All-Star Worlds 2014: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

[ang_k_]

Now that Worlds 2014 is completed, here is a thread to discuss everything you liked, disliked or maybe absolutely hated.

 

[cheerKT]

I'll go ahead and address the stadium since that seemed to be the biggest debate of the weekend.

Personally I was pleasantly surprised by how the outside arena looked. And props for getting the video feed up and running out there. I didn't skip or pause at all on the outside feed. I will admit I was skeptical after seeing pictures during the day but it looked good on the video at night.

If this is going to continue, I think the ticketing system needs to be revisited. I heard stories of people waiting in 4 hour lines to get into the stadium. And of course, the 45 minute long break probably should be avoided too.

 

[Ren]

Serious question re ticketing- how hard would it be to provide a mobile/online option to purchase the tickets? If they only want to sell the session tickets at relatively short notice how about releasing a link where they can be purchased online, then you get an email confirmation with a barcode or something? Then the barcode would be scanned/email confirmation checked on your way into the arena like they would with a ticket. Seems like it would cut down on spectators having to queue and staff having to sell these tickets all day.

 

[King]

The feed was terrible. There just wasn't enough servers to handle it.

I did not like the backdrop for the stadium. Everything blended in.

 

[L5cheermom]

I do appreciate the effort to control the overcrowding in the Milkhouse, but the absurdity of having people standing in the sun while there are empty seats inside is nuts. If they could just figure out how to have assigned seats then people wouldn't have the need to arrive hours before their Session.

I really enjoyed the outdoor awards. It was scary for a bit there when it looked like it might rain, but it blew over quickly. There are tons of logistical issues that need to be worked out, but it is definitely a viable solution to the overcrowding issue until another, better venue can be found.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[ang_k_]

Serious question re ticketing- how hard would it be to provide a mobile/online option to purchase the tickets? If they only want to sell the session tickets at relatively short notice how about releasing a link where they can be purchased online, then you get an email confirmation with a barcode or something? Then the barcode would be scanned/email confirmation checked on your way into the arena like they would with a ticket. Seems like it would cut down on spectators having to queue and staff having to sell these tickets all day.

This is a very great idea but a big issue would probably be a site crashing

 

[Batch]

Good: @King and Fierceboard handled the server issue during finals immediately. HUGE thanks!!!!

 

[Ren]

This is a very great idea but a big issue would probably be a site crashing

Yeah I guess that's quite likely... Comes back to USASF getting their ish together wrt technical issues!

 

[Flcheer13]

High points of the weekend:
-getting into the mike house 45 minutes before doors open on Sunday.
- all of medium coed and medium all girl divisions. They were both packed with amazing teams and it was amazing to see so many teams hit.
-lady jags getting gold! What a comeback. They didn't even make finals last year!
-World Cup shooting stars day 1. That's all.
-angel rice's tumbling
-LA cheerforces reaction over getting the bronze
-coed elite getting bronze.
-top gun got back to back.
-worlds day 3 tread got me through finals. (Thanks)

Cons
-the backspot's on bsb face when the stunt come down. So heartbreaking.
-mid day on Sunday they stopped letting people go to the bathroom downstairs. It made the line upstairs so long. (I did finally talk the guy into letting me go down there to get food.)
-silver of Texas :/
-top gun oo5 didn't make finals again.
-the wait for large senior.
- the live feed going out right before woodlands generals during finals
-cheerforce infinity I really thought they were gonna get the gold. But at least they globed

I can catch up on sleep now. If only work would be ok with that.

 

[cheerKT]

Large Coed was a highlight to me. So many good routines I had no idea who was going to win, let alone who would even take home a globe!

Other highlights of mine were Lady Jags winning when they were just hoping for a globe. They were legitimately shocked and it was fun to see.

Also Louisiana Cheer Force winning a globe on in Small Coed on an at large bid!

 

[yojaehs]

The good - I think the event (other than rain and overheated speakers) ran smooth. Large Coed, Medium Coed, Medium Senior and IO 5 had more HITS in Finals than I've seen in years!
The Bad - The venue is just too small. I know people think the issue is At-Large bids but after sitting and watching all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday it was nice seeing so many programs small, medium and large getting to enjoy the "Worlds" experience. IF ANY at-large bids are limited then International Bids need to be limited as well. Yes, I get they are different but how is fair that teams busting back handsprings are in Finals yet we want to limit US bids? I just don't get that at all.
The Ugly - I have been a coach at worlds for the past 7 years and this season I went as a spectator. Because of this I have always either been with my kids or in my hotel room or in the coaches room. I have never personally experienced the "cheerlebrity" stuff before. Kids looking up to kids is one thing, I saw some NASTY parents that LITERALLY yelled at some KIDS to get up from EATING LUNCH to take a picture with them (and by them I mean the PARENTS wanted to be in the pics with the kids). Had it been my team or a team I even knew well I would have stepped in. I did have to on several occasions help save kids from the chaos. Cheerlebrities don't bother me one bit and let me say every kid I saw handled themselves extremely well. I'll never fault a kid for being popular and looked up to by others. I will never fault a kid for being the face of a product or program. I will forever defend ANY kid being treated poorly by an adult on any level at any time. I'm still disgusted by what I saw.

