Speaker 1 00:00:11 Hello and welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Soro of Wichita State University strategic Communications. We're gonna talk Wichita State Softball today with Lauren Mills. Lauren is a senior on the Shocker softball team. She is from Topeka. She's hitting 3 76 with nine home runs and 42 rbis. She leads the shockers with 36 walks and an on base percentage of five 11, which is a second on the team. Second in the American Athletic Conference, she leads the American Athletic Conference with an average of 0.71 walks a game. Lauren is a multiple time selection on the conference all academic team. She earned all conference honors in 2022 in addition to all conference tournament honors in 2022 and 2021. So the shockers, they wrapped up the regular season last night at Kansas. They are ranked in the top 20 of the four major polls peaking at number 18 in the N F C A poll 43 and nine regular season champions. Their next action is May 12th in the conference tournament in Tampa. So Lauren, give us a big picture view of this season. What's made this group special?
Speaker 2 00:01:18 I think putting in the time and doing the little things. Our coach really talks about doing the little things right and to basically focus on them more than the, more than the big, the big things, because you can't have the big moments without the little things happening first. So, for instance, like, I don't want to use an example of me, but this is the only one I can think of right now, but Sid, Sid McKinney got a bunt down and then Addie B got a bunt down and then that's put them in scoring position. And then when I came around, uh, one of 'em had already scored and the next one scored off of my head. So those two bunts, those two little things that my teammates did, it, it mattered. It mattered a lot. So I think harping on the little things, one is the best way to go around doing anything in life. But two, it's just, it, it counts more than you could ever know.
Speaker 1 00:02:11 So we don't celebrate buns a whole lot. But you're saying they're, they're a really important part of the part of the picture.
Speaker 2 00:02:16 Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 00:02:17 Okay. Let's talk about the coaching staff. That's something I was gonna bring up later, but uh, they have now a long track record of really producing great offensive teams. Uh, if you look through the shocker record book, you know, the hitting records are just dominated by the last 8, 10, 12 years. Take us inside that. How does this coaching staff get the best out of hitters?
Speaker 2 00:02:37 I think they do a lot of behind the scenes work. They use film to the highest advantage and they let us in on that stuff as well. And I think that them telling us just, Hey, this is what happens with this girl. This is what happens, happens with that girl when we're watching film. It reminds us when we're in the game of, oh, coach B or E talked about this during, you know, during practice. I think that we have a practice plan set in motion for, uh, what's going to happen in the upcoming week. And then we try all week to execute what we're trying to do. And I think that preparing that, what preparing in that way has helped us so much. And it just baffles me when teams, when I see teams don't do it. And I'm like just, I'm just like, my coaches have found the literal goldmine of just, hey, this is a thing we do.
Speaker 2 00:03:29 And I think film is a lot more important than people give it. And I think that, uh, coach B uses it for like what people do on the field, uh, for the pitchers and for hitting too. But Coach e does hitting, uses it for hitting a lot. And, uh, coach b usually I'm a preps a lot of things for us during practice. And coach e is part of the other side of prepping for practice and that is are are hitting. I think that they do an awesome job at trying to make everything as game-like as possible. So when you're in that situation, it's a hundred percent more easier than, than what it could have been if I was on the, if I was on another team. So,
Speaker 1 00:04:11 So let's say you're preparing for a weekend series, so you know the two or three or four pitchers that you're most likely to face. Do you spend an hour looking at each? Do you spend a half hour? Give us a little bit of, uh, insight into how much time this all takes.
Speaker 2 00:04:26 Um, I have it, it's all so fast for me cuz I, I love the sport and time goes fast when I'm in practice or I'm in a game, but it's, we, we, we spend a good amount in practice. I'm, uh, going over game plans and preparing. So I would say I, I don't know what time to stamp to put it on, but we pretty much do it every day.
Speaker 1 00:04:44 And are you looking for, uh, well, what are you looking for when you really drill down on what that picture is gonna be throwing you?
Speaker 2 00:04:52 What has she done to other people and through other people? Like, do I see myself doing that? Do I need to watch out for this? What do I need to work on? Like, what are my weaknesses? I think that working on your weaknesses is a, a big, a big deal. I don't think anybody would dispute that, but for, oh, for, for me, especially like looking at what other people have done, I'm a visual learner. I'm, I'm a very visual learner. I mean, I'm an art major for crying out loud, so I'm a very visual learner. So having that is very good for me. And I'm pretty sure a lot of my teammates feel the exact same way.
Speaker 1 00:05:27 And does it get as specific as, so you're a power hitter. Do you look at what she does to a pitcher does against other power hitters or do you in a, like looking at her approaching a slap hitter would not be helpful.
Speaker 2 00:05:39 I mean, it can be helpful because like sometimes like, uh, some teams do do have a, like a sequence where they go in ow up there, they sometimes have a sequence. So just looking for little things like that. And most times they don't. But just like, because it's usually pitch call from a card, but it's, it's good to know like, Hey, I've seen this on film. And then you see it in a game, you recognize it. I think it's just recognition no matter who is up on film. I think recognizing the pitches that they throw is, is out there. So you just gotta take what you have known, what you've looked at and applied to yourself.
