Why I love living in Southern California…80 degree weather in the middle of winter. While other parts of the country were feeling a little bit chilly and a little bit snowy, it was perfect weather for some football. It was warm. It was sunny. And the Redskins were in town to play the Chargers in a game that meant absolutely nothing to both of them. The Chargers had wrapped up the AFC West and a first round playoff bye. And the Redskins already wrapped up a high pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Needless to say, the football was…not good.

Now, I know what Indianapolis Colts fans feel like in late December. After storming out to a 13 point lead early in the second quarter, the Chargers pulled their starters and seemed content to play their second team the rest of the way. Against the Redskins first string, the Chargers scrubs gave up two touchdowns and the lead at halftime. When the Charger’s first string left the field, so did all semblance of NFL quality football.

The second half wasn’t much better as both teams struggled to move the ball. However, the Redskins, still playing their first string, were able to score two field goals to the Chargers one. To this football fan, it seemed like the players were going through the motions, just waiting for the game to end. How bad was it? Charger defensive players weren’t tackling, so much as grabbing and stopping forward progress. It was so bad I thought they were playing two-hand touch football. No lie. I saw a Charger defensive back gently shove Santana Moss out of bounds. Perhaps he didn’t want to break a finger nail…because Lee Press On Nails are expensive, eh?

Well, the only bit of excitement came with four minutes left in the game, when Billy Volek, the Chargers’ second string quarterback, threw a touch down pass to fullback Mike Tolbert for the come from behind, game winner…the eleventh win in a row. Other than that…the football sucked. And I paid $90 bucks for this. As the guys on ESPN Monday Night Countdown would say…Come on, Man!

The football was bad, but the Charger Girls were good!

Okay, let’s start off this week’s parade of Charger Girls with the Line Captains…Marisa, Tonya, Ashlie and Marlina.

This week’s Charger Girl of the Day is a rookie from South Pasadena, California…Introducing Emily.

Okay, let’s start off our parade of ab fab Charger Girls with some veterans, Ashley, Brittany W., Carly N., Casie, and Giselle.

And let’s continue our coverage with veterans Heather, Jacquelyn, Michelle, Nicole L., Nicole M. and Vanesa.

We had a very large group of rookie Charger Girls this year. Here’s Andrea, Belinda (who I think was a bit under the weather), Brittany R., Carly S., and Emily.

And let’s continue with rookies Katie, Kimberly, Lauren, Melanie, Natalie, Tiffany and Victoria.

And before I forget, Kylette was down in my section again. She was there supporting the Charger Girls along with Brittany W’s mom, who I think was taking pictures of Brittany W.

I tried to convince Kylette to try out for the 2010 squad, but I am not sure I was successful. She must be enjoying her retirement too much. If she doesn’t try out next year, I’ve got a spare seat she can use to cheer on that squad…it’s the best seat in the house for watching the Charger Girls.

And while on the subject of the 2010 squad, as I was getting a Charger Girl calendar signed for Max, our Arizona Correspondent, I discovered that Nicole L. is retiring this year. That’s too bad because she is one of my favorite Charger Girls to photograph.

I hope she changes her mind and comes back again for one more year. And I am sure there will be a few others hanging up the pom poms after the season. I know being a Charger Girl is time consuming and something that can only be done while young and relatively free of the responsibilities that burden us as we get older.

This is the last game of the season for me. The playoffs are a bit too expensive for my budget, so I want to take this opportunity to thank the Charger Girls for a wonderful year. I have enjoyed covering them for this blog and would like to encourage all of them to try out again. But, if some don’t, I hope they have fond memories to last them a lifetime…once a Charger Girl, always a Charger Girl.

See you next season, Charger Girl fans.

For more Charger Girl articles and photos, please check out my blog: The Hottest Dance Team In The NFL.

In a titanic battle of division leaders, the AFC North leading Cincinnati Bengals came to town to play the AFC West leading San Diego Chargers. The weather was a balmy 73 degrees, perfect Southern California winter weather. The crowd was pumped. The Charger Girls were hot. And the game was…exciting!

The Chargers scored first on a three yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates, but the Bengals would score the next ten points before the Chargers responded with a Rivers to Vincent Jackson TD pass. It was like that all game long, back and forth. And when the Bengals tied the score on a Shayne Graham field goal with less than a minute left in regulation, most everyone in attendance thought that the game would go into overtime. We were wrong.

Philip Rivers calmly drove the Chargers down the field to the Bengal’s 34-yard line in 51 seconds to set up the game winning field goal, a 52-yarder by Nate Kaeding. Chargers win, 27 – 24.

