By SAL CIMATO, MATTHEW GELLER, JOSHUA POLANSKY AND SYDNEY TRAVIS, YOUTH REPORTERS – Newsday
The Bellingham Herald
Jan. 12, 2012
We met actress Stacy Keibler at the New York Health and Racquet Club in Manhattan. She is an actress and former WCW Nitro girl and Baltimore Ravens cheerleader. We talked to her about her career and the new video game Your Shape Fitness Evolved (UbiSoft).
Question: Tell us about your video game.
Answer: The video game is super cool because it’s called “Your Shape Fitness Evolved” and it gets you off the couch and you get to have a workout while you’re playing the video game. So I think it’s really cool.
Q: How long do you work out every day?
A: I usually work out about an hour and half sometimes two hours as many days as I can. Usually between four or five days a week.
Q: Who is your personal trainer?
A: My personal trainer, her name is Juliet Kaska and I’ve been with her for years; and I love having a personal trainer because even when I’m tired and I don’t feel like going to the gym, when I have an appointment I make sure I get there. So she keeps me going.
Q: What is your favorite exercise and what exercise do you hate the most?
A: Well my favorite exercise would probably be lunges and things for my legs. I think that there are days where I don’t really like to do cardio and still I have to do it.
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a fitness trainer?
A: I’m not a fitness trainer, but I always liked fitness and I feel like it’s something I’ve been doing since I was – whenever I was able to go to a gym, actually, I had a job at the front desk of a gym. That was one of my first jobs. So I just always liked it.
Q: How did you become interested in fitness?
A: I just think when I saw the results of what it did for my body and for me being healthy I think I got addicted to it.
Q: When did you retire from wrestling?
A: I retired maybe like 6 years ago.
Q: Did you ever get the Diva’s championship?
A: I didn’t.
Q: What WWE super star did you look up to as a child?
A: Wow I guess as a child I always liked Hulk Hogan, but when I was there, The Rock. He’s pretty special.
Q: What is your signature move and your finishing move?
A: My signature move was I used to put my leg up and choke girls at their neck. And like snap them and stuff like that. I guess kicks, things with my legs. They’re so long I could just kick them and take them down.
Q: How did you like the show “Dancing with the Stars” and dancing with Max?
A: Well I danced with Tony, my partner. And it was great. It was a really cool experience. It’s much harder than it looks.
Q: How was your favorite actor or actress to work with?
A: I don’t know because I like working with everybody that I worked with. I don’t really have a favorite.
The latest gallery on Sports Illustrated features the ice crew from the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. Click here to check it out!
The Sixers have added individual uniform shots for the newly unveiled Dream Team dance squad. Click here to check ’em out!
Lisa Thomas-Laury
Action News
1/10/2012
PHILADELPHIA – January 10, 2012 (WPVI) — An enthusiastic new cheerleading squad is kicking up its heels at Camelot’s Excel Academy in Northeast Philadelphia.
The Camelot Accelerated Schools work in partnership with the Philadelphia School District to help high school students who’ve dropped out or fallen behind on their grade level.
On Tuesday, the squad got a visit from the Eagles Cheerleaders! For the juniors and seniors in attendance, it was an opportuniity to imagine their own futures.
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“Talking about college and what they’re going to do after school and how they got to this positition is what we wanted them to talk about,” said Allison Lloyd, a teacher at Excel Academy North. “They did, and it was great!”
It’s the first time a Camelot school has had a cheerleading squad. Lloyd, came up with the idea and asked a fellow teacher to help her coach the girls.
English teacher Melissa Keiler said many of the students are on honor roll.
“It gives them a motivation to also do well in school,” said Keilar.
It has also given the girls a second chance at finding their way in life.
“I had to put my time into this, put everything into this, had to let peple go for this. I feel great about it!” said senior Markea Plaire.
Members of the professional squad said they were super impressed with these girls.
“They are just the epitome of everything we want to represent and we want to work for,” said Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader “Cat” Aducci.
The school’s efforts seem to be paying off: about 95% of all Camelot students graduate.
Now here’s a song I haven’t heard in a while 🙂
Ok, so she made a little mistake. It happens.
The recovery is what’s important!
By Jayme Lamm
Culturemap Houston
01.07.12
For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans are in the playoffs, set to play the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. Duh. You’ve disconnected yourself from every Internet-related device, television, radio and human being in H-Town if you’ve missed that fun little tidbit of info.
