Sis Boom Bah
I was fortunate to be around Stephen Murrell Peters in the mid 1960s before he was stricken with a severe form of maturity. I've written about Peters before and since no one else is recording his deeds, I feel it is my duty as well as a privilege to put down a few more words about the man.
Someone we knew (Tut Wynn as I recall) was attending Occidental College and was on the cheerleading squad. Peters not only had nothing to do with cheerleading he wasn't even going to school. However, we all hung around together and Peters happened to get wind of an invitation put forth to the Oxy cheerleaders to participate in a Los Angeles City High School cheerleading camp. Peters also discovered that none of the Oxy cheerleaders were going to attend as none of them wanted to blow a Saturday with a bunch of high school kids. Peters talked Tut in to letting him borrow the Oxy cheerleading outfits so he, Cummins and Chaffee could go as imposters.
The cheerleading camp was to be held in the auditorium of Eagle Rock High School which was a quarter mile from the Oxy campus and the close proximity was the reason Oxy was the only college asked to attend. Saturday morning saw several hundred amped-up cheerleaders from local high schools fill the auditorium. It basically started out with a "show and tell" format with some official from the LAUSD acting as the master of ceremony and calling cheerleading squads up to the stage to demonstrate a yell or cheer.
This was, you must realize, back in the sis-boom-bah era. There were no human pyramids or girls being tossed forty feet into the air. The style in high school at that time was yelling through a megaphone, frantic jumping, leg kicking, waving of arms and a big finish where pom poms were thrown skyward. There was no shortage of enthusiasm coming from those seated in the auditorium. The noise level in response to each group on stage was deafening. After two dozen groups had taken their turn screaming, spinning, thrashing and bouncing around on the stage the LAUSD guy grabbed the microphone and made an announcement. He said that everyone was in for a real treat as the cheer squad from Occidental College had seen fit to attend and give everyone some pointers. He introduced Peters, Cummins and Chaffee as they strolled up on stage and took their positions.
The three of them formed a straight line across the stage with Peters in the center with the microphone, flanked by the other two, ten feet off to each side.
They were greeted as though they were the Beach Boys and only when it finally calmed down did Peters attempt to say anything, "You guys are great!." The roof almost came off of the auditorium. When calm was once again restored Peters continued, "Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing, keep doing what you're doing!" This was follow by near pandemonium. When things quieted down and people returned to their seats Peters asked if anyone had any questions and pointed to a girl in the front row. Peters heard the question and then shared it with the audience, "this young lady in the front row asked how we do cheers at Occidental." Immediate applause broke out acknowledging the girl's brilliance and everyone leaned forward in their seats. Peters went on to explain that the Oxy squad used a much different approach than what had been demonstrated so far. He told the crowd that a college student body responded better to a more subtle approach and cheers that were very brief.
Peters pointed out that after all the real purpose of any cheer is to be heard and understood by the team on the field. Loud was good but enunciation was even more important if your gridiron heroes were going to be inspired by your effort. Thus all of the cheers done at Oxy were short and clearly stated in a crisp manner.
Peters said, "The three of us remain completely stationary throughout the game to avoid being a distraction away from the play on the field. When we lead cheers the only movements we make are short and quick to trigger a specific response from the audience. Peters went on, "No cheer should exceed five seconds. You must get the attention of the crowd and finish the cheer before the next play starts. It is essential that cheers do not overlap or conflict with action on the field."
The girl in the front row was now asking another question. She wanted Peters and his companions to demonstrate one of Oxy's cheers. Peters was reluctant, "Of course we could show you what we do at our school but I am afraid it would be a disservice to you all. I seriously doubt that it would be well received at the high school level."
Peters had them now. A plaintive wail went up from 450 sixteen-year olds as though an antidote for un-coolness was being withheld. Peters shouted over the whining and moaning, "Okay, but just one!" The grateful group gave out a tremendous roar.
Peters instructed the crowd, "The cheer goes as follows: O…..X…..Y……………………….FIGHT! We will lead you in the cheer by moving our head to the side for each letter, then there will be a short pause of absolute silence, after which we drop our foot and you yell FIGHT. Remember now, don't just yell your ass off, we want four crisp and short blasts that are clearly enunciated. Everybody got it?"
Peters, Cummins and Chaffee stood at attention, with both hands in their pockets and facing straight ahead at the audience. With Peters giving a count of three, the trio snapped their heads in unison to the left and the most of the crowd blurted out "O". The three heads swiveled to the right and a little louder "X" came forth. One more swivel back to the left and everybody now was with it and a huge "Y" was shouted out. It went deadly quiet and the audience watched spellbound as the three rigid figures on stage each raised their right foot slowly until it was at knee level and then slammed it down to the floor and the crowd exploded with a well-timed "FIGHT!"
Needless to say they all went wild as though they had been given a glimpse into the future. While the auditorium was abuzz, Peters got the girl from the front row to come up on stage with her group of 12 cheerleaders from Garfield High School. He had them use the same ridiculous choreography and lead the crowd in one of their school's cheers. Peters asked her what she wanted to spell out and she chose their school mascot. At first the cheer was going to be B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S…………………………FIGHT. Peters shook his head, "Too long. I tell you what; let's just go with D-O-G-S." She thought that was a great idea and the dozen cheerleaders lined up across the stage. Peters stood at the foot of the stage and took them through it like a conductor. The crowd knew what to do and did their part. The hair rose on the back of my neck.
The LAUSD guy grabbed the microphone as Peters and his accomplices came down off the stage. He said, "Let's show our appreciation for these fellows coming over from the college and showing us something special." Raucous hooting, whistling and a standing ovation followed. Peters deserved nothing less.