Cheer

[Lunacat]

I probably was t paying close enough attention. Who are the Wildcats (that La’Darius is cheering for)?

and how the heck can Jerry cheer for Louisville and Navarro?

 

[Loves2Dance]

7 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

This where are they now article has a bit more to it. It looks like Morgan is at Texas Tech now. It says that Jerry is cheering at Louisville while cheering for Navarro and Wildcats on the side. 

No, he has left Louisville permanently. He missed Navarro and has come back, he is also on Wildcats though. 

Morgan also left Texas Tech and is back at Navarro. 

3 hours ago, Lunacat said:

I probably was t paying close enough attention. Who are the Wildcats (that La’Darius is cheering for)?

and how the heck can Jerry cheer for Louisville and Navarro?

 

Wildcats are an all-star team out of Cheer Athletics. 

Jerry can't. He left Louisville. 

[Loves2Dance]

For those wondering about Cheer Athletics Wildcats, this is from showcase. La'Darius is also on Wildcats. Ali and a handful of other Navarro cheerleaders joined their Claw 7 team this past weekend at Cheer Athletics. 

 

 

[emcmac87]

Lexi posted on Instagram she is also officially back at Navarro 

[Whimsy]

9 hours ago, Loves2Dance said:

For those wondering about Cheer Athletics Wildcats, this is from showcase. La'Darius is also on Wildcats. Ali and a handful of other Navarro cheerleaders joined their Claw 7 team this past weekend at Cheer Athletics. 

 

Thanks!  That was amazing. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

What does FIOFMU stand for?

I was wondering this too because I saw it on a lot of shirts, sports bras, and on the wall in the gym.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ugh, poor Scherbs. A dislocated elbow is bad enough at any time for any person, but to sustain an injury like that during her last year a month before nationals must have been devastating for her. I also felt for Allie and Morgan because even though it's an opportunity for them to perform more stunts, it's also a lot of pressure to learn and perfect them in such a short amount of time.

Lexi worries me. As Monica said, she has to be in charge of taking care of her own body. And it's not like what she needs to do is a difficult or time consuming task. She just has to put some ice (which she said she has at the dorms) in a bag and put it on her ankle while she watches tv, does homework, eats diner, scrolls through instagram, etc.

I wasn't surprised by Lexi's past. I suspected she had something like that in her past from the first interview because of her affect. I'm glad she has people like her tumbling coach really trying to keep her from sliding back into her old ways. Listening to her talk about how a mature person wouldn't fight gave me hope that she was going to try to keep herself in check and resist the temptation to retaliate.

I was also glad to see her hanging out with some of the boys in their dorm room because I remembered the first episode where she said she felt very separated from the other people on the team and not included in social stuff.

Morgan cracked me up when she was modeling the uniform for Monica. The majority of the show is watching everyone work so hard that it's nice to see those light hearted moments. I also liked seeing some of the girls talking with Monica about stuff like Shannon's tattoo and if it hurt more than microblading because on shows like DCC, Kelli is all business with the girls. It's nice to see Monica just chatting with them about non-cheer stuff.

Her coaching style of not screaming at her team about what fucking idiots and fuckups they are (see: Last Chance U) really makes you understand why they feel comfortable talking to her about their problems and personal lives and why they are all so eager to please her (unlike the football coaches who harangue and insult their players constantly).

I do not understand why Gabi's photoshoot had to be outside at night. Like seriously, this athletic company couldn't pay for an indoor studio? It's not like they really needed that night time out in the woods look to sell a bedazzled backpack. And what kind of cheap ass company tells the star of their ad campaign not to walk on the grass because they can't get the shoes dirty? You should have brought multiple pairs of shoes for her to wear! Even if they thought they needed pictures of her tumbling in front of garbage cans on fire (I won't even get started on how shitty it is to ask someone to tumble when it's cold!), they could have done the static shots of her with the backpack inside so she wasn't freezing the entire time.

She was hoping they'd be done by 10pm and instead she got home at 3am, so I was livid when her mother said not to badmouth the company because they were accommodating Gabi's schedule. Be that as it may, you shouldn't need to shoot for six hours in the middle of the night, especially when your model is outside wearing a sports bra. The last thing she needs after being up all night is having her mom interrogate her about if she's eating clean. And WTF kind of shitty faux nutritionist is Gabi's mom that she's telling her that eggs are dairy?

