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. 25 national championship wins! Over 190 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. We're joined today by our assistant athletic director, Steven Cutter, and our producer, producer Daedalian Lowry. Gentlemen, gonna talk about one thing that most people probably don't pay attention to, but once you notice it, especially as an administrator, you pay a lot of attention to it. But to the normal crowd is. And that's the bench during a game. And I like, as I've talked before on this podcast, I like watching. I watch coaches. That's my job. I want to watch how they talk, how they. Their behavior, if they're demonstrative. But I also like watching the players. And we can spend a lot of time talking about what good teams do on the bench and how engaged teams do. We had a home volleyball game last night, and the thing that just stuck with me after the match was the characteristics of each bench. And when you observed the bench, it was in direct correlation to what was going on on the floor. The team that was winning was much more engaged and the team that wasn't was not. And just it struck me last night, Coach Cutter and I talked about it last night. I ran into another coach in the office this morning, and it's one thing he noticed, again, something that was just telling and something I noticed a lot. But it just hit me harder watching last night and how different it was. Now.

When you're talking about it, though, you're kind of talking about it. I mean, I'm formulating my own vision of what it was. But explain so that I get an idea because I wasn't there.

Right.

What exactly. You're saying they were pounding on the. On the.

Yep. So very good question. What was.

Start with a positive team, the upbeat team, the one, the ones that were energetic, what was going on there?

They were smiling, they were laughing, they were jumping. They were definitely more engaged with the game. And let me, you know, again, I think this is true for me. Both teams were engaged at the beginning.

Okay.

You know, and through probably half the game. But then once I don't believe it's just the score. Cause I do believe there's other factors that we can talk about. But you know, just more engaged chanting, pounding on the floor, as you mentioned, at certain parts of the match, which some people thought was unsportsmanlike. I didn't mind. I mean, I think, you know, it's a fine line in all our sports. Like cheering during a free throw or.

When you're talking about pounding on the ground, like they were doing it as kind of like a cheer kind of a thing.

It was in unison. So I do respect that more than it was just one person, you know, being obnoxious, distracting. Yeah. But when we served, they would pound on the floor or they would chant fbk. Which we didn't know what it meant last night. But I talked about volleyball and that means first ball kill is a motto to the team to try and hit the ball back right away. But just the engagement, the mannerisms. And you see it in every sport on every bench of. And I haven't done enough research to know, but I'm guessing the score has a lot to do with it because as I told you before we got on the podcast, if you watched the benches, you didn't need to watch the game because you could tell by the benches how the game was going. You know, there were other characteristics too. And some of it, you know, a lot of things we talk about on this podcast is experience. You know, the team that was losing is youthful. And I looked at the team on the other roster and they were pretty balanced. I'm sophomore than freshmen, but, you know, it just really stood out.

So the other team also had more leadership going on.

I agree. I think that is part of it. Yes, that they've been through the system before. They experienced probably adversity before, but they also know what they expected and what their coach's expectation of them during the game and to be engaged. And as I mentioned, it's easy to do at the beginning because both teams are doing it, but then as it goes on.

So if the score wasn't a factor, what would be the other factors that would affect the not quite doing as well team?

Well, I think youth, I think personalities, I think coaches, I mean, we're talking about. Is the score the only determining factor of why the bench acts the way it is?

Who are the folks on the bench, how they are and what's going on?

Not usually. I feel like the score a lot of times is 0, 0 or it hasn't started Yet. But you can definitely see the body language is different. And some of that plays into confidence, some of it plays into inexperience or maybe what you'd label as youth. There's a variety of different factors, but it certainly affects the outcome.

And do you feel like the folks that were watching the games, did you feel like the audience felt like it was offensive or.

No. I mean, and I don't think the official did either. And that's not the thing that stands out to me because I will not tolerate unsportsmanlike behavior and don't want it. I don't think it was. I think it was just more of the correlation between the body language and. There's some coaches out there that frown upon body language, especially negative body language. This wasn't that. Again, I'm not here to critique either team last night it was just more a telling tale of. It was a pretty even match for the first half of the contest and then I think it did pull away. And I still believe youth is a part of that, talent is a part of it, leadership is a part of it, especially student leadership on the benches. Because if you have a more experienced bench, I think they can help navigate that game management situation where if you have a lot of youth, could be confidence, it could be comfortability, it could be belief. Yeah, belief. And again, I think that's another one that I wonder how much that played into it because when you see it through many teams, I think belief starts to disappear as you know what the outcome could be. That I think that's a big part of it actually. But I thought it fed off of it. You know, the one team that was more confident, their belief got stronger and the one team that didn't, their belief got less. And then the score dictated that, you know. So yes, and I know in your team you really work on bench engagement throughout a game, especially with a large team and in a sport where the participation, playing time we've talked about too.