And the most amazing site of all? At the game’s end, the last minute of the Raiders vs Broncos game was shown on the jumbotron. With the Raiders holding on to a slim, one point lead and the Broncos on offense, Charger fans were cheering the Raiders on to victory! And when the time expired, a loud roar was heard inside Qualcomm stadium. Charger fans were celebrating a Raider’s win, one that gave the AFC West Title to the Chargers. Strange times, indeed!

Well, perhaps that was the second most amazing site of the day. Here’s the first.

Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus…because the Charger Girls were wearing their blue velvet Christmas uniforms! And here’s Marisa, Tonya, Ashlie and Marlina, Line Captains one and all.

And season’s greetings to this week’s Charger Girl of the Day…Jacquelyn.

This is Jacquelyn’s second CGOTD award this season. In truth, there were many candidates to choose from this week, Melanie, Marlina, Heather, Lauren, Giselle, Ashley and Nicole M., but this photo of Jacquelyn was the best of the day…okay, it was my favorite photo of the day. It’s the hair…guys dig big, sexy hair.

Now, let’s us turn our attention to the rest of the Charger Girls, a veritable holiday feast for the eyes. And this week, I am going to introduce the Charger Girls in squad order…assuming my memory holds true. If not, I am sure Max, our sometimes Arizona Correspondent will correct me.  He was out west enjoying the Charger Girl goodness for a third time this year,

Here’s Marisa’s line: Victoria, Nicole M., Brittany W., Carly S., Michelle and Natalie.

And let’s take a look at Tonya’s line: Brittany R., Vanesa, Andrea, Kimberly Emily and Ashley.

Next up is Ashlie’s line: Carly N., Casie, Nicole L., Belinda, Heather and Tiffany.

And finally, Marlina’s line: Katie, Lauren, Jacquelyn, Melanie and Giselle.

It’s not often I get to show a group photo of the Charger Girls performing on the field, mainly because there are so many people on the sidelines that it’s virtually impossible to get a clean, unobstructed shot. But here’s one showing the Charger Girls in their holiday best.

And L.T. stopped by after the game to pay his respects. Dude, save something for next week because with a win, we get a first round playoff bye.

It was a game for the ages, a titanic struggle between two top teams in the AFC. Mourning the death of teammate Chris Henry, the Bengals came to play. The Chargers had a tiger by the tail and it took a last second field goal to avoid getting bit by the Bengals. But with the win, the Chargers became the…

Happy Holidays, Charger Girl fans!

For more Charger Girl photos and articles, check out my blog: The Hottest Dance Team in the NFL.

The votes are in and third year Charger Girl Ashlie was selected as the Charger’s 2010 Pro Bowl representative.

Congratulations on a honor well deserved!

Former Charger Girl Summer emailed to let me know that she and her husband are the proud parents of baby Gavin, born on November 14th, 2009 at 4:46 a.m.  At 6 lbs., 1 oz.  and 18.5 inches long,  looks like we have a future Charger football player in the making.

Let’s wish Summer, Lennie and baby Gavin health, happiness and good fortune!

And here’s a pic of Summer back in the day.

Ten years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were the power in the AFC West with three division titles, seven playoff appearances and one appearance in the AFC championship game.  They were coached by Marty Schottenheimer and featured future Hall of Fame players like Neil Smith and Derrick Thomas.  They played a tough nosed, winning brand of football.

The 2009 Chiefs are not those guys.  On Sunday, the new-age Kansas City Chiefs rolled into Qualcomm stadium and were thoroughly manhandled by the reigning AFC West Champion Chargers.  Two touchdown passes thrown by Philip Rivers and two rushing touchdowns by LaDainian Tomlinson were two touchdowns more than needed to put away the Chiefs.  The Chargers scalped the Chiefs, 43 – 14.

I will tell you that the game was so one sided at one point, my side of the field was clear of photographers and TV crews because the action never got out of the Chiefs end of the field for most of the second quarter.  That’s good because it makes it easier for me to get clean, unobstructed views of the Charger Girls…and you know I absolutely hate anything that gets in the way of me, my camera and my Charger Girls!

As is custom, let us start this week’s coverage by introducing the Line Captains, Marisa, Tonya, Ashlie, Marlina.

This week’s Charger Girl of the Day was rocking the big, sexy hair…introducing Carly S.