The more we see of Gabi's family, the more I hope that she will find a way to escape their clutches. They treat her like their own personal cash cow and a commodity. She is a human being who clearly needs some rest and a little bit of normalcy.

[Loves2Dance]

Here is an article about the monopoly that runs cheerleading as we know it: https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/this-is-not-a-democracy-its-a-cheerocracy?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy&fbclid=IwAR2a5CDXW8mIMD9CB_CmKv5NmVDwPAK9qGYlXif4UuyLeNfvjthiKZD0-lk

[IndianPaintbrush]

10 hours ago, emcmac87 said:

Lexi posted on Instagram she is also officially back at Navarro 

That makes me so happy! 

Her tumbling is a thing to behold. She's so chill and laid back that I wondered where that explosiveness comes from. When she said she used to get into a lot of fights, it all made sense.

[Whimsy]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

What does FIOFMU stand for?

I was wondering this too because I saw it on a lot of shirts, sports bras, and on the wall in the gym.

My daughter's team had a long acronym hashtag, too.  I can't even begin to remember it, but it seems like a very cheer thing to have. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, Whimsy said:

My daughter's team had a long acronym hashtag, too.  I can't even begin to remember it, but it seems like a very cheer thing to have. 

It’s a very adolescent/teenage thing too. I remember my friends had secret acronyms (back before hashtags existed!), as did other friend circles that I was acquainted with (I was friendly enough to know that their acronyms existed but not friendly enough to know what their specific acronyms stood for).

[dmmetler]

It may be worse than that for Gabi. Many of the cheer "ambassadors" for different companies aren't actually paid.  They get their travel covered to do catalog shots, uniform reveal videos, and events for the company and lots of stuff in exchange for doing photo shoots and mentioning the company on Instagram, etc. Gabi models for Rebel, and they definitely follow that business plan. Gabi may actually be paid now, but I could also see her parents encouraging her to do the free stuff for exposure for her clinics, bikini sales, etc. 

 

My DD's last season was #WTLTBAP. If you listened to their chant, you could figure it out, but it was still this closely held secret that everyone at all related to the team knew, and probably anyone who competed against them and was in the warm up room did as well. 

[meatball77]

I'm thinking the kids who went back to Navarro all did so because of the show.  It's actually kind of sad to me.  They had taken that step that going to a supportive junior college gave them to go to a better four year school (with scholarship for some) and they've gone back I'm assuming because of the show.

1 hour ago, dmmetler said:

It may be worse than that for Gabi. Many of the cheer "ambassadors" for different companies aren't actually paid.  They get their travel covered to do catalog shots, uniform reveal videos, and events for the company and lots of stuff in exchange for doing photo shoots and mentioning the company on Instagram, etc. Gabi models for Rebel, and they definitely follow that business plan. Gabi may actually be paid now, but I could also see her parents encouraging her to do the free stuff for exposure for her clinics, bikini sales, etc. 

My daughter is a dancer and it's even worse in the dance world.  Even professional dancers aren't being paid to be ambassadors.  If they are lucky they get things for free and they're paying for their own shoots.  My daughter is an ambassador with a few companies.  It's dancewear for exposure.  Some of the companies require you to pay for your own stuff or to pay for the group photoshoot.  It is often different if it's photography for their catalogs or websites but even then it's rare for them to actually pay their models. 

My daughter was contacted by Rebel last year and they sent her a code for free stuff, I'm not sure if they were trying to get a foothold in the dance world, but my daughter was very entertained while ordering.  Everything was so shiny.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It makes me mad that so many companies frame becoming a brand ambassador as "a great opportunity" for young athletes when it's really just a scheme for the companies to get free advertising on social media. Unfortunately, people who perform are the ripest targets for this kind of crap. They are told all the time that this will be great exposure for them, which is how they justify not compensating them for their time and skills with, you know, actual money.

And it's not just small companies that do it. A performer I know was contacted by Oprah's company to perform at one of her big conference things where she charges up to $1000 per person to attend, and she was told that she would not be paid if she agreed to perform at the event. Oprah, who has been known to give $10K to her employees as a thank you and clearly had enough money to rent the venue, pay the caterers, etc, expected this performer to put on her costume, drive two hours, perform, and drive two hours back FOR FREE. As a performer, I've done free performances for causes that I felt were worthy (like a breast cancer fundraiser, for example) but the expectation that people should happily agree to spend their own time and money for a company or organization that is making money and paying their other vendors makes my blood boil.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Can Monica please have one of her team meetings and tell everyone (including the various coaches) to stop misusing the word "literally"? It drives me up a fucking wall.

