- Oct 10, 2010
- 2,902
- 3,312
Here you go Lymarie...
Dear Mr. Blaxill,
My name is ******* ******* and I am writing with regards to a recent article written by a Ms. Samantha Shapiro which appeared on ESPN insider online. The article is titled “They Grow Up So Fast”, and it is (or rather, was supposed to be) a behind the scenes look at the world of All-Star cheerleading. Now before you decide to pass this letter off as simply unimportant or without merit, I implore you to reconsider. I am the granddaughter of a late, but well respected, author, seasoned reporter, and editor of a large newspaper. Back in a time when women rarely worked outside of the home, much less held a coveted job such as editor, my grandmother broke boundaries. I can assure you nothing makes me happier or prouder to be a woman than when women like Ms. Shapiro hold a position typically reserved for a man. Being a female journalist for the likes of ESPN is quite an accomplishment. However, much to my grave disappointment, instead of reading a fantastic, well researched, objective, and well written article, I read an article that not only was so obviously biased, slanted to distort the truth, and full of “fluff”, but one that is also downright perverted and creepy! So please Mr. Blaxill, I am asking you as man of integrity within your profession to read this letter in its entirety and understand I am not trying to bash a woman because I am personally offended by her opinion, rather grossly disappointed with her integrity as a journalist.
I will be completely forthright with you and let you know that I do have a young daughter who is an All-Star cheerleader, although this is her first year and she is nowhere near the level of elite athleticism many of those talented girls posses. However, it was not the opinions of Ms. Shapiro which ignited me, rather her blatant disregard for the integrity of her profession. I realize that most people do not recognize “fluff” when they read it. However, it was painfully obvious to me from the get go that Ms. Shapiro was relying on overly animated descriptions in an attempt to compensate for the lack of actual depth in her writing. Until this article, I had no prior personal knowledge of Lymarie Jackson, her daughter, or Haylie Blakely. I was struck by the obvious slant right off the bat, but continued to read the article. In addition to the bias, I also noticed little passive aggressive quips carefully woven into a handful of legitimate facts regarding the sport. This part for example: “Getting Isabella's bangs to stand up poses quite a structural challenge, so much so that at the last competition, Jennifer had simply asked Kevin, a CEA coach whose boyfriend is a hairdresser, to do the girl's hair.” Mr. Blaxill, could you please explain to me why slyly disclosing the sexual orientation of the only male coach mentioned in the article was necessary to the piece (other than to perpetuate the “gay male cheerleader” stereotype)? It disturbs me on so many levels that I even find it necessary to say so, but in fact, most male coaches I’ve come across are heterosexual. Playing into the negative gay stereotype in cheerleading detracts from the outstanding male athletes and coaches revered in the sport. Why is anyone’s sexual orientation a legitimate topic of discussion in a sporting article for the most widely known name in sports reporting? This is just one of the many examples to which I am referring.
Upon further investigation, I have also come to learn that my suspicions regarding the validity of Ms. Shapiro’s “facts” are true. I happened upon this article thanks to a link in popular forum for All-Star cheerleading. Yesterday, Lymarie Jackson posted a detailed reply regarding the article written by Ms. Shapiro. Between that and now personal communication with Ms. Jackson, I have learned that not only did Ms. Shapiro grossly exaggerate, distort, and take many things out of context for the purpose of slanting her article, but she also downright lied about a couple of facts. I have Ms. Jackson’s permission to discuss those things in this letter. From Ms. Shapiro’s personal description of Ms. Jackson in both appearance (she barely wears makeup unlike described) and attitude (she does not “shriek”), to her mention of Haylie’s “naked doll” and her mother’s eye rolling, almost every description from Ms. Shapiro’s article regarding the family she followed, to the staff’s coaching, were either outright lies or distorted to put the spin on the article I believe was Ms. Shapiro’s intention from the beginning. For instance, she insinuated Ms. Jackson wanted an athlete to disregard her doctor’s orders against tumbling that week. Sir, why, in any sport, would it make sense to force an injured athlete to perform at practice when the end result is costly? The goal is to be healthy and injury free for a competition. I can almost assure you Jimbo Fisher didn’t force unnecessary practice upon Christian Ponder prior to their bowl game against South Carolina this past winter. Ms. Shapiro also distorted the reasoning behind a coaching decision as evidenced in this portion of the article “Haylie can't find her groove, and Jackson moves her to the back of the group for the tumbling portion, so she's less visible if she freezes. Haylie's face crumples as she walks to her new spot”. According to Ms. Shapiro, Ms. Jackson moved Haylie to the second row, (not the last row as she reported) and Ms. Shapiro failed to mention the talk Ms. Jackson had with Haylie explaining why she was moved (which was not to “hide her”, but to help alleviate some of the pressure).
