June 2008
Monthly Archive
Friday 27 Jun 2008
Cheerleading Becoming as Dangerous As These Top 7 Most Dangerous Youth Sports
Cheerleading, once a rather tame activity composed mostly of pompoms and megaphones, has taken an about face in America over the last few decades.
Today, cheerleaders use gymnastic moves and athletic ability to flip, somersault and even catapult one another into the air, with stunts that can rival the excitement of any football or basketball game.
In fact, “[Cheerleading has] evolved from a school-spirit activity into an activity demanding high levels of gymnastics skill and athleticism,” according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.
It has also become much more dangerous, with the increasingly complex moves putting cheerleaders at risk of potentially serious head, neck and other injuries.
Cheerleading Injuries Double Since 1990
The Pediatrics study found that cheerleading injuries have more than doubled from 1990 through 2002. Participation, however, grew only 18 percent during that period.
Over the 13-year study, 208,800 5- to 18-year-olds were treated at U.S. hospitals for cheerleading-related injuries. Almost 40 percent involved leg, ankle and foot injuries.
Researchers say the actual number of injuries is likely much greater, though, because the study only involved ER-treated injuries, not those treated at doctors’ offices or by team trainers.
What Makes Cheerleading so Dangerous?
Although cheerleaders use a high level of athletic ability, cheerleading is still not considered a sport by the majority of schools.
Because of this, it is not subject to the same safety regulations as other sports, like football. Meanwhile, cheerleading squads can exist without coaches or with coaches that have no safety certifications or training. Some schools also do not have the proper equipment or space for cheerleaders to practice safely.
Said Brenda Shields, the study’s lead author and an injury researcher at Columbus Children’s Research Institute in Ohio, “[Cheerleaders may] practice in hallways and practice on hard surfaces instead of mats. So when they fall off a pyramid or from in the air and they land on hard surfaces, the chances for injury are drastically increased.”
Some Cheerleaders Get ‘Grounded’
In response to safety concerns, some schools are choosing to prohibit stunts and keep cheerleaders safely on the ground.
The University of Nebraska has prohibited pyramids and other gymnastic stunts since 2002. The decision to keep cheerleaders “ground-bound” came after a cheerleader landed on her head while doing a double back flip at practice in 1996. She has only limited use of her arms and legs, and the school settled a related lawsuit for $2.1-million.
The move was controversial, as many cheerleaders seeking scholarships will avoid schools that don’t allow stunts. Other called it a “sexist” move.
“Cheerleading is considered primarily a female activity,” said T. Lynn Williamson, adviser to the University of Kentucky cheer team since 1977. “In our society, it’s acceptable that every year a number of young men will die on a football field. But, my heavens, if a female breaks a fingernail, or her arm, well, then it must be time to ground them.”
But the spokesperson for Nebraska, Barry Swanson, felt otherwise. “We didn’t eliminate cheerleading or reduce the cheerleading budget in any way. All we eliminated was the danger … In football you have helmets and pads,” he said. “Cheerleaders do their stunts on hardwood floors or turf. We consider that risk without reason.”
Other schools that have “grounded” cheerleading squads include San Jose State University, which did so in 2004 after an accident, and Duke University, which has forbidden stunts since the ’80s.
How Does Cheerleading Stack Up?
Compared to other youth sports, cheerleading is still one of the safer options. In 2003, for instance, 100,000 female basketball players visited emergency rooms for related injuries, while only 25,000 cheerleaders did so, said Jim Lord, executive director of the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors.
The seven most dangerous youth sports in America, based on percentage of injuries versus total participation, include not cheerleading but:
- Football
- Mountain biking
- Basketball
- Soccer
- Skateboarding
- Baseball
- Softball
Nonetheless, the study researchers recommended several approaches to make cheerleading safer:
- Coaches getting professional safety training
- High schools and cheerleading associations adopting uniform safety procedures
- Developing a national database for injuries
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors also has a safety manual for cheerleaders and safety courses for coaches.
“It’s not that the sport is dangerous, but it’s people trying skills they shouldn’t,” said Lord.
“We are by no means minimizing the injuries; we are simply putting them into perspective. When compared to other sports, cheerleading is a low-risk activity,” he maintained.
