I’m shocked that equal scheduling of cheerleaders is still an issue. We cheered for girls’ games but not nearly as extensively, or with as large a squad, as for the boys’ games. In Montana, where I practiced, there is a 20-year-old consent decree that addresses equal cheerleading support, and I assumed that was now standard practice.

I blame society

(H/T – NRO)

Premise: All sports are entitled to have cheerleaders rooting for them.

Conclusion:

…and if Ms. Bartow is implyiong that the market isn’t allowed to work in certain instances, well, I am all for those schools opening the process up to a more “market-oriented” approach – you know, like sports teams are chosen – usually the most skilled, however defined, are chosen – the rest of us watch from the sidelines.

So I’m all for letting the market dictate which sports the cheerleaders show up for…although I continue to believe that making such decisions explicitly market-based would just re-emphasize how inconvienent the market can be for those who “know” what’s best for the rest of us.

cheerleaders probably want be where the people are…which usually means going to cheer on the guys…once again the market works in inconvienent ways, doesn’t it?

The cheers drowned out directions from the girls’ coach, frustrated the players, and created so much tension that the cheerleaders left before halftime.

…is a quote from the NYT article.

I have some addition observations here:

http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=1390

Cheerleading has long been a source of contention. Some women’s sports advocates complain that schools count it as a varsity sport as a sneaky way to increase the numbers of the female side of the athletic department balance sheet without changing historic disparities. Others see the varsity letters as a mark of respect for the athletic and acrobatic feats the squads perform.

Also, I was curious as to why some of the problems that supposedly occurred when the cheerleaders went to girls’ basketball games (according to the article:

Several cheerleaders there recalled a game two years ago, long before the complaint, when the squad decided at the last minute to cheer for the girls’ team because a boys’ game was canceled.

The cheers drowned out directions from the girls’ coach, frustrated the players, and created so much tension that the cheerleaders left before halftime.

Why don’t they annoy the boys’ teams just as much, I wonder?

At the South Carolina basketball games I attend, the announcers, our mascot “Cocky” and the pep band do most of the crowd enthusiasm generating. Heck, for better seats I’d consider holding up signs that say “Go Cocks!” and jabbing my fist in the air during timeouts. I don’t know how much money is spent on college cheerleadering squads, but there has to be a better use for it. Away teams don’t bring their cheerleaders with them to our coliseum and they still often play very well indeed, unfortunately :>)

I don’t think cheerleading for academic teams would be a bad thing.

E to the x, dx.

Cosine, secant, tangent, sine,

3 point 1 4 1 5 9.

Integral, radical, mu, dv

Slipstick, sliderule, MIT!