Usually during the pre-game at FedEx Field, one line of the Redskins Cheerleaders will entertain fans be performing on stage in the Bud Light Pavilion. But due to technical difficulties, the Cheerleaders did not perform this past Sunday. Instead a few lucky fans got to pose with the Cheerleaders instead.
Tocarra – Redskins Cheerleaders were all sporting pink ribbons to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Fans even limped in on crutches for a chance to be photographed with the First Ladies of Football.
Line Captain Heather poses with a fan.
[Redskins Cheerleaders Week #4 Gallery]
[Washington Redskins Cheerleaders]
The Jacksonville Jaguars kicked off their home opener on September 20th with a 15th Anniversary Celebration. Former members of the ROAR of the Jaguars were invited to participate in a pre-game performance and presentation of retired Jaguars players during half time.
Alumni ROAR member, Keana (and current Jacksonville Axe Maiden) recalls the experience:
The Jaguars 15th Anniversary game on Sunday, September 20th, was a wonderful experience to be a part of.
Practices were so exhilarating, although we all wanted to spend more time catching up with old teammates to hear about their lives. But in the end we ended up with a remarkable performance that was choreographed by former ROAR member/current ROAR Manager, Christy Stechman Zynda.
Seeing all the women from past seasons made me so proud to be a part of something so exclusive. Dancing during the game with all the ROAR Alumni brought back all the wonderful feelings and memories from previous Jaguars games.
The best part of the Alumni performance was being able to dance alongside my sister Kena, my Director (of the Jacksonville Axe Maidens) Darlene Clancy, and some of the Professional Cheerleaders Alumni (PCA) members who choreographed dances for the Axe Maidens during our rugby season. I think cheering for the Jacksonville Axemen has been a huge factor in keeping me well prepared for the work involved at practices for the reunion game. It has allowed me to continue to perform in front of electrifying fans. It was incredible running into my Axe Maidens teammate Amy M., who was just as energized for me. I felt extremely good to know that my current teammates were so supportive, wishing me good luck on my future planned endeavors.
To be part of a performance with over 100 great women who danced for the ROAR over the past 15 years was an extraordinary event that I am sure provided everyone involved with memorable encounters. Knowing we all shared the same great experience, being part of an astounding organization as the “ROAR of the Jaguars”, is difficult to articulate into words how this reunion lifted my spirit. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Keana
ROAR of the Jaguars 2007, 2008
Jacksonville Axe Maidens 2008, 2009
[Photos from the reunion game]
Amanda, Kena, Keana and Darlene
Kena at Keana at practice
Keana in her Axe Maiden uniform
Game Day
The Eagles Cheerleaders have the same uniforms as last year, but there is a subtle change in their look for 2009.
Here’s Heather at the Eagles End Zone in Lancaster last Saturday. Can you tell what’s new?
To help, here’s Amanda from the 2008 Eagles Carnival….
And here’s Tracey from the 2009 pre-season. Got it now?
The poms are larger, and almost twice as heavy! (Though they’re nothing like those late 70’s behemoths)
From Lancaster again, here’s Danni-Lynn who’s a big fan of the new poms.
Another shot of Heather, because she was a sport and gave us a different pose. Heather’s also a big fan of the new poms, although she uses last year’s poms when the Cheerleaders practice.
Earlier in the day Paige and Ali were at the ACME in Smyrna, Delaware. That previous photos of the poms are Paige’s.
Paige is majoring in Communications, and is Danni-Lynn’s sister.
Ali is majoring in Communicative Disorders
Heather and Paige
Here are some bonus photos of the Eagles Cheerleaders courtesy of Reader Mike:
Michelle
Ivelisse and Erica at a 7-11 in New Jersey.
Danni-Lynn at another 7-11
Amanda and Tracey at yet another 7-11.
Stacy and Jenna at an away game party.
Priscilla at an ACME
[Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders]
Mireya Mayor went deep into Madagascar rainforest
By Tia Ghose
The Californian
Just four days ago, National Geographic explorer Mireya Mayor was deep in the forests of Congo, studying gorillas. Then she flew across the globe to describe the surprising path she took from NFL Cheerleader to jungle explorer in a Friday speech at Hartnell College.
Mayor always loved animals but said teachers discouraged her from studying science because she struggled in math and chemistry. Instead, she studied English and philosophy, and was even a Miami Dolphins Cheerleader.
In her junior year, she took an anthropology course that changed her path. She resolved to travel to Madagascar and South America to study lemurs, small nocturnal primates that live deep in the rainforest. Once she was there, a National Geographic documentary team looking for a lemur researcher asked her if she’d like to join its project.
She agreed, then translated that first experience into to regular gigs leading expeditions for both the History Channel and the National Geographic Channel.
