Injured Cheerleader Keeps Her Spirit

From MSNBC.com: Cheerleader worried for team, not herself

A cheerleader who continued to cheer for her team from a gurney despite tumbling 15 feet onto her head said Wednesday she was worried the accident would distract from the basketball game.

“My biggest concern was that I didn’t want my squad to be distracted — so that they could continue cheering on the team — and I didn’t want my team to be distracted from winning the game,” Kristi Yamaoka, 18, told NBC’s “Today” show.

I was watching this game and saw a replay of the fall. Like everybody else, I watched to see if she would be okay. But when she started her cheer routine from the gurney, I laughed through my tears. It was a great moment.

Granted, the Missouri Valley Conference had a typical knee-jerk response to the incident by banning certain cheerleading stunts during the women's basketball conference tournament. Everybody seemed okay with this stuff prior to the injury.

I guess it's all fun and games until somebody falls 15 feet and breaks a spine.