A new book examines the rough and tumble world of college cheerleading. Not the sissy universe most think, the author says that male cheerleaders bulk up on anabolic steroids, while the female yell-leaders stay slim with stimulants.
College cheerleading now ranks as an "extreme" sport, no matter what the NCAA might say, argues Lisa Torgovnick, a former Jane contributor who now writes for The New York Times.
For those cartwheels in nandrolone:
Like college and pro sports, varsity cheerleading is developing a substance-abuse problem. Male cheerleaders bulk up on steroids so they can heft more weight. (Contrary to stereotype, Torgovnick writes, cheer-guys are no more likely to be gay than football linemen. Most of them tend toward "weight-lifting, beer-guzzling and head-banging.")
Apparently there is no PED testing in the cheerleading world:
"Flyers," under pressure to stay light - and maintain the usual unrealistic "Barbie" standards of beauty - take a pharmacy of drugs including, occasionally, cocaine. Except for the cocaine, though, almost all this abuse is perfectly legitimate, since the NCAA rates cheerleading as an "activity" rather than a "sport."
Maybe Rep Dan Burton can 'bring it on' to expose this in a congressional hearing.
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