Okay, some of our readers may know I went to UCLA and this past Saturday, my Bruins played our crosstown rivals, the USC Trojans…and we lost…again.  So, in honor of the Trojans beating my lowly Bruins, here’s my tribute to Troy…former USC Song Girls Nicole M. and Jacquelyn…two of the nicest Charger Girls you’ll ever meet.

And now, let us begin our parade of absolutely fabulous Charger Girls with a few photos of Natalie, Melanie, Giselle, Andrea, Michelle Carly N. and Vanesa.

And we continue our coverage with Victoria, Ashley, Belinda, Heather, Lauren, Katie, Tiffany, and Nicole L.

And let’s close this week with a few photos of Brittany R., Brittany W., Emily, Kimberly, Casie, Ashlie, and Tonya.

The Chiefs game used to be one of the biggest games of the year, but recently it has lost some of it’s luster.  A football team’s fortunes have a way of rising and falling.  And in the AFC West, teams seems to cycle through periods of dominance…the Raiders, then the Chiefs, then the Broncos and now it’s the Chargers turn.  If there’s one thing about AFC West football, teams don’t stay down for very long.  The Chiefs time will come, but not just now.

Well that’s all for a while.  The next game for me will be Dec. 20 which will feature, I hear, the Charger Girls in their blue velvet Christmas uniforms!

Happy Holidays, Charger Girl fans.

For more Charger Girl articles and photos, please check out my blog: The Hottest Dance Team in the NFL.

Last Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles flew into town to play the resurgent Chargers.  They must have suffered from jet lag because when the game mattered, Philly’s finest kicked four field goals in response to the Chargers scoring four touchdowns.  Reports of LaDainian Tomlinson’s demise proved to be premature, as the former league MVP gashed the Eagles for 96 yards and two touchdowns.  Donovan McNabb threw for 450 yards and two late touchdowns, but that was not enough to catch the Chargers who defeated the Eagles, 31 – 23.

With the win, the Chargers move into a first place tie for the AFC West with the fading Denver Broncos.  As for the Eagles, the loss drops them into a second place tie with the New York Giants in the ultra competitive NFC East.

Well, I must say that Eagle fans really support their team as thousands of green jersey clad fans descended upon the aging confines of Qualcomm stadium to cheer on their team.  As if I needed any help, I was reminded that the word “eagles” is spelled, E-A-G-L-E-S!!!  Yes, I applaud their feisty spirit.  Now, let us turn our attention to some Chargers spirit.

Nothing beats California Girls, even if some of them are transplants from Montana, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas.  Oh well, I digress.  Well, let’s start off this week’s coverage with the Line Captains: Marisa, Tonya, Ashlie, and Marlina.

And let me introduce this week’s Charger Girl of the Day…Line Captain Marisa.

Qualcomm Stadium was packed and a rousing crowd of Eagles and Chargers fans made this game feel like the playoffs.  It must have been quite an exhilarating experience for first year Charger Girls, Andrea, Belinda, Brittany R., Emily, and Tiffany.

When it was time to get the crowd fired up, veteran Charger Girls Ashley, Brittany W., Carly N., Giselle, Heather, and Vanesa led the way.

And here are a few photos of Casie, Jacquelyn, Nicole M., Kimberly, Tiffany, Natalie, and Victoria to round out our coverage of the Hottest Dance Team in the NFL.

And here’s a photo of the Charger Girls performing their second quarter break dance routine.

Also spotted on the sidelines was former Charger Girl Ashley W., who was one of the Charger Girl coordinators this week.   As readers may know, she and her mom are the primary reasons why I am a contributor to this blog.  You can read more about her here.

I hope the Eagles fans enjoyed their trip out west.  The weather was nice, San Diego’s beaches were inviting, and California Girls…incomparable.  And by the way, its spelled C-H-A-R-G-E-R-S!!!

To see more Charger Girl photos, please visit my blog, The Hottest Dance Team in the NFL.

I regularly check out the various Charger message boards to see what’s being discussed about my adopted NFL team.  I usually read some interesting tidbit about what the fans think about the Chargers.  Occasionally, I see a few of my photos posted in the inevitable Charger Girl thread.  And on rare occasions, I find a bit of cheerleader serendipity.

Let me explain.  A few weeks ago, the Miami Dolphins came to San Diego to play the Chargers.  And while I was in the Bud Light Power Party, I noticed a group of girls wearing these Dolphin tank tops.  They were all over the place, including taking photos with the Charger Girls…posing for photos with them behind the signing table, which is a no-no for most of us.  It’s a safety reason.