Wow, y'all weren't kidding about the makeup. The girls look their age during practice but putting on all that makeup makes them look like they're 12 years old.

Poor Ashlee. Sore ribs while doing all those stunts must be so painful. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to get pulled from the pyramid two weeks before Daytona.

I thought Morgan's dad would either decline to be on camera or at least try to justify abandoning his two oldest children to live in a trailer by themselves, but no. His explanation amounted to "Welp."

La'Darius has had problems keeping his flyers up so the problem seems to be him, not all of the girls he's dropped. Maybe Allie wouldn't be crying so much and being so scared if you wouldn't keep dropping her. I don't call giving up "giving 110%," dude. And calling her a dumb bitch is really uncalled for. His attitude when stunting seems to be that if the stunt doesn't hit immediately, he just gives up and walks way. He doesn't try to save it. If it's not perfect within the first millisecond, his attitude is "Well, fuck it, I'm out." Then he just makes excuses for why it's not his fault. I went back and rewatched to see what happened. His claim that Allie doesn't look where she's putting her feet is a bunch of BS. Both of her feet were on top of that other girl's leg like they were supposed to be. Whoever said that La'Darius threw her too hard was right.

Being molested and his brothers beating him up all the time sucks - there's no denying that, but that's not an excuse for being like this with Allie. He refused to take any responsibility for what happened when their stunt went wrong. I get it's not fair that he went through a lot of terrible things while Allie did not, but that is also not a reason to keep insisting that her fall was all her fault. The hilarious thing was that he said if she couldn't take the truth, she shouldn't be in this sport, but when Jerry told him that he was presenting himself as angry, La'Darius couldn't handle the truth. I'm glad that Jerry was able to convince him to call Allie (especially since Monica told him to call her!). It was very sweet to hear Jerry and La'Darius talk about how much they admire each other and how the other person has been a positive influence on them.

I loved the look on Monica's face when everyone was talking about what the team meant to them. I'm really glad that she gets to see the family she has created and what a difference she has made in their lives. Hearing how many of the people on the team have been suicidal really gutted me. Some of these people have been through so much by the time they're only 19 or 20.

This episode reminded me how much I hated doing my hair for competitions. I have really thick hair and it used to be really long (which meant it was really heavy) so if I put it up, one good hair flip and my hair would start sliding down my head. My coach always yelled at me about it and I kept telling her that my hair just refused to stay up. No amount of hair spray and bobby pins could make it withstand an entire routine of head whipping.

[Jack Sampson]

On 1/14/2020 at 12:42 PM, Loves2Dance said:

"her [Gabi's] parents have gone full Kris Jenner in making her into an empire"

They only wish they could do that...bwahahahahaha!

Let's just hope they don't resort to Kris' methods. 

Hint: That tape of Kim was shopped all over town by Kris.

[Spiderella2]

On 1/13/2020 at 5:08 AM, Pj3422 said:

I think that’s the premise of a show on the new AppleTV service. Kristen Bell is somehow involved in it. Sorry to be vague, but does that sound familiar to anyone?

Yes, I saw the commercial for it. Basically grown adults who are high school alumni come back to act in a musical  theater play a la High School Musical. The show captures them preparing to open the show. That looked like it would be very good. 

[Spiderella2]

On 1/16/2020 at 3:26 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

It makes me mad that so many companies frame becoming a brand ambassador as "a great opportunity" for young athletes when it's really just a scheme for the companies to get free advertising on social media. Unfortunately, people who perform are the ripest targets for this kind of crap. They are told all the time that this will be great exposure for them, which is how they justify not compensating them for their time and skills with, you know, actual money.

And it's not just small companies that do it. A performer I know was contacted by Oprah's company to perform at one of her big conference things where she charges up to $1000 per person to attend, and she was told that she would not be paid if she agreed to perform at the event. Oprah, who has been known to give $10K to her employees as a thank you and clearly had enough money to rent the venue, pay the caterers, etc, expected this performer to put on her costume, drive two hours, perform, and drive two hours back FOR FREE. As a performer, I've done free performances for causes that I felt were worthy (like a breast cancer fundraiser, for example) but the expectation that people should happily agree to spend their own time and money for a company or organization that is making money and paying their other vendors makes my blood boil.

