now, the good question, are they still a dynasty or are they now back to that level of just a good team and their dynasty is over? And I think that's a characteristic that you have to pay to because I wouldn't give up on them yet because they still could get back to that level and maybe make another run for a couple of years. And I don't know enough about the warriors for that, but that's a, you know, dynasties find a way to get back there and continue that success when you think they aren't going to be as good. And you and I talked about that. That's the tough thing when you're looking at characteristics of a dynast thing that I've looked at is leadership. Consistency is huge in your expectations and your staff and your resources, you know, buy in the culture, you know, being a positive being. You talk about the Tampa Bay Rays. You got me into them. There come great articles on how they sustain their level of success without the resources of other teams. But they have a system, a system of development, a system of finding talent that they develop in. I don't want to say take a gamble on, but they, you know, like a hidden gem per se. But. But it's important and not that success is everything. I think there's a lot of positive attributes of a dynasty in that you're doing something well and you're doing something well over time. Which is better to me than just doing it once and then going back

to common or average super uncommon to see teams winning consistently. So yeah.

And so the society like dynasties or hate dynasties in your guys his eyes.

I think it's half and half.

I agree. I agree. I think we talk about these teams because a lot of, there's a lot of Cowboy fans out there because they were a dynasty, but they're the other side. And we've talked about this before in our podcast of people that hate them because they don't want, they either jealous or don't want them to have success every year they want the underdog or someone else to.

I think in general, we've talked about the underdog before and people do, you know, pull for the underdog. But the other teams, the Cowboys or the warriors or spurs or whomever it might be, they certainly have a large fan base as well.

They do merchandise wise media coverage.

And that's where like sayings like jumping on the bandwagon come from because all of a sudden people want to be a part of that winning piece too. So it does go both ways.

Well, I joke. I love for people to jump on the Cleveland bandwagon thinking they're going to get to that dynasty level. We seem to fall off before we get to the, to the winning piece. But.

And it's hard.

Winning is hard. And we've, we've talked about that and I've, you know, I've given you some of the characteristics that I think are important to a dynasty. And from my experience, once you achieve a high level of success, I think the good team Find a way to, to maybe not win it every year, but not far back down as far as they normally would or had before they reach that level of success. And you know, to me it starts with the everyday things, the, you know, the practices, the routines. Because the one thing you got to probably in pro teams, you probably can keep that talent over time because you sign them to long term contract. But even now, day of free agency, there's a lot of changeover. But at our level and the other level that I've been in, you know, replacing talent has been one of the tougher things because they go on here two years, you know, in high school, four years and in the four year institutions, four years, you can't keep them longer. Although we have some quarterbacks in college football right now that have been six or seven years in the league, which is crazy, but good for them and hopefully they're getting a good education. But replacing talent is the tough thing that we have to figure out a way and where recruiting is important. But if you're doing the other things, you know, the competition in practice, the, the building of depth, the development of players, you could lose a lot of players and still be successful next year by developing. And, and those players also have been around strong competition to make them better and more prepared for the future. And I know you're a big proponent of competition every day and you know, consistency in that.

I think you're trying to fight the complacency that sets in when you've had success. And then also another thing that happens on teams and why they really struggle not to be able to repeat their success of whatever that might be is the entitlement also sets in. So the complacency and the entitlement are, are really large factors that, that are there and you have to fight through those things because you've had success, you believe that you've somewhat earned something or you're entitled to it again and you should have this certain level of respect, whether it's from the officials or for, from the opponents or whatever it might be. And so all that stuff sets in and it's just usually not a, not a real good proponent for winning in general. And that's why you see teams really struggle to repeat. So when you do see the dynasties or you see teams have success for long periods of time, there's a certain appreciation for, for what they're doing because they are fighting that big time.

I agree and that's why I, I probably root more for the underdog. But I do appreciate and Want to learn from dynasties to that point is it's hard to maintain that level. And, and some people are relieved just to get there that one time or, you know, Tom Brady said it, you know, what's your favorite ring the next one of that drive and motivation to continue to get that next one where, you know, you hit on some points, where sometimes you lose that motivation or that drive once you achieve that level, that it's impressive for those teams that. That find it, because we know it's not easy to get there one time. And you, you brought up the Bills who got there many times in law. You know, that had to be hard that next year to come back, especially after the second or third one to do it. But they did. And, you know, someone called them one of the biggest disappointments in history because they lost four. But, you know, they're better to lose four than not be there at all.

