Janet CollinsCheerleaders and Footy Players
May 17th 2009 10:29
Talk about creating a diversion. The story that dominated this week’s headlines, despite it being Budget week and probably the most important budget announcement for decades, was the Matthew Johns saga and his ultimate downfall over the goings-on of him and fellow footballers in New Zealand seven years ago. Somehow this has all turned around by the end of the week to a discussion about whether or not the game should get rid of cheerleaders.
We’ve all heard the story of Clare and the group of footballers who got up to more than mischief on a league tour several years ago. Now there are calls for cheerleaders to go from the regular games to spruce up the image of rugby league.
Cheerleaders? Really?
The introduction of them many years ago was probably just another copycat idea from America where the NRL attempted to commercialise the game and make it a bit more of a show, giving it a bit more razzmatazz. I thought this move gave the sport a bit of a tacky image but it has continued until now and even local games seem to embrace that little bit of showmanship before the game and in between brakes.
That’s all it is – a little bit of window dressing for the sport. Whether or not I like this is of no consequence. The fact that these cheerleaders can be held at all responsible for the bad behaviour of footballers after the game stretches the imagination just a bit too far.
Whether we are inclined to believe Matthew Johns that the woman in question was a willing participant or the version of Clare who says she wasn’t is really up to all of us. There is no disputing that the events happened and the media have been reporting the issue in various ways.
By the weekend, the media were abuzz with the whole issue but what made the reporting quite tacky were stories that attempted to condemn the woman, even if very subtle. One even made an issue of the fact that Clare, the woman at the centre of the scandal, was a waitress as if her occupation had anything to do with her believability. Would it have been any different had she been for example, a lawyer?
It would do well for the media to get job titles correct also if they are going to use them. A female waiter today is not a waitress but a waiter, just as flight attendants are no longer referred to as air hostesses.
This week’s media and the eventual stuff coming out on the weekend about abolishing cheerleaders because of the whole messy saga, is really a big attempt to hide the real problem and use some harmless pre-footy entertainment as some sort of excuse for these footy players behaving badly after a game.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the end of cheerleaders only because I think they remind me of something like 60s America not because removing them will change male attitudes. A lot more than removing cheerleaders is needed to rectify that problem.
Image credit: www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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i like your colourful language!
i say we need more male cheerleaders, these burly footballers seem to enjoy having other men cheer them on whenever theyre "scoring"
Comment by Janet Collins
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog