I think that a dance team takes on the personality of it’s director.  And Denise Garvey, the Director of the NY Jets Flight Crew Cheerleaders, always struck me as being elegant in a cosmopolitan sort of way.  And I think that her squad reflects that New York sense of sophistication…if you can say that about a dance team.  So for this reason, the New York Jets Flight Crew Cheerleaders are 2011 P-R-O Convention all stars.

One of the main reasons why I like going to P-R-O are the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.  They have an amazing squad.  Good looking girls.  Hot looking uniforms.  Too bad they have a lousy football team…but things tend to run in cycles, so I am sure it won’t be too long before all us will be singing, “Hail to the Redskins”.  If their football team may be lacking, Redskins fans suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to their cheerleaders.  And one of these riches is Ashley A., a 2011 P-R-O Convention All Star.

 

I remember an article that James wrote a couple years ago on the Jacksonville Axe Maidens, who cheer for the Jacksonville Axemen of the USA Rugby League, and I thought that they were a hot squad with cool uniforms.  So when I saw that they were sending their squad to P-R-O, I knew I wanted to focus my attention on them and snap a few posed photos.   So, here’s my tribute to Darlene Clancy’s Axe Maidens, 2011 P-R-O Convention All Stars.

What’s hotter than an Arizona Summer?  We’ll get back to this later.

I am told that the weather is nice in Phoenix…for six months of the year.  I wouldn’t know because every time I visit the Valley of the Sun, it’s hotter than…well you can imagine.  But as hot as the weather was, it’s was hotter inside the Student Recreation Center at Grand Canyon University.

This past weekend, the Phoenix Suns held auditions for their 2011-2012 Suns Dancers.  Over 160 women and one guy braved the searing Arizona heat to try out for one of the 18 coveted spots on the team.  By the time I arrived at the facility, there was already a long line of girls waiting to register.  After filling out the requisite paperwork, the girls queued up to take photos for the Suns website.  I picked up my media credential and made my way to the far side to get set up for what would be a long day of work.

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Perhaps a better title should be Ladies of the Ring, but that doesn’t have that same cache. And it was certainly a better title than, “the Ringwraiths”. Oh well, let me explain. I’m a guy and as all females know, guys aren’t the most observant people on this earth. We tend to overlook things, like anniversaries or birth dates or in the case of my brother that his wife dyed her hair a different color. Yeah, that’s who we are and that’s how we roll. So it should come as no surprise that I overlooked something that should have been quite obvious and quite special. You see, I am not in the habit of checking out the ring fingers of girls, particularly when you have 260 gorgeous cheerleaders in front of you. With all this feminine pulchritude, your eye tends to gravitate to other areas, to put it politely.

The Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders were at P-R-O and they have some amazing girls on their squad…well, pretty much all of them. Now a few years ago, the Colts won the Super Bowl and when you win a Super Bowl, you get a championship ring. The players do. The coaches do. And their cheerleaders did too. But I didn’t notice this until I got home from Atlanta and started the laborious process of editing my photos. Apparently, there were a few Colts cheerleaders rocking what looked like Super Bowl Championship rings. As I looked into the matter, I noticed that at least two girls who were on that Super Bowl squad were at P-R-O, Ashli and Tessa. And there were a few more girls that were on the 2009 AFC Championship squad that were also in attendance. They were wearing a large ring with a blue stone inlaid with a horseshoe. I thought that was the Super Bowl championship ring at first, but it was apparently the AFC championship ring because when I took a closer look at a photo of Ashli, she was rocking a HUGE ring with what appeared to be diamonds on the facing…that had to be the Super Bowl ring.

Well, I regret not noticing such an obvious thing and hope to get a closer look at next year’s P-R-O Convention. Now that would make for an interesting photo! Next time, girls. But for now, let’s take a look at the Lords of the Ring, the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders.

UPDATE:  So I have just begun to take a second look at my images from last month’s P-R-O Convention and I discovered another Lord of the Ring.  There might one or two more girls that I overlooked and will add them as I come across those images.  But for now, here’s one more Colt cheerleader flashing some hardware.

In my experience, most professional cheerleaders are not only talent dancers, but goal oriented individuals.  I suppose you have to be if you want to become a professional dancer, but that drive and determination also serves you well in other endeavors, such as in education or in your career.  I guess what I am saying is most of these “pretty little cheerleaders” are really multifaceted and goal oriented young women who will have successful careers after they hang up their pom poms.  One such woman is Talmesha of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.  As James told me, Talmesha is in graduate school working on her doctorate in cellular and molecular medicine…Johns Hopkins Medical School to be precise.  Wow!  Beauty and brains.  For this and her on the field dance talents, Talmesha is a definitely a 2011 P-R-O Convention All Star.

Last year, the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders sent only a handful of cheerleaders, but they left a lasting impression.  This year, the Tami Krause and the Minnesota Vikings sent a large contingent to P-R-O and this squad was amazing.  It must be the something in water because the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders were leggy and beautiful in a girl next door way.  They are the epitome of an all American girl.

One girl caught my attention and it wasn’t because she was right in front of me.  No, it was because she had smile on her face during the rehearsals when most girls have studious looks on their faces.  And it didn’t hurt that she was tall and gorgeous to boot.  So in this installment, we turn our attention to Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader Mollie, a 2011 P-R-O Convention All Star.

The Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders are one of the hottest dance teams in the NFL.

New squad photos and bios are up online.  Read all about your favorite Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders here. Seems like you have to have gone to Arizona State University to be on the squad! Just kidding.

And be sure to check out their video series “All In” featuring the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders.

The Houston Texans must have sent their entire squad to PRO because the convention center was filled with Texan cheerleaders.  Everywhere you turned, you ran into a gaggle of Texan cheerleaders and they had the presence of mind to always gather near the front, which made easy to cover their squad.  So, in this installment of the 2011 P-R-O Convention all stars, we turn our attention to Houston Texans Cheerleader Amanda.

The past two years, the Seattle Seahawks have sent four or five girls to P-R-O.  They tend to stay towards the middle of the room, so it’s kind of hard to photograph them in action when they don’t come up front.  And that’s a shame because they always bring a couple of cute girls and they have cool uniforms, particularly their jersey tops with their football hot pants.  This year I asked a few of them to pose for photographs so we could get an up close and personal look.  So without further ado, I present the Seattle Sea Gals – 2011 P-R-O Convention All Stars.