Speaker 1 00:06:16 So shockers are 43 and nine, uh, lots of big victories. Is there a game this season that you look back on and say, all right, that was a real, I don't, maybe a, a turning point where I realized we could do some, some big things.
Speaker 2 00:06:31 I think the first time we beat osu, cuz a lot of, a lot of people hype them up. A lot of people, they're, they're a good team. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna dispute that. Uh, Kenny runs a good team. I'm, I'm not gonna start anything with that <laugh> because there's nothing to start. He, he runs a good team, but I'm a, I think that us beating them really put us on the map and we really came out firing and that was the most like clicking for me. Like, oh, oh crap, we're gonna, heck yeah, like, I, like I had every belief in every confidence in the first place, but when it actually happens, you you just get excited and you're like, oh yeah, yeah, I knew this was gonna, it's just like, it's like, I knew this was gonna happen, this is awesome kind of a thing. So I think that was the game where I, I got super excited and just was really happy to be there and help my team. And just being with my team in that game was pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 00:07:24 So conference championships sometimes get overlooked. I think we really rushed to get to the ncaa, get to that, that kind of thing. Uh, the shockers have wrapped up the conference turn or conference regular season championship with one weekend to play winning a conference championship. What's that mean to you?
Speaker 2 00:07:40 Uh, it means, it means that we put in the work. It means that we did what we needed to do and we worked our butts off all year and we got to where we needed to be. And I think it's just showing what we've done in and out of the sport on, on, on our team. Cuz our team has done outside of work, our team, our team has done practice work. It's showing all of it that we've worked to be here and we have a right and we've earned a spot to be here. So I think it's showing everybody that, hey, we're here and we're not leading basically.
Speaker 1 00:08:11 So I wanna go back and remind people the Oklahoma State game that you referenced, they were ranked number two in the country when they came into Wilkins Stadium early April and eight, seven win for the shockers. So that was certainly one that uh, that really put a lot of things on the table for Wichita State. Lauren, take us through your, your time here at Wichita State. Uh, how do you feel like you've improved, progressed? What's been important for you during your time as a shocker?
Speaker 2 00:08:34 I've improved I think mentally because I didn't realize how much of the game is mental. Like as a kid you just came in, you're like, ah, I'm, I'm gonna do this and this will be awesome. And then when you get serious into ball, when you're a kid into summer ball and you're just like, you have one goal you want to get to, you want to get to a team in college, you wanna play in college, you love the sport so much, you wanna do that. And I achieved my goal and I'm so thank you, thankful for the Lord for giving me this opportunity to be here in the first place. Cuz I, I was, I remember sitting in my kitchen crying, thinking nobody was going to want me. And then coach B came along and saw me and she's, she offered me and that I, I was just ecstatic and I knew that's where the Lord wanted me to be and I'm just, I was just so happy.
Speaker 2 00:09:22 And then I got here and didn't realize, hey, you need to start being an adult. You need to start doing things on your own, which means you need to eat breakfast, stop not eating breakfast, go eat breakfast and you need to do laundry on, on this day and whatever. It's, I, I had a big wake up call of reality cuz my mom always did my laundry and my mom always did that stuff. So I had a big wake up call on that way. But in softball, I, I knew in college, cuz somebody else told me, I, I'm pretty sure it was, um, uh, Mackenzie Webber, uh, who used to be on the team, but she moved somewhere else. But she told me, cuz she was playing on the summer ball, summer ball team, she told me, you're gonna have to realize that every person you're going to be with on this team was the best in their high school, was great on their call, on their, um, uh, on their, um, summer ball team.
Speaker 2 00:10:16 And you were in that pool too. It's how much work you put in and how much time you are gonna put into the sport. What's gonna determine what you're gonna do here. And she told me this when I was, I think about the summer before I was gonna go into college. So I didn't really know, know what some of her talk meant until I got here. And when I got here it was like, oh crap, I haven't done a day conditioning in my life. I haven't really taken care of my body in a certain way. Then once that started happening, I started to do that and Coach B really was telling me, Hey, uh, you have to, you kinda have to step it up. So I, I did, I think improving like mentally and my work ethic too, I think I've improved that way a lot and hitting is it's way different when you're hitting a summer ball team to a college team.
Speaker 2 00:11:10 I think it, it's like, that's like a no-brainer, but you don't realize how real it is till you get here. So getting used to pitching and getting used to trusting myself up up at the plate was a really huge thing for me to do. So I think that in total, I've learned basically through trial by fire, learn what you did wrong and learn and how to improve yourself and do right, like, like I don't even think twice about taking extra cuts. I just do it like I used to not be that way. Now I'm that way. And as soon as I started being that way about a couple years ago, it, it really turned my hitting round. So I think that just learning from my, my mistakes was what I did throughout my college career.
Speaker 1 00:11:55 So you could solve a big problem for parents all over the world. We've been trying to get our kids to eat breakfast for decades, it never works. What, what can we do to get our kids to understand the importance of a good breakfast?