On her adventures she swam with man-eating sharks, nursed leopards back to health and went days without food to find an elusive endangered species. She’s also raised awareness of logging and poaching in Madagascar.
The leopards suffered from hydrocephalus, or fluid on the brain. She had found them unable to walk properly. In a hospital, a treatment with vitamin B-12 proved helpful, and could turn out to have human applications, Mayor said.
She was the second of four speakers this season for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Colloquium sponsored by Women in Science and Engineering. About 50 students, professors, and community members attended.
Silvia Cooke, a biology and neuroscience teacher at Salinas High School, had never seen Mayor’s show, but was drawn in by the flier.
“I saw her picture with the tiger and thought, ‘I have to see this,’ ” Cooke said.
Hannelore Rose, a first-year science student at Hartnell, said she had seen Mayor before on the National Geographic Channel. “It’s one of the few shows that capture my undivided attention.”
National Geographic correspondent Mireya Mayor speaks to a crowd of students and faculty from Hartnell College during a talk called “My Wild Life” Friday at the college’s Performing Arts Facility. Mayor recalled her life as the daughter of Cuban immigrants who blossomed from NFL Cheerleader to Fulbright Scholar. Now a primatologist and conservationist, she has explored some of the most remote places on Earth and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for her work on the National Geographic Channel.
By Margaret Hair
The Steamboat Pilot & Today
Gina Zedeck walked into her first Zumba class with years of ballet experience, some prodding from a friend, no background in Latin music and no idea what to expect.
Every Thursday morning since then, she’s gone back.
“I didn’t want to do it because I don’t dance and I was afraid to do it. I haven’t missed one,” Zedeck said. She tries to bring at least one friend a week — most of them claiming not to know how to dance — to Zumba, a high-energy aerobic workout that combines Latin music and dance moves with a fitness routine.
On Friday morning, about 10 dancers of wide-ranging ages and levels of experience met at Northwest Ballet Studio for a rescheduled Zumba class, which regularly meets there at 8:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Starting Friday, the class also will be at Steamboat Pilates Yoga & Fitness from 1 to 2 p.m. Fridays.
Instructor Renee Fleischer blasted R&B dance music from the stereo system and led the class in a warm-up, with easy-to-follow steps to get things going. After that, the Zumba routine slams on the gas, working through one up-tempo, Latin-flavored song after another with across-the-floor steps and aerobic moves. It’s not easy, and it definitely helps to have some sense of rhythm, but you don’t have time to think about that.
“It happens so fast. We all thought we would look like dorks, but you can’t look at yourself or each other; you have to look at Renee the whole time,” Zedeck said.
The dance class trend started in Colombia in the 1990s, with Zumba becoming a trademarked fitness brand in the early 2000s, gaining popularity through infomercials and dance-step DVDs.
Fleischer got interested in Zumba when a friend who owns a Front Range dance studio invited her to a class. She enjoyed it enough to go through a required Zumba Instructor Training Workshop and started teaching Zumba classes in Steamboat at the end of August. She also teaches jazz dance at Northwest Ballet Studio and spent a few years each as a San Diego Chargers Girl and a Denver Broncos Cheerleader.
Fleischer’s Zumba routine changes every four to six weeks, she said. Friday’s workout included a new routine with different music and a fresh set of challenges for Zumba regulars. It takes two to three weeks of listening to an hour’s worth of quick-moving Latin tracks for Fleischer to choreograph a new class workout that will work for anyone, she said.
“You don’t need to have any dance experience to follow the class at all,” she said. “And the class changes every four to six weeks, so if you feel like it’s a challenge at first, it definitely gets easier.”
This episode of On The Flipside features former Orlando Magic Dancer Captain (and current Miss Florida USA) Megan Clementi.
Complete details here.
From WickedLocal.com
Christine Crugnola Petruniw, formerly of Needham, daughter of Nina and Tony Crugnola, won first prize in the adult baking contest at the Brooklyn Fair in Connecticut for her chocolate chip cookies.
This was the 160th annual Brooklyn Fair, which is the oldest agricultural fair in the United States. This year also marks the 200th anniversary of the Windham County Agricultural Society, the organization that started the fair and still sponsors it.
Petruniw’s entry was in the Home and Garden section. This was the first time she entered a baking contest. She has been making these cookies for many years.
Christine Crugnola Petruniw, shown here with her mother and father, Nina and Tony CrugnolaPetruniw is a certified substitute teacher in Canterbury, Conn., having retired from the MBTA in Boston after 24 years as a systems analyst. She also was a Patriots Cheerleader in the 1978 season.
Hope to see you there!
[Smokin’ Hot Steam Team Auditions]
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):
Previous results:
