IS IT STILL FUN TO BE A CHEERLEADER IN D1?
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When I went to KU in the early 1970s, cheerleaders still did their cheers to students of both schools in AFH. I would guess a third to a half the crowd in those days were students. We occupied the entire bleacher section of one side line of the court, plus a half of one side of upper deck seats plus some of the end of the field house. The visiting team’s students were in the upper deck on the other side. Some games, like KSU, the opposing crowds were big.
Cheerleaders actually had large numbers to lead in cheers.
Today, I hear there are no opposing team student sections and KU students are banished entirely to upper deck and end zone.
Question: who are the cheerleaders leading today? The alums? It must be kind of weird.
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“Question: who are the cheerleaders leading today?”
The elite crowd that can afford to spend the big bucks for the good seats.
I’m not a Duke fan, but at least they give one complete side down low to the students. We should do the same. It would feel more like school ball instead of the NBA. Talk about home court advantage!
And the visuals would be so much better. I hate it when the crowd in AFH is raising the roof, but the TV cameras catch the old crowd the entire game, sitting and looking half dead. That’s bad visuals… sold to the highest dollar.
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The crowd they were showing during the WVU game last week was amazing. At one point they showed the student section that appeared to go from the floor to the ceiling. They were jumping, acting pretty crazy and it was all of them. Pretty cool to see.
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@wissoxfan83 everyone I see is cranked at the games!!! It’s AFH! Every game I’ve been to has been close too. I’ve never seen anything but a crazy crowd!! The video guys and marketing dept do a great job too!
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Jaybate, you need to learn this.
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The cheerleader, Emily, is very pretty and perky but sound like a cartoon character…too much helium?
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@jaybate-1.0 Raaah Raaah Reee, kickem in the knee! Raaah Raaah Rass, kickem in the other knee!
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@jaybate-1.0 Wow, had no idea cheerleaders would cheer for the opposing school in AFH. Now, that’s sportsmanship! Sad that is no longer the norm. Imagine cheerleaders of the 70s didn’t dress to show all like today. Think they’re cheering for themselves actually.
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I heard it was: Raaah Raaah Reee, kickem in the knee! Raaah Raaah Ruts, kickem in the… other knee!
and
Rickem Rickem, Rackem Ruckem, get that ball and really Fff…ight!
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@HawksWin I think our cheerleaders are awesome! At least our fans don’t say, fu, you know the rest. This pic is for you
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Ok, not totally on topic, but “cheering” nonetheless. I thought this was a cool story.
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@HighEliteMajor when hutch has the national jr college bb tourney, there have been local high school cheering squads-sometimes the whole school-support the smaller schools that don’t have the money to bring their cheerleaders.
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I saw that on CBS Sunday morning. Great story.
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Anyone that doesn’t think cheerleaders are athletes need to check this out -
College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship
Any of you singles out there… throw away your website dating service and forget the bars… start attending these competitions!
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@Jyhwk_InTigrtwn Has noone heard my cheering version before?
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Even though I might be a WmsFund alum (small potatos level), I think Duke does their student seating better than KU. Ive thought this a long time. Why cant we have an entire half of the arena down to floor level be students, and the other half be the older Jayhawk burgoise?
I say this as even myself, I wont go to a game unless I can get between FT-lines, first 10 row…type of seats. Yes, I pay for them on StubHub, but its a once- or twice-a-season event for me, that surpasses the TV view.
Problem is, they’ve made it about money. The ticket sales. The outside agency brought in to manage the sales. The YEARS of donating at a specific tier, then you slowly “move down” to better rows. I personally disagree with being 90yrs old, and thinking I can yell my lungs out late in the 4th qtr…And sure enough, many of those season-ticket people cannot make every game, thus I go hunting on the secondary mkt like StubHub or ebay.
Honestly, folks, as much as I love KU and root wholeheartedly for KU basketball and KU football, I have seriously considered dropping the WmsFund thing. I’ll just get on StubHub & click ‘Buy’ for the best seats in the house.
What was worse, to me, was the last couple of times how the LateNite thing got trashed. People trampled, large center sections roped-off(for a “free” event?), and different doors on AFH being opened more than 3-4min different from other doors. No, I wont waste the 8hrs of waiting to see 20min of scrimmage, than now is on TV.
Zenger, don’t tinker too much with the brand’s most precious commodity…And realize the paradox: by making it “too” precious…it becomes less-precious… I see that 2yrs ago, about 8,000 folks in KU’s home mkt were turned away from AFH, disappointed at that LateNite.
Regarding cheerleaders: always nice to see them doing their thing. But due to their very athletic, tossing routines, the standards & requirements have changed over the years: 20+ yrs ago they were avg sized girls, now they have to be little tiny (tossable) sized girls.
Wife was small town KS high-school cheerleader, as well as track & softball…but I just don’t think we’ll see 5’7 cheerleaders being the norm anymore. Pompom girls yes, dancers yes. Cheerleaders, specifically= downsized! And they’re even smaller at WichitaState…like 11-12yr olds.
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@ralster tossable! Good one.
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It would be tough to toss this one to the top of the pyramid.
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@wrwlumpy all about that base, bout that base
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A good portion of the lower level and court side tickets are corporate tickets since they are the only one s that can afford them. I hate to see all those “yuppie” couples with very young kids in those seats and none are paying attention to the game, the parents are visiting and the young kids are bored. I am all in favor of making at least one side of the arena dedicated to students like Duke does but the chances of that are not good. I am keeping my fingers crossed that idiot Zenger will not make ALL games pay-per-view.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Great photo!! Thank you Crimson.
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@wrwlumpy What an interesting pix. Before I was married, I was nonstop judge of “talent”, every girl got rated 1-10, all the time, everywhere. Married x 17 yrs, so I confine myself to appreciating Hollywood red-carpet looks…and ideal perfection-on-two-heels…its almost abstract art, since nobody really dresses like that…
SO, my 18-yrs-ago femme-critique of the plus-cheerleader could be: …self-confidence to wear a revealing outfit is highly commendable…actually this girl has a symmetric facial structure & good skin tone. Her anatomic distribution is actually quite balanced–> she actually has amazing potential for a different look…
My comments are purely cosmetic, due to medical background & awareness of ways girls can change their look, IF they wish to. If she’s comfortable in her own look, leave her be!
(No 1-10 here, too subjective, one guy’s 10 may not be another guy’s 10). Now could start a non-sports thread on Hollywood babes, as they exist for public limelight…looking good is their livelihood, & Im OK with that…
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@ralster She’s very pretty and I too think that her attitude is undefeated and yes, you have shamed me.
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@Crimsonorblue22 What an awesome pix of current KU cheer in nostalgic unis! In historic AFH, they pull it off like only KU can–and they look great as always.
Partial to midwestern girls…I’d say between KU cheer squad, and the squads of Texas, OU, & IowaSt, the BigXII is just fine…
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@ralster that was the 60th celebration of AFH, against Texas. Went from top row to 7th from floor behind texas water coolers. Fun!!
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@wrwlumpy Aw, nooo, lumpy…No shame intended! Your pix was profound to me, as it quickly reminded me of who I was when college age vs how I think now. Now I’d only cringe for the girl’s sake if she had low self esteem, or if I think of medical issues wt-related. Perspectives change as Ive gotten older, new angles to consider…but the hollywood babes (& wife) still are 10-scale judged…all in harmless fun!