Speaker 2 00:12:06 Um, but I was, put a nutritionalist put it to me, it's, if you're, when you're an athlete, it's kind of like you're a car, you gotta put fuel on the car in order for it to start. So breakfast is the fuel that you gotta put in in order to start. So I usually do a rice cake with peanut butter on it. That's usually what I do. And then it like, it doesn't have to be like this huge, like I'm gonna have nine pancakes and I'm gonna have a breakfast burrito. No, just have an apple have, uh, have a rice cake with, with peanut butter on it. And uh, may like, I cook two eggs in the morning too. Like just little things like, like again the little things. So, and then just throughout the day I know we have snacks and the whatever, snacks and the, uh, or a locker room. So I just eat that. I know kids don't have that. I'm just saying like, pack a snack once in a while too healthy one, not, you know, not like Doritos or anything. So <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:12:59 No Doritos for breakfast. Lauren Mills says breakfast important. That's good. That's helpful. We parents need that help to get our kids to get our kids to eat. Okay. So you described reaching a point that a lot of athletes do. You get to college and boom, it's, it's tougher, it's different. Uh, and at that point some people will decide, you know, I don't wanna put in the extra work. Maybe academics is more important to me. Maybe I want to transfer to a different school. Uh, and all of those things can be, you know, fine, legitimate reasons. You decided to work harder and, and stick with it. What made you want to do those, those things to, to, to continue to improve?
Speaker 2 00:13:36 Well, I think that my mom was a big influence in it. She says, are you going to sit here and write about it or are you going to go do something? So my mom has always preached that in my life is, is you don't just sit down when you're beat. You have a choice, either cry about it or get back up. So I told my mom it was hard. I told my mom, Hey, like, just, this is so much harder than I thought it was gonna be. And she said, well, are you going to have that mindset also and just think over things hard or are you gonna overcome it? So my mom really helped me in that way to tell me like, Hey, basically get off your butt and work. Just, my mom was a very big, uh, influence in my life for that.
Speaker 2 00:14:19 So she's always been that way, has always done that ever since I was little. I had a guy come around whenever I was playing travel ball and I remember shaking his hand and he, it wasn't really a good handshake. I I, I was about 12 at the time and I just got on a new team, we're playing really competitive ball. I shake his hand and like, it's like one of those limp handshakes that I didn't know you're not supposed to do at 12 years old. And the guy told me, well next time you ever shake someone's hand, do that and also g give eye contact and speak more clearer. And I want you to know that you have to work. You're, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to do a lot more in college. And first things first is that you gotta to do all this stuff to even communicate with people.
Speaker 2 00:15:08 Communication is key. And if you can't communicate, I don't think you're gonna go to a good school for softball. I, I remember him saying that to me. We were in, we were in Oregon for a tournament and I remember going to my hotel room and telling, cause my mom saw the whole thing and I remember crying and telling her like, I don't know like woman to do that. This is, if he's, what he's saying is true, what am I gonna do? And she goes, well he told you things, utilize 'em. So now I always have a strong handshake whenever I'm talking to somebody I always, I make eye contact like, like I rem I don't remember what his name was at all. I don't remember the guy guy's face, but I don't remember his words. And just, he basically told me, you're gonna have to do more. And then when I got to college I figured out I need to do a lot more. So that's kind of a one example of my mom in the past telling me basically, are you gonna cry about it or are you gonna get up? Basically
Speaker 1 00:16:02 Eye contact, firm handshake. This is more things that parents struggle with. This is turning into a gold mine for struggling parents out there.
Speaker 2 00:16:09 I can I can give you one more. I used to run laps around my house for not telling my dad. Yes sir. No sir. Okay. So yeah, my dad implemented that when I was very young and I, I do that now without even thinking twice about it. It used to be Loren, go, go clean your room. Okay, what'd you just say to me? Oh, yes sir. Okay. Run a lap around the house. That's how it used to be in my house, so, so y yeah, so I guess you don't have to take my dad's parenting side of it. I ran a lot of laps but, uh, <laugh>. But yeah, if you wanted one more parenting advice, I guess that's what my dad and mom did, so.
Speaker 1 00:16:47 Excellent. Well it seems, it seems to have worked out. Was softball always your sport?
Speaker 2 00:16:51 I did play volleyball and when I was young and I went through high school and then I did do power lifting and I did do soccer at one point and I'm so glad I quit it cuz I, I, I, I can't, I can't play soccer <laugh> just, but that way I was the goalie. I sat in the goal, uh, volleyball. I was a middle, I I was also ambidextrous in volleyball when I was playing and that was really fun because you would think I was hitting with one hand, then I'd hit with the other and it was super fun to just see their eyes go from one, one side of their brain to the next and was just like, yeah, that's right. I hit with the opposite hand. So that was the cool thing I did in volleyball. But then I quit because my coach was, she was pregnant the first year and I thought, oh, okay, maybe she's like grouchy cuz she's pregnant.
Speaker 2 00:17:38 The second year she treated me like total crap and I'm just like, ah, I don't really wanna play this anymore. And then all my teammates, my teammates in softball are like my family. They're like my sisters. And with volleyball I did not feel that at all. It was always everyone's whining and complaining and no one can get along with each other. Softball, every team I've been on, we've got along with each other. We treat each other like sisters. We're a family and that's one of the best things I love about softball is that God gave me this sense of community. But volleyball, I didn't feel that at all. So I'm just like, I don't want to do this anymore cuz it just doesn't feel right to me. And so I, I quit, I left and it's just like, I'm, I'm done with this. But power lifting was just a thing for me to basically keep being strong. I, I did it all throughout eighth grade through high school I went to two state tournaments and I won state twice. So like powerlifting was just a way for me to basically keep my muscles up. So that's kind of what I did in high school.