I find it hard to believe it to go down like that. Maybe said performer told the story that way to suit dramatic purposes. Think about it... If it really happened that way, it would be all over TMZ, tabloid gossip and twitter would be in a tizzy, she is well known for her philanthropy, so why would she  steal someone else’s hard work and labor for free?  Imagine the billionaire Oprah taking advantage and ripping off indie performers. 😆 no way is that not getting a headline! The educational programs she films now, the Soul Sunday series or the WW series, she has thousands of folks that would love to perform for free available to her if that is the route she chooses. If anything, it’s probably some lower tier promoter or event producer trying to make a quick buck and schill off Oprah’s name, then pocketing the profits. 

[Spiderella2]

On 1/14/2020 at 2:56 PM, Lunacat said:

I probably was t paying close enough attention. Who are the Wildcats (that La’Darius is cheering for)?

and how the heck can Jerry cheer for Louisville and Navarro?

 

He has finished with Navarro because it’s a community college where he can only spend 2 years. You earn enough credits to transfer to a 4 year university. He originally wanted to go to Louisville but didn’t get picked for the cheer team or gain college acceptance freshmen year. I think once his mom died it jut crushed his spirit and he could not academically recover in time to pull his grades up. 

Instead of giving up on his cheer dreams completely, Jerry turned lemons to lemonade. Went to Navarro junior college, earned his stripes, elevated his skill set, brought his GPA up to 3.8 and earned a full scholarship to University of Louisville, which has a very robust cheer and dance team. Collegiate cheer which is a different category. 

If he makes the team there (looks like he did), he is set. He will be coming in like a top dog to UL and both the cheer and dance teams will want to scoop him up. When he was telling his cheer sister, she actually looked quite jealous for a moment. I caught some undertones there. I think she must have liked that Jerry was not at Louisville because his vibrant personality outshines everyone. Or maybe she was envious he got a full scholarship...?  The cheer mom was sincerely happy for him however. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Spiderella2
Spellings

[Spiderella2]

On 1/14/2020 at 12:42 PM, Loves2Dance said:

"her [Gabi's] parents have gone full Kris Jenner in making her into an empire"

They only wish they could do that...bwahahahahaha!

Her family is so focused on monetizing Gabi but no one is actually looking out for Gabi’s best interests. Her dad claims she’s so hardworking but he is her taskmaster.

That night shoot was very risky, quite dangerous and should not have been allowed to happen that way. Gabi needs to hire a manager that is not in her family. Someone to look out for her and her best interests. She is pulled in so many different directions, no wonder the poor thing is frazzled, stressed, and breaking out like crazy. 

She had just completed Two 5-hour practices, and instead of going home for some rest and a ice soak, she had to further compromise her health. I felt so bad for her.  The mat she was tumbling on was not regulation for cheer, it was too soft for the skills she was performing, she could have been seriously injured. The lighting was insufficient, the fire was a hazard to her lungs and did nothing to keep her warm, and all she had was a thin blanket. She had no way to tell where the edges of the mat was while tumbling , one false move and boom, she’s hurt, injured, crippled, or worse. I’m surprised she has not quit altogether——no wonder she was having breakdowns the next day and messing up her routines, she was plumb exhausted. 

Whatever the sponsor was offering, they should have tripled it for those horrible working conditions. Her dad who signed the stupid contract, should have stipulated conditions for her safety, health, and well-being. What about a rest or water break?  Betcha the Sponsor is concerned more about how their clothes and brand is repped than they are about her wellbeing. 

Which is why I blame her parents. At least one of them should be on site taking care of her and making sure everything is prepped for her to be her best. They should have had no more than a 1-2 hour shoot max...get whatever shots you can in that window and get  Gabi out. Instead the poor girl was there freezing her butt off all night, until freaking 3am! 
If they want to treat her as a commodity, at least put in breaks for food, proper rest, and recuperation. Having a full day already is not the right setting for a modeling shoot. Then throw in a grueling 5 hour night shoot in the cold air on sore, tried muscles. While they were in their beds asleep in that cozy house that Gabi built with her blood sweat, and tears. And her mom was telling her to eat jackfruit? Because it will keep her full all day...Wtf? So have her out here doing all these high intensity workouts on a few cubes of jackfruit? 

poor Gabi. I want to rescue her. She needs a manager ASAP. No wonder she wants to quit. 

