Click here to watch the video on ChicagoBulls.com

Clippers fans may have noticed a new photo up on the Clippers website (click to view full size):

The members of the 2011-12 Clippers Spirit had their first team photo on Sunday at their rehearsal studio.

I crashed, of course. (Always have to see what these girls are up to, don’t ya know.) I love photo shoots. I don’t exactly know why. I just do.

Everyone was all done up and looking beauteous in their sassy red, white, and blue outfits. It was funny to see how fast they’ve bonded as a team, considering some of them were total strangers just last month! A couple of the girls were missing, but I think there’s going to be another shoot later on and hopefully everyone will be included in that one.

Here are a few of my favorite moments from the shoot. Click here for more photos from behind the scenes!

The girls with Director Audrea Harris

Bianca, Becca, Katrina, Rhea, Brittany, and Jacy. Ooh la la!

Everything’s better with puppies!

Settle down kids. This is serious business.

*smooch*

I’m Arianna! (clap clap)
I give good hugs! (clap clap)
I’m not your friend (clap clap)
If you do drugs!
Wooo! Spartan Spirit!!

(Poor Ariana. I bet she’s so over it.)

Personally, I think this is the one they should put on the homepage.

Seahawks.com: Join the Sea Gals for the unveiling of the 2012 Sea Gals Calendar at the Munchbar at Bellevue Square at 7:00pm on August 31st.

The event will feature an introduction of the 2011 squad, an inside look into the making of the calendar and an exclusive autograph session.

Calendars will be available for sale at the event for $15.
Online sales (including pre-orders) for the calendar will be available in the coming weeks.

The Munchbar – Bellevue Square is located at 505 Bellevue Square, Bellevue, Washington

By Patrick Conti
Little Neck Patch
8/19/2011

It’s official sports fans, the New York Islanders have just announced their starting lineup for the 2011-2012 ‘Ice-Girls’ squad.

And for the fifth year in a row the Islanders welcome back a young woman from Little Neck, affectionately known as ‘Ice-Girl Samantha.’

“I’m so excited to have made the Ice-Girls team for another year. I really can’t wait to meet all the new girls,” said the five year Ice-Girl veteran.

The Ice-Girls are a team of 10 young women, who entertain the audience during commercial breaks and in between periods, cleaning the ice, shooting tee-shirts into the crowd and roaming the arena, leading screaming fans in rounds of cheering.

A concept introduced to the NHL by the Islanders during the 2001-2002 season—after the league issued a mandate requiring all buildings to provide staff that could ice skate to shovel the ice clean—the idea of having ice girls is still relatively new to professional hockey, but is catching on quick.

“We were the first though,” said Tim Beach, vice president of Events & Operations, who manages the Ice Girl squad.

Still, Beach was quick to point out that while the on-ice antics of these young ladies is vastly becoming a crowd favorite at Nassau Coliseum, the Ice Girls were more than just cheerleaders.

“These girls are representatives of the Islanders in the community,” Beach said, pointing to a busy calendar of events and appearances the girls make throughout the season.

For Samantha, these appearances are partly what she loves most about the job.

“I like being a role model for young girls. It’s important they have someone to look up to,” she said.

So for all those in Little Neck who haven’t been to a N.Y. Islanders game recently, there seems to be an entirely different reason to come out and cheer for the Islanders—and her name is ‘Ice Girl Samantha.’

The Pats have updated their cheerleader pages with profile information and new uniform photos. Click here to learn more about the 2011-12 New England Patriots Cheerleaders!

The NBC affiliate in Dallas has a new set of photos of the 2011 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in action. Click here to check it out!

The DBC have new uniforms, boots, and poms for the 2011-12 NFL season. They’ve traded the short sleeves and short shorts for a new look with a skirt and a long sleeve blouse. Click here to check out more photos on their Facebook page.

Off with the old…

…On with the new!

The Cowboys Cheerleaders have posted their 2011-12 team photo! Hopefully it will be followed soon by a key indicating who is who, and of course their individual profiles and uniform photos.

Brianna Munoz, Athena Lazo, Jessica Thompson on squad
By Jennifer Toland
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
8/22/2011

Based on the Patriots’ first two preseason games, it seems like there will be a lot to cheer about at Gillette Stadium this year. For Central Mass. natives Brianna Munoz, Athena Lazo and Jessica Thompson that will definitely be the case.