This article was provided by the world’s #1 most popular and trusted holistic living e-newsletter — FREE to you right now at http://www.SixWise.com! The old way of thinking: “holistic living” pertains only to personal health. The new way of thinking: “holistic living” means prevention of the negative and adherence to the positive in all SIX practical areas of life: relationships, finances, career, home environment, safety and health. With the SixWise.com e-newsletter, you will get holistic wisdom from the world’s top experts in all six of these areas — completely FREE with a simple sign-up (and a guaranteed no-spam policy!) at http://www.SixWise.com.
Tags: 7, as, Becoming, Cheerleading:, Dangerous, Most, Sports, These, Top, Youth
Thursday 26 Jun 2008
Ness Notes (Feb 1)
The Nets proved the Pistons can be beat last night, as New Jersey ended Detroit’s 11-game winning streak with 91-84 victory in the Meadowlands. It marked New Jersey’s NINTH straight home win but the Nets are back on the road tonight in Cleveland, one of 13 games in a busy NBA schedule.
New Jersey owns five straight wins over Cleveland (two this year) but has lost its last five road games (0-5 ATS), while the Cavs enter on a six-game winning streak (5-0-1 ATS), in which LeBron has averaged 36 PPG. Cleveland is favored by 6 1/2 points with a total of 187 1/2 (7:05 ET).
My free play on Wednesday is in college hoops. Take Kentucky over Miss St at 8:00 ET. I have a HUGE Wednesday! In CBB, I have two 20* GOY plays (MWC / C-USA) and a Triple 10* Game of the Month Report. In the NBA, it’s just my second LEGEND Play of the season (won 1st)! Get it all and pay only AFTER you win!
Other games of note in tonight’s NBA are Minnesota at Detroit (7:35 ET), Atlanta at Charlotte (7:35 ET) and Dallas at Memphis (8:05 ET). Flip Saunders won in his return to Minnesota back on 1/24 (107-83) but the T-wolves are 12-4 versus the Pistons since the beginning of the 1997-98 season. Detroit’s loss ended an 11-game winning streak, just the team’s SIXTH loss this year. How have the Pistons fared after their first five losses? Just fine thank-you, winning by an average of 12.8 PPG. Detroit is favored by 8 1/2 points with a total of 184 1/2.
Charlotte tries to end the league’s longest current losing streak (12 straight), when the Bobcats host the Hawks. The Bobcats are missing leading scorer Gerald Wallace plus last season’s rookie-of-the-year (Okafor) and have averaged just 89.5 PPG during their losing streak. The good news is Atlanta is just 3-17 on the road this season. Atlanta is favored by 1 1/2 points with a total of 200 1/2.
With Detroit’s loss, Dallas now owns the league’s longest winning streak at nine straight. The Mavs have held all nine opponents to less than 100 points in the streak but tonight face the league’s best defensive team in Memphis. The Grizzlies allow just 87.1 PPG, compared to Dallas’ average of 93.7 PPG. The Mavs, 18-6 on the road this year, are favored by 1 1/2 points with a total of 180 1/2.
As mentioned yesterday, Northern Iowa (at No. 25) was ranked for the first time in its 106-year history. That ranking won’t last long though, as the Panthers lost 63-55 last night to Creighton (10th straight loss in Omaha to the Blue Jays). Another Panther team, Pitt, lost at No. 1 U Conn, 80-76. While Panther bettors ‘covered’, Pitt has still never beaten a team ranked No. 1 in its 100-year history (0-13).
There are 43 games on the college ‘board’ tonight, highlighted by doubleheaders on both ESPN and ESPN2. Also, Southern Illinois, tied with Illinois and Gonzaga for the nation’s longest current home winning streak (at 33), will host an Indiana State team at 8:00 ET, which has lost 11straight games (Salukis are favored by 16 points with a total of 114).
No. 11 West Va will host Notre Dame at 7:00 ET on ESPN. Notre Dame has opened 1-6 in the Big East, its worst start since joining the conference in 1995-96. However, the Irish have beaten the Mountaineers 11 straight times! West Va, the Big East’s lone unbeaten team in conference play (6-0), will be trying to beat Notre Dame for the first time since 1999. West Va is favored by 7 1/2 points with a total of 143. At 9:00 ET, it’s No. 2 Duke at No. 15 Boston College. BC opened 0-3 in its first year in the ACC but has won four straight. Duke is favored by 5 1/2 points with a total of 150.
