There’s a new set of photos of the Minnesota Timberwolves Dancers on Sports Illustrated.com. Click here to see the action on the court.

The New Jersey Nets website has been updated with profiles and bio photos for the Nets Dancers. Click here to learn all about the team.

Vanessa Bolano
ABC26 News
December 20, 2009

 

NEW ORLEANS – How can we talk about football without mentioning the cheerleaders. The “Saintsations” have been working out hard this year to keep up with the team’s winning ways on the field. ABC 26 News Reporter Vanessa Bolano went behind the scenes to show us how they fire up the crowd come game day.

The Saints aren’t the only ones getting fans excited about this dream season. The “Saintsations” are also working the crowds. the team of 31 women beat out hundreds of others for a chance to be on the sidelines come game day, and they work hard to look good in their flashy outfits. The team trains for nearly 10 hours a week to keep up with the undefeated boys in black and gold.

Rookie Deri’andra Tucker says, “For this to be my first year, and for the Saints to do this well, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Fifth year veteran Chrissy Hamilton says, “This is just so awesome cause I think we’re going to win that NFC championship game this year.”

Most of the girls are from Louisiana, but we found two former cowboy fans on the team. Hope and Meagan say they don’t feel like traitors. Meagan insists, “This has been my home away from home for the past 3 and a half years.”

The “Saintsations” are more than just great dancers, there regular people. when they are not cheering they’re either at work or in school. Jennifer Hannah has a full time job as the Director of Marketing and PR for McDonald’s in New Orleans. To pull of this schedule she says she has to prioritize. “I kind of have to put everything in my week as far as lunch breaks and different opportunities to get away from work as far as scheduling a spray tan, your nails, working out.”

Jessica MacCray even even drives 150 miles each way to be part of the “Saintsations.” I drive from from Alabama every Tuesday and Thursday or Saturday, Sunday or Monday for the games.”

The girls are looking forward to possibly going to the Superbowl. They don’t usually travel to away games, but if the Saints make it all the way they are going to Miami! Yet, just like the men on the field, the “Saintsations” are taking it one game at a time.

Photos from week 17 are up on NFL.com. Click here to see pics of the Dolphins, Broncos, Panthers, Cowboys, Texans, Vikings, Bills, Cardinals, Raiders, and Rams.

This week’s NFL Cheerleader gallery on SportsIllustrated.com features squads from the Chargers, Dolphins, Cowboys, Bucs, Jets, Bills, and Vikings. Click here to view the photos.

By Nathan Burstein
The Jewish Daily Forward
January 06, 2010

Here’s one you haven’t heard before: A National Football League cheerleader converts to Orthodox Judaism, writes herself a comedy and takes the production — pom-poms and all — on tour across the United States.

Theatergoers in Arizona will be among the first to see the show, “The Kosher Cheerleader,” when it opens on January 9 in Phoenix. Booked for a two-week run at the city’s Center for the Performing Arts at Paradise Valley Community College, the one-woman comedy tells the real-life story of Sandy Wolshin, a former cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders who later immersed herself in a mikveh as part of an Orthodox conversion.

“A lot of people assume that as a cheerleader, you can’t walk and talk at the same time, let alone do comedy,” said Wolshin, who tumbled and cheered during five NFL seasons in the 1980s and ’90s.

Once a very blond “Raiderette,” Wolshin is now a very blond playwright and actress who wears a long skirt (but still manages to cartwheel) in her new show, and who doesn’t perform on Friday nights.

The daughter of a Russian Orthodox mother and a “practicing Jewish atheist” father, Wolshin didn’t find her way to Orthodox Judaism until after her professional cheerleading career ended, but she says that her father’s religious background helped her bond with other Jewish cheerleaders during her time in the NFL.

“We would make jokes,” she recalled, “about our relatives saying, ‘Cheerleading, shmeerleading. The owner’s wife, that’s the job for a Jewish girl.’”

Featuring expert pom-pom work, and shtick about Wolshin’s conversion, “The Kosher Cheerleader” will make its way to Florida in April for a one-week run at Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse. Investors and a production team are currently being assembled for a summer staging in New York, Wolshin said.

With four kids and a Reform husband, the former cheerleader said she has “relaxed into Orthodox lite: half the guilt and twice the fun.”

“On the Sabbath, when we go to temple, he gets in the car and I walk,” she said, jokingly. “But he drives slowly so that we can hold hands.”

“The Kosher Cheerleader” isn’t Wolshin’s first foray into Jewish theater. She performed a different show, “The Cheerleader and the Rabbi,” at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2006, but says the new production isn’t based on the original material.

NBC Sports has photos of Ice Girls from across the National Hockey League. Click here to go to the gallery. (The first 40 or so are from this season. The rest of the photos are older.)

