OT: Judge declares Competitive Cheer not a sport

[Smiley]

Go figure a sport my Favoriet School has won the last 2 NCAA championships in, Go Terps.

The bigger issue is this dealo was dreamt up for Title 9 and now some schools may have to cut a men's team out of their line up. I think cheer leading is as much a sport as Bowling or Curling for heaven sakes. Beach Volley ball is a Olympic sport too :banana:

To heck with the Judge and those cowards at the NCAA and lets pay all atheletes and get our own TV contracts per leagues anyway.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jul/22/judge-rules-competitive-cheerleading-not-a-sport/

[Charles M]

Holy crap...

I can think of a ton of things requiring less athletic ability and scoring based that I would call less sport than Cheer...

[wc1934]

i thought it was just the opposite - i thought that the universities had to have x number of women teams (title 9) and that the universities wanted cheerleeading to count as a sport thereby reducing the number of women's sports teams they had to fund.

[rugbysecondrow]

Cheerleading is a nice activity, but a sport it is not. Dancing may have competitions, but they are not sports either. Women's beach volleyball...well that is the best sport ever!

[rounder]

If ribbon twirling is a gold medal event in the Olympics, I think that competitive cheerleading should be a qualifying sport in college. Besides, the participants are all over 13 years old.

[William]

Is everything athletic a sport?

I think some could argue that sport involves either winning or losing, determined by the performance of the individuals or teams directly involved. Anything that has judges who determines the outcome is a subjective event where a “winner” is determined by individuals not directly involved in the activity.

I’m not saying that people who participate in a competitive event aren’t skilled or any less determined then those who compete in “sports”. Not at all, it’s just that the outcome is directly controlled by someone outside the event.

A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome (winning or losing). Meaning those who score the most, cross the line first, or knock out the opponent within the rules wins. Admittedly a gray could be Boxing/MMA. If you don’t dominate the fight or tap/knock your opponent out, it could be determined by judges….which incidentally you don’t want.

Combine “sport” and art and you get activities like figure skating, artistic gymnastics, dancesport, bodybuilding, free running, etc… It’s an athletic event that also includes sort of artistic form that is judged by someone outside the event.

Is it all “sports”? Or could one argue there are sports and athletic/artistic events?


I know not everyone would agree but I’ll throw it out for discussion.




William

[LesMiner]

When you use the term "artistic" in reference to dance or cheer, should it not be how entertaining it is? Gymnastics has a certain art to it but not entertainment. The judgement is more technical in terms of how the gymnast performs the predetermined routine. The purpose seems to be more about performing the routine at extreme physical limits. Why is ballet not an olympic event? It is as physically demanding but judged based on art or really entertainment. Cheer has two attributes that make it different than a sport. The purpose of Cheer is to get fans to support their team. To draw attention to the team. Cheer does not stand alone. The judgement of Cheer is more on how well it will inspire the crowd to support the home team. It seems silly to me to have an event exclusively Cheer.

The NCAA has become more about media contracts driven by advertising than making the college sports uniform and fair. I do not see any possibility of a major network event just for cheer. Advertisers are not going to be interested, no money in it. Now put on the Dallas Cowgirls and you have an event. The more provacative the moves the greater the ratings.

[rugbysecondrow]

100% agree.

Is everything athletic a sport?

I think some could argue that sport involves either winning or losing, determined by the performance of the individuals or teams directly involved. Anything that has judges who determines the outcome is a subjective event where a “winner” is determined by individuals not directly involved in the activity.

I’m not saying that people who participate in a competitive event aren’t skilled or any less determined then those who compete in “sports”. Not at all, it’s just that the outcome is directly controlled by someone outside the event.

A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome (winning or losing). Meaning those who score the most, cross the line first, or knock out the opponent within the rules wins. Admittedly a gray could be Boxing/MMA. If you don’t dominate the fight or tap/knock your opponent out, it could be determined by judges….which incidentally you don’t want.

Combine “sport” and art and you get activities like figure skating, artistic gymnastics, dancesport, bodybuilding, free running, etc… It’s an athletic event that also includes sort of artistic form that is judged by someone outside the event.

Is it all “sports”? Or could one argue there are sports and athletic/artistic events?


I know not everyone would agree but I’ll throw it out for discussion.




William

[bzbvh5]

My daughter is on drill team and we disagree about this issue. My case is:
1. It is not a sport if a judge has to consider you artistic impression - gymnastics, ice skating, cheer leading.
2. It is not a sport if your VO2 max is not a consideration or you can smoke and drink alcohol while participating, it is a game of skill - golf, bowling, billiards, fishing (all of which have NCAA competitions).

I feel that the cheerleaders are in terrific physical condition, but no, not a sport.