Mr. Blaxill, while I certainly appreciate some of Ms. Shapiro’s attempts to shed some positive light in the direction of All-Star cheerleading, I do not honestly believe that anyone who reads her article will get the impression that All-Star cheerleading is a legitimate athletic sport. I suspect that the “Toddlers and Tiara” vibe, the unnecessary passive aggressive jabs, and the yet to be mentioned sexual perversion, will leave the readers with a bad taste in their mouth. Ms. Shapiro is definitely entitled to her opinions and she is also quite entitled to share them. I am in no means trying to take that away from her. I can also understand from an outsider’s perspective, how some things in the All-Star world seem unusual and strange. However, from a journalistic standpoint, Ms. Shapiro at the very least mislead the staff and family at CEA into thinking they were contributing to a legitimate, honest to goodness, real article about All-Star cheerleading from an athletic perspective. They feel deceived and mislead, rightfully so. Don’t get me wrong, no one was expecting she wasn’t going to discuss things like the uniforms and makeup. We aren’t strangers to the opposition regarding certain aspects of our sport. What we did expect, was a fair, honest, and accurate portrayal of the sport. I have expressed my discontent so far regarding everything about Ms. Shapiro’s article except one. It is by far the most important one though, and the main reason for this letter in the first place.
More disturbing than anything else about the article is the downright perverted manner in which Ms. Shapiro chose to portray Haylie. There, in the first sentence of the second paragraph, lie Ms. Shapiro’s words so disturbing, I’m still in shock as to why the article was allowed to be posted all, much less remain there. “Haylie is dressed in the Glitter Stars' practice uniform: a teal, sequined bow in her light brown hair, a teal, glitter half-top that buckles over her flat chest and black cheerleading shorts”. It struck me from the very beginning and I am frankly shocked and disgusted that anyone would choose to use this description of a 7 year old girl! Aside from her commenting on her chest, she fails to note that the article of clothing is actually a sports bra. Are you telling me a sports reporter doesn’t know what a sports bra looks like? I shudder to think what my personal reaction would have been had that been my daughter. Shortly following is another unnecessary (not to mention untrue!) and disturbing sentence; “Haylie mouths the words of the songs -- "You see it! You love it! You want some more of it!" -- and tosses her naked doll in the air at the points in the routine where she herself would be thrown”. I find this incredibly disturbing and quite frankly disgusting that Ms. Shapiro would comment on the anatomy of a young child’s chest, but then goes on to make up a story about a naked doll! The doll I’m willing to bet she saw is called an “American Girl” doll. They are extremely popular and almost every young All-Star cheerleader I’ve come across has one bearing their team’s uniform. They are meant to be a miniature version of themselves. Mr. Blaxill, I’m absolutely certain that I don’t need to explain to you why this is grossly inappropriate. If you have a daughter or sister even, could you imagine your response to a comment like the one Ms. Shapiro made?
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you had not read the article itself before it was posted and that you have yet to read it; because I am certain that you, as an editor of the largest sporting magazine in the country, would never allow something so perverse as those statements in your magazine, online or in print. Those comments are not borderline obscene, they ARE obscene. I am so gravely disappointed that a female journalist had the opportunity to report on a rapidly growing and dynamic sport for the largest magazine in the industry, but instead chose to misrepresent herself, distort facts, make up lies to sensationalize her piece, but most importantly, who exploited a young girl in an unforeseen manner. Despite my disappointment with regard to her lack of journalistic integrity, this piece is simply unacceptable due to Ms. Shapiro’s gross lapse in judgment.
Mr. Blaxill, I’m respectfully asking you to either remove the article or ask Ms. Shapiro to print a retraction and edit the perverse material from her article. I am confident that you acquired your job as an editor because you are more than qualified and still hold the utmost integrity for your profession, so I am confident that you will do the right thing with respect to ESPN’s organization and your professional duties as an editor.
Sincerely,
****** *******
