Possibly the most horrifying idea to ever hit pro sports entertainment.
They have a problem in India. Sri Lanka too. Over there, cricket is their football, and the IPL (Indian Premier League) is there NFL. A few years back, the owners of the IPL began to experiment with the idea of adding American style razzle-dazzle to their cricket matches. They brought the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders over for a few games to see how that would work. Reviews were mixed. There were a lot of complaints that cheerleaders weren’t needed, that the “sexy” was just wrong for their culture. Conservative clergy and women’s groups were the loudest voices heard. But enough people loved the idea that they still have cheerleaders in the league today. A look at the cheer teams across the league shows that the argument still rages on between the two factions. Some teams have western style cheerleaders, consisting primarily of Aussie/Kiwi rugby cheerleaders, and South African cricket cheerleaders. Girls have started coming over from Russia and Ukraine to get a foothold in the glamour industry in Bollywood, or as IPL cheerleaders.
The Bangalore Royal Challengers “White Mischief” girls are one of the westernized teams.
Other teams responded to the backlash by fielding teams of Indian girls performing traditional Indian dances in traditional Indian performance wear.
The cheerleaders for the Pune Warriors represent the more traditional perspective.
The league has also been plagued by controversy. There were complaints of racism when two African American cheerleaders were asked to sit out because of the color of their skin. Fans have scoffed that the on some teams, the cheerleaders aren’t hot enough, that some of them are out of shape, or even ugly. Fans have complained that the idea of cheerleaders in traditional dress is just ridiculous. Scandal raged a couple of years ago when a cheerleader for the Mumbai Indians team blogged about all the partying the cricket players were doing after hours. The blog was relatively tame, and it certainly isn’t news that the cricketers were up to shenanigans (professional athletes have the same reputation world over), but she probably shouldn’t have named names. There is still a deep divide in the IPL on the topic of cheerleaders. Some teams, like the Bangalore Royal Challengers, However, the latest development in Indian cricket is the first that has truly horrified me.
CLOWNS. They are replacing the cheerleaders with clowns.
Not “Cirque du Soleil” clowns (although that would still be weird and creepy), I’m talking about rubber nosed, floppy footed, big wigged, let’s see how many of us we can cram in a VW bug, clowns.
Raise your hand if you’ve been freaked out by clowns ever since Stephen King’s “It.” That is why you will not see any clown photos in this post. Or ever on this blog, if I have anything to say about it.
If I may editorialize for a moment: Despite our collective obsession with sex, violence, and D list celebs, despite the ridiculous political machinations that go on in our Nation’s capital, our insane deficit, and our problems with homelessness, healthcare, and loss of community, there are many things I love about the US of A. I’m glad to live here, glad to be a citizen, proud to be an American. And now I have one more reason to love this country: We will NEVER, EVER, replace our cheerleaders with clowns.
God bless America!
