All-Star Article On Panthers

I think we all agree that the author should be fired and the photographer needs a raise.

I personally did not have THAT big of an issue with the article because I knew what context it was in. What was exaggerated, what was written wrong, ect. But what I have a big issue with is that people who do not have any idea about CA or cheerleading will think this is all the truth.

And from what I remember, Panther's performance at Spirit Celebration was not THAT bad...

That was amazing.

I've only gotten through the first part so far and the things that stand out:

"At the end of a long gravel driveway, tucked behind a stand of trees that shields it from a county road, the more than 8,000-square-foot house and its amoeba-shaped pool sit on 25 acres. There is a barn and, beyond that, a hayfield."

Sooo, cheerleaders are rich?

"Instead of watching Bring It On: All or Nothing, they were taking turns holding their breath, crossing their arms, and having another girl inhibit their ability to breathe by pushing them against a wall. One girl had fainted and hit her head on the edge of a doorway. Hailstone suggested that the girls do something that killed fewer brain cells, maybe light fireworks by the pool."

Cheerleaders are stupid?

"Out came the iPhones. Fourteen-year-old Carly Manning tweeted her 7,900 followers, “The Panthers start fires! #BABS,” using the team’s shorthand for “Bad-booty Bitches.” The Panthers tweeted so much during the fire that their followers began tweeting back, “Shouldn’t you be putting out the fire?”"

Cheerleaders are the popular girls who think they're above the law?

"Shelby looks at her teammates, some very tan, most very made-up. She leans back on her elbows, her triceps bulging. The Bishop Lynch High School senior whispers, “Sometimes when the girls sweat, they actually smell like Mystic Tan.” ... “It’s becoming more about how people look than what they can do,” she says. “I like the work and winning, not worrying about how pretty I am.”"

Cheerleaders only care about appearances?

"“I see it heading away from athletics, this whole ‘hashtag perfect’ thing,” she says, referring to how other Twitter users tag posts about girls like Carly and Bailey. “ ‘So-and-so is such a Barbie, she’s perfect.’ A lot of cheerleaders are famous now, but they don’t understand they’re on a team.”"

Cheerleaders are stuck up witches?

This thing is chock full of cliches and I'm barely even at the meat of it!

BlueCat said:

The reporter was actually surprised that we didn't like the story.

Repeat: 12 paragraphs on a teenage slumber party and 1 sentence on their World Championship.

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The way it reads is a story that was intended to get up close and personal (despite still focusing on the wrong things), then the writer got to the point where they lost interest and tried to finish it as quick as possible.

He probably realized himself he spent way too much time on little things and didn't want to rewrite it. I finished the first page, and based on how far he was covering the season, expected that there was going to be about 8 more pages!

This isn't journalism, it is gossip rag. Every paragraph either exaggerated spoiled rich kids with money or kids caring more about makeup and hair extensions than the sport they participated in. Lesson to be learned - there are very few writers/producers who want to do justice to all-star cheer. Be very careful about who is filming or interviewing you - they aren't all like The Star-Ledger.

hahaha The gay bar comment made me life. Is that supposed to be a bad thing??

Are you kidding me? I felt like I was reading a story book. This article had so much potential too.

I'm happy I read the disclaimers from BlueCat before the article, it puts it all into perspective.

The best part was the pictures. Great job photographer! I loved the picture of all the girls' toe touches!

And, BlueCat, i'm so sorry that they made this article so wrong and terrible. Panthers deserve better than that. They made it look like they're all airheads and gossiping cliche teenage cheerleaders, which they aren't. They're all very sweet and so not the stereotypical cheerleader.

This article did have so much potential.

I really really loved the pictures (like the basket and the toe touches), but I don't like the portrayal of the girls.

However these two comments made me happy:
"Eight feet off the ground, standing on one leg and trying to spin around and put her ankle on her ear, she starts to crumble" - Because that's explaining just how hard cheer is
and

"There’s an art to the right pouf, ponytail, and bow combination. Done right, the holy trinity can attract a judge’s eye" made me chuckle.

quitthedrama said:

This isn't journalism, it is gossip rag. Every paragraph either exaggerated spoiled rich kids with money or kids caring more about makeup and hair extensions than the sport they participated in. Lesson to be learned - there are very few writers/producers who want to do justice to all-star cheer. Be very careful about who is filming or interviewing you - they aren't all like The Star-Ledger.

Click to expand...

Amen!!!

...did they just call the bases manthers?

I found the article on tumblr and was so ecstatic about cheer maybe getting the credit we deserve, I read it. Honestly a lot of it sounded like those "the clique" books that a lot of 6th graders in middle school read. But for the people that look up to those girls like Carly, she is one of my role models; yet they played her out to be spoiled like, when they could of easily played up that yes she is 14 but she is an amazing cheerleader like the entire team.

I was so mad how they talked about Victoria. They acted almost as if she was a cry baby. the girl is so FIERCE. Her "falling on her booty" I do that at least once a practice, who can help it if you loose air control? I sure can't, it's not a big deal happens to all of us.

That fire, oh my gosh. Seriously? Was that needed for a darn CHEERLEADING article. No, it wasn't. Did the writer want all their readers to think "wow, cheerleaders are horrible people, the state was in a drought and they still did that. Are they dumb?"

For entertainment it wasn't bad, like if it was a fictional book. But...a non-fiction article about a world champion team, WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR THINKING?! (Yes, I really did scream that, caps are so needed) :banghead:

I honestly knew it was going to be bad before I even read it. All I had to read was the caption to the first photo "14 year old Carly Manning has 7,900 twitter followers". Lets just leave out the fact she is hands down one of the best flyers in the industry and had 3 world championships under her belt by the team she entered high school. SMH