Anyways, I didn’t think twice about these girls because for most games, it is not uncommon for fans from the visiting team to hang around the Power Party.  Well, fast forward to yesterday.  I was perusing the Chargers’ message board and I noticed a photo of the Charger Girls.  I clicked on the photo link, which takes me to a Flickr page and I notice a couple of photos of these Dolphin girls.  I take a closer look and get the feeling that I’ve seen these girls before.  And then it hits me.  I pull up the Miami Dolphins Cheerleader’s web site and to my surprise, there they are…Fabiola, Ashton, Ashanda, Brittany F., Genesis, Tarrin, and Andrea.

I think it’s neat that the Dolphins Cheerleaders came out to San Diego to support their team.  Frankly, I always liked the idea of having the visiting team’s cheerleaders come out and perform in uniform, like you see at the Super Bowl.  That would be quite an interesting sight.  But, I am not so sure that it would be feasible or whether the home team’s squad would want to share the spotlight.

Anyway, I thought I would share this little bit of cheerleader serendipity with our readers.  Thanks to Nathan Rupert for the use of his photos under the Flickr Creative Commons license.  Check out his Flickr page here.

When the Raiders come to town, it’s always a freak show…and not because it’s the day after Halloween.  Raider fans typically paint their faces silver and black, wear funny outfits and act strangely.  I know. I used to be one…let me clarify…I used to be a Raider season ticket holder.  So, I am well aware of the oddities that usually accompany a visit from the Raiders, like the time I witnessed a Raider fan fighting a Charger fan in the parking lot…now, here’s the strange part…the Charger fan somehow extricates himself from the fracas and another Raider fan jumps in and takes his place in the fight.  Now, there are two Raider fans fighting each other.  Strange, but true.

Unfortunately for fans of a competitive fight, there was no such excitement on the field this past Sunday, where the Chargers defeated the Raiders, 24 – 16.  The final score was somewhat deceiving in that the Raiders never really threatened the Chargers after giving up a 21 – 10 halftime lead.

Now let us turn our attention to the real reason why we are all here…the Charger Girls in Halloween costumes!  A Halloween game is one of the most eagerly anticipated because of those sexy outfits.  Our Arizona Cardinals Correspondent, Max, made the trek out west to experience the festivities in person…even though there was Cardinals game on the same day.  Now you know this must be a special event to do that.  And it really is, because the Charger Girls go all out in dressing up for Halloween.

Since this was a special week, I decided to stay the entire game and photograph all of the girls for your benefit.  So, this week, I am going to do something different and show the girls and their Line Captain in the order that they appeared before my section.  But, before we get to that, let me start off this week by introducing my choice for Charger Girl of the Day, Line Captain Marlina.

Let’s start off our parade of costumed Charger Girls with Marisa’s line: Victoria, Nicole M., Brittany W., Marisa, Carly S., Michelle, and Natalie.

And let’s introduce Tonya’s line next: Brittany R., Vanesa, Andrea, Line Captain Tonya, Kimberly, Emily and Ashley.

Up next, Ashlie’s line: Carly N., Casie, Nicole L., Line Captain Ashlie, Belinda, Heather, and Tiffany.  By the way, I think Ashlie looks rather stunning as a Brunette.

And last but not least, Marlina’s line:  Katie, Lauren, Marlina, Jacquelyn, Melanie, and Giselle.

This loss to the Chargers, the thirteenth straight, must be frightening for Raider fans.  Let’s face it.  The Raiders are an organization in disarray, without the leadership or guidance to compete at the highest levels in the NFL.  And that’s a shame, because they were one of the flagship teams of the old AFL and Al Davis was instrumental in the merger with the NFL.  Unfortunately, the game has passed him by.

For Charger fans, we have the Charger Girls, who sustained us during our lean years.  And on this day, the Charger Girls, not play the on the field, were the sight to see. If you weren’t there, you missed something special.

To see more Charger Girl photos, please visit my blog: TheHottestDanceTeam.wordpress.com

Monday Night Football, a packed house, and the first place Denver Broncos coming to town meant that this game was going to be special.  The Denver Broncos sported an undefeated record and the league’s best defense, but all against several teams considered amongst the worst in the NFL.  Surely, the defending AFC West Champion Chargers would be a truer test of whether the Broncos were for real or merely a product of a weak schedule.  The Chargers and Broncos battled back and forth for three quarters, but poor special teams play doomed the Chargers. Journeyman Eddie Royal to return a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns as the Broncos carried the day, 34 – 23.

Well, if the game wasn’t so special, the Charger Girls throwback uniforms were certainly very special.  I see that they have taken their old throwback uniforms and given them a sexier makeover by cropping the top just a bit.  And I like the color scheme.  The girls looked quite nice in yellow and blue.  See for yourself.