[Spiderella2]

Oh my goodness, I just went to YouTube to look at the videos of their performances and I highly recommend if you have not. The show could not capture how breathtaking and awesome the routine is when it finally comes together. I was a bit underwhelmed by the final performance with all the confusion, I could not understand how they won, but after seeing the showcase, it’s simply jaw dropping. Must watch! 
 

https://youtu.be/CYhgKyOO_98

[ElectricBoogaloo]

51 minutes ago, Spiderella2 said:

I find it hard to believe it to go down like that. Maybe said performer told the story that way to suit dramatic purposes. Think about it... If it really happened that way, it would be all over TMZ, tabloid gossip and twitter would be in a tizzy, she is well known for her philanthropy, so why would she  steal someone else’s hard work and labor for free?  Imagine the billionaire Oprah taking advantage and ripping off indie performers. 😆 no way is that not getting a headline! The educational programs she films now, the Soul Sunday series or the WW series, she has thousands of folks that would love to perform for free available to her if that is the route she chooses. If anything, it’s probably some lower tier promoter or event producer trying to make a quick buck and schill off Oprah’s name, then pocketing the profits. 

You can choose to believe that she's a liar, but I know her personally and she has been very open about her experiences as a working performer and she has never lied to me about stuff like that (or anything for that matter). Oprah is not the only one who asks people to perform for free. Lena Dunham and Amanda Palmer famously gave people the "opportunity" to be opening acts for them on tour aka work for free. Several of Todrick Hall's dancers said that being in his music videos was unpaid. Yelp headquarters asked me to perform at their holiday party for free. I've also been asked to perform for free at big name music festivals with headlining performers like MIA, Thievery Corporation, Janelle Monae, Massive Attack, etc (aka bands that are getting paid huge sums of money to perform). My friend made no money from the fact that Oprah didn't want to pay her to perform. She didn't go to TMZ or try to sell her story to a tabloid. She was just mad that someone who is known for being a philanthropist thinks that artists don't deserve to be compensated for their work. It happens all the time.

The difference is that my friend has been a professional performer for over a decade so she knows the ins and outs. She knows her worth and is not willing to work for free. Girls like Gabi and other young cheerleaders/athletes/performers are taken advantage of because companies know that they think it's an honor to be chosen as a brand ambassador. It costs the company almost nothing to send them some free samples in exchange for more exposure on social media. Even when they are paid, it's usually peanuts. It's not like when Hollywood celebrities become spokespeople for big name brands and they get paid a lot of money (Angelina Jolie had a $12 million contract with St. John, Brad Pitt got $7 million for being the spokesman for Chanel, Charlize Theron's first contract with Dior was for $5 million). Girls like Gabi are getting paid nowhere near that because these companies know that if one person says no, there are a hundred who will happily post pictures of their new tights or whatever on Instagram.

[Whimsy]

4 hours ago, Spiderella2 said:

Oh my goodness, I just went to YouTube to look at the videos of their performances and I highly recommend if you have not. The show could not capture how breathtaking and awesome the routine is when it finally comes together. I was a bit underwhelmed by the final performance with all the confusion, I could not understand how they won, but after seeing the showcase, it’s simply jaw dropping. Must watch! 
 

https://youtu.be/CYhgKyOO_98

That was really good.  A few timing issues on some of the stunts and tumbling but good.  I didn't love the dance, tbh.  I thought it was too short but when the entire program is barely over 2 minutes I guess they chose to put most of the time in the stunts/tumbling.

Watching that brought me back to being a spectator at so many cheer events.  The dance is typically at the end, so we were always enthusiastically clapping when the team has hit the routine and all that is left is the dance because you have a sense of relief.  

[IndianPaintbrush]

On 1/15/2020 at 5:30 PM, meatball77 said:

I'm thinking the kids who went back to Navarro all did so because of the show.  It's actually kind of sad to me.  They had taken that step that going to a supportive junior college gave them to go to a better four year school (with scholarship for some) and they've gone back I'm assuming because of the show.

