There are loads of game day photos of the ROAR of the Jacksonville Jaguars up on the Jags website. All of their home games, from preseason up through last weekend are online.Click here to see the action on the field.
Lexi Zimmermann enters second season on dance team
By Tanner Kent
Staff Writer
Mankato Free Press
October 08, 2009
Lexi Zimmermann has been performing in Mankato since she was 3 years old.
An expert dancer in several styles, Zimmermann is a 2004 Mankato East graduate who has been tapping, jazzing and hip-hopping for 20 years.
She fell in love with the art form at Dance Express in Mankato and participated on high school dance teams. During the summer, while on leave from her college dance team at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Zimmermann would often visit her hometown to tutor students and help with dance camps.
Now a college graduate, Zimmermann is still dancing in Mankato. Only now, she’s a professional with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and she performs in heels.
“That makes it much tougher than when I was dancing in high school,” said Zimmermann, who was back in Mankato on Sunday for a Timberwolves exhibition game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bresnan Arena.
“It’s challenging.”
But it’s also a passion. A passion that’s been evident to Mitzi Roberts for a long time.
Roberts is the director of Dance Express, a Mankato studio that has now produced two professional dancers in Zimmermann and Kaylee Munson, who is a cheerleader for the Minnesota Vikings.
Zimmermann called Roberts “an inspiration.” Roberts called Zimmermann a natural talent.
“She’s always been good,” Roberts said of the blond-haired pupil who walked through her doors at 4 years old. “Right away in class I noticed that she had something.”
That certain “something” was a combination of talents. Roberts said Zimmermann had plenty of ability, but she also had drive and determination.
Roberts said that while Zimmermann was in high school, there were times when she didn’t make the team she was hoping for or didn’t have the performance she wanted. But, she said, her dedicated pupil never wavered.
“She had a lot of perseverance,” Roberts said. “She had God-given talent, but she also had focus and was a quick learner.”
Zimmermann first auditioned for the Timberwolves dance line last season. Competing with 100 other girls, she was chosen for one of 15 spots on the team.
This year, she had to re-audition among even more competitors — “it was an even bigger turnout than the year before,” she said — and was among only five veterans chosen to return.
As a member of the dance line, Zimmermann is courtside for all 41 of the Timberwolves’ home games at the Target Center. Before the game, she interacts with fans. During the game, she entertains during intermissions, cheers during timeouts, and spends about three straight hours moving, grooving and otherwise getting down.
With about 20 different costumes at her disposal, Zimmermann said the team changes up to three times a game.
“We all carry huge suitcases,” she said.
But that’s not all. As a dance team member, Zimmermann also attends dozens of charity functions and fundraisers. She’s required to participate in physical training, and she practices with the team twice a week.
And Zimmermann said she loves every minute of it.
“It’s everything,” she said. “The fan base is so strong. And during pre-game, when fans want pictures and autographs, that’s so exciting. It’s just a performance rush to help get Target Center pumped up.”
Want to hear something funny? You’re going to crack up – this is absolutely hilarious. Believe me, you will just laugh and laugh and laugh. When you’re hanging out with your friends tonight, you guys will sit around like “OMG, wasn’t that the funniest story ever?” And you’ll laugh until your sides ache.
Ready to hear it?
Okay here it is:
I uploaded the wrong set of Dolphins Cheerleader photos.
HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!
What do you mean, you don’t get why that’s funny?
What’s funny about it is they are the wrong photos. HA HA! isn’t that hysterical?
Ha ha ha hoo hoo haaaa. The wrong photos! HA!
What do you mean “So what?”
Missy thinks it’s funny. Look at her. The woman is about to lose it.
Alright, so listen: I promised “ginormous” photos. Instead, I delivered medium-normous photos. My bad. I uploaded the right ones. Check them out here.
(No offense, but you people have NO sense of humor.)
The first episode of season four debuts on Saturday. But if you can’t wait until then, you can watch it right now on fancast.com. You can also watch episodes from past seasons.
Meanwhile, it’s no secret who made the team. They haven’t posted the “official” cameo photos on DallasCowboysCheerleaders.com, but they have posted these small ones:
Those of you who have been with us for a while know we rarely cover college dance teams. It’s not that we don’t care, it’s that there are SO many college teams in this country and we’ve already got our hands full with the pros.
However, when college teams start going retro, I’m all over it.
So that’s why this post is about the Louisiana State University (LSU) Golden Girls. I know next to nothing about Louisiana (except that the capital is Baton Rouge), but I can tell that it is a big deal to be an LSU Golden Girl. The Golden Girls perform with and are considered part of the marching band. From what I have observed, they dance exclusively to marching band music, and have that stylized, jazz-based choreography you find more often in a dance studio than on the field. (LSU also has a dance team, the Tiger Dancers, and their style is more like what you’d see in the pros.)
Every year, aspiring Golden Girls go through a rigorous audition process to join the group of 16 talented and beautiful dancers. There’s even an additional audition process to become team captain. From all I have read, the auditions are very competitive, and there is a lot of history and prestige that goes along with the position. Several former Golden Girls have gone on to join dance squads for NFL and NBA teams such as the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Hornets, and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
I bring this team to your attention, because this year, the Golden Girls celebrate their 50th anniversary. Yep. The big five-oh. Their longevity exceeds that of any team in the pros. The current squad, on occasion, sports replicas of the uniforms worn by the very first Golden Girls in 1959. And where you find throwback couture, there you will also find Sasha.
Alas, there are no headbands involved. However, the outfits are very very very shiny, and that almost makes up for the bare foreheads.
