Is Cheerleading a Sport? (part 2)

So if you've been keeping up with my blog, which you probably haven't been, I recently wrote a post about whether or not I thought cheerleading was a sport. Well I only touched on the fact that I didn't believe that sideline cheerleading was a sport because it doesn't compete. However, I didn't get the chance to say that I strongly believe that competition cheerleading IS a sport. Please don't try to fight me on this one, I have done competition cheerleading before, so I know what it's like.
There are so many reasons why I believe that competition cheer is a sport, but let's just start with the time commitment. Competition cheer, depending on how extreme, can have 3-4 practiced a week, for 2-3 hours each. Also, on days you don't have practice there is open gym, which means a couple of hours working on stunts and tumbling. Then, when competition season starts, you spend the entire weekend at the competition. It's safe to say that these cheerleaders spend equal or more time training then every other sport.
Reason number 3 is that the skill and endurance it takes to be a competition cheerleader is intense. You have to work at it to be good, and it isn't an easy road to success. Tumbling and stunting and the dance component all take a great deal of training, you aren't just born with that kind of skill. You have to be in extremely fit to be able to tumble and do the tricks that these people do. Also, when stunting, the bases (people on the bottom of the stunt) have to have a great deal of muscle to hold a girl in the air for as long as they do and to throw and catch their flyers. Now the girl on top may seem like she has the easy job, but she too has to have a great deal of muscle and flexibility to hold her poses and keep her balance. Lastly, it takes a great amount of endurance to get through a 4 or 5 minute routine, of dancing, tumbling, and lifting/throwing people. I am a long distance runner and I remember breathing hard after my routine.
My last point is that they compete, and the judging isn't subjective. They are judged on the difficulty of their stunts and tumbling as well as the amount of facials they express. Competing is the part that really makes competition cheer a sport.
I also believe that school cheer squads that compete are considered a sport. Sideline cheer alone is not a sport, but competition cheer or competition cheer combined with sideline cheer should definitely be known and thought of as a sport.

Word Count: 451

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

I recently read a blog post done by one of my classmates about whether or not dance is a sport. I totally support her opinion on that by the way, dancers are athletes, but I do not believe that it is a sport because the judging is subjective. However, if you want to read more about that point of view then you will just have to read her post because that is not the topic at hand today. I have decided to discuss whether or not cheerleading should be considered a sport.
Okay, so let me just say that I am a cheerleader but I am also a cross country and track athlete, so I know the meaning of pain. However, the answer to whether or not cheer is a sport is slightly more complicated than a yes or no answer. Both sideline cheerleading (cheering on sports teams at games and events) and competition cheer (competing in competitions) are two totally different things to consider.
I have done sideline cheer for either football or basketball or both every year during high school, so I have plenty of experience with it. I'm sorry to say it, but sideline cheer is not a sport. It does not compete. It also doesn't involve any quantity of endurance or a large time commitment (two one and a half hour practices twice a week). Yes, cheerleaders lift people into the air and that takes some sort of muscle and skill, but if you are not competing, then I don't believe it can be considered a sport. I see it as more of a hobby, or an extra curricular activity, or a club. It's not something that you have to put effort into for years and years to be great. It just takes a nice smile, some school spirit and a little bit of flexibility.
Now please don't be offended if you are a sideline cheerleader, because I am one and I think that it is something to be proud of. Just because I don't believe that it's a sport doesn't mean that it isn't accomplishment to be a part of a sideline cheerleading team. I am simply saying that I don't believe that it is a sport because it does not compete, that's all. Now competition cheerleading is a completely different story, but you will have to read my next post to find out my opinion on that.

Word Count: 411

Seeing is Believing.. or not

Most people have seen advertisements at one time or another of a weight loss pill that miraculously helps you drop 30 pounds, with no other dieting. You may have even seen the transformation that real people experienced by using this substance. Well don't be so quick to believe every ad you see, because recently, a few weight loss companies were charged for false advertising.

Yes, everyone wishes that they could take a pill and all of their weight problems would just disappear, but it's not that easy. If it really worked, then why isn't everybody already doing it? How come this magical pill isn't all over the market selling like wild fire? My guess is that it doesn't work as the companies make it out to be. Of course, most companies stretch the truth a little bit when they advertise, but I think this has gone too far. Nothing you see on the internet or television can be trusted anymore, which is sad but true. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when a company is trying to deceive you though, which was proven by many girls on social media.

I have seen things on twitter, which is what actually sparked my thought about this. Some people on twitter decided to show everyone why they shouldn't trust these weight lose pill advertisements by demonstrating how you could "lose 15 lbs" in 15 minutes with a few easy steps. All it took was a new outfit and a fix in their posture, and boom, they look 15 lbs skinnier. It's upsetting to think about how many times I have probably been tricked or deceived in my life. This is just one thing that companies advertise falsely. I am sure that skin care commercials and cellulite and wrinkle cream commercials can be equally deceiving. If the company's product doesn't work, then instead of going through the trouble of lying to us, they should put forth the effort to make their product better. 

It is too bad that there is no sort of weight loss pill that actually helps you lose weight without diet and exercise, and it is also too bad that companies lie to us by saying that there is. So just remember, the next time you want to try out the newest weight loss pill, do your research and don't believe everything that you see on the internet.

Word Count: 406