@quitthedrama You are correct. Overreacting to negative comments is pointless because it rarely produces the desired result. It's just very hard to ignore the negativity coming from someone who says things that are hurtful.
This is not an overreaction, but merely a statement -- CJA (and CTR) was the first and only program to have a cable network series dedicated to All-star cheerleading before the Cheerleaders series even aired. I hate to speak for the coaches, but I don't think they're trying to be the next Smoed, nor are they "wannabes" who are trying to be cheerlebrities. I don't recall a single coach or athlete from that gym capitalizing on their fame and notoriety when they easily could have struck while the iron was hot. They remained humble and relatively low key throughout the whole process.
The thought that Patty Ann and the program should be ashamed of themselves is a bit extreme. I'll agree that some of the material in the first few episodes of CheerleadersNJ was a bit of a departure from what we saw on Cheer!, but other than that, I haven't watched anything that I wouldn't think happens often on ANY Worlds team: tough practices, competitions, some lighter moments of fooling around, goofy kids, innocent flirting, etc. The public has a right to hate everything about the show -the production value, the sound quality, the story lines, the lack of focus on the routines, Patty Ann's coaching style, etc. -- but you can't say it's a completely unrealistic portrayal of how normal 13-18 year olds act. Is some of it played up for television? I'm sure. But nothing has been damaging to the industry or totally misrepresentative of what goes on behind the scenes. There are hundreds of tough coaches out there besides Eddie and Patty Ann, and hundreds of thousands of cheerleaders who let loose and fool around when they're not working hard or competing.
