It Just Ain’t Cricket: Washington Redskins Cheerleaders in India

I am a big one for business leaders who are willing to do the unusual, embrace the temporarily unpopular, or follow the predicted “failed” path on most anything. I love mavericks — people who go their own way, fail, dust themselves off, then come right back at ya,

My stock secured loan company, HedgeLender, is one in which much passes for innovation, but very little truly is innovation. I’ve endured individuals and companies who have claimed to have built a better mousetrap, only to watch it repeatedl fall on its face. That’s exactly why HedgeLender decided to certify its loan programs and ensure that what the customer expected was precisely what the consumer got.

Now we see in today’s Washington Post an interesting article about a brilliant Cricket team owner who came up with the idea of shaking upthe staid professinal cricket sporting world with light shows, fireworks — and yes, the Washington Redskins cheerleaders performing their scantily clad gyrations to the full astonishment (and delight) of the Indian fans.

The stadium was, as a result, far noiser than anyone had ever seen. Huge cheers erupted for the cheerleaders, who were also there to introduce American football-style cheerleading to a crop of handpicked Indian cheerleaders-in-training. Clearly, this is a movement that will be wildely profitable for all concerned.

Yet it wasn’t without protests. Conservative groups denounced the bare skin of the cheerleaders in a land where showing the midriff is itself a subject for controversy. Woman regularly wrap and double wrap themselves even while at the beach, and nudity of any kind in any decent forum is considered unacceptable.

So this was a business move that took a lot of courage. But such moves are common among winners in the business world.