All-Star Here's The Real Problem....

[socratesofcheer]

Here is THE problem with the whole Maddie situation:

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4344/photozue.png

If it wasn't for her coach, and fans putting her out there as some type of cheer goddess, there wouldn't be so much resentment from other teenagers.

If the grown ups would let the kids be kids, there would be not near as much animosity towards young individuals.

Shame on you Inside Cheerleading Mag for using a child to promote your profit.

 

[cheeromgbre]

Ahhhh yes. Exactly.

 

[Nikaa]

...for subscribers only....

 

[Diamond]

I didn't want to say anything about this because I was thinking of how it would make Maddie feel, but I'm not going to lie, I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that on fb.

 

[socratesofcheer]

...for subscribers only....

Yes and if you renew your subscription you can get a photo with your favorite cheerlebrity.

 

[kristenthegreat]

Here is THE problem with the whole Maddie situation:

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4344/photozue.png

If it wasn't for her coach, and fans putting her out there as some type of cheer goddess, there wouldn't be so much resentment from other teenagers.

If the grown ups would let the kids be kids, there would be not near as much animosity towards young individuals.

Shame on you Inside Cheerleading Mag for using a child to promote your profit.

Question, since I don't get tweets- did they call anyone else by name? Or just her?

 

[njallday]

Question, since I don't get tweets- did they call anyone else by name? Or just her?

as far as I saw, her name was the only one mentioned. I know she is a spokesperson for them, but that is too much pressure to put on a young athlete. As I just saw in the thread Maddie started, she seems to take it very well, but I still worry..

There were also tweets saying "come get autographs from MG and Senior Elite" etc. which is like the CNN special all over again. It makes sense in them promoting her as their spokesperson, but fuels the resentment from teammates/other athletes/etc.

 

[ACEDAD]

There were also tweets saying "come get autographs from MG and Senior Elite" etc. which is like the CNN special all over again. It makes sense in them promoting her as their spokesperson, but fuels the resentment from teammates/other athletes/etc.

Do you think there is a resentment from teammates?

At ACE a few years ago when Kenneth St. John was a huge "cheerlebrity" (though not to Maddie's extent), I was not aware of any resentment on the team or at the gym. If there was, it was pretty well hidden.

 

[visforvicious]

They posted a status last night after Senior Elite's performance along the lines of "great job Maddie and the rest of senior elite" (not saying that's an exact quote) but took it down after a few minutes because people were commenting on this very issue.

When you purposely alienate a member from the rest of the team, whether your intent is positive or negative, you're setting that person up for the extra scrutiny.

 

[njallday]

Do you think there is a resentment from teammates?

At ACE a few years ago when Kenneth St. John was a huge "cheerlebrity" (though not to Maddie's extent), I was not aware of any resentment on the team or at the gym. If there was, it was pretty well hidden.

I wouldn't call it resentment, no. I also am not a part of senior elite.. and at least to me, as an outsider, they appear to be a family. However, in all families there is a little jealousy from time to time (understandably so.) I was referencing more of the CNN special last year when SE teammates were saying hateful things because they were hurt by CNN saying "MG and Senior Elite" as if they were putting her above the team.

This weekend, I saw nothing but respect. There was no such hate or mean things being said by any CEA athletes.. only people outside of the program. So maybe they kept it to themselves this time or maybe they've accepted the fame/publicity given to MG as a spokesmodel for Inside Cheerleading. That I couldn't tell ya..

 

[juscheerthatisall]

Agreed. While I understand not personally criticizing children, I think it's kind of biased to say we can use these kids to make money, charge people to meet them and take pics with them, make 3500 x $10 just to be in the same room with them than don't expect ppl to look at them and express their opinions. Whether we choose to admit it or not we (the industry) pulled them away from being "just apart of the team". There r a lot of cheerleaders who are talented but their talent is not what makes us scrutinize them it's their "merchandising". If we don't want kids called by name than we can't give them a name, that means don't call their name when it's for our benefit.

 

[beautyy4cheerr]

and that really is the problem. i have talked to fellow cheerleaders friends from top cheer gyms who shall remain unnamed and they don't understand why she gets so much attention when they feel like they or their teammates are just as good if not better of an athlete than she is...

one of them once said that Maddie had a personal assistant and a girl (who i think was the best pointe dancer ever) was like "why don't i have a personal assistant then? i have 3 worlds rings, what does she even do?..."

and these people i think are hardly "jealous" when they are cheer celebrity's in their own right kinda and yeah... they have Worlds rings. they just think it's ridiculous.

on top of the CNN special thing, it's like Diana Ross and the Supremes but Maddie Gardner and Senior Elite. I felt bad for the rest of her teammates that don't nearly as much attention and other people see it too. Like that's not right, why does she get so much attention? you never hear about the bases that are underneath her when she does her specialty stunt. She is not the only charming, graceful, poise, beautiful flyer around. even in my own personal opinion, there are other flyers who are much better performers than her and have better body positions. Chrisette Torres for example, just to name one. but there is something there that makes Maddie more famous than other said flyers that is a mystery.

basically everyone is just tired of her being worshipped like a god and a big celebrity when in some people's eye's, it's for no reason. especially when she consistently at this point keeps dropping her stunts and huge competitions... and this is someone who is supposed to be infallible?... it's almost like what she's famous for is a big fat lie. it's kind of like hmm... when Britney Spears made her comeback. even if you didn't think she could sing that well in the 90s you had to admit that she was a great performer and could dance well. Then she went of hiatus and when she came back a lot of people feel like now she doesn't even attempt to sing and barely even tries to dance and is not the same performer she used to be. so what she is famous for is no longer there and i lot of people just want her to go away at this point (i like britney spears for the record just saying lol). i hope you understood my analogy.