The Islanders Ice Girls Dressed up like pumpkins on Halloween

Musicians, comedian, cheerleaders perform at Balad
Dec 26, 2009
U.S. Army

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – The Sergeant Major of the Army’s Hope and Freedom Tour 2009, brought country music artists Mark Wills and Keni Thomas and four Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders to Sustainer Theater Dec. 19 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

The United Service Organization event also included host Leeann Tweeden, comedian Sheryl Underwood, singer, songwriter and actress Alana Grace, and the U.S. Army band, “Downrange,” who traveled to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan to support the troops during the holiday season.
The musicians held a concert and signed autographs after the show.

“For the last eight years, the office of the sergeant major of the Army has been sponsoring a USO show,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston, a Mount Savage, Maryland, native. “(I am) very honored and very humbled to have the opportunity to sponsor a USO trip.”

Command Sgt Maj. Mark D. Joseph, with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) out of Fort Hood, Texas, said the event brings morale to the installation and gives the troops an opportunity to see and visit with entertainers, comedians, cheerleaders and band members for free.

“During the holiday season, it is a hard time being separated from family, friends and loved ones,” he said. “So this gives (the Army) the opportunity to bring a little bit of home to you here in Iraq.”

Joseph said he is grateful the tour comes back annually to spend time with the troops. He said this is his third deployment and his third time seeing the Hope and Freedom tour.

Airman 1st Class Jami L. Welch, security forces officer with the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, said the event started well, and only got better as the night wore on. cWelch, a Vacaville, Calif., native, said the interaction between the performers and the crowd was amazing, especially when the cheerleaders came out and pulled service members on stage to help with the show. It helped get them out of their comfort zone and allowed them to forget about where they were for a moment and have some fun, she said.

Welch said she appreciated the fact that many of the performers had some kind of military affiliation. Some are currently serving, some are prior service, and some have family in the military, she said.

“That was cool, because they understand what we’re going through,” she said. “I’d definitely go back again (to see the show).”

Capt. Willie A. Williams, safety officer with the 13th ESC and a Chesterfield, Va., native, said these events get the troops away from their daily schedule and help boost morale.

“It gets people out of their rooms and, for a little while, gets them thinking about something else other than their jobs and what they have to do,” he said.

If he had the opportunity, Williams said he would look forward to seeing the show again.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” he said.

Col. Frederick Brown, assistant chief of staff for operations with the 13th ESC, said the performers made everyone smile.

“I think each and every one of the performers tonight did a magnificent job,” he said. “I think the (Hope and Freedom tour) is the best thing we could have here at JBB to entertain our Soldiers.”

The performers traveling with the tour sacrificed their time in the United States with their families, and took the time out of their busy holiday schedules to travel overseas and entertain service members, said Brown, a Naches, Miss., native.

Keni Thomas, a country music artist and a Gainesville, Fla., native, said the audience is appreciative of the USO tour.

“We’re so happy to be here and they’re happy to have us,” Thomas said … “We love it. It’s the best show that we get to do.”

Meagan Sharp, a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader and a Roanoke, Texas, native, said she was excited when she found out she would have the opportunity to come and perform for the troops.

“We’re just really excited,” said Sharp. “I think the moment it set in was whenever we were getting all our protective gear. We’re just so excited to be here.”

She said she appreciates what service members do, allowing everybody back home to do what they enjoy.

Alana Grace, a musician and Los Angeles native, said she had heard stories about entertaining here and was excited to come and interact with the troops.

“It’s important to give back and it’s important to boost morale over here,” said Grace. “I can’t imagine spending a long period of time out here, and seeing what you have to give up to do that, it’s incredible.”
Brown said events like these help show everybody why troops serve.

“We should continue to have these tours to motivate our Soldiers,” he said. “I would like to say this is why we as U.S. Soldiers … fight every day and defend our country. Because we love the U.S.A. and this is what it’s all about.”

This year the Los Angeles Laker Girls debuted the team’s very first swimsuit calendar. Fox Sports partnered with the team to make the calendar and produce a “making of” special. From the segments below, it looks like the project was a big success! Click here to get a copy of the 2010 Laker Girls Calendar, which features all 22 members of the team.

Laker Girls’ First Calendar
The Laker Girls step off the court to pose for their first calendar. Go behind the scenes of the photo shoot and see what’s in store for the month of August.

Laker Girls Strike a Pose
The Laker Girls make moves on and off the court. Go behind the scenes of the photo shoot to see what’s in store for February and June.

Laker Girls: Mad for March
Find out which Laker Girl posed for the month of March. Plus, go behind the scenes of the Laker Girls’ calendar shoot.

Laker Girls hit the beach
Take a look behind the scenes at the Laker Girls’ photo shoot. Find out how much style they have on and off the court.

Laker Girls get shipwrecked Laker Girls flip over calender
The Laker Girls find out how hard it is to pose in front of the camera. Take a look to see what the fuss is about for January and May.

Making the Laker Girl Calender

The 2010 Laker Girl calender photo shoot is finally over. Check out which girls and pictures were picked for each month and more.

The Phoenix Suns website has updated their dance team page with lots of photos, videos, and profile information. Click here to learn more about the Phoenix Suns Dancers.