Cheerleading, I don't quite get it... Someone help me solve this infernal riddle...

[Ebil Gig]

You're so....girly. :heart:

I try to balance out my geekyness and my girly-..ness.

Oh boy, you're not getting near my kids.

But...but...I want to help them with cheerleading, yay!

 

[Movies205]

I try to balance out my geekyness and my girly-..ness.



But...but...I want to help them with cheerleading, yay!

Don't forget to fill out your Hype Clue Suggestion

 

[Ebil Gig]

Done and done

 

[Machx72]

When every cheerleader on the squad can do this:

this:

this:

and this:

Then maybe I'll consider cheerleaders on par in skill with gymnasts. Hell, I'll even maybe call it a sport. But probably not.

jag

For females, many of the ones I know can do all of that... And it certainly helps if you can, female or male.

Male cheerleading is entirely different, however. We're not chosen on our dancing and gymnastic ability as much as we are our strength and voice.

Regardless of what you "consider," cheerleading is a sport. Bash it all you want, but that doesn't change what it is.

 

[ang_hulk]

hummm-is cheer leading a sport? well they do train for it,it does take stamina.....I dont consider dancing a sport nore do I consider sacrunized swimming a sport,i dont consider them sports because although thier is bad and good acts/swims/routines/dances its still up to judge discretion,i like sports to have a clear cut winner you know? i mean pagents and cheer leading have criteria for how many points are taken off for falls and so on but no clear criteria for what makes the routines good,same with sacronized swimming and dancing.Thats what I have against them,thats why i dont consider them sports.

 

[jaguarr]

For females, many of the ones I know can do all of that... And it certainly helps if you can, female or male.

Male cheerleading is entirely different, however. We're not chosen on our dancing and gymnastic ability as much as we are our strength and voice.

Regardless of what you "consider," cheerleading is a sport. Bash it all you want, but that doesn't change what it is.

I'm not bashing it, dude. I'm just saying that it's not on par with something like gymnastics where the athletes train for YEARS to do what they do.

jag

 

[Machx72]

hummm-is cheer leading a sport? well they do train for it,it does take stamina.....I dont consider dancing a sport nore do I consider sacrunized swimming a sport,i dont consider them sports because although thier is bad and good acts/swims/routines/dances its still up to judge discretion,i like sports to have a clear cut winner you know? i mean pagents and cheer leading have criteria for how many points are taken off for falls and so on but no clear criteria for what makes the routines good,same with sacronized swimming and dancing.Thats what I have against them,thats why i dont consider them sports.

Football has criteria for what's good too.

It's called Winning.

@jag: I agree with you on that, although I've met some gymnasts who couldn't hold a stick to some of the cheerleaders I've known. I knew a freshman and a junior last year [they were hott as all hell too] who could probably out-do almost anyone in the entire county, whether it be in gymnastics or cheer.

While the majority of better athletes are in gymnastics, you gotta admit that the ones who get good at cheer become incredibly skilled.

I also knew a cheerleader on my team in Alabama who was a Level 9 gymnast. While I don't know the first damned thing about gymnastics, according to her and her cousin, Level 10 is Olympic level.

Anyways, cheer also takes YEARS to get good at. Sure, anyone can try out for a high school team... But you're not gonna get on Pro teams without a damned good amount of experience and skill.

 

[Mee]

...Get any phone numbers Movies?

 

[jaguarr]

Gymnastics is an Olympic sport. Cheerleading is not. 'Nuff said.

jag

 

[Kritish]

If you truly want to get creeped the hell out, go be around those little girl's beauty pageants. The parents that push their kids into those are REALLY screwed up; making their kids dress up like little ****es in garish makeup and giving them complexes about their weight and the importance beauty plays in our society. Truly messed up. Those cheerleader kids will seem pretty normal in comparison.

jag

Oh lord, those creep the hell out of me. Who the hell puts their daughters in one of those? Besides, they’re a pedophile’s dream come true. Who the hell knows who’s hanging out near one of those pageants.

 

[C.F. Kane]

What's the functional purpose of cheerleading again? I mean, aside from giving dumb jocks something to *********e to when they're alone in the locker rooms.

 

[Kyalesyin]

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. My god, what kind of sadistic parent does that?

 

[Morg]

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. My god, what kind of sadistic parent does that?

Pity you never saw the HBO special about kiddie pageants, was a real eye opener, some of those mothers were spending thousands and thousands of dollars on clothes, training and more.

 

[Kyalesyin]

Pity you never saw the HBO special about kiddie pageants, was a real eye opener, some of those mothers were spending thousands and thousands of dollars on clothes, training and more.

Someone give me a shotgun.

 

[Harlekin]

I'm so glad we don't have this cheerleading bull**** in Holland.

 

[Mee]

What's the functional purpose of cheerleading again? I mean, aside from giving dumb jocks something to *********e to when they're alone in the locker rooms.

How would we know how to cheer on our team without them?!