Yeah, and communication when it comes down to body language is more than just verbal. You can see it in people. And yeah, we do work on that kind of stuff, but it's also, it's somewhat of a double edged sword because if you hear a bench that's loud and cheering, sometimes that makes other people not as happy because maybe their bench isn't doing the same or it's a little bit uncommon. But if you actually listen, and last night I was definitely listening to both benches and if you listen and if you've got people that are cheering for each Other, not jeering the other team or putting the other team down, but actually cheering for each other through positive stuff, stuff, through negative stuff. It's a sporting event or it's life, things are going to happen that's positive, that's what you want. And because that's showing that people are invested in what's happening, not just it's fake, you know, we're just going to cheer the whole game. It's like, you know, I'm going to react to something that happens, but I'm going to do it in a positive way to say that it's going to be all right or next pitch or next play or, you know, next step in life, whatever it might be. And you typically see with great teams, people that have a lot of success, you're going to see that over and over and over and over, and it's not going to matter what's happening outside or how hard it's raining or anything else. It's going to be pretty consistent.

And I think you're right. I think great teams, you do see it. And you know, even in the sport of baseball, I feel there's been some lack of clarity on what sportsmanship is, because baseball, in my background, like softball, you hear a lot of cheering. They sing songs and some of them are great and it's constant. And baseball doesn't sing songs, but they've gotten more. They've gotten louder in the bench area, especially at the college level, even at the high school level now, but. And that can rub people the wrong way. That's a very interesting perspective because I don't know if that it was a negative thing last night. I don't think one team's cheering hurt the other team. I think there were other factors. But I went home and watched the tennis match. Two of the best tennis players in the world. And the crowd rallied behind one and it got under the skin of the other one. And he lost that set. He ended up winning the match. But you could for 30 minutes he was just out of his mind and he had to recalibrate and he did. But you're right, I think some of it is fake out there. I think some teams do it and it's too scripted. And it's not because the other point is the support there. I agree that's contagious and that's what we saw last night. It was contagious because they were having fun, they were high fiving, which I'm a big believer we've talked about before, how that shown to be a positive Thing of team success in general. So it can be scripted, but I think the game fed itself. I also, again, still believe youth played a part of it, but it definitely impacted the match. So when you support someone like that, I do believe it carried the one team over the other team, and that wasn't the deciding factor. I mean, there's lots of things with youth and being tired or consistency, but it was very interesting to me. It seemed like people that watch benches noticed it last night.

I think my curiosity came from, how did people view it? Just because I know, like, on my bowling team, my team tends to be one of the louder teams. And it's not for any other reason other than we're just there having fun. We do our best always to try to be supportive of. Because again, this is not like professional league. We're doing this for fun. So we also try to be very supportive of the other players and the other team. But occasionally there have been times where I feel like we've been viewed like we're. We're heckling them, and it's like, no, no, we. We generally love seeing you get a strike. Nice job. And then the other thing that came to mind, and I think this. This comes down to more of a the touchdown dance kind of concept. But me and. Me and my buddy had a thing where we do a strike dance. And it was just a way for us to bond. And what we did is every week that the league would pass, we would add another move to that strike dance. So you're talking about 20 weeks by the time we got done. I'm not lying. There was times I would get done with this dance and I'd be out of breath, but it was something that we stopped doing because we felt like other teams were looking at us like we were, like, running it in. It wasn't our goal. It was a bonding case.

And that's a fight. Fine line. And again, I tried to allude to it with baseball because I think that's a sport still trying to figure out what bench demeanor is. It's that fine line of having fun, being unsportsmanlike. And it's tough. And it's tougher because everyone has a different definition. Like, to me, last night, they weren't. But talking to a person this morning, they thought they were a little unsportsmanlike during the serve and such. So I think that's true. Even referring back to the tennis match, the one guy did a little dance after the game, and people might have been offended, but then they interview and explained it with A daughter's birthday, and she taught him that dance. So it is a fine line. And with highlights now on TV all the time and kids trying to come like you going a next step each strike, which is good to hear. You're getting a lot of strikes. The dallian.

