Cheerleading was always a wholesome sport. And so was travelling the friendly skies. But recently, it seems that what used to be sideline entertainment has become big time news and has gotten the activity some negative responses. With all of the sexy advertising out there promoting beauty, weight loss and plastic vanity, what used to spell out G-O F-I-G-H-T W-I-N now spells out T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
In Novato California, six cheerleaders are fighting suspensions after they flashed football fans a message on their underpants. Vice Principal Ken Goeken ordered the girls to serve suspensions Tuesday and Wednesday for defying their coach and going ahead with a special cheer they choreographed for the last day of the football season. At the end of the cheer, the girls bent over, lifted their skirts and showed the crowd the words "Indians No. 1" on their bloomers.The girls, fear their grades will suffer, are asking to make up coursework and instead be banned from cheering at an upcoming basketball game. Reaction from the crowd was mixed but many could be heard saying, "What? No G-strings?"
Sidney Australian cheerleaders have been banned from baring midriffs by officials of the sport who fear displays of skin may encourage eating disorders. Gymnastics Australia has ordered cheerleading troupes to find new uniforms by the end of the year. The decision, which followed similar moves in the United States and elsewhere, was needed because cheerleaders often performed in front of family groups. "It's ridiculous really, if the thinking is that a midriff is offensive, then every dance school and athletics club would face the same restrictions," Lisa Ince said. In the United States, the National Federation of State High School Associations issued a new rule for the 2006-07 school year requiring that cheerleading uniforms cover the midriff since many of them show a little too much hair, a la Brittney Spears!
In other too hot to cheer news, twenty-one members of North Korean cheering squads who traveled to South Korea for international sports events are being held in a prison camp for talking about what they saw in the South, a news report said Friday. In 2002, communist North Korea sent hundreds of female cheerleaders to the Asian Games in South Korea's Busan, where their tightly synchronized routines drew worldwide attention. The North sent similar cheering squads to South Korea in 2003 and 2005.
The cheerleaders had pledged that they would treat the country as "enemy territory" and never speak about what they saw there, accepting punishment if they broke the promise. South Korea's National Intelligence Service didn't immediately confirm or deny the report and in fact couldn't put a finger on what in hell's name girls in North Korea had to cheer for!
And finally, making a good thing even better, a 23-year-old college student who was told by a Southwest Airlines employee that her outfit was too revealing to fly is wearing even less on Playboy's Web site. Kyla Ebbert appears in a series of pictures - some in lingerie, some nude - under the heading, "Legs in the Air." How appropriate. The one time obscure San Diego student will now enter the world of search engine favorability.
Playboy contacted Ebbert's attorney to pitch the idea of posing. On its Web site, Playboy says Ebbert "was too sexy for Southwest Airlines, but she's perfect for Playboy." Ebbert said she was offended that Southwest tried to turn the dustup to its advantage by promoting a fare sale in honor of miniskirts. Southwest apologized to Ebbert, but she said she found the double-entendre-laced message unacceptable. Ebbert worked at a Hooters in San Diego but said wants to become an attorney, and doesn't think posing nude should get in the way of her professional aspirations. "This was beautiful and classy. I don't see why it would affect a professional position," she said. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Given her troubles in the skies, she answered one final probing question. "Yes, I am a member of the mile high club," Kyla says. "And no, it was not on Southwest. It was on a private plane. R-E-S-P-E-C-T!It's almost humorous now when you look back on Ebbert's appearances on television when she tried to say that she was so upset with Southwest Airlines. She's making boatloads of money from her "mistake." It makes you wonder if any of these stories are due to an actual concern for respect, or for a quick shot at some free advertising. Y-O-U G-O G-I-R-L-S!
