All-Star Article On Panthers

[Ashley]

I think it might have been kingston who kind of said...if you spend enough time with a group of people you are going to see the good, the bad and the ugly. The cheer world is not a perfect place with perfect well behaved children. I get that and even if they wanted to show that darker angle, should that be the focus?

If a reporter did an in-depth piece on the "Fierce 5" I would expect to maybe see some crying or whining or maybe even a stomp your foot like a petulant brat moment. What I wouldn't expect is for it to be the focus of the article. Making an elite athlete look like an over-indulged, selfish, narcissist is not good journalism unless you work for the "National Enquirer". A story that balances all the hard work, sacrifices and pitfalls is what makes a story good. Just my thoughts...

Why does this sport struggle so hard for respect? Anyone?

Yes! It seemed as if the author had in mind a much longer or more in-depth story, he interviewed Kingston, Just Carrier, and even Herkie himself! But then either he lost his way writing it or had to make edits and seemed to cut out most of the athleticism. There was barely a mention of what a bid to worlds even means - a comment in passing about only getting an at-large bid, but not explanation of why CA wouldn't want that. Then again hardly a mention of actually getting a paid bid, and one short paragraph about winning worlds. It definitely didn't match the title.

There were parts that were interesting, but it wasn't cohesive and seemed as if the author didn't really know what angle he was going for.

 

[JulieP]

I finally had time to read the article, and I have to agree with others. The photos are brilliant. The jump picture is absolute perfection, and it's probably one of my fave cheer pictures of all time. I felt like the pictures told the story of a team, and the article, for the most part, told the story of a group of superficial girls. I was truly disappointed at the fact that he spent a season following one of the best teams in the country, and this is what he came up with. CA welcomed him into their world, and I think he misrepresented them. I am sick of being lumped into a category with Toddlers and Tiaras. This is more than that. These girls work themselves to the bone. Sure, it's a performance based sport, but it's not all about the look. These girls are athletes, and they deserve to be represented at such. While I know some sensational male athletes, this is a predominantly female sport. I think it provides something for female athletes that other sports don't. It's about athleticism, strength, and talent but still includes charisma and showmanship. This sport is one of a kind, and somehow he seemed to miss that.

 

[as1rico]

Soooo.... if a magazine article can put the CA Panthers in not the greatest light. Imagine what a network like TLC can make a small gym look like, maybe we all should not have been so hard on the gym in the Cheer Perfection show.

 

[ScottyB]

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

Only problem is, the rest of the world doesnt get 5 paragraphs of disclaimers before they read an article about cheerleaders. They get exactly what is written and have heard before about the cheer world. Which is like 95% of the time never positive

 

[Cheetahmom]

What bothers me is that they use the beautiful girls in the pics to show the athleticism and beauty of the sport (also makes a beautiful cover) story does nothing but tarnish the sport. So the moral of this is: use people to get what you want =beautiful pics and sensationalized article formula to sell magazines. Can't just be a beauty all the way around must show the insides as eewy. That's what society demands because we are such an insecure and jealous society. No one wants someone to have it all. Sad commentary

 

[Diamond]

well..the pictures were nice.

 

[CoachTamara]

Soooo.... if a magazine article can put the CA Panthers in not the greatest light. Imagine what a network like TLC can make a small gym look like, maybe we all should not have been so hard on the gym in the Cheer Perfection show.

Mis-quoting and doing an article with factual errors is not that same as putting a show out there that shows parents and kids saying exactly what they said. I truly believe every mom and coach on that show said exactly what was shown, and that's the problem.

 

[Jennie]

i feel like the article would be better as a film. the sleepover and fire story would make so much more sense in film form and if they showed Worlds footage you would really get a sense of how talented the Panthers are.

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Mis-quoting and doing an article with factual errors is not that same as putting a show out there that shows parents and kids saying exactly what they said. I truly believe every mom and coach on that show said exactly what was shown, and that's the problem.

ITA. That cat fight in the parent's area..... if that didn't happen, the producers need an Emmy for editing...

 

[BlueCat]

We turn down more offers like this than we accept. We just made the wrong call on this one I suppose.

I hate that they are going to sell many magazines based on the pictures alone, but they will probably assume it was because of the reporting. (Their web site doesn't do the photos justice, BTW.)

 

[newcheerdad]

I agree they focused much on the "slumber" party - if it was a longer article where that BABS theme really resonated through the entire article, I could see the point of setting up the story like that. But it really didn't. It felt like it was the setup to a bigger story about the competitive cheer subculture that just wasn't told very well.

 

[xtremeteal4life]

 

[xtremeteal4life]

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.

Can you message me or post his twitter? I'd love to point out this editor that his journalist sucks bc he didn't even accurately get his "history" of cheerleading right. It started at Princeton and "officially" became an organized sport in 1898 via Johnny Campbell (University of Minnesota)...and in 1903 the first "cheer" fraternity was born. Oh, and they were primarily called yell squads in the beginning. I HATE HATE HATE the way journalism has become. No fact checking, embellishing stories, adding "fluff" in place of actual quality writing, out and out making things up, playing into stereotypes, and did I mention no fact checking? It takes all of FIVE minutes to look something up on the internet (using Google Scholar might I add, not just regular google). My grandmother (an editor and reporter for over 30 years) is somewhere rolling in her grave. It's inexcusable that an editor supports his "writer" (I'm not going to even dignify calling him a journalist), when his writer has such a blatant disregard for the basics of journalism 101.

 

[xtremeteal4life]

Not a horrible piece, but why, why, why, why always the focus on the appearance? Seriously! The only thing I have watched or read about Allstar Cheer that didn't focus heavily on it has been the Twinkles piece! I get that we are probably all a little used to the glitter, abs, and spray tans, but is it that bad that virtually every document/ary about the sport needs to be seemingly >50% focused on that aspect?

For Pete's sake, doesn't anyone on this board write articles for mainstream media for a living?!?

My husband thinks I should/could. I still haven't figured out what I want to do-I have at least 3 things in mind. I don't really "like" writing, I'm just good at it. Genetics I suppose.

 

[xtremeteal4life]

After I read it, I just couldn't get one question out of my head. "Is suffocating each other like a cool new thing? That's dangerous, right?"

It's very dangerous. You can cause permanent brain damage and in extreme cases, die.