Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-10-24

Our Man Risks All
For CheerIeuders
By MORRIS sIEeEL

AS SERENEIY RETIRED enlisted man with no am
billions to win cluster for my ruptured duck realize
completely the potential dangers involved for rebukng an
officer in these unpredctabe hours 1t could become
personal Bay of Pigs If the world situation worsens
But it must be done Not Just for the vcarous thrill
one of gets quarng to officer but for an even
nobler cause in behalf of the cheereaders OF America,
whose very future is at stake
The incident that provoked the chewing out about to
be undertaken took place at West Point last Satur
day when Armys football team maneuvertng against
Virginia Tech The Superintendent Of the Academy dut-
fully In attendance objected to MS LITTLE troopers Snouts
ITO hell with Tech"
NEEDI ESS TO SAY when the Superintendent Of West
Point objects to anything he Immediately becomes very
large favote not to have his objection overrued Tne
"o hell with Tech" yell was regarded by the Super as
such fragrant obscenty he quickly summoned one-man
court martial himself and directed the Cadet cheereader
to knock it off, on the double.
II was done It probably was the first time an Army
order of such magnitude had been issued and carried
out before is carbon copies of the directive bad been stem
ciled and passed out to various commands
It also probably the first time an innocent little
thing like veil ever has been censored There could have
been psychological factor involved In the Supers bold
decision The Virginia Techs were supposed 10 nave peen
btzed out of Niche Stadium by Army but they weren't
They finally surrendered but only by 2O-l2 naroy rout
ssss
wen-ntended vocal support of the captive troops was
booerangng and nfuriatng vPI instead of bolstering
Army Maybe 1t was Detze who asked the Super to nave
the cheers eliminated
REGARDLESS of who did It, it smacks Of pettness The
Cadets were having un at least as much run as one
could have watching Army play vPI ITO he'll with Tech"
is not ourageouy in bad taste even If one happens 10 De
from Tech.
There are far more fragrant cheereading abuses in
the Army game But that's different That's the any
thing goes game and anything usually does Would the
dear old Super have preferred ITO heck Win 4ecnF
IF THE SUPER rs SERIOUS in his ant-cheereading
drive suggest he look into the situation at West Virginia
They not only yell raucousy but for additional support
they employ firearms
At every West Virginia touchdown small cannon is
fired It has been known to have SOLDERING effect on
thousands of spectators already edge from either the
night before or the world crisis
There's the real critical area West Virginia. not West
Point the Super muzze that riggerhappy young man
and I'll personally guarantee him the prize as the I'M
challenged winner of the noise abatement campaign.
The Super also could do another thing. Make those
Cadets sit down at football games, especially the Army
Navy game disciples of both schools stand for the
full ceremonies blocking the view Of $3.50 ticket holders
1858
Z : cHEERLEADING HAS BECOME great psychology
ica factor on campuses today Some schools even award
scholarships although nobody yet has shown where
there's great demand yell leaders in the business
professional world.
At Ole Miss before oxford became staging area, the
visiting always seated in front OF the Ole Miss
band At the critical moment when the visiting coach
needed precious few seconds to instruct his players he
had to shout above the section Of 150pece out
fit The result usually epidemic of busted ear drums
and defeat
At Austin where the University of Texas parades its
football might, the school band also is heavy con-
trbutor to the football teams Abe Gibron Of the
Redskins staff scouting game there last year, came
away unpressed by the football players he saw but over
whelmed over the important role the band played
when they strike up "'The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon
YOU" Gibron said "the visiting team automatically is
behind by two touchdowns."