Speaker 1 00:18:35 So you had an excellent high school career at, at Topeka Seamen. You were a Gatorade player of the year in the state of Kansas as a senior. So I'm intrigued by the, uh, the idea of you not feeling like you were gonna have a place to go play in in college. Take, take us through that a little bit. How did that unfold?
Speaker 2 00:18:50 Well, like I said, like everybody who is in college was the best on the high school team, was one of the best in their, I'm a travel ball team and I'm one out of a million girls in this, in, in, in this world that wants to play softball. And depending on if you want to, where you want to go is depending on you, but also depending on what's put in your lap as well. So I think it was just, I saw my friends getting offers and then I panicked. I think that was mainly me. I don't think it was anybody else but me. So that was that, that, that was kind of where I was at cuz I, I tend to overthink a lot and I'm trying to, I'm trying to let go cuz one thing that God has revealed to me is that I need to give control to him more in my life. I need to stop trying to control every single little thing. And in high school I did that a lot and overthinking a lot was one of my main things I did. So I think that was just the case of that now that I look back on it, cause I've done that several times. So it's, it's not uncommon for me to do that.
Speaker 1 00:19:54 So your patience at the plate, your command of the strike zone has always stood out, it seems like to my eye this year. People are pitching around you maybe even more than they have in the past. How, how do you develop that, that patience, that ability to, to take walks?
Speaker 2 00:20:09 I think you have to realize in the back of your mind is that you need to let go of your ego. And if it's down on the ground, don't, don't try to over swinging. Like let go of basically let go of like you wanna hit the ball, you you wanna hit the ball, you wanna do well, but sometimes doing well is just letting go and being on base for your team because sometimes it's just that, cuz sometimes that is the person who scores.
Speaker 1 00:20:37 So if you were talking to a high school senior, junior, I guess as, as kids are committing, uh, who is about to take this journey that, that you've taken, what kind of advice would you give them about navigating the academics, the athletics of, of playing college softball?
Speaker 2 00:20:52 I would say one, go to a school to where there's, it's a good program for your, for your major. Uh, believe it or not, I wanted to be a welder at one point in my life. <laugh>, I loved welding class. It was just, it wasn't, I think I liked it cuz it wasn't like the other classes where I would sit, where I would sit down, open a book and just stare at a teacher for half an hour. It was, oh you're in a shop, you're learning HandsOn stuff, it's super fun. You get to build things and I'd go and take my little dolly, I made, uh, little rolling dolly and, and show my parents like, look what I made and you get to work with spray paint and it was a cool class and I'm just like, I would love to be one of those brothers cuz it's a good job.
Speaker 2 00:21:31 But then I realized that welding and softball really don't mix. Then I found graphic design. One of my teachers, miss, uh, Steinberg was super nice and she kind of showed me this world. I'm like, oh, I love this design world. So I kind of just got into that. But for me, like I switched from welding to graphic design because I didn't know that everything that was like, like I didn't really didn't pay attention to like coat cans the way they're designed or um, flyers, the way they're designed or even ads from the Super Bowl or just, just everything that you see and or touch that is designed like even even like a pad of paper that you use in an office as a header up top to it. That that's a design too. Like you don't realize how much this is in our world. And I realize that, oh this is a super cool place.
Speaker 2 00:22:18 I have a lot, I have a lot of like passion for it. So I got into that and I realized, I looked at all the schools and I realized that Wichita State had a really good graphic design program. Jeff Pulaski has a very good handle on the design program here. And so that's the first thing I would say for high schoolers is go to a place where your major is good and go to a place where you actually like the school. Because I know a lot of people who do get injured during their time in athletics and volleyball. Uh, I told my sister this cuz she's, she's, she's in a process right now. I'm not gonna say which cause I don't want to, I don't wanna say too much. But um, I told her like, hey, most volleyball players have a lot of problems with their legs.
Speaker 2 00:23:03 Like my sister has, I'm not gonna say what problems, but she has problems with her legs to say, go to a school that you actually like to be there cuz if you're injured and you don't like the school, you're gonna hate it here and you're gonna be miserable and you're not gonna like it. So I told her wanting to find your major that you like with a good school who likes it. Two, find a campus you like. And as much as I love Coach B, uh, she could some like during um, uh, my recruitment process, some coaches were switching different teams and I was told by a person who helps girls get into college, don't just go to that school for the coach. I love coach b I love her a lot and I'm happy she stayed for all my five years. Cuz I love her.
Speaker 2 00:23:47 I also love coachee. Funny enough, I actually wanted to go to Pit State where she was coaching beforehand and I'm like, I wanna go to pit state. And then Wita State offered me and then I realized, oh yeah, coachee moved here. That's awesome. So I love my coaches, I love 'em like their family alone to death. But I was told, and I still think this is a good idea not to go to a school just for the coach cuz I know that Baker softball, a lot of people went to Avala for that coach and she moved and a lot of her players moved with her because they like the coach so much. So that's another piece of advice is just, I I would say love your major and love your school a lot more and then look at the program of softball within it. I think that's the best way to go around and to guarantee, hey, this is where you are meant to be. This is where guy's gonna put you. So I think that's a good gauge of what to do.
