“Boomer Sooner!” Another hilarious story from the Longhorns, the pride of the state of Texas. Check out this story from a recent cheerleading camp that the Longhorns held on campus earlier this month:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/yahoolatestnews/stories/080708dntexcheerleaders.1d70ab35.html?npc
For those of you that didn’t click on the link, the short version of the story is this: 26 high school cheerleaders, aged 14-17 at Texas Cheer Camp, decided to squeeze into an elevator—just to see how many people they could fit inside. And surprise! After the elevator descended from the fourth floor to the first, it got stuck. Well, one of the girls fainted and a few others were treated at the scene after one cheerleader was able to wiggle out a cell phone to call for help.
What a brain-trust. I guess there really isn’t safety in numbers after all. But maybe I’m being too hard on the girls. Maybe I’ve just been lucky to avoid such an innocent, adolescent mistake. Maybe it’s just been my claustrophobic tendencies that have kept me safe from such tragedies. Or maybe it’s just common sense. But who can blame these girls?, they were just under the influence of the mighty-wise Longhorns.
One such wise University of Texas Director of Communications, Rhonda Weldon, was quoted as saying, “There are signs everywhere: No more than 15 people or 3,000 pounds. Take the sign seriously.” Ok, so the Director of Communications points out the obvious, thank you Director of Communications. I’m glad the paper called you for a quote. Now, what about the explanation we are all looking for… where were the Camp Counselors? Probably cheering them on, literally.
My favorite part of the whole story is that this all went down, again, both figuratively and literally, in Jester Hall. Oh what a perfect stage for these little fools to play out their parts.
And herein lies the irony. Texas is revered as being one of the best schools in this region and maybe even the nation. A UT Bachelor’s Degree, MBA or Law Degree is held in high regard. Well, I’m here to say that street smarts will out-wit book smarts any day.
This story was just teeming with Tiger Lily possibility, but, because the cheerleaders sadly played into the cheerleader stereotype so well, it didn't seem appropriate to give them an award for a "lovely contradiction." So instead, the Tiger Lily goes to the Director of Communications. Rhonda, it’s a good thing that UT has you to handle these delicate PR situations.
Posts
I would like to point out that the cheerleaders’ attendance at the camp does not make them future longhorns in any way shape or form. They were high school students attending a cheerleading camp the University of Texas was kind enough to host.
ReplyDeleteYou see, unlike other universities and their home-cities (like, oh, let’s say The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma) the city of Austin and the University of Texas campus together make up a very enticing and attractive (not-to-mention central) venue. In addition to the appeal of the location, an opportunity to learn from some of the best student athletes in the state (insert future joke hear about UT’s football record in comparison to OU’s) attracts students from all walks of life to the many summer camps hosted by the Longhorns.
That being said, my guess would be that these high school students will end up studying at other academic institutions such as Texas A&M University or (God forbid) the University of Oklahoma long before they darken the doors of Jester Hall as ACTUAL students of THE University of Texas.
Hook Em!!
Gina