Six months later, Navarro's adjusting to a new normal as Monica does "Dancing with the Stars." But shocking allegations shake the team to its core.Six months later, Navarro's adjusting to a new normal as Monica does "Dancing with the Stars." But shocking allegations shake the team to its core.Six months later, Navarro's adjusting to a new normal as Monica does "Dancing with the Stars." But shocking allegations shake the team to its core.
Photos
Greg Abbott
- Self - Governor of Texas
- (archive footage)
Joe Biden
- Self - 46th President of the United States
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Storyline
Featured review
This is the most important episode produced by One Potato and Greg Whiteley to date
So being from the Chicago area and an advisor of sorts close to Varsity, let's say, I've stayed close to Jerry's ups and downs and the culture of the sport in general, again, as a white and black-hat paid outsider there to make business, structure and product-driven criticisms. So make no mistake, this comes from a place of knowledge but also fairness to resolve for the better, but also independent to an extent.
There is no mistake that Greg and his team at One Potato should receive another Emmy, but this time for the presentation of a huge cultural problem in a sport and the flaws (minor) to at least civil negligence (major) of these Lords of Cheerleading. The producers were extremely fair, and even more, they talked to a lot of people on different sides of the story, which you don't see often. They also highlighted the actual criminal complaint against Jerry Harris (the gritty details of the case) in the episode, which is a lot more than the public, Jerry's defenders, or the Navarro team probably did while being in total denial.
As for the Navarro team, this is what I sort of expect from them. It is clear from S01 and then also this season that these athletes don't have the life experiences, let alone the average level of emotional intelligence of 18-21 year olds, and so yes, of course you would get these oddball responses to the scandal. They can sell as many ads or posts as they want on Instagram, but at the end of the day, they will always be the team who can look good in front of the camera, do a basket toss and pyramid (without breaking a sweat) very well, and let numerous sexual predators roam around with them. I mean, even if they did know about it, I don't have much confidence any of them would have enough courage or will power to do something about it, let alone be effective in reporting it to a positive outcome and righting a wrong. I mean heck, if they're willing to take advertising money from products and services they don't even know about, do they even have a moral compass for times like these?
And let's not forget Monica Aldama role in this, or as I'm calling her going forward, Tex Paterno. This is her program. She is the undisputed leader of the program (remember there are no captains or leading voices on the mat to check her authority). She is in control. It's her design into the Navarro cheer uniform, that Tex designed, in Jerry's pictures everywhere. Or maybe she is not the leader or in control when bad things happen. Who knows, but she definitely prioritized Dancing with the Stars over this incident. Was literally like "see me on ABC" one minute, to "respect our privacy" the next minute when she's photographed with Jerry and the headline reads "Jerry Harris charged with child porn".
Textbook narcissism from the person who is supposed to be the "adult" on the team. Has no real experience on what leadership is, which is being able to lead during the good situations and the bad situations, and on top of that, all of those school administrators and the others in that small town that insulate her negligence.
Here's the worst part about Tex: I do know is that this is not the first time this has happened. Her ignorance of sexual crimes in her program already happened with a sexual misconduct claim/incident back around 2016-18, I believe, and then the Harris bombshells, and even after that the Mitchell Ryan arrest for criminal sexual assault to a minor as well. This is a pattern of behavior, as I would bet dollars to donuts there will be another sexual predator on the cheer team roaming around the campus in Corsicana.
What really grinds my gears is that of course in this episode, and in line to what she's been saying since Sept. 2020, it is literally her whining about what she's gone through in terms of the bad headlines and general "negativity". Not what her team is going through, not any sympathy towards the victims (and wanting to root out this predatory behavior), not how to educate her team on spotting and reporting this kind of behavior, not how to present a solution to this crisis, not even a poor attempt of a statement saying they will change (but never implement it). There was nothing. It was just about "poor Monica", and that's what Attorney Sarah Klein pointed, and to me at least, fair criticism of this long-time, small and isolated town, closed-loop tenured coach (i.e. Where my Paterno comparison comes into play). If she's not going to lead out change and root out this kind of criminal behavior in the sport, who the heck will? Varsity Brands? The Varsity-created USASF? The US DOJ? Bain Capital (Varsity's owners)? Civil courts? It's starts at the local level with programs like this.