Speaker 3 00:24:50 Hi, this is Rick Yuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chak Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 00:25:19 So Lauren, you've been here since fall of 2018, been here five years as you said. Uh, what kind of memories are you holding onto as you kind of start going through the last practices, the last games, those, those kind of things Here at Wichita State,
Speaker 2 00:25:33 I think what's going through my mind right now is my teammates. I love 'em and they're like my sisters to me and I'm gonna miss 'em the most out of everything. I'm gonna miss my coaches. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna miss the sport itself. Like I know I'm gonna go and probably coach a team sometime, but just I'm gonna be on the other end of it not playing. So I'm just, I'm gonna miss the sport in its in, in its entirety. The bad times, the good, good times, all of that. I'm gonna miss all of it cuz I, I've been with them for so long. I've been with these girls for so long. I've been with Coachee and Coach B for so long. I've been with Presley with for so long. I I've been with ev all of them for years and I think I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lose touch with them of course, but just playing the sport in general, I think I'm gonna miss that the most.
Speaker 1 00:26:26 Uh, after one of the games this season, you were giving a group of young softball players a a tour of Wilkins Stadium and I overheard you telling them about the pride you felt in helping build this program. There are big plans over there for, uh, for improving the stadium, for improving the area around Wilkins Stadium. Tell us, tell us about that.
Speaker 2 00:26:47 I think that when you look back at your career and know that you've done good things with your teammates and we've done amazing things, I think that when you see the new stuff that's coming, you can't help but think to yourself, I was put here in order to build this program. This is what the Lord put me here to help out with. Not only with the program, but just building build. Not only playing but building the program. So I think that a sense of, I think, I think a sense of pride is is not, not a, not like to the point where it's going to your head, but just to the point where you're like, wow, I helped do this and wow, our team helped do this. So it's just, just the knowledge that you, that you, um, a walked so others could run, kind of that kind of knowledge.
Speaker 1 00:27:39 So you are well known around Wilkins Stadium for several things. You are one of the biggest movie fans, movie critics in that locker room. Uh, there's a lot of pet enthusiasts in that locker room. You have Jerry the Rabbit, who I believe was he was introduced to the nation last year on ESPN during the, uh, NCAA regionals. Let's start with the movies. What are you watching? What's the latest things that, latest movies you might recommend to the people?
Speaker 2 00:28:02 I have, I love animation. I've loved it all my life. I have watched Saturday, uh, morning cartoons. I used to watch Dexter's Lab. I used to watch, uh, Avenger time. I used to watch Adventure Time that's not used to. Um, I also used to watch like, even like the most obscured shows, like the, like the Snorkels. It was all animated shows for kids in Saturday mornings. I used to just watch it with without a care and I just realize it's a art, it's an art style form that does not get enough credit, does not get enough, um, attention because everybody writes it off as kids. Oh this is kiddish. But yeah, some of it is, I'm not, there's there's cartoons for kids that, that's not anything new, but there's a lot of animated kid movies and a lot of, a lot of animation in general that yeah, can, can appeal to kids.
Speaker 2 00:28:59 But there's a lot for adults too. And one of the main movies I love right now is Mitchell's versus The Machines. It's a movie about this's, a young girl named Katie wanting to go to film school, but her dad is like a nature guy, doesn't really want her to do that cause he doesn't think it's profitable. And what happens is that he, they end up getting in a fight and he said, and he wants to like make it right with her. So he is like, oh, oh let's do a trip across the, like a trip across the United States like we used to do. And so he cancels her ticket and they all get in the minivan and of course the girl's not very happy about it, but you know, she makes memories along the way. And then this is a really weird plot, but um, this tech guy and the B plot is like trying to make sure, hey, let's like get robots into the home now.
Speaker 2 00:29:49 But they rebel and they're like, oh, we don't wanna do that cuz you know, humans have treated technology like crap. So we're gonna get rid of all the humans so everybody gets taken, but the Mitchells and they have to save everybody. That's the whole premise of the movie. If the animation's new, it's really, it's, it's really fresh. I I like to call it the Disney syndrome because Disney is, Disney was at the forefront of animation for a while. But it seems like they don't want to change styles. They don't want to get into what's new. They don't want to do anything than just like everything to a t And in Art you can't really do that. You gotta go balls of the wall, go go hard or go home or people are not gonna notice you. Like Dreamworks has done a great job at that.
Speaker 2 00:30:34 Have they had a lot of flops? Yeah, yeah they have. But they also had a lot, have had a lot of good films that everybody enjoys. Like Prince of Egypt is one of my favorites. It's the last 2D animation. It's done beautifully. It tells a story of Exodus, which is when uh, Moses told the Pharaoh Let God's people go. And then the Tech 10 plagues came and the God delivered the uh, Jews out of Egypt. That's kind of what it's based around and it's a really good movie. It's really well animated. It's a lot of good songs in there too. So, um, that's their last 2D animation form. The rest have been 3D and the rest have been kind of just different variations of styles. Like the thing The Bad Guys was one of their films that they really had a different animation style that they used different lighting in.
