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Cheerleading issues

I had the opportunity to attend the Penobscot Valley Conference cheerleading competition Saturday [Jan. 19] at Hermon High School. Let me tell you that the judging of that competition was the worst I’ve ever seen. As your news article written by Jessica Bloch clearly indicates, the winning team certainly did have an “uncharacteristic fall” in the first round. They sure did. Most of them right on the floor more than once.

Why where they called back for the finals? Could it be that their reputation put them there and not the required points? After all, they are called the “leading powerhouse” in your article. By who’s standards? Another team that got called back for finals was short a few so three of the teams just stood with their heads bowed when the stunts were being performed. Is that talent? Why were they called back? Could it be that they had a strong male tumbler on their squad? Seems like it to me.

I have yet to figure what the requirements for the competition are. Some had 12 on their team, others had 14 and 16. Some had gymnastics, others did not. How do you judge this with so much difference in each routine. Apparently not by performance because these two teams mentioned above had no business being called back for finals.

All those girls work very hard and deserve to be recognized by talent as performed at each individual competition, not by reputation which obviously was the case. In Jessica Bloch’s article she stated “two teams regained their poise when it counted” – meaning the finals. What about the first round? Didn’t their mistakes count? Apparently not.

This type of competition relies totally on independent judging, and the cheerleading association desperately needs to find better judges. The judging was unfair to say the least. It is not right to destroy the spirit of the teams that know they did better than some of those chosen for the finals and even the winners.

Michelle Brown

Bangor

Cheering site tight

I attended the PVC Cheerleading Competition at Hermon High School. Let me say first off how pleased I am to see a sport in which the teams are truly excited when another squad does well. It speaks for their sportsmanship. That aside, there are some other comments I am compelled to make.

The competition was set to begin at 4 p.m. Knowing the crowd that always attends these, my party and I arrived at about 1 p.m. The doors were not set to open until 2. Fine. We were the second or third group in line, so needless to say, we were some of the first through the door when they were opened.

Imagine our surprise upon getting into the gym (after waiting patiently in the cold for an hour) at finding the entire center section of bleachers behind the judges (the choice seating for those who aren’t aware) “reserved” by the Hermon JV squad. They were sprawled all over, trying to take up as much room as possible and were driving other people away. As I deal with rowdy kids on a daily basis, I was not so easily cowed. I sat down in this “voodoo” section and encouraged other incoming spectators to do the same.

One of my questions is: Is it fair for a home team to make fans from other towns wait in the cold, have them pay $5 admission and then, once they get in say “I’m sorry, but you waited in vain?”

If the Hermon fans wanted the good seating so bad, shouldn’t they wait in line like the rest of us? I have no problem with waiting in line, that was my choice. However, I do have a problem with someone obviously taking advantage and playing favorites. The previous weekend, the Big East Competition was held in Presque Isle. There were no such problems there. Presque Isle officials were even going out of their way to make certain no one was saving huge sections of seating.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have no quarrel with people saving an occasional seat. After all, many have spouses who are attending functions with another child or perhaps have an elderly grandparent arriving late because they can’t sit on the bleachers for hours before and during a competition. But to save seating for at least 50 people is a bit much.

My other question is to the PVC itself. Why is this competition continually held at a school that obviously can’t support such a large endeavor? This was my second year attending the PVC’s. I saw very little, if any, improvement in the way it was conducted.

The biggest complaint I have is the seating. Hermon simply does not have enough. There is no way around it. I hate to think what would have happened if a fire marshal had been there. The bleachers were crammed full of people. The chairs on the floor were all occupied. In addition, the stairs on the bleachers had people sitting on them, there were spectators sitting on the floor around the cheerleaders’ mat as well as standing up to four deep (or possible more) near the entrance.

Having spectators that close to the performance mat is not safe for the athletes performing. Nor is the close and tight seating safe for the spectators themselves.

Knowing the amount of people attending this function, I believe it is time for the PVC to move the competition to a larger facility. It will be safer for all those who come, as well as bypass the problem of home cheerleaders saving seats.

Ruth A. York

Orrington

Shame on Notre Dame

I have been a fan and supporter of Notre Dame from the time I knew the shape of a football, and have been backing not only the football team but all of the athletic programs at the university all my life, through the good times and the bad.

The University of Notre Dame has been considered one of the outstanding schools in the country academically.

I feel compelled to speak up about the situation pertaining to the George O’Leary issue, and the shame he brought upon himself. I also feel that a big question has gone unanswered, and that being, “How could George O’Leary coach at Georgia Tech for five years using the same resume as the one he used when applied for the job at Notre Dame, and nothing was ever said about it. And yet in only five days at Notre Dame he was exposed as a liar, and was forced to resign.

I fully understand the shame he brought upon himself, but for the life of me I can’t understand how anyone can say shame on Notre Dame. After all it was not the University of Notre Dame that lied, nor was it Kevin White the athletic director. It was George O’Leary. His resignation for having lied about his academic and athletic achievements was warranted.

Notre Dame will overcome this adversity (not shame) and will once again be a power to be reckoned with in collegiate sports.

Go Irish!

Jim Spellman

Old Town

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