Click here to check out the Los Angeles Laker Girls on game day, at SportsIllustrated.com

Click here to go to the Atlanta Hawks website and vote for your top three picks to make the 2009-10 Atlanta Hawks A-Town Dancers!

You can also click here to view photos from finalist boot camp!

The Orlando Magic basketball players aren’t the only ones working hard during Finals. The Magic Dancers are also breaking a sweat to keep the crowds entertained. Click here to view photos from last night’s game in Orlando.

By DeliaTheArtist
for Current.com

In 1991, Darlene Cavalier was a professional cheerleader for the 76ers. Today however, she’s cheering for a different team – Citizen Science!

“Citizen Scientists aren’t waiting for an invitation to get involved. They are literally changing the way science gets done,” Darlene says. Her website, ScienceCheerleader.com, is a wealth of information as well as THE resource for anyone who wants to get more involved with science efforts in their communities. “It’s important that the citizen scientists get something out of the project and for that to happen researchers must believe that the public is capable of more than just data entry. Volunteers should be given the opportunity to ask questions and draw upon the data. In its most successful forms, citizen scientists even help shape science policy.”

ScienceCheerleader.com’s Project Finder helps connect people with scientific projects in their area of interest. What are some examples of things people can do? “Tag butterflies to help track their migratory habits, count fireflies to help researchers better understand why they appear to be diminishing in some places but not others (talk about a fun family project; my kids and I learned how to differentiate between males, females and stealth predators!), sort through galaxies, help meteorologists predict weather patterns, record earthquakes, help project flu outbreaks, you name it!”

Darlene is also working on having more user generated content on her site as well as “a full-functioning Mother-of-all-Citizen-Science websites” – read my entire interview with Darlene Cavalier, The Science Cheerleader, in this awesome 4th installment of Science is Speaking! [Click here]

By Matt Calkins
The Press Enterprise
May 26, 2009

LOS ANGELES – In what form, I don’t know. From which religion, I couldn’t tell you.

And even though it might prompt letters, I’m gonna say this with firm conviction: There is a God.

Here’s an email from my boss last week to prove it.

Subject: Column idea

Matt,
(An editor) was browsing through the media guide and noticed there were two Laker Girls from Corona and Temecula. See what you can do.

I scrolled down thinking I might find Bill Gates’ pin number, too.

The assignment was to interview Corona’s Richelle Rodriguez and Temecula’s Lindsey Tuer in hopes of better understanding what it’s like to be part of the NBA’s most famous dance team.

So last Thursday, before the Lakers met the Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, I trudged down to Staples Center ready to (cough) work.

Tuer actually had the night off, so my only face-to-face would be with Rodriguez, whom I’d arranged to speak with at 4:30 p.m. But alas, after waiting outside the Laker Girls dressing room for about 25 minutes, it was 4:40 and I still hadn’t seen her.

“Nobody’s walked out of there in the last 10 minutes, right?” I asked an usher.

“No,” he responded. “But if you need to talk to someone in there, just knock.”

Knock on the Laker Girls dressing-room door? I thought. Isn’t that something you win in a “Price is Right” showcase?

But I did so nonetheless, and was pointed down the hall to Laker Girl director, Lisa Estrada, the point of contact for all team members.

“Where would you like to do the interview?,” Estrada asked.

Um…my high school reunion? I thought.

“In the stands is fine,” I said.

Now, if for some reason you’re ever asked to describe to a sketch artist what you think a Laker Girl might look like, you’ll end up with a portrait of Rodriguez. The 20-year-old is a Colgate, Noxema and Pantene Pro V commercial all rolled into one…yet still manages to come off a little shy.

Turns out dancing has long been the lubricant that’s helped Rodriguez wriggle out of her shell – not to mention a talent that earned her the title of Youngest Laker Girl when she made the team as an 18-year-old last year.

Right now she’s studying dance at Riverside Community College with aspirations of a career in make-up artistry.

Tuer, who I talked with over the phone, is a 23-year-old Temecula Valley High grad living in Huntington Beach. Now in her fourth year with the squad, she works as a bartender and song-leading coach at El Toro High, and hopes to make it in the entertainment industry.

After talking to each for about a half an hour, here’s what some of my extensive (this darn cough won’t go away) research revealed.

1. The Laker Girls are bright: Think mascara is the only three-syllable word they know? Not so much. Past squad members have included medical students, financial analysts, pharmaceutical reps and college professors. Granted… they might occasionally get one of these, but still.

2. The Laker Girls are big-hearted: In addition to the bi-weekly practices and 48 games per season, they attend three to five charitable functions per week, ranging anywhere from the Make-a-Wish Foundation to local volunteer projects. I believe they are also the leading cause of philanthropy in males 18-40.

3. The Laker Girls are brutal: Before each game, the ladies lock hands in a circle, shout something alliteratively sadistic toward the Lakers’ opponents and yell “huh!” Examples? “Nail the Nuggets!” “Bomb the Blazers!” “Slaughter the Suns!”

“You don’t say ‘Murder the Magic’, do you?” I asked Tuer.

“Probably,” she said with a laugh. “We’re pretty hardcore.”

The audition process is no less merciful. Only 22 of the 500-plus women who tried out made the team this season – and everyone has to re-audition each year.

Oh, and how do you know if you made the first cut? Easy. A judge didn’t walk by and snip your wristband off.

It should be pointed out that the Laker Girls are not allowed to fraternize with the players themselves.

I did, however, ask Lakers guard Sasha Vujajic if he’s ever been distracted by them during a game.

“Never,” he said.

Sounds about right.

First of all, getting to the NBA generally requires a healthy supply of focus. And second – the Laker Girls are actually one of the more conservatively dressed dance teams in the league.

“I always laugh when guys are afraid that taking a picture with us is going to get them in trouble with their wife or girlfriend,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, it’s not like we’re the Hooters girls.”

Hey boss, I got an idea for a follow-up.

Washington Wizards: Congratulations to Javai for being voted in as the last Wizard Girl. Javai was one of two participants that were put in a contest to determine who would receive the last spot on the Wizard Girls. Voting ran from Monday morning through Wednesday at noon. To see more on the 2009-10 Wizard Girls Auditions please click here.

The Cleveland Cavalier Girls are featured in this week’s Sports Illustrated NBA dance team gallery. Click here to view the game day action.

Access Atlanta: Dancers from across the Southeast attended a prep clinic for the A-Town Dancers preliminary audition, which will be held Sunday, June 7. Those who are selected will perform at Atlanta Hawks games at Philips Arena. Photos