I wouldn't assume it's all because of the show. They said over and over how comfortable they felt with Monica and the Navarro program. It can be really tough to transition from a small junior college to a 4-year university, and honestly it didn't seem like some of them were ready, at least not academically.

[Whimsy]

1 hour ago, IndianPaintbrush said:

I wouldn't assume it's all because of the show. They said over and over how comfortable they felt with Monica and the Navarro program. It can be really tough to transition from a small junior college to a 4-year university, and honestly it didn't seem like some of them were ready, at least not academically.

I meant to comment on this as well.  I agree that it's because of Monica and not the show. 

[EarlGreyTea]

1 hour ago, IndianPaintbrush said:

I wouldn't assume it's all because of the show. They said over and over how comfortable they felt with Monica and the Navarro program. It can be really tough to transition from a small junior college to a 4-year university, and honestly it didn't seem like some of them were ready, at least not academically.

And at least they're still working toward another AA degree. Whenever I feel kind of uneasy about all these kids peacing out of  4-year universities, I remember that they're still studying SOMETHING and probably are on scholarship. At the very least, they won't drown in student loans.

Edited January 18, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[Oldernowiser]

13 hours ago, Spiderella2 said:

Oh my goodness, I just went to YouTube to look at the videos of their performances and I highly recommend if you have not. The show could not capture how breathtaking and awesome the routine is when it finally comes together. I was a bit underwhelmed by the final performance with all the confusion, I could not understand how they won, but after seeing the showcase, it’s simply jaw dropping. Must watch! 
 

https://youtu.be/CYhgKyOO_98

Holy cow. That move where the women kind of backwards somersault UP onto a stack three people high? Amazing. Also terrifying.

[nlkm9]

I just watched the episode where TT cane in barely walking from another competition and while i don’t understand the dynamics of cheering for more than one team, mocnica  was pissed and made him perform at practice even though he was sobbing and in serious pain. To me it just seemed really dangerous to push him like that, what if doing all that through the pain caused serious issues or caused him to drop someone ? That was upsetting to watch .

[AttackTurtle]

In the middle of this and oh my goodness some of these kids are killing me.  Little Morgan nearly had me bawling my eyes out with her story.

At first I found Monica to be cold as ice, but seeing her defend “the boys” was incredibly cool.  
 

I don’t know if I hate Gabbi’s mom or dad more.  Mom gets on my last nerve.  

[PityFree]

2 hours ago, AttackTurtle said:

I don’t know if I hate Gabbi’s mom or dad more.  Mom gets on my last nerve.  

Hate whichever one convinced Gabi to dye her hair that awful, flat, ink-black color.

ETA: I know it’s important for flyers to be small so they’re easy to catch and hold up, but I also wonder about the prevalence of eating disorders and the pressure for them to stay tiny. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the men were also pressured to lose weight/stay slender.

Edited January 18, 2020 by PityFree

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 minutes ago, PityFree said:

I also wonder about the prevalence of eating disorders and the pressure for them to stay tiny. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the men were also pressured to lose weight/stay slender.

In the first episode, one of the girls said that they get weighed every week. In another episode, the coach from Tri Valley called one of his male cheerleaders fat while he was walking around the gym. So, yes, there is definitely pressure to look a certain way and be in shape. And as the book author mentioned in the last episode, former cheerleaders often say to her, "I used to be a cheerleader. I know it's hard to tell by looking at me now," because there are expectations about cheerleaders (their appearance, their weight, their bodies, etc).

On a related note, I noticed in the final episode that one of the girls was wearing a nose ring when they were in uniform at Daytona. Usually cheerleaders don't wear jewelry because you don't want a hoop to get ripped out if there's some kind of stunt mishap.

[Megan]

On 1/11/2020 at 1:22 PM, fountain said:

Okay the lady who taught them about Texas was offensive as hell, it is hard for me to imagine with her language and comments on camera that she wouldn’t immediately be terminated. She did not do the college any favours.

 

On her map was California outlined with the word Hideous across it?

I swear I saw that. And the fact this is what she chose to teach on her filming day makes me think she was proud of this particular lesson.

 

[Oldernowiser]

3 hours ago, Megan said:

On her map was California outlined with the word Hideous across it?

I swear I saw that. And the fact this is what she chose to teach on her filming day makes me think she was proud of this particular lesson.