Line Captains Ashlie, Marlina, Marisa and Tonya show off the new version of the throwback uniform.

This week’s Charger Girl of the Day really stood out the in images I captured.  Her dance ability, photogenic good looks and vivacious personality made quite an impression, introducing Heather.

Let’s take a look at some of the other Charger Girls modeling the throwback uniform.  Here’s Ashley, Jacquelyn, Emily, Giselle, Melanie, Kimberly, and Lauren

And let me introduce our Brittany R. and Brittany W.

And here are some photos of Carly N. and Carly S.

Our parade of throwback uniformed Charger Girls continues with Andrea, Belinda, Michelle, Nicole L., Tiffany, Vanesa and Victoria.

And let’s complete this weeks coverage of the Charger Girls with a few more photos of Ashlie, Marlina, Heather and Melanie.

Well, I must say the way the Chargers played was nothing special, but the way the Charger Girls looked in their Charger Girl throwback uniforms…that was quite special, indeed.  And in two weeks, we get to see the Hottest Dance Team in the NFL performing in their Halloween costumes.  The last time we featured the Charger Girls in these provocative outfits, we had one of the highest number of hits on our old website.  So, see you in two weeks.

For more Charger Girl articles and photos, please visit my blog: TheHottestDanceTeam.wordpress.com

Mark Twain once said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. With temperatures expected in high 50’s/low 60’s, I was thinking that my little excursion to photograph the 49ers Gold Rush cheerleaders would end in frustration. You see, the Gold Rush have, in my humble opinion, one of the best uniforms in the NFL. I love their vest and skirt combination. It’s a hot combination. But with cool temperatures forecasted, would they opt for more cold weather oriented attire?

Fortunately for me, the weather was only a tad chilly at times. In fact, it turned out to be a very pleasant day in San Francisco with plenty of sunshine and beautiful blue skies. The air was cool, crisp and clean, something I am not accustomed to…being from Los Angeles. It was a perfect day for some football…if you are not a team named the St. Louis Rams. A strong defensive effort by the 49ers and their own ineptitude silenced the Rams offense, which gained a pathetic 177 yards. As a consequence, the Niners slaughtered the Lambs, 35–0.

Oh yeah, the nice weather allowed me to get some beautiful photographs of the beautiful Gold Rush cheerleaders.

I got to Candlestick Park early to catch a pregame performance of the Gold Rush in the Bud Light Goldmine. Like many other NFL teams, the 49ers have a special area where the fans are able to meet the Gold Rush and get an autographed calendar. So, I took this opportunity to snap a few photographs while I caught up on the early games that were being shown on the numerous TVs. Here are a few photos of the Desiree, Amber, Eli, Valora, Jennifer and Chris at the Goldmine.

Candlestick Park, like the other two football stadiums in California (Oakland and San Diego), is an old baseball stadium converted for mixed use. Typically the sight lines in these stadiums are odd and at Candlestick the old baseball dugouts are still present. In fact, the Gold Rush climb onto top of these dugouts at kickoff and after the 49ers score a touchdown to perform for crowd. I guess that’s a good way to make use of an obsolete architectural design.

A regular feature in my Charger Girl Game Day reports is the Charger Girl of the Day, which highlights the cheerleader that left the most memorable impression on film. So in that spirit, I would like to introduce the Gold Rush Cheerleader of the Day, Lauren R.

Well, let’s turn our attention to action on the sidelines. Another Gold Rush cheerleader that gave a rather memorable performance was Amy, a four year veteran.

Here are a few photographs of Alexis, Brittany, Cindy, Elizabeth, Lauren D., and Rachel.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this past Sunday NFL players and their cheerleading squads wore special pink accessorized uniforms. Here are a few photographs of Tasha, Carmen, Cassandra, Erica, Morgan and Kelly wearing the pink Gold Rush outfits.

Last year, I made the drive up from Los Angeles to catch a 49ers game and photograph the Gold Rush. One girl who made a lasting impression was Jasmin. I think you can see why from the following photographs.

And let’s close out our coverage of the Gold Rush with a few photographs of Kelly, Amber, Lindsay, Meridith, Tritia, Tasha and Valora.

I love visiting San Francisco. It’s one of the world’s most beautiful cities and there are many interesting things to see and do here. With a resurgent football team and a dynamic squad of cheerleaders, I think I’m going to make visiting Candlestick Park a regular part of my itinerary. And if you are a NFL fan, you should too.