And that's a great question. Is it better to lose in the first round of the playoffs or is it better to lose in the World Series of the Super Bowl? You know, and I don't. I think being in the last game and losing that is by far the toughest thing you can do.

And it is.

But it's also a good experience if you want to build to get there again. And we've talked about a local high school team that made their first state championship and they played a team that been there before. And that experience, you learn and develop to get there that next time. So only one champion at the end of the season, but the more you play and the more experienced you get to play at a higher level, I think helps for future success and future it can for sure, consistency. And that's why I think, you know, even some of our teams, you know, we're very fortunate for the success we've had on the highest level. And you and I look at other community colleges that have success in particular sports. And, you know, it's interesting at the college level how some of these programs are just good in one sport and they win it in that sport every year, and then others are good in sports across the board. And that's why we hype the all sports trophy here at lct. We want to be good in every sport at a high level. But, you know, the teams I mentioned earlier, like Iowa wrestling, you know, they're really good in wrestling and maybe don't have that same success in other sports, which they do, but across the board, and that's our goal at lcc. We study other community colleges that that do that, whether it's one sport or across the board. So. And I think you can learn from that. I think it helped by having one team successful, that it shows that your program can make it there, that, you know, kids from Lansing can make it to the national level. And unfortunately, now I believe with volleyball making it there, all our teams have been to the national tournament that we currently offer, which is exciting and a continual goal of our coaching staff to try and get there because plus great for recruiting. As we talk about, you know, winning, people want to be part of a winning program. It's great for the experience the student athletes get here. And another interesting thing, I think that and get hit on and you've done well in your program at the alumni involvement. I mean, you're going to have a podcast here with alumni on later that it creates more of that, you know, going to the state championship game for Masons, all the community that was there and how that helps support a program and build a program. So that's a byproduct, I think, of having success at our level that maybe you don't need at the pro sports level. Again, they buy shirts and, you know, we pretend to be a Dallas Cowboy fan, but here if that investment, that community engagement that I think success helps and helps us, you know, in the future to build that support. And don't you agree? I mean, you, I mean, you see it, you know, when we talk about human interest stories all the time and, you know, just the way our community give back and help and, and, you know, support us when we go on those trips.

I think so. I think winning is. Is incredibly important in everything that you do in life. Winning provides you really special experiences. When you can be a part of a winning team, a winning program, a winning company, a winning college, you. You get incredible experiences. And experiences are way more important than things. So when you talk about maybe a team going to the state finals, those experiences are so much more valuable than that trophy that's going to be in the. In the case that's probably going to get dusty and get, you know, somewhat forgotten about in a lot of different ways. So at the end of the day, it's, it's more about the experiences than the things.

How do you guys feel about the pressure, pressure of success, like after you win, the pressure of winning again, the dynasties who actually step up to it.

And it's tough because you're. We're somewhat in a world of there's a lot of noise and you're, you know, you're connected to your phones and you're, you know, everything is, is right there for everybody to see. And so those, if, if you buy in and you start reading and you start reading all of the good stuff, then you're going to be really susceptible to all the bad stuff too, because you're allowing the good stuff in. So it's really, you got to try to block out most of the noise. And if you can't do that, it's pretty tough. I know I've experienced different levels of it.

Well, there's two things I want to first, you made a great point on experiences which may be a whole nother podcast or we might be able to hit if we have time today. But I think pressure is one of the toughest things that you have to overcome to develop that dynasty because there is a lot more. Even though you've, we've talked about how it's nice to have that experience, the demands are more, we talk about maybe you get some breaks and you make your own breaks with success, but that pressure of getting back there because people expect that now is tough. And I know you mentioned before on this podcast and others how, you know, the first time you got there was exciting to the World Series and the second time with more relief. And now hopefully you can get back to the exciting part. But, but that pressure I think is one of the leading factors team that prevent them from having dynasties because of trying to match that pressure or block it out.