Actually, it's not me. It's the other guy that gets all the strikes. So basically I'm dancing for him.

But whatever. The support, but.

But that's what the point was. It's just a bonding thing.

And I didn't think of this, and I know you probably talked to it on your podcast. Is the word you use. Is it? Yeah. And I heard that last night, even. And it's the joy of playing. And I think we lose that sometimes that there should be joy in playing. You should have fun. And loud equals fun. That's not always true, but again, if you observe, you can determine if it's fun or unsportsmanlike.

Well, and on the flip side, I will tell you that I have one of my players actually was asked to quiet down, not because he was having a good time, but because he was having the opposite of a good time. And it was just a thing where he would kind of yell in the middle of somebody throwing, you know, their ball. And that by any means, I understood. I was like, yeah, yeah, that's distracting. I can throw you off.

Yeah. And I think that's key in sports success is I don't want to get under the skin of the opponent. But when, you know, you get under the skin of the opponent, you're at an advantage. And that is, you can see it by their body language, their frustration. And I wouldn't want to use bench decorum to heckle another bench. But once you see the other benches frustrated, I think, you know, you're at an advantage. And the thing with the test match, I think the guy won the set because he took advantage of him being frustrated. I don't want the team to do it to get under the skin. But as a coach or a bench, when you see you've gotten under the skin, that takes them away from their strategy and their focus of being successful. That's more, I hope, because of the score and you're beating them, not because of heckling or being negative towards the other team. And I never want the teams going back and forth. You know, you see student sections go back and forth, but I frown upon and don't like if the teams are bannering back and forth or even their individual language. That does not lead to a positive outcome. But when you have the positivity or the louder the other, it does were competitive. So I think it leads to the other team feeling they need to do something, unless there's other circumstances going on, such as the game is over or you've lost your belief system, which you alluded to. Again, last night was more just telling that it was just so synchronous with the game. But there's so many other factors too there, I believe.

I think that's the hardest part is defining why. Why does it look like that? Because if you could really, truly define it, you could turn it into a pill or something that you just read or learn, then you would see body language, you'd see benches, you would see people more engaged, whether it's in the work environment or the sport environment.

And that's hard because a coach isn't watching the bench. I mean, hopefully your assistant or someone else, but they're watching the game. Game, certainly. But as a coach, I would hope you would find a way to gauge that. And that's where, again, experience comes in sometimes.

It's education, too. I know. Like, we've. We've had a dugout cam at different points in our journey through the. Through the coaching. And you'd. You see some incredible stuff. When somebody had hit a home run or something, you see, you know, 95% of the team super excited and ready to get out of the dugout and congratulate them. But, you know, you might see one or two. That's not. And so then instead of just labeling that as they're not happy for somebody else's success, you take that and you leverage that as not only a communication but also a teaching point. And you show them that video and, you know, you ask questions like, you know, if you hit one, how would you feel if your teammate was doing this? And most of the time that works pretty well because sometimes we just kind of get in our own worlds and we forget what things. How we're coming off or how things are looking. And so a big piece of it, especially, I believe with just student athletes and younger college, you know, high school kids, is just showing them what it looks like. And, you know, from there they can start stacking some bricks. And usually you see them do a lot better.

And I do believe, again, that's a point of the coaches, even though they're not watching it during the game, but I think it does. Hopefully they find ways to understand what did happen, because there are clues there to what the team believe positivity thing. And even more so That's a good point too because I mean you've talked before about we're all selfish, we're all, you know, I listen to podcasts today that, you know, we all think the spotlight's on us when really it's not. But even last night you could even tell on the bench that was winning. It was pretty synchronous, pretty congruent. But on the other bench you could even tell different levels of maybe kids not happy with their own situation in that game that to your point of not celebrating when someone does well. And again, I thought the team out on the floor did a nice job of trying to build up after play and support the younger team. Again, I think it's something that gets lost that you mentioned that I think the good team do spend time on that and find ways and it is in practice of whether keeping a journal, which I big believer of and I know this team does keep a journal and addressing it because I think it does feed into hold the whole team and their success of the season that maybe it does happen more with coaches that I know that deal with it. But I think think it should happen more too because I think it does help with the overall success of a program, especially when you are struggling. Because to your point, that could help build confidence, support of the people that are out there that are struggling.

Yeah.

