By Maya Singer
Style.com
2/5/2010

Is there any activity more essentially American than cheerleading? Think about it: Organized, pepped up, bursting with can-do, those gorgeous girls on the sidelines embody that iconic national virtue, pluck. It wasn’t always a woman’s game, though. Female students were allowed onto the University of Minnesota team for the first time in 1923, 25 years after the father of cheerleading, Johnny Campbell, stood up at a football game there to lead a chant of “Rah! Rah! Rah!” But by the time the Baltimore Colts created the National Football League’s first squad in 1954, the tables had turned: All the Colts cheerleaders were women, and today, an estimated 97 percent of cheerleaders are female. Who would you rather see on the 50-yard line—former 49er cheerleader Teri Hatcher or the likes of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and George W. Bush, all of whom rocked pompoms in their day?

See more photos of cheerleaders from the 1960s to today

Cheerleading was integrated by the civil rights movement, sexed up by the sexual revolution, and buffed up by the fitness revolution. Along the way, costumes got shorter, tighter, and skimpier. Today, the girls wear glorified bikinis with built-in support systems for Herkie jumps and kick lines. Thank goodness for indoor stadiums. The one thing that hasn’t changed is good old American pluck, which you will find in spades on the sidelines this Sunday, as the Indianapolis Colts bash helmets with the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

Drum Roll Please…..

First place goes to Lora Roberts of Northern Virginia, who describes herself as a diehard Ravens and Giants fan.

Second place went to our good friend Donald Wells, former Director of the Redskins Cheerleaders and Wizard Dancers, and now Director of Sponsorships/Marketing for the Sweethearts for Soldiers

Third place went to Mark C.

Fourth place for Valerie.

And fifth place to Matt K.

Mystery uniform #9 fooled some people, but not everyone!

[Take the Quiz]

[See the Answers]

Thanks for everyone who participated in our Mystery Uniform Quiz. Once thing I learned is that if there’s anything this world needs, it’s more opera gloves!

I’m going through all the entries now, and hope to announce the winners in a couple of days.

See the answers here.

Didn’t take the quiz yet? Check it out here.

Next Thursday is the deadline for submitting your entry..

A lot of folks have asked if we are going to let them know how they did, or will we show the original color photos. The answer to both questions is yes.

In the meantime if you didn’t see the original post about the quiz, here it is again:

We’ve got a new contest and this time it’s in the form of a quiz.

Sasha went through her archives and selected 38 photos of NFL Cheerleaders throughout the years. Your job is to identify the squad. And we’re looking for complete answers. If it’s a Baltimore Colts Cheerleader and you say Colts Cheerleader or Indianapolis Colts Cheerleader, you get partial credit. Same thing if it’s a photo of the Philadelphia Eagles Liberty Belles and you answer Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders, that’s only worth half-a-point

These are all NFL squads, but not necessarily current squads. Some teams may appear more than once, or not at all. Oh, did I mention all the photos are in black and white?

The top 5 entries with the most correct answers will receive a beautiful 8×12 autographed cheerleader photo provided by our own David Tyau. To see more of David’s photos, please check out his blog, The Hottest Dance Team In The NFL. In the event of ties, a random drawing will determine the winner(s).

International readers are welcome to participate, but are ineligible for prizes. US Addresses only for winning photos. (We’ve got a budget, here!)

Send your entries, the deadline is November 19th, to me (james@procheerleaderblog.com). Send your hate mail to Sasha (sasha@procheerleaderblog.com), it was her idea to make the photos B&W.

The quiz gallery is here. (Update: I am getting entries with just the first 20 uniforms, there’s a 2nd pages with 18 more mystery uniforms)

Disclaimers:

Not affiliated with the NFL, any individual team, especially the San Diego Chargers, or e2k Sports.

Advertisers and contributors to the blog ineligible to play.

Not responsible for lost or mis-directed entries.

All judges decisions are final.

I am pretty sure everyone’s familiar with thus inform the Eagles Cheerleaders have been wearing since 2003.

Priscilla

I believe it is referred to as their “summer” uniform.

Devan

Then when the weather turns a little cold, they break out the “autumn” uniform and switch to black sneakers.

Heather

Lora with the optional half-sweater

And then when it’s really cold they break out the “winter” uniform:

Maria

Which is your favorite Eagles Cheerleaders Uniform?
	Summer – All White
	Autumn – Black Skirt with Optional Sweater
	Winter – Cold Weather
	E-A-G-L-E-S! Love them all!
pollcode.com free polls

[Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders]

Previous results:

We’ve got a new contest and this time it’s in the form of a quiz.

