A note on cheerleaders

In case you live in a cave, or don't read johnnyjets.blogspot.com, or both, I need to call your attention to the curious case of the Carolina Panthers cheerleaders arrested in Tampa earlier this week.

Renee Thomas, 20, and Angela Keathley, 26, face various charges in Tampa, Fla., after they allegedly fought with fellow patrons at a bar after the Panthers beat the Bucs Sunday. The fight broke out after patrons who weren't the Panthers cheerleaders thought the Panthers cheerleaders were taking too long in a bathroom stall. It's thought they were taking too long in a bathroom stall because they were having sex with one another.

First, what happened to the good old days of just doing coke in a bathroom stall? Second, I should say Thomas and Keathley were fired from the Panthers, and maintain their innocence. But not their virtue.

There's something deeply fascinating about a bad cheerleader story. Witness the Boston Herald's treatment of Danvers, Mass., cheerleaders who allegedly showed up to a high school football game drunk. ("Sis Boom Booze," 12/3/04) Of course, their cause wasn't helped when a cheerleader sex tape was later rumored to exist. ("Danvers all steamed over racy girls video," 12/18/04).

Does a cheerleader getting in trouble somehow ameliorate bad feelings lingering from high school? Are we taking out latent anger over being made to feel less popular when we were children as adults? Isn't schadenfreude ultimately self-defeating? Does asking all these questions make me like Carrie Bradshaw?

Unknown. In the meantime, enjoy these cheerleader mugshots.