 

[ShannonKe]

Pros- The outside area looked very nice, the stream for it was clear and free of skipping for the most part. It was a good idea, just poorly executed in terms of when teams were performing. It seems like things ran smoothly for the most part with the competition during Saturday and Sunday which was nice to see. I enjoyed spending all weekend on the boards and live stream knowing I had a good place to put my two cents in, this is my second Worlds on the board and I had a great time. My favorite divisions to watch were Medium Coed and Medium All Girl, which surprised me because I hadn't followed them that much during the season. I know to do so now, I don't want to miss what these teams bring next season! Also a lot of athletes I follow on twitter got a World's ring this weekend, it melted my heart to see how genuinely excited and thankful they were. Also the picture of the Top Gun owners. That's all I need to say there.

Cons- Unfortunately there were more cons then pros, like for example some parents not being able to get in and see their children compete. The feed was choppy and heavily lagged sometimes, it got to the point where I had a grey flickering screen. Finals on the baseball field was poorly planned and even though in the end Orange won like I had hoped I didn't want them to win that way. I wanted to see them win at full energy, hitting that routine hard and staying completely clean while doing so. All of the performing World Champions looked exhausted but rightly so, I wish ESPN had filmed them doing the actual routine they had won with. I could have done without the twitter drama and people saying that ' X didn't deserve to win because Y is CLEARLY so much better!!!', maybe I'll just stay clear of twitter next year.

Overall it was a great weekend and I hope to spectate live next year!

 

[Jennie]

Good :
The Stadium - I saw that there were about 9,000 spectators and didn't hear anything about over crowding compared to a 4000 seat Milkhouse
Large Coed - Having so many hit/close to hit routines that we all had no idea who was going to place where

Bad :
Scoresheets - I know as fans we aren't "entitled" to them, but I would like to think USASF would release them promptly. (purely so I can see that small senior one, not gonna lie)
Hit routines - I think the number of hit routines over the whole weekend will be something around the 15-20 mark and you can talk all you want about how difficult these are routines are but there is something wrong with winning because you have the least mistakes.

Ugly :
World Champ performances - those poor boys and girls looked absolutely exhausted. At the start of the weekend I thought this was an awesome idea and would allow them to show their winning routine to a huge crowd one last time but the sad truth is that by that point is that no one really cared.
Bangkok was the only team that seemed out of their mind thrilled to be there. Every one else flat out didn't wanna be there.

 

[Cheermom1969]

The good - I think the event (other than rain and overheated speakers) ran smooth. Large Coed, Medium Coed, Medium Senior and IO 5 had more HITS in Finals than I've seen in years!
The Bad - The venue is just too small. I know people think the issue is At-Large bids but after sitting and watching all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday it was nice seeing so many programs small, medium and large getting to enjoy the "Worlds" experience. IF ANY at-large bids are limited then International Bids need to be limited as well. Yes, I get they are different but how is fair that teams busting back handsprings are in Finals yet we want to limit US bids? I just don't get that at all.
The Ugly - I have been a coach at worlds for the past 7 years and this season I went as a spectator. Because of this I have always either been with my kids or in my hotel room or in the coaches room. I have never personally experienced the "cheerlebrity" stuff before. Kids looking up to kids is one thing, I saw some NASTY parents that LITERALLY yelled at some KIDS to get up from EATING LUNCH to take a picture with them (and by them I mean the PARENTS wanted to be in the pics with the kids). Had it been my team or a team I even knew well I would have stepped in. I did have to on several occasions help save kids from the chaos. Cheerlebrities don't bother me one bit and let me say every kid I saw handled themselves extremely well. I'll never fault a kid for being popular and looked up to by others. I will never fault a kid for being the face of a product or program. I will forever defend ANY kid being treated poorly by an adult on any level at any time. I'm still disgusted by what I saw.

Oh the things I've seen... some people should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[SarahS]

The good: @HeresAThought 's commentary all weekend long.

Yep, that about sums up the good.