All-Star Article On Panthers

dawgshow said:

I'm actually NOT one of Carly's 7900 Twitter followers

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I'm not either and I'm not speaking specifically of any CA athletes, just generally.

I know AceDad. Just poking fun at the often repeated fact in the article.

I was very disappointed in the article. I saw that the editor was sassing people on twitter so I put in a comment about how I found it unprofessional for the writer to quote some moms he had heard walking back to his car. He replied "Unprofessional? I call it good reporting. Agree to disagree, I guess." To which I replied, "Good reporting? What's the source? Hearsay in a parking lot? That's basically accusing Spirit of Texas of bad sportsmanship." No response after that. He said, she said stuff is what separates a decent magazine from National Enquirer and Us Weekly. I get that, like reality tv, drama sells but this article was just a bad descriptive narrative for English class. Did he really have to write that much about the sleepover and the fire? I just wish it was more informative about how hard they work than just describing how they do their hair and what they talk about at sleepovers. But that's only one complaint among many others I have about the article.

Also, I didn't like how he made it seem like the other girls bully those who aren't petite, tan and blonde. One line seemed to me as though he was saying that they'd rather do anything else than be on a team with the "Barbie" girls. I don't know how it actually is since I'm not on Panthers (duh) but I doubt it's as tension filled as he makes it seem.

"the day before they won that competition too"? That's how you describe them winning Worlds???

The article is actually called "How the Plano Panthers Cheer Squad Became World Champions". I do believe my 7th grade English teacher would have a fit. Her first question would be "What does this title have to do with what you've written? Is it a 'number of Twitter followers competition' or a 'Mystic tan competition' or a 'most crazy slumber party competition'?" Nowhere in any of this is there any kind of actual idea of how they became World champions. He barely even explains what Worlds is (except that it's in Disney).

OMG I can't even type more. Just no no no no no. BlueCat you're better than me, because I would have that guy's head on a platter.

Although after reading this article I would really love to go to a panther party now

I read about half of it but had to stop, I thought I was reading a fiction book to be honest. It was just disgusting.
Just another article that makes us look bad.

kristenthegreat said:

It was a very superficial article. Half of it about a sleepover, a good chunk filled with drama I'm pretty sure didn't happen, And 1 paragraph for Worlds. Loved the treadmill comment, that was SO taken out of context it made me laugh.

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We don't do treadmill. We do TUMBLTRAK!

I am one of the few who probably liked the article. First, I should mention they did interview me for about two hours, (which asked and pumped me for a ton of stuff... non of which made it into the article) so I was quite intrigued on what if any I said would make it in. I was complimentary to CA and Panthers (I am a fan of both) and spent a lot more time talking about cheer culture.

To me kids are kids... and this was a piece into just the culture around a team for that year. I didn't read anything and think anything negative of the girls (just that they were girls). I saw some of the culture of cheer in Texas and also how certain coaches motivate (I am really big in to the psychology of motivation and how different coaches do it right now). I did not expect a piece on how awesome everything would be. I do think when someone hangs around a team for a year they can catch us at moments when we are not our best, but everything I read still had me appreciate that team and that year. I did think it was too short for the epic scope of what the writer tried to present (he needed about twice as much). I wasn't completely sure what the inaccuracies are ( BlueCat can fill me in).

CheerBank said:

Agreed. I have to wonder how a video companion piece to this article would support or refute the reporter's perspective.

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I am not necessarily upset about the multiple factual errors. The bulk of what was in the article actually happened or was actually said, although without context it can be misleading. It just seemed like the reporter knew what story he wanted to tell ahead of time and cherry-picked comments to fit that narrative - rather than getting to know the team and trying to accurately capture the essence of what the team and sport was about. (In fairness, I don't exactly have an objective view of the athletes, team, or coaches either.)

We have allowed similar access to reporters before and the results were mostly positive. The Discovery Channel documentary, Newsweek, and even HBO Sports were given the same kind of all-access pass and used that to produce insightful, interesting pieces. Each had a few "cringe" moments that showed some flaws, but at least they seemed to put an honest effort into portraying the athletes in an accurate and fair way.

Yes, we should take some of the blame for trusting the magazine to treat us the same way that the other reporters had done in the past. Lesson learned.

I would encourage our athletes to move on and please leave the reporter and editor alone. What's done is done - enjoy the pictures.

Okay I must be in the minority here, but I really like that the author talked about the party and the fire. I thought it was interesting and gave those of us that don't stalk Cheer Athletics a chance to learn what some of the inside jokes and voiceovers came from.

carolinagirl823 said:

Okay I must be in the minority here, but I really like that the author talked about the party and the fire. I thought it was interesting and gave those of us that don't stalk Cheer Athletics a chance to learn what some of the inside jokes and voiceovers came from.

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Hah... yeah I am with you. I now get the 'Here's a lesson you must learn.. play with fire you will get burned' song. Always thought it had no place being in the routine (just didnt fit).

Sophie said:

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:

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Bahaha i read those in 6th grade! (I'm in 8th, so not too long ago!)

"How the Plano Panthers cheer squad became world champions"
Hey everyone let's all have a sleepover and light fireworks and maybe we'll win worlds!

But seriously, one paragraph out of around 60 about worlds. That makes me cringe. This whole arritcle makes me cringe.

EmmeCheer said:

Bahaha i read those in 6th grade! (I'm in 8th, so not too long ago!)

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I read them then too.