As you mentioned, it's somewhat dependent on who it's affecting because, you know, it's the same analogy that pressure creates diamonds as well. And so for some people, they're going to do pretty well with it. And you know, I've learned how to be able to block out most of that noise too and learn some valuable lessons along the way. But then on the other side, it can crumble certain things as well. So you got to be somewhat careful and I think it's more, more conducive to the athletes that are a part of that and part of that experience that that pressure can really weigh heavily on their shoulders.

And backpacks, yeah, especially facility wise going into that national championship venue or state championship venue is a new experience that you got to manage the pressure and the expectations. And you're right, protecting the student athletes is very important with that pressure. But getting there helps so they learn how to handle it and, and learn the routine and the schedule before, you know, preparation is another thing we talk about. So. But there is more pressure on that second one. There's more scrutiny there's more attention, there's more, just a lot of things. And agree, pressure does make diamonds and dynasties can become diamonds because that pressure can help you sustain success over time, especially if you're driven and you have that consistency which we talk about and leadership which is part of the culture both from your coaching staff and your team, as we both are big believers in student led teams that help you get there. But experience, it can be a big part of, of that. Back to even guys where we've had more Buffalo Bills analogies, they lost four of them.

One. Right. But the experiences also plays into your belief systems as well. And belief systems are an enormous piece of people's successes in sports and everything else. And so, you know, if you've done something before, you feel a little more confident when you're going back in to do that, whatever it might be. Again, you know, we're creatures of habit. So the routines and stuff, it gets really easy for us to go to work or whatever it might be, drive the same route, you know, do the same things, right. And then when you've got a, you might get forced into doing something that you're not used to, you get that belief system. The confidence levels just aren't there. So you think about it in like the sports world, when you can go to something, you can be a part of that highest level of, you know, state championship, national championship, conference championship, championship, whatever it might be. And you've had the experience before from that, your confidence levels are going to be different, so your belief systems are higher, just naturally. And so that's where the experience and people talk about having, you know, whether we're, we're a two year, but you know, some, some colleges are four years and high schools are four years as well. And they talk about how important it is to have juniors or seniors on their team and we talk about how important is to have sophomores on our team. It's the same idea it is and it is huge.

And again, even looking at our own examples, our volleyball team had a lot of sophomores on it, but I still think they'll still be stronger than people believe next year because of the experience the freshmen got this year. Our cross country team had their share of sophomores on it that took third last year at the national championship and knew what it took to get to that next level. And they put the work in. They worked hard, hard in the off season and heading into that last day, they weren't sure if they were going to win it. It was, you know, probably five teams there that whoever ran best that day was going to win it. And for our volleyball team, it was a good experience to see what it takes now to get to that next level. So you're right that, that experience, that belief system now believe, you know, those freshmen should come back believing that they can do it too, in the same way, both in cross country and volleyball, that they can believe it too and rely on the experience they had this year to get back there. And I know that's what our other teams on our program do. Our baseball softball team coming off World Series appearances, our basketball teams, you know, being the Nationals before and wanting to get back there and get similar to the, to our other programs. So great way to end it. We didn't get a chance to hit on the experiences. But you know, believing is, you know, seems to be a common theme in our podcast and a common theme in successful teams of believing in their, each other, believing in their system, you know, believing in their capability of succeeding at a high level. And hopefully we can create some dynasties here at lcc. I think, you know, in some sports we might already have and others we're beginning to. And to your point, that's that's not the end all because, you know, talking to our cross country and volleyball kids, the experiences they had going to their respective places means more to them than that trophy and that they'll be able to carry on. And as an athletic director, it just inspires me to hear them come back and say, you know, hey, I wish LCC was a four year institution so I could stay here longer or, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do next because I loved it here so much. And you know, we know they will be successful in their next areas of life, but we are so thankful that our college is very supportive of, of our trips to these places across the country and, and the experiences and supporting the experience that these student athletes get that, you know, they go out there and represent LCC well in these tournaments. So again, we're looking forward to more success this year. Well, we're looking forward to bringing some of those student athletes and coaches on those teams to this podcast in the future. But hopefully Cleveland team can become a dynasty at some time before this podcast goes off the air. But until then, go stars.

Stars on Sports Outro: Stars on Sports is recorded live at the WLNZ studios. Engineering and production assistance are provided by Daedalian Lowry. You can listen to this episode and other episodes of Stars on Sports on demand at LCCconnect.org to find more information about our athletic program, visit LCCstars.com thanks for listening. Go Stars!