 

[Machx72]

Gymnastics is an Olympic sport. Cheerleading is not. 'Nuff said.

jag

Neither is football. Or lacrosse. Or field hockey.

What's the functional purpose of cheerleading again? I mean, aside from giving dumb jocks something to *********e to when they're alone in the locker rooms.

Believe it or not, there's a noticeable difference in crowd interaction [in high school level sports, at least... It depends on what college you go to for it to really matter] with the help of cheerleaders. We're out there to get the crowd pumped up.

While that rarely ever drives the team to do any better, I'm sure they like it when the male cheerleaders get ahold of the other teams' rosters and taunt the **** out of certain opposing players, both distracting and pissing off the players they're facing.

It grew from that into competitive forms. Teams make routines and compete against each other to see which teams can make the more flashy routine and pull it off better.

Truth be told, though- those bore the **** out of me unless I'm actually in it.

 

[jaguarr]

Neither is football. Or lacrosse. Or field hockey.

Those all have professional teams and leagues, though. How many professional cheerleader teams and leagues are there that exist on their own without any affiliation with a formalized sport?

jag

 

[Machx72]

Actually, there's quite a few of them. They host tournaments every year.

 

[jaguarr]

Actually, there's quite a few of them. They host tournaments every year.

Sooo....who are they supposed to be supporting and cheering for if they just exist solely to be a cheerleader squad unaffiliated with any sports team? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of cheerleading?

jag

 

[Machx72]

Sooo....who are they supposed to be supporting and cheering for if they just exist solely to be a cheerleader squad unaffiliated with any sports team? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of cheerleading?

jag

Not necessarily. True that cheerleading shows support for whatever team it represents, but it's predominantly there to get the crowd involved and... Well, get them cheering.

During competitions we do it in a narcissistic fashion and get the crowds at the comps to cheer for us instead of a football or basketball team.

We want to win. We want to be the better cheerleading team. Since being crowd-pleasers is part of the job, usually the more pleased the crowd is, the better your team is doing, thus giving you higher rank in competitions.

So, no. That doesn't defeat the purpose of cheerleading. Look at the name of the sport. We perform in front of huge crowds just like the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL does... Even at the lower levels.

 

[jaguarr]

Sorry, but I'm just not seeing cheerleading packing stadiums and arenas like the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL does.

It's still not a sport to me, though. It's really strikes me more like a dance competition where it's more about artistic merits rather than true sports competition, but that's just my opinion. I'm not saying it's not competitive. I'm not saying it doesn't require some athleticism. I'm just saying that it's less about true sports competition than it is aesthetics by my observation. So don't take it as knocking it, because I'm not.

jag

 

[Machx72]

Sorry, but I'm just not seeing cheerleading packing stadiums and arenas like the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL does.



It's still not a sport to me, though. It's really strikes me more like a dance competition where it's more about artistic merits rather than true sports competition, but that's just my opinion. I'm not saying it's not competitive. I'm not saying it doesn't require some athleticism. I'm just saying that it's less about true sports competition than it is aesthetics by my observation. So don't take it as knocking it, because I'm not.



jag

I didn't say it gets crowds as big as the NFL or other pro leagues do, I'm simply expressing the fact that we perform in front of large crowds. Some big competitions like at Disney World might get in the tens of thousands, but I'm with you that I don't think we'll ever see a cheer competition hit 60 or 70 thousand spectators.



Either way, regardless of how it's seen, it is a sport. Where you're correct is that it is based a lot on aesthetic value- and that's what requires the athleticism. Just because there's no contact with other competitors doesn't dissolve cheer's value as a sport... Hell, look at curling- that falls under the title of "sport" in the olympics.



An even better example of that would be archery- no interaction with competitors at all, and no way to affect the other's score. You just go out, shoot, get the better score, and that's that. Same with cheer- you go out, do your routine, get the better score than everyone else, and that's it.



You don't have to believe it's a sport for the fact that it is indeed a sport to be true. I was pretty skeptical about cheer myself until I actually joined a team when I was 15. The world changes when you take a look from the inside.

 

[jaguarr]

Archery and curling have a very clearly defined point system that is not subject to the whims of a judge who didn't like the way you did a handstand. It's not about physical contact with an opponent that makes it a sport to me.

Cheerleading is not a sport from my perspective.

jag

 

[Machx72]

Archery and curling have a very clearly defined point system that is not subject to the whims of a judge who didn't like the way you did a handstand. It's not about physical contact with an opponent that makes it a sport to me.

There are numerous point systems involved with judging a cheer routine, such as with difficulty of all the different areas [tumbling, stunts, dances, etc.- and no, the difficulty isn't based on opinion], as well as aesthetic value. However, the former takes up a large amount of the scoring system, and aesthetic value usually comes down to, "Did they fall? Did they complete the stunt without stumbling?"

Cheerleading is not a sport from my perspective.

It doesn't have to be in your perspective, as to be quite honest, your perspective on it makes zero difference in the fact that cheer is a sport. I don't mean for that to come off as cocky or in a mean way, but I really don't know how else to put it.