It takes great athleticism, but that doesn't make it a sport
We at the Daily Herald enjoy hearing from our readers, most commonly via e-mail.
In the High School Sports Department we get a wide variety of e-mails on a number of subjects, but possibly the most common subject - especially this time of year, with state cheerleading this weekend - is cheerleading.
Only one problem: The Daily Herald believes cheerleading is an activity or a contest, and so we print cheerleading stories and photos in the Neighbor section rather than in Sports.
We realize cheerleaders spend a great many hours perfecting their craft. A tremendous amount of athleticism is needed to be a cheerleader. It requires dedication, teamwork, skill, coordination and conditioning. No argument there.
We respect the time and effort cheerleaders expend and the physical risk involved in cheerleading.
But danger and hard work don't define a sport, just like Siegfried and Roy don't define entertainment.
It's also kind of hard to cover cheerleading events leading up to the IHSA sectionals and state finals. There is virutally no cheerleading schedule.
Glenbard West's Web site lists one competion, Jan. 10 vs. Elk Grove.
Waubonsie Valley's site lists no events. Same with Neuqua Valley, Willowbrook, WW South to name just a few.
Cheerleading is not like swimming, cross country or track, where the winner of a race is crystal clear. The first person to touch the wall or break the tape wins the race. It's not like football, basketball or soccer, where teams compete to score in a very clearly defined way.
Cheerleading seems more akin to synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics and bodybuilding. All are judged on more nebulous qualities. They are covered, barely, only during the Olympics.
Cheerleading is not an Olympic sport, and we don't expect that to change even though the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled cheerleading a contact sport.
The IHSA recently added bass fishing as a sanctioned sport. The Daily Herald doesn't cover bass fishing either, though we believe people who normally read the Sports section are more likely to be interested in bass fishing than cheerleading.
This column probably will generate another round of angry e-mails. That's fine. My e-mail address is below. Make your case. We'll listen. Please understand if we don't agree.
oschwarz@dailyherald.com