Song Girls Forum

With the completely improbable return of former Song Girl Natalie Nelson to the national spotlight with her continued support for Texas, has she regained her crown as "Most famous USC Song Girl in History" from the pretenders who challenged her throne this past year?

Did the USC class where you were speaking about the USC Song Girls this past week happen to be a Political Science course regarding entrenched and self-serving dictators who preside over a very corrupt regime?

On the song girls website, there is a page called "Pictures with Famous Friends." This page has a picture of the song girls with Shelley Long. Isn't the definition of "famous" being used rather loosely when it comes to someone like Shelley Long?

I saw where the readers of this blog, as well as yourself, have mocked the Stanford Dollies, but I think everyone is missing the point of the Dollies. The reason the Stanford Dollies come across as being the way they are is because they are mocking the very notion of cheerleaders by being "anti-cheerleaders." Likewise, the Stanford Band are mocking college marching bands by being an "anti-band." And that's the irony of the Stanford Dollies.

As opposed to cheer squads for other schools, the Stanford Dollies get an entirely new squad each year, with no girl being allowed to serve more than one year on the squad. They are not selected for their dancing abilities, cheerleading experience or physical appearance, but whether they "get" the irony. So that's why they're so ragtag and un-cheerleaderlike, which is why most people think they are such a poor squad. But that's part of the inside joke. Now whether one thinks it is a funny joke or not is another matter. Some people at Stanford think the joke is based on wit that comes from being a top academic institution like Stanford, while something like the Stanford Dollies would never work at the lower-tier Pac-10 institutions like Oregon State and Arizona State. I doubt the alumni or students of those schools would get the "irony." In fact, I am friends with some Stanford alumni who do not see the wit in the antics of their band and actually consider them to be an embarrassment.

Now if you put the USC Song Girls in this equation, they have slid in this past decade from excellence to mediocrity to an outright national embarrassment. As opposed to the Stanford Dollies, the reason for why the USC Song Girls have been embarrassing during this decade has not been to due to a sudden adoption of irony, but actual mismanagement of the squad. The reason the Song Girls have not had pretty girls or particularly good dancers this decade, often dancing completely out of sync with one another, has not been due to any kind of "inside joke" or "anti-cheerleader" wit, but rather due to the girls who have been on the squad not being Song Girl material and making the squad for reasons other than merit and appearance.

So while many people mock the Stanford Dollies, they are missing the irony of what they represent. Are they a joke that dance out of unison and do not look like stereotypical cheerleaders? Yes. But that's the joke. That's the irony of the Stanford Dollies. The USC Song Girls have been just as bad this decade but they have not been part of a deliberate attempt to mock the institution of cheerleaders as a result of an inside joke. Do you see the difference now between the Stanford Dollies and the USC Song Girls, and if you get the irony of what the Stanford Dollies are trying to convey, do you see their purpose?

Would you consider Natalie Nelson to be the ultimate symbol of the USC Song Girls of the 2000s? Consider this:

1) She represented the notion of nepotism on the squad. 2) Obtained captaincy within mere months of being on the squad over longer-serving members.
3) Had her friend from high school join the squad and also became a captain within months over longer-serving members.
4) Involved in multiple relationships with football players.
5) (In)famously cheered for the wrong team during the biggest game of the year.
6) Wore the jersey of the opposing team.
7) Became famous the world over for her support of other schools.
8) Remained on the squad even after failing to meet minimum eligibility requirements of enrolled units.

Are you surprised by the longevity of the song girl cheering for Texas story and how it has been picked up by such a vast number of national media outlets this past week? Will this follow her for the rest of her life?

Tricia Pillsbury was a print journalism major at USC. Do you think she would be embarrassed by what Ben Malcolmson has written about the Song Girls in the name of "journalism"?

Chitown, Does anyone know what time it is? Does anyone really care?

The USC Song Girl doll you were given at the class you spoke to, was it an authentic replica doll that came with a miniature beer bong, ribcage tattoo, and a sweater of another institution of higher learning?

Who has been more embarrassing to USC, the Song Girls or Matt Leinart?

Scott:

Are you able to keep up with the ferocious barrage of Song Girl scandals on the Internet each and every week? Do you know about all of them? Do you believe there any that get by without your knowing about them? Have you, like me, gotten dizzy by the vast scope of scandals this decade's Song Girls have been responsible for?

You recently wrote about speaking in a class and being given a Song Girl doll to recoginze our valiant effort to eradicate cronyism and corruption in the squad.

What kind of class was this? I'm so glad people everywhere have really picked up on Song Girlgate. What have people's general reaction been regarding Song Girlgate? Would you say that people in general (as in everyone but the athletic dept. and the leadership of the squad) are sympathetic to our cause? It seems as though Song Girlgate has really exploded and I would like to know how people's reaction have been towards you.

With the very real possibillity of USC and Texas meeting once again in bowl game, do you anticipate legendary former Song Girl Natalie Nelson showing up and cheering for Texas?

So let's say the 2009 Song Girl squad is the first squad of pretty Song Girls in a decade, does that really mean there will be nothing left to complain about when it comes to the Song Girls? Not really. There is still the corrupt and nepotist regime that is embedded and all the pretty girls in the world cannot change that unless there is a change in administration.

Is the universe of inane Song Girl questions finite or infinite?

Did Tricia Pillsbury ever support another school?

Is Lori Nelson considered the "Charlie Weis" of Song Girl coaches? Is there anyway she can be bought of her contract or does she have a lifetime contract?