Cheer!

Reviewed By Stuart Nachbar
 

Last week, as research for a new book, I attended the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Association boys and girls basketball finals at Penn State. Sitting courtside near the spirit squads and cheerleaders was an eye-popping experience I had never gone through in my non-athletic high school days. The quality of play, as well as the quality of cheering was beyond my expectations. 

I never got to know any cheerleaders in high school outside of school and I never met any who cheered for the universities where I received my undergraduate and graduate degree. I just thought they were in a different world, and that I would only be an alien presence inside it. 

Cheer! by Kate Torgovnick, a former journalist for Jane magazine introduced me to the inner sanctum of competitive college cheerleading. Cheer! follows three college cheerleading squads: Southern University, Stephen F. Austin State University and the University of Memphis in their quests for a national cheerleading championship. 

In Torgovnick’s story, it is interesting that colleges become confused as to whether cheerleaders are athletes or entertainers. There are anecdotes in Cheer! about split scholarships and cheerleaders asked to support revenue sports that their schools do not invite them to cheer in. And while cheerleaders are subordinated to the athletes in the events they do participate, they must raise their own money, or rely on their competitive association—the NCAA does not recognize cheerleading as a sport—to go to cheerleading competitions. 

Tag it:

?

Thank You Bobby Murcer

Reviewed By Stuart Nachbar

 
I remember my first New York Yankee game. It was July, 1970, in the “original” Stadium, Yankees versus Minnesota Twins: our hometown boys versus Billy Martin’s first division champions. At least I think Billy was still in Minnesota that July; he got fired so often I don’t remember for sure. 

The Yankees of 1970 won 93 games, but we finished second, 15 games behind Baltimore. Our top three starters won 49 games and our top two relievers saved 45. The nucleus, the middle of our batting order was young: catcher Thurman Munson, American League Rookie of the Year, steady and reliable left fielder Roy White and center fielder Bobby Murcer, our home run king. The next season, Murcer took the American League batting title to the wire, hitting a career-high .331, though the team won 11 fewer games.  
 
Bobby Murcer was my favorite player on those bad Yankee teams, the ones that were owned by CBS, before George Steinbrenner bought the most storied franchise in baseball—for less than CBS originally paid. It was easy to bill Murcer as the successor to Mickey Mantle: they’re both from Oklahoma, both played center field in the capacious original Stadium and both dressed in the same locker. Murcer could’nt match Mantle’s power, or speed, but he became a fine ballplayer nonetheless. Bobby was a five-time All Star and hit 252 home runs, and he was the youngest $100,000 player in Yankee history. He was twice traded for more established stars: first Bobby Bonds, then later Bill Madlock, a future batting champion. That’s quite a complement; it showed how valuable Bobby was in his prime. 

Tag it:

?

 A Virtual Book Review Network Interview with Myles Reed

Fishing for Love on the Net

Lauren Smith: What surprised you most about online dating? 

Myles Reed, Jr.: I was surprised that there was really a different culture to the online world.  It seems similar to the offline world.  There are people involved in the offline world and there are people involved with the online world.  It would be very reasonable to assume that the process of interacting with people is fairly similar.  However, the reality is that people behave materially different online.  Additionally, the technology impacts people’s experience in a way that cannot be found offline. I discovered this over my time online and capture these subtleties in Fishing for Love on the Net.

Tag it:

?