The sights and sounds throughout The Pyramid Tuesday night were electric. It was a college sports atmosphere, with heart-pounding excitement.

Though it only went four out of a possible five games, the women's volleyball match between No. 1 Cal State Long Beach and No. 6 UC Santa Barbara was not only the best volleyball match I've ever seen, but also one of the most emotional and entertaining battles ever.

Two of the best teams in the country went flat out toe-to-toe for more than three hours. The climax being a 20-18 fourth-game CSULB victory after a grueling 56 minutes.

What fans, in the crowd of 2,663, got was unmistakably raw bang-for-your-buck entertainment. They loved every minute of it. It was pure energy.

About the only area there was no energy, though, was the single area where all the energy should be supplied: the cheerleaders.

The women are all very beautiful -- million dollar smiles -- and having a cheer team is a definite asset to CSULB sports programs.

However, from a source which should be the Con Edison of all energy sources, the CSULB cheerleading squad put out no more energy than needed to power a night light Tuesday.

Ladies, when there are 2,663 students and fans in the stands bellowing from the bottom of their lungs (more than 5,000 for Saturday night's match), feel free to show some pep.

School spirit is not the issue here. That boring subject is about as tired as some of the squad's dance routines.

The issue is doing one's job and helping to increase the level of competition, emotion and inspiration. Without it, you have nothing more than pure hootery and delusion.

When a person goes from watching a high school volleyball game to watching a college one, they should expect the level of play to increase. Call me crazy, but shouldn't the level of cheerleading also increase?

The main source of energy Tuesday came from, of all places, the stands. Midway through the epic fourth game, the fellow known as "The Michael Jackson Guy" made his presence felt.

His name is Tatsuro Abe. He is a dance major at CSULB. And, his being from Japanese descent makes his full-on Jackson costume that much more appealing. Students know him well; he can be found most often dancing Jackson-esqe with a boom box in front of the University Bookstore.

Abe rose to his feet, in full costume, and began dancing to the music over the speakers. He pointed to the sky, thrusted his pelvis and pumped his fist. He basically led the cheers.

The crowd rose to its feet. The 49ers came out of a timeout to rousing ovations. Momentum, baby. Matches are won with it.

From the 20th row, Abe got the crowd going. The cheerleaders just stood there wondering what to do.

Enough of this nickel and dime stuff from the cheerleaders. The dull two-step-slide-action these girls are doing must die. Run onto the court, boogie if you will.

If not, I urge Pyramid officials to ditch the cheerleaders and hire Abe to entertain. Sometimes I feel I'd rather see one of him than eight of them. Mike Besack is a staff writer for the Daily Forty-Niner. His column appears on Tuesdays and Thursdays.