Munoz, of Worcester, and Lazo, who grew up in Southbridge and resides in Worcester, and Thompson, of Hopedale, were selected to the 2011 Patriots cheerleading squad. They survived two rounds of auditions and several weeks of cheerleader boot camp — “It was grueling,” Lazo said — to make the 31-member team.

More than 300 women tried out, so Munoz, Lazo and Thompson are part of a select group.
Munoz, 21, is a rookie on the squad. A graduate of St. Peter-Marian, Munoz is a junior at Providence College, where she is a biology and chemistry major. She would like to become a dentist.

“You can see a person’s self-esteem and confidence from their smile,” said Munoz, who has a pretty dazzling one herself.

Munoz has a background in dance — she’s been at it since she was 2 and is a member of the PC dance company — and, at the suggestion of her roommate, recently began modeling. She was a semifinalist in this year’s Miss Massachusetts pageant.

Lazo, 23, is back for her second season as a Patriots cheerleader.

“It is great being around 30 other positive and uplifting women,” Lazo said.

A graduate of Shepherd Hill Regional, Lazo is attending Worcester State this fall and, in the spring, will return to Morrisville (N.Y.) State, where she will be a senior. Last season, she “commuted” a total of 1,200 miles from Morrisville to Foxboro for Patriots home games and to other locations in the area for public appearances. Lazo, who also has a background in dance, is studying journalism.

Lazo is following in the footsteps of her mom, Renee, who was a Patriots cheerleader in 1984.

Thompson, also a rookie on the squad, is a nursing student at the University of Connecticut, whose goal is to become an active duty officer in the United States Army Nurse Corps.

The Patriots play their home opener Sept. 18, but fans in Central Mass. can meet the Pats cheerleaders before then. They’ll make a guest appearance at Clinton Olde Home Day, from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 9, at Clinton Town Hall.

---

Pettway a Celtics Dancer
Meanwhile, Malaysia Pettway of Worcester will be one of the Celtics Dancers in 2011-12.

Pettway, 19, a 2010 South High graduate who attends Worcester State, made it through two tryout sessions this summer, one in June and the finals in July, to be selected to the 21-woman squad.

“The auditions were definitely a long process, and I was very nervous,” Pettway said. “I feel as this isn’t real. This is going to be a great experience for me, and I’m very excited to be part of the Celtics team.”

Pettway is set to join her new team in September, providing the NBA lockout has been resolved by then.

Pettway is the daughter of North High basketball coach Al Pettway.

Owner’s daughters work on project
By DAVID K. L I
New York Post
August 22, 2011

Jets owner Woody Johnson has made this year’s cheerleader swimsuit calendar a family affair.

Here’s a sneak peek at the Flight Crew’s 2012 calendar — created by his two photographer daughters and filled with pictures of Gang Green’s 19 most beautiful teammates.

The sun-and-fun calendar was shot by Woody’s daughter Daisy Johnson, 23.

A rep for the team owner said Daisy went through the interview process like any other applicant before being selected.

Once the Jets called her number, Daisy tabbed her sister, 29-year-old Jaime, also a photographer, to be art director for the project.

It was the second consecutive year the Flight Crew swimsuit calendar was shot in Aruba.

Despite the tropical setting, the cheerleaders said it was a lot of hard work.

“We really had a great bonding experience and enjoyed the time there,” Flight Crew member and four-year veteran Jessica S. wrote on the team’s website yesterday.

“I cannot wait for all of you to see the amazing outcome of all the hard work.”

Gang Green’s Flight Crew was out there, shaking in the rain last night, as the Jets swamped the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-7, in preseason action at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

“Training camp is more than halfway complete, and we are so excited for things to get started,” Jessica S. wrote.

The dancers will have one last live rehearsal, on Sept. 1 during the Jets’ preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Flight Crew’s season debut will be a nationally televised prime-time gig, when the Jets battle the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 11.

Their long dance to Gang Green’s sidelines started with a series of auditions in April and May.

“There are 41 amazing ladies on the team this year, and we cannot wait to step out onto that field. We’ve been working non-stop to prepare ourselves to cheer for our No. 1 team,” Jessica S. told fans.

“Our schedule includes three days of practice, which consists of physical training and learning choreography for the pregame shows and sidelines, where we dance in the four corners of the field during the game.”

It’s been a gut-wrenching past year-plus for shutterbugs Daisy and Jamie Johnson, having suddenly lost their sister Casey last year.

The 30-year-old heiress died Jan. 4, 2010, in Southern California from diabetic complications. Casey Johnson battled diabetes and drug abuse for years before she died.