The biggest preseason issue in Minnesota isn’t how the Vikings will play in the NFC North. It’s that they have two cheerleaders who are men.
Some people are losing their minds in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and four Super Bowl losses, especially the person on X.com (in a comment reflecting those bothered by the two men) who said, “Just keep him ‘guyish’ and don’t make him girly.”
This is just another continuation of some who feel that if sports gets a little “queer,” it’s the end of the world.
Have any of these “traditional football fans” ever attended a college football game? Male cheerleaders aren’t anything new.
What do Ronald Reagan, Trent Lott, Thad Cochran, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush have in common besides being Republican politicians? They were all college cheerleaders.
Oh by the way, the Supreme Allied Commander in WWII and later President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower? Cheerleader when he was a plebe at West Point.
I doubt anybody’s going to not like Ike, because he was a cheerleader.
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So why should Louie Conn and Blaize Shiek, the two Vikings cheer newbies who burned up the sidelines at the preseason opener, hit different?
That negative post over the weekend points to a reason, and it’s something I’ve noticed in the landscape as of late.
It seems that we are making a retreat to certain things being “the right kind” of the certain things.
We’re OK with a male cheerleader lifting up his female counterpart or just yelling the cheers. We had 18 male cheerleaders across seven NFL teams last season, but it seems the more the fellas want to move and groove, they more it seems some people want to hide their existence.
The Vikings’ duo? They were full-on poms-poms and rolling their hips from International Falls to Albert Lea and I’m here for it!
Or, you’re a girl but not the “right kind” of girl. I’m sure Justine Lindsay heard that more than once as she became the league’s first transgender cheerleader, prowling the Carolina Panthers sideline. Never mind the legions of high school trans girls before and since who caught a little heat because they made their school squad.
One minute it’s somebody losing it over some big leaguer or NFL signal caller painting his nails, or phallic toys being thrown on the court at a WNBA game.
Or the possibility, even if it was a troll, that a starting college quarterback has a “fursona.” Just so you know, if you’ve watched any level of football, or a lot of sports, you seen many furries. They are known as “MASCOTS.”
This triggering goes back to homophobia and its cousin femmephobia. Some people are OK with “gay” or “queer,” as long as it looks “straight,” regardless if of the orientation of the people in question.
Two guys with serious moves with smiles on their faces working it like Fran Tarkenton evading a pass rush (if you know, you know) is an issue to some.
To the haters, please chill out.
To the Minnesota Vikings, good on you for not hiding them. You put them in the promo videos and let them cook. Television networks who will show Vikings games in 2025? When you cut to the cheerleaders don’t crop these two out, please.
To Louis and Blaize, enjoy the season and by all means, eat and leave no crumbs.
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