And you've all felt that. That again, if the crowd gets behind you, how that creates momentum and confident that you go on a little run that you know your bench can. And I'm a believer that your bench is your biggest model of sportsmanship. I have always talked about in coaching meeting how if a coach is demonstrative, that feeds to the bench and that feeds to the crowd. And if it's a negative thing, then they're all yelling and that's not what we want. And some coaches are better at others at having that body language. But I think it's good to show some emotion in big plays. But again, that's separate than how your team acts naturally from the flow of the game.

Yeah, your bench pretty much tells what your culture or your environment of your team is. It's the true reflection most of the time.

Yeah, again, because that is again what's happening naturally from the events, the ERO. And again, you can strategize and you can make adjustments, but the actions of your bench are showing. And then last night I think again that's what showed so much between the two teams, positive or negative. And again, you know, it's early in the season with A young team that I'm guessing both teams will continue to work on that, but for one, it can help them maybe build the confidence to be more successful. Okay, to the favorite time of the podcast. And I'm running out of food questions, guys. But. And we talked about favorite ice cream before.

I know. You brought up ice cream one time.

I know. What about fruit? Which one you guys want to answer? Your favorite fruit or your favorite ice cream flavor?

You know, we're at the end of summer right now as we're recording this. Let's roll with the ice cream.

Okay.

Last chance for a dip it is.

So do you have a favorite place or a favorite flavor or something like a unique concoction you like to make? You want me to go first since I'm at.

Yeah, sure, let's let you do it.

I think I've talked before. Coffee ice cream is my favorite, which is crazy. I don't even like coffee, but I love coffee ice cream. I'm a big Dairy Queen guy. I think Dairy Queen had the best ice cream, bar none. The franchise Dairy Queen. I love ice cream. Our family loves ice cream. I was talking to my son last night. He was going door to get something. I go get ice cream. He goes, I can't. Our freezer's already full of ice cream. And that made his dad proud that his freezer is full of ice cream. Your freezer probably full pizza Cutter. But in our family, it's ice cream. But, you know, a heath blizzard is a favorite of mine if I'm gonna add two things together. But at our local place in town, they have different flavors throughout the summer. And they have a cinnamon that's pretty good and a black cherry that I don't like. They also have peach and lemon, which I think are nasty, but are popular. But I could go with a good coffee ice cream any time of the day, any day of the week, any time of the year.

I could roll a lemon ice cream.

That'd be. Oh, that sounds so nasty.

I could rock that.

That'd be all right, Cutter, you agree with me on this one or you agree with. You usually agree with him on your food palate.

I mean, I don't know about the. The peach one. That doesn't sound good.

Okay.

Yeah. I mean, ice cream's ice cream. I will definitely lean towards, like, the flurries and stuff. If we can get some Reese's peanut Butter cups in it or M M's, you know, something like that, I'll lean towards that. But I. I don't get a Whole lot of ice cream. My family loves ice cream, so I feel like I'm at one of the two ice cream shops in Mesa, you know, quite a bit. But that being said, don't necessarily have a favorite. It's not like I don't, I dislike it. It's just, you know, I keep it pretty simple for the most part.

So what's the favorite flavor, though? What would you want?

I would, I would go with some kind of probably vanilla with vanilla. Reese's or Eminem.

That's a good combination. I like Reese's peanut butter cups and I'm a chocolate person over vanilla, but I don't mind a twist or just plain ice cream. Interesting. A baseball coach, man, when I play baseball, we went to the ice cream store after every game. You know, even that's how I grew up. Like an ice cream. My, my grandparents took us miniature golfing and then the Dairy Queen after. And now my parents have done that with my children, so it's so weird. But miniature golfing and ice cream.

So I would concur with your, your coffee one. I do like that one. But my favorite's always going to be cream to menthe. It's always my favorite. That's my go to whenever I'm in doubt and I don't know what I want, that's what I do. And then as far as concoctions go, I, you know, I get inventive. It's fun. But banana splits always going to be the one. I mean, it's just beautiful. And I do not have a favorite ice cream place, oddly enough. I mean, I just don't eat enough ice cream these days to actually do that. But I remember back in the day, House of Flavors on the corner of Cedar and Jolly was my favorite place a long time ago. And that is so long ago, which really just ages me.

But good stuff again. Just like having a favorite pizza place. I believe everyone should have a favorite local ice cream.

QD's.

All right.

QD's. Yeah, QD is good. All right. 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!