Speaker 2 00:31:24 I think I've never seen lighting used in a way that they've used it. So, um, looking at that like just different animation styles and that's what I'm kind of after when I'm looking at animation is yes, it's animation is technically for kids but has a lot of things for adults and does it really hit the mark with the style and the story and the themes it's trying to tell because that's kind of what you need for the movie to work. So I think the Mitchell's versus the Machines does a really good job of that. So does, this is a really weird one and I didn't, I didn't really think when I saw the trailer for it, it was gonna be a good movie. Uh, puss and Boots, the Last Wish. It's been killing it in the box office and it's been really doing well with people.
Speaker 2 00:32:05 A lot of people are recognizing and has a lot of themes that uh, you can relate to. Like there's certain themes of having a family belonging, uh, how to deal with, uh, death basically like pus pushes down to his last life cuz cats have nine lives and he has to deal with the fact that most of his lives have been wasted. This is his last one and he has to cherish it. So it's different, it's different themes, simple themes put into this weird world. And the animation has just stepped up its game. It uses a combination of slow animation and fast animation. The fast animation is just the normal, them walking around or talking or hey, they're going to, I don't know, go walk through a, a garden or something. And then the next animation is when they're fighting it's slowed down to certain points to where you can see punches thrown, things being, um, well thrown at each other and it's slow, it's slowed down to where you can see it.
Speaker 2 00:33:05 And I kind of appreciate that they worked with different speeds cuz I think that's not what anyone has done in the past 10 years, is worked with different speeds and animation and you can really tell it's a lot better when you do it. So I'm really looking forward to more movies utilizing that. So that's kind of what I love about movies is that you can notice little things like that. So animation's really huge with me in the movie department and stop animation the most cuz it's, it's usually good because it, you have to really go through the process cuz it's a frame by frame. Let's take pictures in order to make it look like it's moving. So that takes a lot of time. I think it takes maybe two days for 30 seconds of them, uh, rearranging certain things on the camera to make it work. So two Days for 30 Seconds is a, a very long process <laugh>, so you have to make sure it works. But I I I absolutely adore Stop Animation
Speaker 1 00:34:06 And Mitchell's Versus Machine was the name of it. Yeah. And how do people watch that?
Speaker 2 00:34:11 Uh, Netflix. Netflix. Netflix. It's on Netflix and you can, we can watch it online with certain providers, but Netflix is the, the main one. I think Pussing Boots is on HBO Max, I believe. I know it's on Peacock I think, but, uh, I, I'm not for sure a hundred percent. But yeah, it's, it, it's coming, it's coming to streaming platforms, but usually nine times outta 10, if I'm watching a movie, it's either, uh, animation or something like John Wick. I'm really, I'm really big into, uh, action movies. So like John Wick, a good one to watch is nobody that's on H B O Max. Uh, I think the last good action movie I've seen was nobody. And it was a couple of years ago, but just like, to me, like nowadays it's, it doesn't really have a lot of passion does it once had. So like, having just a fun action movie, it's just, it's just fun to watch.
Speaker 2 00:35:06 I, I could say the same thing about Marvel and a lot of things. I just think that, I just think that we're in an era of ideas are starting to slow down and they really have to rethink of what they're doing on, in, in movies. So I, I think that we need to stop with the live action stuff if it's animated. Cuz I've already seen the movie and you're taking things out of the movie that I liked because it's animated. That's, that's my main thing. Like there like Disney's doing that and like there's a lot of things where I'm like, oh, you took that out because I liked it. Not not because I liked it but you took it out. But I liked it. That's what I'm meant to say. Like you took it out and the reason why I liked it is cuz it's animated not live action.
Speaker 2 00:35:49 They need to start I think Disney, I think a lot of people feel this way, they need to start <affirmative> coming up with new ideas cuz reusing old ideas from different, different animated movies you've made in the past shows me that you are running out of ideas and you're just trying to keep making money. It's not about passion of what you're making anymore. It's more of how can I make the quickest dollar? And people are starting to recognize that. And that's my main beef with Disney right now is that there's nothing new out besides like the Pixar movies. But like to me like those are also coming down to a tea as well. They need to start having a little bit more passion and trying to find original stories instead of just reusing it and reusing it, reusing it because that's not creative and it, I think it's quite lazy. So I think the need to start doing more to make better stories and better movies.
Speaker 1 00:36:44 I just read an article, I can't even remember where it was about that topic. Taking animated movies and making them live action. And it argued that that was not great. And I, the example I remember was like the, uh, I guess this would be Beauty and the Beast, the talking Candlestick character when you're, when it's animated, it's a much friendlier, more vibrant and then when you make that uh, live action, it just loses something.
Speaker 2 00:37:10 Yeah, it does to me. Like I, I'm not, I love, I love The Lion King movie animated one. I loved it cuz it had great movie, it had great animation, it had great music, it had everything you could have wanted in a movie. Great. It had really good animation. And that was the last time like Disney used 2D animation. So really good 2D animation. And I love 2D animation cause everybody's trying to go 3D nowadays, but 2D is just as good and it's really well animated. I love the songs, but when you put animals in a live action, their face muscles don't make clear emotions. And that was my main beef with the new live action one is that, yeah, it's CGI ID and it's all animals, but there's not enough facial emotion. Like y y like wordless storytelling is also a really good way.
