Even the losers are happy in college softball

[GunnerShotgun]

Life is a team sport.

Good grief. What does that even mean? Do you sell High School motivational t-shirts?

No amount of cheering or singing will change the outcome of a golf, swimming, tennis, or baseball game. If it does indeed bring an advantage how many runs per game does it bring to the table?

Do college coaches recruit players on how well and loud they sing and chant in order to bolster this advantage that it brings to the table? Of course not. We know through analytical research all about the things that go into (or take away from) home-field advantage and singing and cheering is not one of them.

Also, ask a sportsbook about how much "cheering" influences the outcome of a baseball game.

 

[Tatonka]

Good grief. What does that even mean? Do you sell High School motivational t-shirts?

No amount of cheering or singing will change the outcome of a golf, swimming, tennis, or baseball game. If it does indeed bring an advantage how many runs per game does it bring to the table?

Do college coaches recruit players on how well and loud they sing and chant in order to bolster this advantage that it brings to the table? Of course not. We know through analytical research all about the things that go into (or take away from) home-field advantage and singing and cheering is not one of them.

Also, ask a sportsbook about how much "cheering" influences the outcome of a baseball game.

You got me, yep T-shirts and slogans. Truly love your complete and utter dedication to analytics, really we need people like you out there (glad to have you on "the team". My career (when I'm not silkscreening and hawking T's) has me interacting with green eyeshade, stats and research folks all the time and I do rely on them to at times keep the intangibles out of the equation. You may not believe this either but often your comments and views remind me of one of my best friends over the last 40 years (he was also a coach)...and yes, I give him s**t about it all the time. In my younger days I wrestled, ran track, cross country and raced motocross all of which are commonly thought of as individual sports. In each of those endeavors I would not have been as successful as I was, if I had not had team support in one form or another. Sure, it was different than when I played other traditional "team" sports but it was still a part of the deal. So many other factors to consider about performance.

But, hey as is often said on here "you do you". The OP brought up whether losers should be cheering on their teammates? Maybe I should design a new T that sports an empahatic "Yes!!" Good stuff, keep it real and uh, have fun.

 

[cnardone]

My dd is first year 14U. I hate the screaming for screaming sake (which does seem less in 14U than it was in 12U). Thankfully, we don't do it at all. Never have. What I've found (perhaps this is just our team), is that a quiet dugout is a totally dis-engaged dugout. We expect some sort of cheering.

 

[Rolling Hard]

"Everybody knows your name."
Everybody like to hear their name. So cheers like "hey, we want some Maddie." Or simular ones might increase one's confidence which will benefit performance.
My favorite cheer occurs when after Maddie smokes a stand up double off the fence the and bench cheers, "Maddie, Maddie how do you feel?" And Maddie responds," I fell good, I feel good, grunt" and stomps her foot. The bench responds, " she feels good, she feels good, grunt"and stomp.
The bow and arrow thing, the eat it up gesture or sprinkling the magic dust stuff is priceless.

 

[uncdrew]

At a tourney this weekend, a batter hit the ball and then gave a really half-hearted effort and got thrown out. She just wasn't running or trying much.

Coach yelled at her "You gotta Hustle!!!"

The team, hearing the word "hustle", then proceeded to do the chant "That's why we hustle, that's why we hustle".

Perhaps it was a "You had to be there" moment, but it was pretty funny.

 

[_MIA_]

At a tourney this weekend, a batter hit the ball and then gave a really half-hearted effort and got thrown out. She just wasn't running or trying much.

Coach yelled at her "You gotta Hustle!!!"

The team, hearing the word "hustle", then proceeded to do the chant "That's why we hustle, that's why we hustle".

Perhaps it was a "You had to be there" moment, but it was pretty funny.

The lack of critical thought is what makes it funny..Also puts into question whether all the cheering actually means something or is just becomes white noise at some point..More than likely the words mean very little but the absence of it would perhaps be jarring..at least at first.

 

[uncdrew]

The lack of critical thought is what makes it funny..Also puts into question whether all the cheering actually means something or is just becomes white noise at some point..

Exactly. They just heard the word and it made them start the chant. Remember that if you ever play Pavlovian Dogs Premium Elite '08.

 

[joe720]

Little confused here. Are we advocating for pouting, crying, and whining in the dugout? If nothing else i'd rather my team be positive even in the face of defeat as opposed to sitting there with frowns or acting like they don't give a **.

 

[Cougars]

Little confused here. Are we advocating for pouting, crying, and whining in the dugout? If nothing else i'd rather my team be positive even in the face of defeat as opposed to sitting there with frowns or acting like they don't give a **.

The thread has kind of bounced around.... started as a troll post, turned into a decent conversation, but somewhere along the line the "pro cheer" people flipped it to the "anti cheer" people being against fun... Really, I think the "anti cheer" people are talking about the stuff where it's more of a coaches mandate to "cheer" (with possible punishment for not doing it), and not just in the moment excitement and cheering.

Personally, I'm all for the players being into the game and cheering. However, I could use less of coaches spending a bunch of time telling the players "i can't hear you", or "get on the fence", when they should be giving signals to the pitcher/batter/etc.

 

[Agcy]

But it's not a team sport. How much or how little you cheer has no impact on the event's outcome.

Imagine if it were golf. "Well, Suzy can't shoot 5 under par unless we cheer and sing to her non-stop during the match."

Talent wins 9 out of 10 times and it has nothing to do with how well they sing (or don't).

It's not a team sport? Hmm... There is only one way to score by yourself and no way to get an out by yourself. (even the pitcher needs a catcher) Not sure that one person could win a softball game on their own.

Even with team sports, I guess all that cheering and encouragement that I do at college football/basketball or HS games really wasn't warranted or necessary. That stupid "Let's get loud" really doesn't matter on 4th and 1 because it is really just about the talent.

Look, I get it. When I was first introduced to SB and didn't know much, I only used the cheering/chanting to make sure the girls on my team were engaged and not just sitting quietly on the bench. 10+ years later and it doesn't seem like a SB game without some chanting.

While boys need to play good to feel good, girls (more often than not) need to feel good to play good. Coaches are looking for every little bit to get an advantage and having energy on the bench or in the dugout is one way to do that. When I hear Coaches like Geno Auriemma or my daughter's college softball coach comment on the energy, or lack thereof, of the players not in the game, you bet that chanting/cheering is on their mind.

It isn't about the talent, it is about maximizing the talent...