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 back to another episode of Stars on Sports. I am joined by our Assistant AD and baseball coach Steven Cutter. And today we will be discussing weather's impact on our athletic program. That was a different topic than I had prepared heading over to our recording, but it's very relevant to what we're dealing with when we are recording this broadcast. It impacts many sports. We're heading into the spring season or into the spring season, with spring starting in January for our spring sports season. But weather is very impactful on our athletic program and on our society. Everyone talks about climate change and the impacts it has on many areas of our lives. But I'm not sure everyone realizes how impactful it is on athletic practices, contests, day to day management. And it's come a long way with technology. But even you being a baseball coach, I know it impacts you significantly, but I think people forget that it also impacts our indoor sports. We have cancellations in the winter, you know, we have impacts other sports, the extreme of heat and cold and rain and drought. So I think it's very relevant. We're, you know, in Michigan, it seems like our winners are getting later which impacts spring and that's significant, especially at the college level where we start earlier, you know, again from the high school level where we, you know, this is their, you know, when we're recording this, this is their first week of the spring season and it's still stuff on them starting a month or two later than us and a lot of different possibilities and solutions out there, but it's hard to find a solution that everyone will agree with or might work better for one sport or the other. But it's chilly out there and it's hard to be outside in the weather we're dealing with. Especially in Michigan when it goes, you know, you get 60 degrees one day and then 17 the next day or it snows in the morning and it's gone in the afternoon. But it's what we have to deal with. It puts us at a Competitive disadvantage when you compete at a national level, and it's been discussed at the national level, weather even, what do you think? You know, it's always sunny in the athletic office on the fourth floor, but unfortunately that's not the case when we look out the window.

Well, I think as a coach, you really need to focus on those things that are within your control and you're also a problem solver. So when it comes to the weather, there's not a whole lot that we can do about it. Everything seems to be really fluid since 2020. So there's a lot of cancellations and games being made up the next day at a new facility at a, you know, a different place, whatever it might be. So, you know, when it comes to the weather, it's one of those things where it's not the best, but it's certainly not the worst. We've been able to get outside a fair amount. And then, you know, at the time of this recording, we just came back from our spring trip where it was, you know, 85 degrees when we're playing. So we come back and we have snow. So what do you do? You, you practice indoors. You, you can still do a lot of things. You just might not be able to do everything. And when it comes to the weather, instead of getting all wrapped up into, you know, how cold it is or how warm it is or, you know, anything else like that, we just try to focus on the processes and doing what we can with what we're given. And you brought up a good point that this has been talked about, at least at the national level with collegiate sports, of moving the spring sports further, starting them later. And as things typically go, if it happened at the college level, then it would filter down to the high school level. And I think Eric Bakage at Michigan was a big proponent of moving the college baseball season to a later start date, which would then move the College World Series to a later start date, which then when I'm speaking on just baseball, then that changes the MLB draft and all that kind of stuff. However, Eric, when he was at Michigan, you know, obviously he just left and went to a warm weather state to coach baseball. So I'm not sure where he stands on it now. But what are your thoughts on moving all that stuff?

Well, if you can't change them, join them. Right? That's what he ended up doing. You're right. You just have to deal with it. But it is, it creates a very difficult situation. You know, you're dealing with where it might be a Little warmer where your opponent is. It might be a little drier where your opponent is. Our league had a policy of 36 degrees, or you can't play if it's colder than that. But. And we use a specific app to determine that. But there are just so many different variables that people use that it makes it difficult. You try and make a decision before the. Their other opponent bus leaves.

And that 36 isn't even followed because maybe that 36 is at noon when. When people are making those decisions for umpires and buses leaving and things like that. But when game times typically start in the early afternoons and then they take up until, you know, dinner time or sometimes past that, the temperatures are insanely cold. It does.

And it definitely gets colder as the night goes on. And it's just like snow days. It seems like you always want that first snow day. The conditions might not be as bad, but you call it. But then if you get five snow days in a row, then you're, oh, you got to go to school the next day. And same with spring sports. If we have enough cancellations at some time, you have to play and deal with the best situation. I'm glad. Our league tries to have certain parameters in place to take it out of people playing competitive games with each other, but it isn't easy. And that all adds to trying to play in the spring here in Michigan.

And you had a set of umpires last year that did not want to ump the. I think it was softball games because they felt it was too cold. And then what did you have to do at that point?

Well, I went over and talked to them and explained our league policy and showed them the app and that the temperature at that particular time was.

But they weren't. They weren't happy with that.

They weren't happy. And they ended up agreeing to do it, which I was appreciative. It's tough. Again, just another dynamic. Even your event workers, when we were at our previous baseball facility, they didn't have shelter. So it was tough on your announcer and scoreboard monitor to sit out there in the cold and just sit there.

It's hard to believe that we couldn't find announcers to announce outside in the elements.