Sasha went through her archives and selected 38 photos of NFL Cheerleaders throughout the years. Your job is to identify the squad. And we’re looking for complete answers. If it’s a Baltimore Colts Cheerleader and you say Colts Cheerleader or Indianapolis Colts Cheerleader, you get partial credit. Same thing if it’s a photo of the Philadelphia Eagles Liberty Belles and you answer Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders, that’s only worth half-a-point

These are all NFL squads, but not necessarily current squads. Some teams may appear more than once, or not at all. Oh, did I mention all the photos are in black and white?

The top 5 entries with the most correct answers will receive a beautiful 8×12 autographed cheerleader photo provided by our own David Tyau. To see more of David’s photos, please check out his blog, The Hottest Dance Team In The NFL. In the event of ties, a random drawing will determine the winner(s).

International readers are welcome to participate, but are ineligible for prizes. US Addresses only for winning photos. (We’ve got a budget, here!)

Send your entries, the deadline is November 19th, to me (james@procheerleaderblog.com). Send your hate mail to Sasha (sasha@procheerleaderblog.com), it was her idea to make the photos B&W.

The quiz gallery is here. (Update: I am getting entries with just the first 20 uniforms, there’s a 2nd pages with 18 more mystery uniforms)

Disclaimers:

Not affiliated with the NFL, any individual team, especially the San Diego Chargers, or e2k Sports.

Advertisers and contributors to the blog ineligible to play.

Not responsible for lost or mis-directed entries.

All judges decisions are final.

Of course, we have to do a poll on the Jets Flight Crew new uniforms.

Here’s the look from 2008:

This is 2009:

And here’s the best cold-weather uniform in the NFL (IMO):

[New York Jets Flight Crew]

Previous results:

This just in:

Sweethearts for Soldiers Organization Announces Impressive 2010 Sweetheart Lineup

SAN DIEGO, CA October 1 2009 – - The California based non-profit organization, Sweethearts for Soldiers (SFS), have announced their 2010 Sweethearts. The list of 28 women from all over the world represents more than 20 major professional football and basketball teams. Among the list of women are some familiar faces; Jenni Croft from the Bachelor, Megan Clementi who is currently Miss Florida USA 2010 and Bonnie-Jill Laflin, actress and first ever female NBA scout for the LA Lakers.

The Sweethearts will volunteer their time to provide morale boosting and entertainment-type services to military personnel in all branches of the Armed Forces. The Sweethearts will further the mission of the organization by performing variety shows on tours to military bases and installations stateside and abroad, making appearances at various charity events, and producing a yearly calendar that will be a delivered to military personnel.

To be selected as a Sweetheart they must have performed with a professional major league football or basketball team and have a passion for volunteering their time to the military. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my time and I am proud to be a member of the 2010 Sweethearts for Soldiers”, says Anna Smith who is one of the new 2010 Sweethearts and cheered with teams from Seattle, Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Co-founder Tonya Helman states “The past two years have been extremely successful for the Sweethearts for Soldiers Organization. We were able to go Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar and bring some light to those serving overseas. Also by partnering with the Wounded Warrior Project in Jacksonville and Snowball Express in Phoenix for various events, we were able to combine our efforts for troop support and get the Sweethearts’ into the local community talking about our mission.” Helman has been on 14 tours and danced for three Professional football teams.

With the program growing so has the staff of the SFS organization. Donald Wells, former Director of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders is taking the helm as Director of Marketing and Sponsorships. Mr. Wells has been on a record setting 27 Department of Defense tours and has a true passion for the military. With his 16+ years of pro entertainment experience he plans to help take the Sweethearts to a level that they can reach hundreds of thousands every year. This year Mr. Wells worked with designer Deb Erickson of The Line Up to develop an official uniform for the Sweethearts. Each uniform will showcase the Sweethearts for Soldiers logo and is covered in hand placed crystals.

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(politely butting in)
Sweetheart Jenny shows off the new threads with a couple of Marines who I’m sure were dragged, kicking and screaming, into service for this photo. Semper Fi!
(~sasha)

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About the Sweethearts for Soldiers Organization
Sweethearts for Soldiers is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the troops by providing morale boosting and entertainment-type services to our men and women in uniform. Sweethearts for Soldiers is not a government agency and relies on the generosity of the American people. For more information on Sweethearts for Soldiers or to donate please go to www.sweetheartsforsoldiers.org or contact:
Donald Wells – Marketing Division
Donald@sweetheartsforsoldiers.org
(240) 876-3014