 

Another region was marked “crap.” 

She was a swaggering, drawling Texas cliche and I’m pretty shocked any college, even a junior college, would put up with that, especially on television. It did Texans no favors.

[dmmetler]

UCA college nationals is going on now-there are several community colleges that have done well (UCA  blends 2 year schools, Division III NCAA, and NAIA). It would be interesting to follow a UCA style program if the show continues.

[Jessa]

5 hours ago, Megan said:

On her map was California outlined with the word Hideous across it?

I swear I saw that. And the fact this is what she chose to teach on her filming day makes me think she was proud of this particular lesson.

 

 

2 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

Another region was marked “crap.” 

She was a swaggering, drawling Texas cliche and I’m pretty shocked any college, even a junior college, would put up with that, especially on television. It did Texans no favors.

I was about to come and post about this. Other areas of the country are labeled: hideous, flat, boring, yankees, crap, and awful. That woman and what she was saying and how she said it was just terrible! Navarro should be embarrassed! I can see the benefit of helping the kids understand the cultural differences of where they’ll be living, but you don’t have to disparage other places and cultures to do that. 

I was also impressed as mentioned above at Monica’s support of her boys. Oh to be a fly on the wall for those talks with her pastor. 

All of my other thought have been covered - Gabi’s parents shady, Jerry awesome, injuries concerning, such difficult backstories... I want nothing but the best for these kids! 

[Misslindsey]

12 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

On a related note, I noticed in the final episode that one of the girls was wearing a nose ring when they were in uniform at Daytona. Usually cheerleaders don't wear jewelry because you don't want a hoop to get ripped out if there's some kind of stunt mishap.

Sort of jumping off on this, but I think I saw Morgan (I think it was Morgan) chewing gum a few times during practice. I would think that would be something that would not be allowed as well.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

41 minutes ago, Misslindsey said:

Sort of jumping off on this, but I think I saw Morgan (I think it was Morgan) chewing gum a few times during practice. I would think that would be something that would not be allowed as well.

I was on the dance team, but our coach was also the cheer coach and she had a strict no gum policy. On a practical level, I wouldn't want someone to accidentally spit their gum into my hair while stunting!

On 1/14/2020 at 6:56 PM, Loves2Dance said:

Morgan also left Texas Tech and is back at Navarro.

I'm confused by this. Her plan was to do a third year at Navarro (19-20). Per her instagram, she was at Navarro for the fall 2019 semester. In November, she posted a picture in uniform that said she had just cheered at her last Navarro football game, so she was definitely still at Navarro for a third year.

A few days later she posted a picture of her and Justin both wearing Texas Tech cheer shirts asking if she should go to Texas Tech.

A week later she posted a picture with Allie and Justin about being kidnapped by Texas Tech (which I'm assuming is one of those "welcome to the team" traditions) and she and Justin were both wearing Texas Tech gear.

I assumed that meant that she is planning to finish her third year at Navarro and compete at Daytona this semester and then she's going to transfer to Texas Tech in fall 2020.

ETA: The official Navarro cheer account posted the same picture in November and said these are their third year cheerleaders of the 2019-2020 season.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 1/14/2020 at 10:55 PM, emcmac87 said:

Lexi posted on Instagram she is also officially back at Navarro 

It's true! According to this article, Lexi's mom and grandmother contacted Monica to ask if she could try out for the team again.

Jerry posted about being back too:

His cheer moms reactivated his GoFundMe page if you want to donate:

Morgan, Gabi, Justin, and Shannon did an appearance for Rebel today:

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[auntiemel]

16 hours ago, AttackTurtle said:

At first I found Monica to be cold as ice, but seeing her defend “the boys” was incredibly cool. 

This was actually one of the things I liked best about the show, it showed a woman who was not "soft" or "sweet" in a traditional way, but still cared deeply and fiercely. As someone who also cares deeply but sometimes comes off abrupt, that can be hard for people to reconcile, and it's not they typical portrayal, so I liked that the narrative here honored it! 😊

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 1/13/2020 at 4:13 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

The only time I agreed with anything her parents said was when they talked about what a chokehold Varsity had on the sport.

