Posted on 08/14/2004 2:09:06 PM PDT by Stoat
The University of Florida's cheerleading coach was fired Thursday for allowing some squad members to wear T-shirts counting down the "10 Reasons to Cheer Naked" at cheerleading camp this week.
That leaves the squad without a coach with only three weeks to go until the first football game. Practices have been temporarily suspended.
Gene Moore, who has headed the program for five years, was relieved of his duties after the University Athletic Association received complaints about the sexual nature of the list on the back of the T-shirts.
For example, No. 9, perhaps one of the least explicit of the 10, reads: "Players are not the only ones to score."
But Moore, 39, said he was unfairly terminated for a shirt he neither required nor provided.
According to him, a couple of cheerleaders had the shirts printed and then distributed them to the squad to wear on Spirit Day, a day reserved for trading shirts with members of other teams. The "Cheer Naked" shirts replaced others Moore had lined up for that day. He acknowledges he gave them permission to wear them.
Yet, he does question whether the offense rises to the level of termination.
"Yes, I was aware of it and, yes, it was a mistake," Moore said. "I don't feel like firing me over it after I've put in five years was justified."
Mike Hill, UAA's assistant athletic director for external affairs, confirmed Moore's termination but said he could not elaborate.
"It's a confidential personnel matter," Hill said.
Sixteen cheerleaders, two mascots and five "Dazzlers" attended college cheerleading camp in Myrtle Beach, S.C., earlier this week, where they worked alongside teams from other schools to learn new stunts and work on pyramids, Moore said.
Of those, 15 chose to wear the T-shirts. Moore said other schools have worn similar spoof shirts during camp.
Moore's departure means the squad may be without a leader heading into UF's first football game in three weeks. The Gators play Middle Tennessee State University on Sept. 4.
Also leaving the program is Donni Frazier, whose last day is today. Frazier has been the spirit coordinator and Dazzler coach ? UF's dance squad ? as well as Moore's direct supervisor. She's leaving UF for a new coaching position with the Atlanta Hawks.
And Frazier, according to Moore, was in Myrtle Beach for the cheerleading camp. She apparently was not reprimanded for the T-shirt incident.
No replacements have been named, Hill said.
"We will run a national search for a permanent, full-time replacement," Hill said.
Moore, who operates a cheerleading company in Jacksonville and Gainesville, said he earned $9,000 annually his first four years at UF and $19,000 a year beginning last year.
He cheered at the University of West Alabama before joining the city of Jacksonville as a special events coordinator. After a stint doing volunteer coaching on the side, Moore decided to open his own business, Florida Elite All-Stars. It's a business he still owns.
He said he has been reprimanded in the past for being late to practice, the result of commuting between Jacksonville and Gainesville.
He also has been warned this year after receiving three traffic tickets within three months while driving his personal vehicle, he said.
But Moore said he remains baffled at his dismissal. He said he regrets allowing the student to wear the shirts.
"They are making me sound like I'm a bad person," Moore said.
I agree wholeheartedly. Anyone wearing one of these shirts cannot be naked, by definition. The objects negate their own premise.
The coach should have implemented this as a body paint stencil, instead.
If, by "adults" you mean people who have attained the age of majority, I suppose you're right.
10. It shows we shave.
9. It is cooler during the summer games.
8. Our boys always score more! (No Pun.)
7. The parochial teams are always embarrassed!
6. More photo ops in the school yearbook.
5. School colored Pom-Poms stand out against flesh.
4. Tanned naked flesh looks better under stadium lights.
3. Male cheerleaders have a place to hang their Pom-Poms.
2. Best attendance record for our half-time shows.
1. Always have a date after the game!
"According to him, a couple of cheerleaders had the shirts printed and then distributed them to the squad to wear on Spirit Day..."
If he was fired for allowing the shirts to be worn, shouldn't the young women who had them made and distributed them to their teammates be expelled?
They are all adults and if the coach is going to be punished for his inaction, then the young women should be punished for their actions.
See, this is why we need more conservatives in charge! Stikes right to the heart of the matter!
BTW if there is an job opening for body stenciler(even if it pays only 19K a year) I volunteer for the position. And I promise to donate all my paycheck to Free Republic!
Its a dirty job but someone has got to step up and lenad a hand! (Still waiting for the pictures of the t-shirts)
Where do you draw the line, mother of an 18-year-old? The rule in my house is, if I don't approve, it better not happen. If it does and I find out about it, you can find other accomodations. I'm a mean old man. You know what some of the youngsters say today? 'Mean People Suck'. You know what my response to that is? I laugh out loud. And then escort them to the front door. My house, my rules. You don't like it, get your own house.
An FCC that fines DJs, national panic over exposed boobs, firing people over T-shirt comedy...As America moves right, must it also become humorless and puritanical?
Ping
I am so old I can remember when high school cheerleaders actually led cheers.
If they actually DID cheerlead naked, I suppose something would have to be done about it. I mean, if we allow naked cheerleaders on college campuses, what's next? Sex in dorms??
But a T-shirt? What is this, Florida Junior High School?
College students are ADULTS (excepting Doogie Howser). Censoring T-shirts in college is just ridiculous. Nice way for a University to get a rep as a stuffy place to be avoided at all costs.
I'm pro-FSU anyway. Any school that has an Indian name is OK by me -- particularly since the Seminoles are OK with it and participate. The Florida Crocs, on the other hand, get get stuffed.
She's a friend of mine...Nice girl. Very smart in addition to her more obvious, err, assets.
"I'm not the biggest Eagles fan, because I root for the Saints, but this site will get any guy's undivided attention. Be sure to check out Kelly....
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/cheerleaders/
<<< noticing that the Eagles cheerleaders not only have their own individual web pages, but they have their own videos as well.... "sigh"
"wondering how long it would take to drive the stoatmobile to Philly" "sigh"
Most coaches get less than this. They're not doing it for the money.
how adorable
Tell her I'll father her children if she's interested... ;^)
So I think you may have at least one person in line in front of you...As a man, I don't want to know, or even think about, why they all picked Martin.
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