Speaker 2 00:38:00 And I think it, I I think some stories really profit off of that. So when I'm trying to figure out an emotion of a person or an animal on screen and I can't see it, it really dulls down the movie. That's, that's my one criticism of that movie is that you didn't really give them emotional faces, which it could have been weird. I, I don't know, I, I don't know what the process was, I can't speak for the animators, but it, it seems like you didn't put enough emotion into it and that's why I really wasn't emotionally invested as I was in the animated movie. When I can see emotion, when I can see all that stuff I need to see in order to get into the mood of the movie and the tone of the movie. Cuz the tone of a movie is very important cuz if it shifts, you kind of have this like weird jarring feeling inside you.
Speaker 2 00:38:48 They're like that, you're just like, okay, something's different and I don't know if I like it or not. And then you figure out if you like it or not be in the movie. So like that's, I actually watched a movie, it's called No No Country Roads for Old Men. I think that's what the movie was beginning was slow. I, I liked, I liked to have it built it up in the middle of the cat and mouse chasing was pretty awesome. But then it shifts from, oh this really high intensity, we're gonna like someone's who's gonna get who kind of thing. And, and it just cuts to the guy on the floor at the end. You don't know what happened, you don't know what ensued or any of it. And it just cut to that and my uh, my tone just, and my, in my mood just jarred. It went from really exciting to complete confusion. Then just little like disappointment cuz that's really lazy way of ending a movie. So just I, it went from that tonal shift and just that maybe not like the movie because of the tone shift. So tone is a, tone is one thing you have to account for in a movie. So when I see there's no facial construction in the candle or the animals, I can't really get into it as I would in the animated movie. So
Speaker 1 00:40:05 Jerry the Rabbit, how has Jerry the Rabbit handled all the stardom since he's been on espn?
Speaker 2 00:40:10 He, he doesn't know anything <laugh>, but he, he's on a, he's, he's a little mad at me right now. He's, he's on meds right now cause he has an eye infection. But it's, it's fine. He's eating and drinking, he's doing all the good stuff. So it's just, uh, I was told wrong. I was told two to three days the first time I treated him for his eye meds and it should have been two to three weeks. So I, so I've, it's rabbits don't show. The thing about the thing about rabbits is they don't show any signs that they're in pain cuz they're prey animals. They're at the bottom of the, they're at the bottom of the food chain. So they're not gonna show you outwardly unless it's like very physical, like what they're, like, what they're feeling and whatnot. Like there's certain things that they do like a binky as they jump in the air and they do zoomies around, that means they're super happy and comfortable with you.
Speaker 2 00:40:59 If they're laying down, that means they're relaxed and they trust you. And if they're um, uh, in a loaf that means they're, they're on alert but they're trying to relax and they, they trust you in that certain way too. And then there's thumping, which is just, they use their back legs to just, that's how, that's what they do. I got thumped at this morning cause I was trying to give him his meds. He was not happy with me. So I reco I recognize that as I was trying to give him his meds. So it's very like physical and little like cues you have to pick up on rabbits. So when I came into my room one day and I see he's hunched over on the side of the room and then I crinkle the bag for treats. Cuz treats are usually how I gauge if a stomach is working.
Speaker 2 00:41:39 Cuz rabbits can get a thing called a gi tract or gi stasis, which means that they'll die within 24 hours if they don't get food in them. So, um, yeah, uh, yeah so that's a big thing I look out for. So I give him a treat, he runs right up to me. So like, okay, his stomach's working, then I realize one of his eyes is half shut and it's red. Like, okay, you have an eye infection, we will take you in the next day. So he's eating and drinking. I recalled every single time he was eating and drinking and then I uh, took him to the vet in the morning and that's what he told me. And then I realized throughout the entire time that he wasn't really cured and he was still living with a little bit of eye pain. So I felt horrible.
Speaker 2 00:42:16 But also you don't know until something else happened. And something else happened and I saw his eyes were puffy again. So I took him to a different doctor who's his actual doctor. I took him to the emergency cuz it was Saturday and the actual doctor works from Monday to Friday. So took him to the doctor on, on that Wednesday and she said, oh yeah, yeah, they told you wrong. So a he's been going through that and what you have to do is give him an oral thing, which is just, you put him in a little burrito and the towel and then you pull back, um, his fur and to see his mouth and you stick a syringe deep down there to make sure he has it in there. So that's what I had to do for about a week now. So, and then eye drops, that's just opening his eye and putting eye drops in. But yeah, he, he fights me every turn on it cuz he doesn't wanna do it and I don't blame him. So, but that's how Jerry's been. He's he's how he's, he's happy but he's getting healthier.
Speaker 1 00:43:08 So why a rabbit instead of a dog or a cat?
Speaker 2 00:43:11 I've always had a, um, obsession with rabbits. It's a weird thing like as a kid, every kid loves bunny cuz it's fluffy and cute and whatever. But then you actually get to know a rabbit after, because let me, let me reiterate this. Uh, rabbits aren't for five year olds to just stare at in a cage. If you plan on getting a rabbit plan on it, being free roamed plan on it being out of the cage, unless it's at night, unless you don't feel comfortable at night. I worked a thing with Jerry that I should have done with the New Rabbit. I was trying to get in, but it didn't work out cause she was too aggressive. Um, uh, I put him in a cage at night and then I let him out whenever I was awake and whatever. So we'd have that dynamic and then we moved into full control of you being around me all the time.