I was buying them hot chocolate, running across the street. But as far as moving the season later, I understand both sides. I mean, you talk about the draft, but you also talk about summer activities. You talk about moving farther away from the end of the academic year and being an educational activity. You know, we do have summer sessions here at LCC so it doesn't impact as much, but, you know, just a traditional of sending kids home for the summer. Although we know in sports nowadays that's not the case for year round. And there's a lot of other activities in the summer, so. And the south wouldn't be in favor. It takes an advantage away from them that, you know, they're. When you go down and play, they played 20 games already and they start in January. We're trying to jam them in in a shorter amount of time. So you deal with that. A scheduling issue, you run out of times. And last spring was one of our worst in my career. It was just. I think I only wore. I didn't wear my winter coat or hat three games last year. And that's not fun for anybody. I mean, when you think of growing up and going to your first Major League baseball game, it's sunny and 75 degrees, the grass is freshly cut. And you walk into the stadium and see that. Aw, you know, we don't see that till, you know, late April here. But we're already toward the end of our season, so I wish we could do something. And that's just baseball and softball. The same is true for our track team. I mean, last year it was tough for our sprinters to find a good meet to run their best time because it's cold, that, you know, they could pull. They could get injured and pull a hamstring. And the same for our field events and distance runners, where again, in the south, they're running in much better conditions. But that's what we deal with. I love the four seasons. I just wish they align more with our athletic seasons. You know, once I like the snow, I like a white Christmas, but then I'm ready. I like skiing, but then I'm ready. Once, you know, our sports get outside for our student athletes, I'd like the weather to cooperate more, but that's something we can't predict. And back to your point, that's the difficulty thing. Technology has definitely helped us. There's apps out there. I met with a company a couple weeks ago that a product that makes my computer look like a meteorologist. They put a weather station up on our campus. I have all the radars, I have how far the lightning is away. I have what's coming in. And it's just incredible how far we've come, but it's still tough to predict. I've been burned on both sides where I've called a game and it's 70 and sunny when we were supposed to play. Or I don't call a game and they come and then it starts pouring as soon as they get off the bus. So it's stressful. It definitely adds stress to trying to provide a great event. But in the end, you want your student athlete to have a good experience. And weather does impact. I mean, there's proven study that sunshine is good for your health. January and February are two of your toughest months in the state of Michigan. I believe with. Even in sport, dealing with people maybe not being as cheery or happy when they come to the events in those months. We deal with it with basketball. We canceled games this year because of the snow and icy roads, and it's difficult to reschedule them because of the routine schedule that you're on. So it impacts every sport. Heat not an issue lately, but there's been too many heat deaths in sports across the country over the last 10 years, and they're all preventable. And I've had some serious scares where it's gotten really hot in the late afternoon and a lot of activity going on that we have to monitor the heat index at the high school level, which is very fortunate, and we monitored it, but each body type is different and. And dealing with that. So it's tough, it's not fun. But I like your approach to make the most of it. Feel like I'm a negotiator on those days, negotiating with the opponent on whether they want to come or don't want to come, dealing with our coaches on whether they will play and want to play. Is the team good? Is the team not good? Is it a win? Is it not a win? Not that those should have any variable then making those decisions, but they all come into play. Have we played in a week? Have we not played in a week? Can we find a date to make it up? It just adds a lot of difficulty to your schedule. So how was. How was it down south?

Well, you know, we started this spring trip and we went a little bit south and we played in 37 degrees and cloudy. So, you know, I guess we didn't go far enough south to begin with. But then eventually we ended up down near Biloxi, Mississippi, and we traveled around and stayed on the beach down there. And it was a great trip. We had really good weather. It was. It was challenging. I mean, we got an opportunity to play the number one team in the country, a team that knocked us off in the College World Series last year. And we're playing game three of the season for us, and they're playing game 17, you know, and so that goes back into the weather stuff. It's. It's just one of those things that instead of being like, you know, poor me, or the pity card or the victim mentality, we just kind of look at it. How can we find competitive advantages if we're inside? We're inside. There's nothing we can do about it. But what can we do to find a competitive advantage when we're inside and other teams are outside? And you can find solutions out there, you just got to be willing to look for them versus, you know, somewhat going around and complaining about how bad the weather is today or this week. We're supposed to have, at the time of this, we're supposed to have our home opener a week from today. There's. There's snow on the ground, you know, and so is that going to happen? Hard to say. You know, it's Michigan. If it gets canceled, maybe we'll move it to another facility that has turf or something like that. But you just, you gotta roll with punches.