i feel for them bc there are athletes just as good as her, more well-rounded, (don't anybody try to tell me that she is the best flyer in the world, one of the best yes, but not in the whole world -____-) and some better than her overall but they don't get commercials and etc.

a lot of people also think it's annoying because they act like she is a perfect individual who can do no wrong... when you never know how somebody is behind closed doors. why does everyone put her on a pedestal?

there are some people who came out yesterday during the Majors on CEA SE who didn't get not ONE CLAP yet when Maddie came out you would've thought Michael Jackson came back from the dead and walked out in her place. once again, i felt bad for her teammates.

and this was all just my opinion and take on it .

 

[King]

I can't defend people's opinions and actions on this board but I do find it interesting people blame the board as the cause. If the board went away tomorrow there'd still be twitter (way worse in my opinion because there is no filter or moderation what so ever) and Facebook, and 10 minutes later a new board would pop up (think of how many times that has happened).

People's action and opinions they express through social media are not created by them, they are just a tool used to easily connect and express said ideas. It's everything else WE (collectively) do that causes the environment.

I don't condone the actions of anyone, but I have to ask: what'd you expect?

And realistically when the industry takes all these actions to build up and create superstars how do you expect there to be no harsh criticism with how easy it is to share nowadays?

 

[meredithxox]

People need to stop placing the blame on Maddie. First of all, it's not HER fault that tons of girls look up to her. Actually, it's not a fault at all. It's an honor. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a role model for other people. Second, nobody ever said you HAVE to look up to her. If you, for some reason, don't like her - then pay no attention to her. It's as simple as that. It's kind of sickening that so many people go out of their way to bash her, or any "cheerlebrity" for that matter. She is a great flyer in my opinion, and if girls want to look up to her, they have every right to. Who are you to say that's wrong?

Think about this.. Say you were a parent and had a young daughter that we'll refer to as Suzie. Would you rather have Suzie look up to a female wrapper who's lyrics are nothing but vulgar or would you want her to look up to a flyer on a competitive cheerleading team that has one of the BEST hearts I have ever seen?

So what if she fell? It happens. I can pretty much guarantee that every single one of you has been a part of a stunt group that has fallen.

That being said, this whole statement could go for ANY "cheerlebrity" that is criticized for being 'singled out.'

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand done.

 

[divagirl]

and that really is the problem. i have talked to fellow cheerleaders friends from top cheer gyms who shall remain unnamed and they don't understand why she gets so much attention when they feel like they or their teammates are just as good if not better of an athlete than she is...

one of them once said that Maddie had a personal assistant and a girl (who i think was the best pointe dancer ever) was like "why don't i have a personal assistant then? i have 3 worlds rings, what does she even do?..."

and these people i think are hardly "jealous" when they are cheer celebrity's in their own right kinda and yeah... they have Worlds rings. they just think it's ridiculous.

on top of the CNN special thing, it's like Diana Ross and the Supremes but Maddie Gardner and Senior Elite. I felt bad for the rest of her teammates that don't nearly as much attention and other people see it too. Like that's not right, why does she get so much attention? you never hear about the bases that are underneath her when she does her specialty stunt. She is not the only charming, graceful, poise, beautiful flyer around. even in my own personal opinion, there are other flyers who are much better performers than her and have better body positions. Chrisette Torres for example, just to name one. but there is something there that makes Maddie more famous than other said flyers that is a mystery.

basically everyone is just tired of her being worshipped like a god and a big celebrity when in some people's eye's, it's for no reason. especially when she consistently at this point keeps dropping her stunts and huge competitions... and this is someone who is supposed to be infallible?... it's almost like what she's famous for is a big fat lie. it's kind of like hmm... when Britney Spears made her comeback. even if you didn't think she could sing that well in the 90s you had to admit that she was a great performer and could dance well. Then she went of hiatus and when she came back a lot of people feel like now she doesn't even attempt to sing and barely even tries to dance and is not the same performer she used to be. so what she is famous for is no longer there and i lot of people just want her to go away at this point (i like britney spears for the record just saying lol). i hope you understood my analogy.

i feel for them bc there are athletes just as good as her, more well-rounded, (don't anybody try to tell me that she is the best flyer in the world, one of the best yes, but not in the whole world -____-) and some better than her overall but they don't get commercials and etc.

a lot of people also think it's annoying because they act like she is a perfect individual who can do no wrong... when you never know how somebody is behind closed doors. why does everyone put her on a pedestal?

there are some people who came out yesterday during the Majors on CEA SE who didn't get not ONE CLAP yet when Maddie came out you would've thought Michael Jackson came back from the dead and walked out in her place. once again, i felt bad for her teammates.

and this was all just my opinion and take on it .

Many people don't understand why she is still in the air. If anyone in our gym kept consistently falling, esp at major competitions (twice at Worlds, , now at the Majors) she would be grounded. I'm NOT claiming to be an expert, but I have heard many bases say that it is more difficult to keep tall flyers in the air, and as she gets taller, this seems to be the case. She is a beautiful flyer when she stays up, but is her flying become a detriment to the team? This question also seems to be making her a target.