Let’s recap; there have been 12 series so far, only Dallas vs. Memphis and Detroit vs. Milwakee haven’t extended a stage show. In my opinion these are simply one of the most pleasant playoffs in NBA history.

The Spurs got all they wanted in the first round from Sacramento. The Heat looked as if they were coming unglued after the Bulls punched them in the mouth in the opening round. But Miami survived and has since thrived.

I think Phoenix vs. Lakers’ first round with Kobe Bryant making those wonder shots in Game 4 giving Lakers a three game lead followed by Raja Bell’s suspension for running into Bryant and Barboza’s excellent performance in filling in for Bell in Game 6, opening way for Game 7.

Miami beat New Jersey in five games, the last three of which were undecided with two minutes to go in each game. And then there are the Clippers, who are unbelievable. To see the Clippers take over the city of Los Angeles is simply fulfilling. They have been the worst team in NBA for the past 25 years, and yet there they are.

All this makes this season compelling for most members of the family and makes the NBA playoffs create the stars that make people watch in following years.

Cathy Jones writes on sports betting and gambling one of the fastest growing online industries and she is one of the top senior article writers for http://www.envivosports.com
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Lack of Fully Equipped Training Facilities and Equipment

A simple comparison of the average gymnastics and the average cheerleading training facility shows how poorly the average cheerleading training facility is equipped. Many cheer programs have no specialized training facility at all and many have no or minimal equipment. This makes learning cheerleading skills more difficult, dangerous and creates inconsistent skill performance.

Untrained Coaches

Perhaps the number one reason for the high injury level is the prevalence of untrained and inexperienced coaches. It is not that uncommon for school cheerleading programs to only be required to have a faculty advisor, with no requirement for that faculty member to have any cheerleading experience at all. This results in jr. high and high school age athletes being completely responsible for their own training – obviously an unsafe situation. Often school programs have cheer “sponsors” not cheer coaches, a verbal recognition that the program leader has no cheer coaching expertise.

Coaching Inexperience

Even former cheerleaders may not have enough experience to safely coach the new level of difficult skills that are being performed in cheerleading. Former cheerleaders who only performed simple to moderately difficult sideline and half-time skills are not experienced in teaching the high level competitive cheerleading skills now being done.

Poor Pay

One of the primary reasons for the prevalence of both untrained cheer coaches and more widely experienced coaches is the sometimes ridiculously low pay remunerating cheer coaches or sponsors. There is no financial incentive for coaches to spend their own money for training when they know they will never be able to recoup their investment.

Poor Spotting

Inherent in certain aspects of cheerleading is that cheerleaders spot other cheerleaders. They do so in basket tosses, stunting and pyramids. One of the basic tenets of gymnastics coaching is that only professional coaches are qualified, mature and experienced enough to spot gymnasts. Cheerleading depends on athletes of the same age and experience level to take responsibility for the lives of their cheerleading teammates. This is certainly dangerous to at least some degree and that danger must be recognized. Spotting requires deep concentration, commitment and taking personal responsibility for the safety of the cheerleader being spotted. Simply assigning an increasing number of youthful spotters does not solve the problem.

Lack of Necessary Conditioning and Strength Training

The need for adequate strength training and physical conditioning is recognized in most sports programs. It is also understood that practicing most sports does not provide sufficient strength training and physical conditioning. Too many cheer programs contribute and compound an already unsafe situation by not adequately building the strength and fitness levels of their athletes.

Not Using Proper Skill Progression

Proper skill progression is a tenet of gymnastics training programs. It is only logical that basic skills be learned and mastered in safe small steps. Too many cheer programs rush through progressions or skip them entirely. Many cheerleading coaches and cheerleaders are even unaware of the progressive training steps they should be following. There are safety and skill progressions for tumbling, stunting, pyramids and basket tossing. This is definitely an area where ignorance contributes to the danger.

Competing Skills That Have Not Been Mastered

The emergence of the new competitive aspects of cheerleading and the increasing numbers and importance of cheer competition hve placed pressure on cheerleaders and cheer coaches to increase the difficulty of the skills they are performing. Under the guidance (?) of inexperienced and untrained coaches/sponsors, safely learning to perform these more difficult and more dangerous skills is not surprisingly inconsistent.

Summary

Cheerleading has many factors that contribute to its danger factor. Some dangers are inherent in the sport as it exists. Some have to do with coaching and some have to do with the structure (or lack of it) cheer programs from the school/team level to the national association level.

For More Information
For even more of the type of in-depth information about cheerleading in this article and other interesting and informative products, see our Cheer Zone web site at: http://gymnasticszone.com/CheerZon.htm

15 Books and Counting
John Howard is the author of 15 books and e-Books about cheerleading, gymnastics, gym design, and gymnastics humor. More books are already on the way. He has 25 years experience and has coached State, Regional and National champion gymnasts, international competitors and cheerleaders at the National level in NCAA Division I.

Enter the Gymnastics Zone
GymnasticsZone.com is a highly informative gymnastics information web site for gymnasts, cheerleaders, coaches and parents with numerous FREE articles and information, fun pages and activities all available for viewing at: http://GymnasticsZone.com

Cricket fans would argue that Sachin Tendulkar is the best cricket player on the Indian team. He is a batting expert and has led India’s team to many victories. He is a player who uses defeat to rise above. Not only is he physically capable of being a cricket star, but he also has that “never quit” attitude that carries over to his entire team. Sachin Tendulkar is needed by India, however there have been some noted changes in the way he is perceived overall.

When Sachin Tendulkar first hit the scene, fans could see his face everywhere. The cricket star was all over the television screen and in several sponsor advertisements. Today however, things are a bit different. India’s shining star is sitting in the backseat when it comes to publicity. Experts wonder where the star stands with his lack of public endorsements and why Irfan Pathan is taking the spotlight instead. Some speculate it is because Irfan Pathan is younger and that Tendulkar has simply passed on the publicity to the younger player. Although this is in question, there is no doubt that India knows they need Tendulkar, and therefore, he will always have a place on their team.

Peter Portero is launching Sportscreep Cricket for all the Cricket enthusiasts around.