This is the regular game day costume
At first I thought they were twirlers. But no.
This is what the very first Golden Girls looked like, back in 1959.
Back then, they didn’t have digital cameras, so you didn’t get to see photos until after they developed. I bet the girl 6th from the left was spittin’ mad when she realized her eyes were closed.
And here is the current squad, all vintaged up.
When I said “shiny,” I meant SHINY.
That sequins must wreak havoc on their hair.
(I expect that’s why the girls of ’59 put their hair up.)
And here’s what happened in between
Just for the heck of it, here are a few videos of the Golden Girls doing their thang.
A mixed bag of NFL cheerleaders on the field. Click here to check it out!
Part of my job with this website involves identifying cheerleaders in different environments: on the field, on the court, behind the scenes, at rehearsal, at photo shoots, at appearances, and of course, in person. For that reason, it is really important that I can tell who is who on each squad. And in order for me to do that, I need each team’s roster to include nice clear individual photos that clearly identify each cheerleader. The bigger the photos, the better. The more photos, the better. Some teams are really good at this. A few good examples are the Pats, the Texans, the Eagles, and the Colts Cheerleaders. These four teams get extra gold stars for going the extra mile to identify the cheerleaders in their action shots. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.
(Actually, I could go into great detail about the numerous reasons why I appreciate this, but I can tell your mind is already wandering. Just accept that this is my world, ok?)
So the point of this post is to let you know that I’ve got my hands on the big, full length photos of the 2009 Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders. If you look at the Dolphins Cheerleader website, the home page features one ginormous photo of a cheerleader. That photo rotates throughout the day. I managed to grab them all, for your viewing pleasure. There’s no easy way to get them off the MDC website, so I’ve loaded them into my Flickr gallery (click here).
Now, if only I could get them to super-size the photos on each girl’s profile. I’m still working on that…
(P.S.: Heads up Redskins Cheerleaders. You’re my next project. I know you’re hoarding the big photos somewhere. You might as well cough ’em up. And that includes the Abassadors too. Don’t think you’re exempt.)
I’m admitting right up front that this post is a stretch. This post has almost nothing to do with this website. But i enjoy this website, and I enjoy Project Runway, and when the two intersect (even in the most tangential of ways), I’m going to post about it. Like it or lump it.
So here’s the deal:a group of students from MassArt are exhibiting some of their pieces in an exhibit called “Wearable Art” at Burlington Mall in Burlington, Mass. (Watch a video about it here.) Some of the categories in the show include evening wear, menswear, costume, and non-textile. The non-textile category is where the Project Runway aspect comes in. For those who aren’t familiar, every season on Project Runway, the designers are challenged to create garments from non-traditional materials. (Read: materials found someplace other than a fabric store.)
Reminisce with me won’t you, PR fans?
Remember when they had to tear up the cars/apartments/restaurant for raw materials. Remember the corn husk dress? The licorice dress? The coffee filter dress? The Saturn car parts dress? The placemat dress? The dresses made out of flowers and plants?
Anyway, this MassArts thing was a lot like that.
They have a dress made of brown starbucks coffee cup sleeves
…A dress made entirely of 3-D glasses
…A dress made of ripped up traffic cones
…A dress made of coin wrappers and spare change
…A dress made of doilies and cupcake wrappers
…and a dress made of New England Patriots lottery tickets – modeled by Pats Cheerleader Sandra Smyly.
What???
I told you it was a stretch.
(FYI: The blonde chick is one of the Real Housewives of New York, wearing a dress made of cassette tape.)
There’s new stuff on the Sports Illustrated website. This week, they feature cheerleaders from the Cardinals, Eagles, Ravens, Raiders, Bucs, Cowboys, Texans, Jets, Vikings, Bills, Jets, and Patriots. Click here to go there now.
Fans Can Now Cast Their Vote for 2009-10 Cavalier Girl Calendar Cover Girl
Cavs.com
CLEVELAND, OH – October 2, 2009 -The 2009-2010 Cavalier Girls Calendar is almost ready to hit the stands, BUT – before this fan-favorite 16-page Cavalier Girls pictorial goes to print, there’s one more shot that needs to be chosen. Fans can visit cavs.com now through Friday, October 16th to vote for Katie, Cassandra or Toni as their pick to be the cover girl that will be the face of one of the hottest selling items in the Cavaliers Team Shop.
Click Here to Vote
(registration required)
Fans that vote will automatically be registered to win a great grand prize that includes tickets to a Cavaliers game and a meet and greet with the Cavalier Girls. Every fan that votes will automatically be entered to win:
* Four tickets to a Cavaliers 2009-10 regular season game
* Four autographed Cavalier Girl Calendars
* A photo taken with the Cavalier Girls on center court to be posted on Cavs.com
The 14-month calendar (November 2009-December 2010) was shot throughout Cleveland and features scenes along Edgewater Beach, views from the Flats, and some of downtown’s most recognizable locales. Each month shows off a Cavalier Girl photographed in stunning Cavaliers attire on a high-gloss poster-like page. The calendar also includes a photograph of the entire Cavalier Girls dance team.
Once the votes have been tallied, fans are invited to the official unveiling party at The Hard Rock Café on October 29th at 8:00 p.m., where the 2009-10 Calendar Cover Girl will be announced!
The Cavalier Girls Calendar will be available for purchase on October 30th at the Cavs team shop and at cavs.com. All net proceeds benefit the Cavaliers Youth Fund, a fund of the McCormick Foundation.