So, I know that is a lot of criticism. I don't like the "airing of grievances", but there is a purpose to them. Here's the reason why I'm writing this review: I cannot commend enough and also sympathize with both Charlie and Sam, and their mother Kristen, in this episode. What they did is not easy when going up against not only a serial predator but also the cheer machine backing Harris, and instead these two were ignored and branded as outcasts by the Lords in the sport. However now, it would seem they have a high probability of seeing both criminal and civil justice served.
They are the real protagonists in this series, not the ones who can score a 99 on a sand-littered mat on Daytona Beach.
There is no mistake that Greg and his team at One Potato should receive another Emmy, but this time for the presentation of a huge cultural problem in a sport and the flaws (minor) to at least civil negligence (major) of these Lords of Cheerleading. The producers were extremely fair, and even more, they talked to a lot of people on different sides of the story, which you don't see often. They also highlighted the actual criminal complaint against Jerry Harris (the gritty details of the case) in the episode, which is a lot more than the public, Jerry's defenders, or the Navarro team probably did while being in total denial.
As for the Navarro team, this is what I sort of expect from them. It is clear from S01 and then also this season that these athletes don't have the life experiences, let alone the average level of emotional intelligence of 18-21 year olds, and so yes, of course you would get these oddball responses to the scandal. They can sell as many ads or posts as they want on Instagram, but at the end of the day, they will always be the team who can look good in front of the camera, do a basket toss and pyramid (without breaking a sweat) very well, and let numerous sexual predators roam around with them. I mean, even if they did know about it, I don't have much confidence any of them would have enough courage or will power to do something about it, let alone be effective in reporting it to a positive outcome and righting a wrong. I mean heck, if they're willing to take advertising money from products and services they don't even know about, do they even have a moral compass for times like these?
And let's not forget Monica Aldama role in this, or as I'm calling her going forward, Tex Paterno. This is her program. She is the undisputed leader of the program (remember there are no captains or leading voices on the mat to check her authority). She is in control. It's her design into the Navarro cheer uniform, that Tex designed, in Jerry's pictures everywhere. Or maybe she is not the leader or in control when bad things happen. Who knows, but she definitely prioritized Dancing with the Stars over this incident. Was literally like "see me on ABC" one minute, to "respect our privacy" the next minute when she's photographed with Jerry and the headline reads "Jerry Harris charged with child porn".
Textbook narcissism from the person who is supposed to be the "adult" on the team. Has no real experience on what leadership is, which is being able to lead during the good situations and the bad situations, and on top of that, all of those school administrators and the others in that small town that insulate her negligence.
Here's the worst part about Tex: I do know is that this is not the first time this has happened. Her ignorance of sexual crimes in her program already happened with a sexual misconduct claim/incident back around 2016-18, I believe, and then the Harris bombshells, and even after that the Mitchell Ryan arrest for criminal sexual assault to a minor as well. This is a pattern of behavior, as I would bet dollars to donuts there will be another sexual predator on the cheer team roaming around the campus in Corsicana.
What really grinds my gears is that of course in this episode, and in line to what she's been saying since Sept. 2020, it is literally her whining about what she's gone through in terms of the bad headlines and general "negativity". Not what her team is going through, not any sympathy towards the victims (and wanting to root out this predatory behavior), not how to educate her team on spotting and reporting this kind of behavior, not how to present a solution to this crisis, not even a poor attempt of a statement saying they will change (but never implement it). There was nothing. It was just about "poor Monica", and that's what Attorney Sarah Klein pointed, and to me at least, fair criticism of this long-time, small and isolated town, closed-loop tenured coach (i.e. Where my Paterno comparison comes into play). If she's not going to lead out change and root out this kind of criminal behavior in the sport, who the heck will? Varsity Brands? The Varsity-created USASF? The US DOJ? Bain Capital (Varsity's owners)? Civil courts? It's starts at the local level with programs like this.
So, I know that is a lot of criticism. I don't like the "airing of grievances", but there is a purpose to them. Here's the reason why I'm writing this review: I cannot commend enough and also sympathize with both Charlie and Sam, and their mother Kristen, in this episode. What they did is not easy when going up against not only a serial predator but also the cheer machine backing Harris, and instead these two were ignored and branded as outcasts by the Lords in the sport. However now, it would seem they have a high probability of seeing both criminal and civil justice served.
They are the real protagonists in this series, not the ones who can score a 99 on a sand-littered mat on Daytona Beach.
helpful•61
- michiganave_p
- Jan 23, 2022
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- Runtime51 minutes
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