While much of the focus has been on rookie quarterback T.J. Yates’ banged up shoulder, guard Mike Brisiel’s return to the starting lineup after surgery, defensive coordinator Wade Phillip’s energy levels after his surgery, the tenacity of the Texans defense (which ranks second in the NFL), and what these guys are doing to prepare for the big game, little (or actually no) attention has been paid to the 30-plus women who parade around in sexy Texans gear pumping up the crowds each and every home game.
And since there’s no crowd, or game for that matter, more important in Texans history than this playoff game, I thought I’d swing by practice and see what these ladies are working on. Since Monday, the girls have been diligently learning all new routines.
While the cheerleaders typically do four routines a game and practice three times a week, they too are feeling the playoff pressure practicing every single day this week and learning five brand new routines, including a halftime dance choreographed to the tune of a live performance by Clay Walker.
I spoke with Amanda, the most seasoned girl on the team (in her fifth season) and asked what the contingency plan was if Clay changed the beat or got a little twangy in his lyrics. Is it business as usual?
“If he decides to throw in a ‘HEY HOUSTON’, we have to stay on our counts,” she says. “Our game plan is our game plan no matter what.”
As the girl with the most tenure on the team, Amanda knows all too well how rough past seasons have been.
“It’s a really nice change of pace going out into the community and hearing fans positive feedback with a winning record,” she says. “Everyone has been so supportive this season which makes our job a lot easier.”
Nicole (or Rihanna as some call her), a second-year veteran, explained the cheerleaders’ grueling long hours.
“We’ve been practicing each night from about 6:30-midnight learning all the new dances, but it’s worth it. I’m super excited — not only because it’s a playoff game, but we are making history as the first Texans cheerleading squad to make the playoffs,” she says.
And it isn’t just the cheerleaders that are making history — 39 of the Texan players will be making their first ever playoff appearance. More stuff to cheer for.
Reporters asked Gary Kubiak if he was putting in 10 to 12 hours each day leading up to the game. “At least that,” Kubiak responded. These girls are putting in almost the same kind of hours.
Moe (short for Morgan), another second-year vet, detailed how hectic this week has been. As a physician’s liaison, she works her usual 8 to 5 job and then heads directly to the bubble for at least six hours of practice.
“It makes for a very long day, but with a four-minute pre-game dance and a five-minute halftime show ahead of us, we’ve got our work cut out,” she says.
Moe is not only a proud member of the squad, she’s also the lone Texans cheerleader headed to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii at the end of January to represent as one of 27 cheerleaders voted by their peers to attend.
I asked head cheerleader coach, Alto Gary, who has been coach since day one (“Day one, 2011” as she likes to say), why they were busting their humps to learn all new routines in such a short timespan.
“It’s the playoffs, a new beginning. This is our first time making the playoffs, and I wanted to make it special for the team and the fans,” Gary says. “Since we were going from back-to-back games with a quick turnaround, I did give the girls a head start and sent two of the dances to them online.”
I guess there are more uses for technology than I once thought.
Aside from getting to be part of history, I wondered if the girls got any additional incentives for playoff games like the players did.
“Well, it may not seem like much, but they did get the chance to purchase playoff tickets in advance, which for many teams is rare,” Gary says. “And, they get cool playoff shirts they didn’t have to stand in line for,” she laughs as she showcases the shirts with “Texans Playoffs” written in bedazzled letters in both a red and navy varieties.
Without stating the blatantly obvious, Houston has a lot to celebrate. Since the last playoff game in Houston (which took place on January 16, 1994 when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome in front of 64,011 fans), a lot has happened in the world of football:
– 190 playoff games played
– 20 NFL stadiums built (including Reliant Stadium)
– 12 different Super Bowl winners
– Four new teams joined the NFL (including the Texans)
– Three teams moved to a new city
Back then, the number 1 song was “I Will Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf, President Barack Obama was an associate at a Chicago law firm, gas prices averaged $1 a gallon, and defensive end J.J. Watt was only 4-years-old.
A lot has changed. Here’s hoping for many more playoff games to come, whether or not they are hosted right here in Houston.
I think we’d all be OK with an upcoming game in Indianapolis, yes?
FoxSports.com (Jan 5, 2011): Always willing to lend a helping hand, The Clippers Spirit dancers are a vital part of the Los Angeles community. Click here to check out the slide show.
Individual profiles of the Blackhawks Ice Crew have been updated on the team’s website. Click here to check ’em out!