Speaker 2 00:44:00 So it's a step process. It takes a long time, but be prepared for that. Be prepared for vet bills that are at least a hundred dollars. If it's 80, that's a good day for me. Whenever I go in and they're like, ah, it's 80 bucks. I'm like, heck yeah, 20 bucks I saved, let's go get gas. But I'm, uh, um, yeah, plan on doing that, plan on buying pellets, plan on buying all those other stuff for hay and plan on training your rabbit to go to the bathroom. Like he doesn't do it perfectly. Always Jerry, but he, he does it the point where like, I don't, he's not peeing on things. He's always in his little box peeing and that, that's it. Like the, we're still trying to get, not pooping on the floor down, but you know, that's a long process. But be prepared to train a rabbit like that.
Speaker 2 00:44:45 They're a lot more work than you think they are. So that's, that's the downside. I'm telling you the upside is even though they don't show facial emotions, I know I did rag on that with Disney, but, um, even though they don't show facial emotions, they do show outward emotions of happiness. They have personalities once you get to like be around them, they're very fun and caring and kind animals. And every time I'm in my room having a bad day, he always knows that I'm distressed or what or whatnot. And he always wants to cheer me up, come near me, sit down, snuggle right next to me. He's, he always is right next to me whenever I, I'm not feeling the greatest. So they're very vibrant animals if you get to take the time and know them. But the thing is most people don't wanna get to take the time and know them and sometimes ends up with rabbits being in a cage for all their life.
Speaker 2 00:45:35 And I'm just telling you right now, that is a, that's an awful thing for a rabbit. So if you plan on getting a rabbit, don't leave in a cage. Plan on it being free roamed. And even if you don't trust it being free roamed, you can designate a spot in the house that is, uh, about I would say five by eight feet, uh, of a pen. Like, like a little dog pen. Just get like, you can go to Walmart, it's by 50 bucks. You can get like this like dog pen crate thing. And I used to, so one was online for 30, mine was about 80 bucks. It was 30 online and 15 at Walmart. So I did this huge pen and he would run around there and be perfectly fine the rest of the day. Just don't, you're supposed to have an enclosure. Enclosure that's at least 10 times their size, basically the least eight.
Speaker 2 00:46:25 So like plan on them not being in a cage like that in a pen. You think you can absolutely do that and merge into something better. But plan on, plan on having some work cuz and also plan on doing a lot of research beforehand. Timothy hay is the only hay they need to eat. Uh, they love parsley, cilantro. Um, Jerry has eaten broccoli. I'm not sure if he was supposed to or not, so I need to look that up. But, um, romaine lettuce is the only lettuce you can give them cuz rabbits, like I told you, is like their stomachs are really sensitive and anything you feed them that's bad, they will explode from the inside out. So romaine lettuce is the only lettuce you need to feed cuz uh, butter lettuce or like iceberg lettuce is going to destroy their stomach. So that's what you need to do.
Speaker 2 00:47:14 And if you're not sure if they're healthy or not, go to their litter box and check on their, uh, poop. That's, that's the only way It's really, it's really gross. I'm, I'm not gonna lie, it's gross, but check out their letter box, see what's happening with them and if it's not normal, take 'em to the vet. That's a good way to know if your rabbit needs to go to the vet or not. So like, like that last part was gross, but the rest of it is perfectly fine. That's the only downside. It's just, look, it's just that stuff. So they're very caring and compassionate animals and they're very loving animals if you give 'em a chance. And I think that, uh, it's a hundred percent the human's fault. If a rabbit has trauma, like, like rabbits, rabbits usually don't get themselves in a lot of mess cuz they're prey animals.
Speaker 2 00:48:02 It's usually the humans that do it. So I, I got Jerry, he was fine, but there was, I tried to adopt another rabbit for him and I realized that she had a lot of aggressive problems and my guess is that you put her in a cage, you didn't really give her enough time out of, of her space. And because of that she becomes territorial and become, when she becomes territorial, she becomes aggressive. So yeah, I, I've met a aggressive, aggressive rapid before, so I'm not gonna lie, just it's, it's usually humans that mess 'em up. Not anything that they do.
Speaker 1 00:48:37 So we've covered advice for parents on breakfast firm handshakes, good eye contact, care and training of a rabbit. It's been a illuminating podcast. The shockers, they are 43 and nine. Uh, they are off until May 12th. They will have the weekend off to see how the rest of the conference, tournament bracket shapes up. Then they'll be heading to Tampa for that. Lauren Mills, thank you for your time. No
Speaker 2 00:49:01 Problem.
Speaker 4 00:49:14 Great insight as always. Thanks for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can always find more roundhouse
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Speaker 5 00:49:30 And they let him pass it up court and then it gets ticked off along three by Pango snow. Good. One second. It's over. It is over. And Wichita State has beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the sweet go crazy Wichita. I know you
Speaker 0 00:49:47 Are.
