Hey, girls, wanna go to college on a full time athletic scholarship, and not be surrounded by hulking lesbian she-beasts

[The Brain]

Originally posted by Toronto Hottie
If curling, golf, and bowling can be deemed one, I fully believe Cheerleading can. It's a gymnastic sport.

I stand by my previous statement:

<b>They aren't in direct competition with anyone</b>

Yes, curling, golf, and bowling may not be as physically demanding, but they <i>are</i> all forms of competition, which is the very nature of sport.

How "competitive" do you consider cheerleading to be? Do you really think they are trying to one-up the other cheerleading squad? Hell, what if the other team doesn't even <i>have</i> a cheerleading squad?

Should the guys who wear mascot costumes then be included? They tend to do even riskier, more physically-demanding stunts than the cheerleaders.

<b>EDIT:</b>

haven't you ever seen the cheeleading competition on espn at like 3 in the morning. they are competing againt other squads from other schools. and they devote as much time to that as other athletes do to their sports.

Is that what you're watching at 3 am to make your jizz shoot over 6 feet?

And mind you, those are <i>independent</i> contests, sanctioned by an entity other than the NCAA, who as stated before does not consider cheerleading to be a sport. Not every athletic activity is a "sport", or should be qualified as one.

What the university is doing here is saying that, as the cheerleaders stand on the sidelines of an NCAA-sanctioned game (be it basketball, football or other), they are "participating in a sport", the same as the players on the field that everyone has paid to see, and are being awarded scholarships accordingly. Also note that any other cheerleading squad nearby is not being granted the same distinctions.