And it's difficult in this area. There's not as many full field indoor facilities like there are across the country. But, you know, our softball team went and scrimmaged at an indoor facility before they went south. And you tried to go not as far south and play, and it's still difficult. Even when you went down south, you might run into rain and cancel games, not maybe the cold weather. And it adds up in expenses. I mean, many schools try and find some southern trips and that's, you know, you do a lot of fundraising or the college, you know, putting increased costs of transportation and meals and officials. It's just difficult on the financial impact of playing games, of going down there and maybe not being able to play because the weather washes you out, or finding a facility that you have to rent to play. So weather definitely causes havoc on athletics as it is in our society. Across the world, you see some devastating stories in the news, and I don't wish that on anybody. And I'm thankful that we at least get to play and make the most of it. But it's a difficult thing to navigate through. And it can be an expensive thing, it can be a stressful thing, it can be an unhappy thing. But it is what it is and we can work to create change. But I think that's an uphill battle. Being a northern school and trying to persuade the rest of the country that one part of the country needs a schedule changed. And even at the lower level, because you lose kids before they get Here if they don't have a good experience. One of the most telling statistics I saw is 75% of kids quit sports by the age of 13. Might go to another sport or something. But even at the lower levels, it's important that they have a positive experience and we know how the weather impacts that. It's funny, I saw a thing like in November when it's still warm out, 40 degrees feels cold, and you want to cancel it. So you play some fall ball and you're thinking, we'll play in 40 degrees. But in the spring it's like, man, I'd take 40 degrees in a heartbeat. Let's go out and play in 40 degrees. I mean, we've been dealing with 15 degree weather. So even our own mindsets change because of where we live and how to deal with weather. We what we tolerate or don't tolerate.

And the bodies really tend to adapt really fast. You know, we were, we had warm temperatures, high sevens, low eights, and then we traveled to Tennessee and It was about 61 degrees and people are in sweatshirts and coats and it's cold, you know, and so they adapted over about a week, got used to the warm weather, and then all of a sudden it's cold at 60. But the same thing, that's where that competitive advantage comes in. If you just get used to it. When you get used to playing at 38 degrees and it might not be the best thing in the world, but you really do get used to it. And then pretty soon, when that sun comes out and it's 42, you know, the guns are out and everybody's feeling great. And so bodies really tend to adapt pretty quickly to it.

I agree with that. But I was at our cross country national championship in Tallahassee in November, and it was. They ran early in the morning, stay away from the heat and the humidity, and they're still. It impacted the race. I mean, there were some teams that some of their best runners did not finish because of the humidity after running a 5k or 8k, and it impacted the results because of humidity. And I mean, at the finish line, they had great medical care there, but they were definitely dealing with runners that were fatigued or dealing with heat exhaustion. Thankfully, I don't think any heat strokes, but there's different levels of heat and a lot of technology nowadays to help with managing those.

So there's some limitations there with some of that. But we did see it in our own hometown. Mel Tucker took the Michigan State football team out to Washington and they went out there early to get acclimated to the time zone change and the weather and everything else. It did not work out for them in that experience, as far as the scoreboard goes. But I think they're on the right page. If you can get into an environment and get acclimated to it, it's going to be super helpful. If you just fly in and try to get used to it right away, it's not going to happen. It's going to affect you. And just like you talked about in those, it's definitely affecting.

Well, a funny side note to that story is we did get in there early to adjust to it, but it rained the day before. We couldn't even get on the course because it was too muddy. So again, just weather impacting in so many extremes. And to your point of what Michigan State had done is very helpful to all levels. Sports science has really helped us and studying and teaching and we even have exercise physiology here on LCC's campus in a lab here that they are studying those kind of impacts on an athlete's body, which really helps prepare and put us in a better position to take care of the health and safety of a student athlete by acclimating to the different variables that they will face. So yes, we've come a long way in that way. And even in your practices, the simulation and the other ways that technology has helped us to be indoors. I mean, how do you judge a third baseman if you're in a small facility and they don't have the distance to throw from third to first? Technology has helped. Again, there's no substitute for actual being outside and being on a field and even maintaining a field. I mean, you experience that our baseball and softball coaches do a lot and our cross country coach does a lot and taking care of their facilities so that they are able to play. If it's raining, you guys are out there early in the morning spending resources on getting the field ready. They're difficult facilities to maintain outdoors too. Whether it's a soccer field that's all grass, the goal areas can beat up. Whether it's a cross country courts or track and field event, areas for puddles. And I mean firsthand experience with baseball and softball, dealing with what rain can cause to your facility, on whether you can play. It could be 70 degrees and sunny to be able to play, but your field's too wet. I mean, that's what we'll deal with when all this snow melts. It'll be too wet to play in some of these facilities. So just a lot of different impacts from the weather that create havoc on our sports and student athletes.

Yeah, as I said, we're a week out from our home opener, so this week we'll be out there putting up banners and windscreen and doing all that stuff. And, you know, we still have a solid 3, 4 inches of snow on the field.

So how do you mow the grass with no on the field?

We'll shovel first and then we'll go from there. But you know, that that's just part of it. You just, you deal with it and, you know, hope for the best.

Well, that's one of the nice things about athletics, and we've talked about this in many of our podcasts, that it teaches life lessons and that's another adversity that you have to overcome that will prepare you. And again, it's not what happens to you, it's how you respond to it. But in my experience, weather has been one of the more challenging ones to work through because it can make people very unhappy in a short amount of time that you have to try and navigate and manage through. Well, that was a good conversation, and I hope we have sunny days ahead and they start to turn 70 and a lot of sunshine for all our student athletes to get outside. But thanks, good conversation on weather. And until next time, 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!