ESPN2 opens with No. 23 Iowa at Purdue (7:00 ET) and follows with No. 7 Texas at Missouri (9:00 ET). Purdue is just 1-7 in the Big-10 (last place) and has lost 13 straight games to ranked opponents. Iowa is an eight-point favorite with a total of 125. Texas, which saw its nine-game winning streak stopped by Oklahoma on Saturday, takes on a Missouri team which has lost three straight games, all by double-digits. Texas is favored by 11 1/2 points with a total of 135 1/2.
Super XL Update…First we had a controversy over which color jersey the Steelers would be wearing, now it’s Texas A&M filing a restraining order against the Seahawks for their “12th man” marketing campaign. You think maybe two weeks is too long between the conference title games and the “main event?”
Ness Notes is available by 1:00 ET Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday, by 9:00 ET.
Larry Ness is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm.
Wednesday 25 Jun 2008
Superstitions in Sports (1999)
Superstitions have been around since the dawn of man. In our contemporary age, we do as much as anyone has in history perpetuating superstitions. “Superstitions tend to be passed down from one generation to the next through the strong oral tradition of the locker room”(Sports Illustrated p.88)
Athletes seem to be heavily burdened with the mysterious beliefs of superstitions. Sport contests of today involve athletes trained at their highest maximum potential, meaning that most of the time, athletes compete with other athletes - all of whom possess equal skill levels. Whether it is an individual sport or a team sport, a win that has had to be scraped up by a close call, one point difference, or last minute play, usually falls credit to some kind of luck in the eyes of a majority of athletes. In the world of competition, athletes love to win, not surprisingly, and they will do whatever it takes to keep winning, whether it’s believing in superstitions, making sacrifices, or worshipping all kinds of gods.
“‘A superstition is a way to get through a tough situation1 wrote Carole Potter in Knock On Wood, a 1983 book on superstitions. For athletes, superstitions are a crutch, a secret weapon, a way to get that little edge.”(p.88)
Some athletes use superstitions to psyche up themselves. Challenged by fears of misfortunes, injuries, or losing, athletes reach that pinnacle edge to suffice their required potential in a competition. It is through fear that an athlete feels that he or she is being “held down”, forced to hold back, and never reaching the maximum skill needed to achieve. “Some athletes turn to superstitions for the same reasons that others turn to religion or drugs — to relieve pressure, to convince themselves that results are predetermined, to take the fear out of the unknown”.(p.88)
Athletes, coaches, and other sport personnel (aka. physicians, equipment man, and alumni), follow daily and game time routines religiously because of their beliefs in superstitions. In the past, teams have been known to never wash their uniforms or socks during a winning streak for fear of losing the good luck. Coaches follow the same exact routines, which can be called habit or tradition, routines such as entering and exiting through certain doors, picking up hair pins for good luck, saying the same prayers and wearing the same outfit that was worn during a won game. Legendary Oakland Raiders head coach, John Madden, would never let his players leave the locker room to start a game until the team’s running back, Mark van Eeghen, had burped. “Perhaps Madden was aware of ancient aural superstitions, such as the wailing of a banshee, which foretold death in Gaelic culture.”(p.91)
Such “superstitions like these will always have a place in sport, if only because an athlete’s life style makes him vulnerable to them. Athletes do the same thing day after day. They practice at the same time; they play at the same time and eat at the same time. Important parts of their lives are very ordered, and so, perhaps, they want to bring that same kind of order into every aspect of their lives. Little rituals become obsessions. Obsessions become superstitions.”(p.94)
The psychological aspects of superstitions on athletes can have very drastic effects on their performance. Many athletes feel obligated to pray and worship some kind of favored god before a contest, for fear that if not worshipped, that god will strike great misfortunes on them. This can be tied to an athlete’s upbringing and culture — not necessarily superstitions. Athletes tend to lose confidence in their own abilities, talents, and skills and reward a god for their renowned fame and assets. If they do not worship their god, they fear losing their skills and success. Why do athletes think like this? Do superstitions really motivate an athlete?
Whatever makes an athlete perform at his or hers highest potential is a force that only they should be able to control. And in some cases, we all can control our superstitions it’s just that, we need to control our minds first.
For more information, please contact: izzojohn@sbcglobal.net
John Izzo holds a BS in Public Health and Community Nutrition, along with certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, National Endurance Sports Trainer Associations, and American Fitness Professional & Associates. Presently, he is Health & Wellness Director of the YMCA of Greater Hartford (CT) and Master Lecturer for World Instructor Training Schools (WITS).
Tags: athletes, psychology, sport, superstition