Same here. Gabi's parents come off as greedy micromanaging helicopter stage parents but I totally agree with them about Varsity. I had to stifle some angry words when the show interviewed the president of Varsity who first brushed aside comments about their monopoly with "Competition good - yay America!" (it was like the cheer version of Gordon Gecko's "greed is good speech) and then had the nerve to say two seconds later that people buy their products because they know the company wants them to succeed. Uh, no. They buy your products because you have a stranglehold on the entire industry. People have no choice but to buy your stuff.

The fact that Varsity wouldn't let them film for the show was ludicrous. If I were Varsity, I would want nationals to be shown in high def so that people would think this is a reputable company/competition. But because of their pettiness, we got stuck with 15 minutes of iphone footage from people on the team, which is ridiculous. Varsity could have just said that Netflix could only film XYZ or only show footage of Navarro and Tri Valley's performances (since they're in the same division) or they could have given them the official footage of NC and TVCC's performances. I miss the days when these competitions were aired on ESPN.

Thanks to wikipedia, I learned that Penn & Teller did an episode about Varsity's conflicts of interest. I'm going to have to go watch that episode now!

[Loves2Dance]

La'Darius is now back on Navarro as well. They'll be on Ellen next week.

[pasdetrois]

Quote

This was actually one of the things I liked best about the show, it showed a woman who was not "soft" or "sweet" in a traditional way, but still cared deeply and fiercely.

I agree with this. People need to let go of the dated notion that women in the workforce need to be soft and nurturing. I especially liked that Monica confronted her pastor about her church's dogma on homosexuality and gender. But to be realistic, she is holding a power position in her town.

I believe the Oprah story because I and so many people I know have been asked to work for free. This practice is especially prevalent in the "glamor" professions, where so many people will do anything to work their way in to an industry. I've seen it in news, Capitol Hill, and entertainment.

Thanks for posting the Youtube link. That's the first I've seen the entire routine.

I hope these kids don't get their heads turned by temporary "fame." They need an education and a plan for post-cheer.

[NJMom]

On 1/12/2020 at 7:21 PM, Pj3422 said:

Heck, I’ve lived in Texas since I was 6, and I was all WTF.

 

I must have fallen asleep during the episode that had this scene. Do you happen to remember which one it was so I can go back and watch?

[Pj3422]

33 minutes ago, NJMom said:

I must have fallen asleep during the episode that had this scene. Do you happen to remember which one it was so I can go back and watch?

I think it was the first episode. The ...ahem... teacher.... is giving a ...ahem... lesson... in being Texan.

[Jessa]

47 minutes ago, NJMom said:

I must have fallen asleep during the episode that had this scene. Do you happen to remember which one it was so I can go back and watch?

First episode about 37 minutes in. 

[ExplainItAgain]

I binged the whole thing today and I loved it. They had a great story to tell without being too overly dramatic or too saccharine.

I've read this thread and I'm still confused on where some of these people ended up. So Morgan was back at Navarro for the fall semester - did she transfer to Texas Tech for the spring or maybe she got accepted for this fall?

Jerry went to Louisville but he left? I'm sad if this is the case - I hope he had a good reason to leave that nice scholarship. And now La'Darius and Lexi are back at Navarro too? Perhaps they are filming another season and thus all the returns? Isn't the cheerleading team set in the fall because they cheer at football and basketball games? These guys can just return at will? 

[dmmetler]

NCA Nationals is in April, so I assume the returning kids did fall somewhere else, and came back to Navarro for the Spring to compete at Nationals, with the expectation of another season of the show. They can probably do that without losing admission at their other school, and take a class or two that will transfer, especially if they weren’t core complete and hadn’t actually completed an AS before transferring. 
 

It seems unfair to the kids who tried out for and made Navarro and cheered the entire football season. At most schools, you have to be on the team in the fall to go to Nationals-but there is nothing against the rules about it. 

[nlkm9]

So i thought junior college is only 2 years? How can they go back for a 3rd year? Is it fair to say that a smaller less academically challenging college draws less talent but allows for more rigorous practice ? There are questions i have after watching 

[dmmetler]

It can take longer than 2 years to get an AS because a lot of student go less than full time due to work, family, or because they need non-credit classes to get up to the level needed to do college credit. Usually you can do sports at a 2 year school as long as you are half-time. And it wouldn’t surprise me to find that many of the Navarro cheerleaders do a lighter load to accommodate their practice schedule. 
 

 

[auntiemel]

Also, as soon as you complete one associates degree, you can start working on another.