<p>Makes sense if its the swim team. A guy that graduated from my HS a year after me was over there last year and he was a swimmer freshman year.</p>
<p>Okay... so apparently I need to be swimming more in that case.</p>
<p>Thank you for the answers.</p>
<p>Let me try something else; really just curious as to opinions. </p>
<p>Is th is kind of cheer squad "appropriate" for a military academy? That is, part of the appeal to the public is seeing their cadets and mids looking sharp, with a military bearing, you might say "uniform."</p>
<p>Does it take away somewhat from the Academy's presentation by having a group of jersey-clad, shirtless, "hooligans" of the like that can be seen at any university? Especially when on TV.
I can understand a couple of "rogues" dressed up to incite the crowd [whatever the caped guy was doing? What is his significance?] but th esight of a squadron up in the stands seems disconcerting. Of course, being a big fan of "Bill the Goat", I can sure appreciate the Falcon.</p>
<p>And, before you start, while I may tend slightly negative towards the visual of an an unruly [well, not really unruly, but . . .] group, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter to me how the Academy chooses to presnt itself. AND I don't think it makes the cadets any less committed to service, any less bright, any less anything, blah, blah, blah.</p>
<p>Just curious as to others see it. [Especially since you see nothing of the like at Navy or Army.]</p>
<p>Actually I would hope that others would see it as we who are here see it - a reflection of pride.</p>
<p>Section 8 may seem unruly to those that are not around or that just look at their physical appearance but having been in Falcon stadium with them I can say that it is great to have that large of a group devoted to supporting their classmates. I would also go so far as to say that the reason we have a group like this whereas Army and Navy do not could be because of how young of a service we are. The other two academies, and services, have tradtions that go back much farther.</p>
<p>I would also like to point out that on the active duty side the Air Force tends to be known for having more fun too.</p>
<p>I like these kids...and I think add rather than subtract. I've been to the other Academies and have found their student sections to be rather dull. The D&B, the cadets who "jive" with the D&B, and Section 8 add a lot of color and passion. I would think that the other Academies (the cadets and mids) would like to be more like Air Force in this regard.</p>
<p>We like to pretend we're college kids sometimes too. Military life can get pretty redundant when it's a 24/7 thing.</p>
<p>And even wearing jeans and a t-shirt, it's a very closely regulated group. I don't think there's really any negative stigma that comes out of it. Just a bit of light-hearted fun...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is th is kind of cheer squad "appropriate" for a military academy? That is, part of the appeal to the public is seeing their cadets and mids looking sharp, with a military bearing, you might say "uniform."</p>
<p>Does it take away somewhat from the Academy's presentation by having a group of jersey-clad, shirtless, "hooligans" of the like that can be seen at any university? Especially when on TV.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You know I had read the Air Force Academy being call "Country Club U" by people at West Point and at Annapolis, but really felt that to be true when I watched the Army-Air Force game on ESPN a couple years ago at Army. </p>
<p>ESPN interviewed a high ranked cadet from West Point and everything was "yes sir," military order-type stuff. Everyone around appeared to be in uniform, etc. Then they interviewed a high ranked cadet from AFA and it was as if this cadet was best buddies with the ESPN guy. There were some uniforms, but everything else appeared to be very lax.</p>
<p>Sounds like further proof to me that AF has more fun!</p>
<p>all i can say is, when i hung out with the middies who were staying with us, we agreed on one major thing: at least we aren't army ;)</p>
<p>section 8 definetely adds positively to the game. the section cheers loudly and enthusiastically for the team, and does so professionally. when some cadets at the game started chanting "less than appropriate" chants, cadets from Section 8 immediately began to hush them and change the chant. Section 8 begins much of the cheering, at home and away. it gives cadets a will to travel and cheer since they don't have to wear the unifrom at all games (because honestly, a uniform in the stands just doesn't feel right).</p>
<p>from what i've seen, navy at least has a similar unnoficial group, just without the freedom to wear the "section uniform". at navy games, a group of mids often leads cheers, but do so in a rude manor and really make the rest of the brigade look bad. whereas section 8 promotes positive sportsmanship, this group of mids high in the stands started a little fight at the last home game. perhaps if they too had a group like section 8 with positive influence and cheers, then navy wouldn't have that issue at games.</p>
<p>and just curious Bill0510, are you still in the Navy, or just a fan of USNA?</p>
<p>Hops, there's a reason we're all not at Army...</p>