By Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times
January 22, 1014

Morgan McLeod is proving that it pays to be beautiful.

The San Jose resident and former San Francisco 49ers cheerleader is one of 18 new cast members of “Survivor,” as announced on Wednesday by CBS. And she will be competing on the “Beauty” tribe in the reality show’s latest twist which has the contestants divided into teams of “Brawn,” “Brains” and “Beauty.”

According to a CBS media release, the groupings of these tribes, each comprised of six castaways, reflect “the distinguishing qualities that people bring to the game and test whether there is any truth to the pre-conceived notion that certain characteristics will help you win the game.”

The cast also includes a high-stakes poker player, an attorney, a nuclear engineer, the president of the Miami Marlins and a former NBA all-star.

In her cast bio, McLeod, 21, says that her claim to fame was being selected to the 49ers cheerleading squad while still in high school. Her hobbies are “interior design, working out and dancing,” and she says the three words that best describe her are “mature, determined and attractive.”

The bio goes on to say that the former “Survivor” contestant she relates to most is Parvati Shallow because “she is beautiful and manipulative just like me. She has the ability to make everyone love her but also fear her.”

The reason she signed up to be on “Survivor”?

“(For) the chance to experience a once in a lifetime journey and to show everyone that just because I have huge boobs and a pretty face does not mean I am dumb. It just means I look better when I am winning.”

So she’s beautiful AND cocky.

Asked if she considers herself a Brain, a Beauty or a Brawn, McLeod replied, “I consider myself all three but if I have to pick, I would pick Beauty. Who wouldn’t want to be beautiful? When you are beautiful you get what you want and I like getting what I want.”

McLeod is the latest in a long line of Bay Area “Survivor” contestants, two of whom became champions: Vecepia Towery (2002) and Yul Kwon (2006).

“Survivor” returns for its 28th season with a two-hour premiere at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 on CBS. This edition was filmed in Cagayan, a province in the Philippines.

The rest of the cast is as follows:

Brawn Tribe

Cliff Robinson — 46; Newark, N.J.; former NBA All-Star

Lindsey Ogle — 29; Kokomo, Ind.; hairstylist

Sarah Lacina — 29; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; police officer

Tony Vlachos — 39; Jersey City, N.J.; police officer

Trish Hegarty — 48; Needham, Mass.; pilates instructor

Yung “Woo” Hwang — 29; Newport Beach, Calif.; martial arts instructor

Brains Tribe

David Samson — 45; Plantation, Fla.; president, Miami Marlins

Garrett Adelstein — 27; Santa Monica, Calif.; pro poker player

J’Tia Taylor — 31; Chicago, Ill.; nuclear engineer

Kassandra “Kass” McQuillen — 41; Tehachapi, Calif.; attorney

Latasha “Tasha” Fox — 37; St. Louis, Mo.; accountant

Spencer Bledsoe — 21; Chicago, Ill.; student

Beauty Tribe

Alexis Maxwell — 21; Addison, Ill.; student

Brice Johnston — 27; Philadelphia, Penn.; social worker

Jefra Bland — 22; Campbellsville, KY.; Miss Kentucky Teen USA

Jeremiah Wood — 34; Dobson, N.C.; male model

LJ McKanas — 34; Boston, Mass.; horse trainer

Bob Egelko
San Francisco Chronicle
January 22, 2014

The Oakland Raiders didn’t give their fans much to cheer about during the football season, and now one of the team’s cheerleaders says they’re being shortchanged as well.

Lacy T. accused the Raiders in a lawsuit Wednesday of failing to pay the Raiderettes minimum wages for the work they do, both on the sidelines and in the community for charity. The team also sticks them with travel costs and levies “fines” that eat into their meager salary, she said.

She filed her lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court as a proposed class action on behalf of 40 current Raiderettes and other members of the squad over the past four years. And she said she hopes other NFL cheerleaders will join the fray.

“I love being a Raiderette, but someone has to stand up for all of the women of the NFL who work so hard for the fans and the teams,” Lacy T. said in a statement released by her lawyer. “I hope cheerleaders across the NFL will step forward to join me in demanding respect and fair compensation.”

The suit identifies her as Lacy T. in accord with a team policy that withholds the Raiderettes’ last names for security reasons.

The Raiderettes’ contract calls for $125 per home game, or $1,250 per season, she said. That amounts to less than $5 an hour, counting hours of unpaid work in rehearsals, performances at 10 charity events and participation in the team’s annual swimsuit photo-shoot, the suit said.

Additionally, the suit said, the Raiders withhold the cheerleaders’ pay until the end of the season, in violation of a state law requiring pay at least twice a month.

“I’ve been dancing for 16 years, and I was paid more for dancing in college than I am as a pro cheerleader,” Lacy T. said in an interview. “I’m a stay-at-home mom, and every dollar out of my pocket is noticed.”

The 27-year-old Alameda resident, hired by the Raiders before the 2013 season, said she was treated much better in the previous two years as a member of the Golden State Warriors’ dance team, the Warrior Girls. They were paid $10 to $14 an hour, depending on experience, with no unpaid work or expenses, she said.

Lacy T. said the other Raiderettes were unaware of her lawsuit until Wednesday, but she’s talked with many of them and “we all have the exact same complaints.”

Her attorney, Sharon Vinick, said she has been told that other NFL teams have similar wage practices for their cheerleaders, though she has not seen the contracts. She said 26 of the 32 NFL teams have cheerleading squads.

In contrast, Vinick said, the teams treat their male mascots as paid employees with benefits, which the Raiderettes don’t receive.

Vinick said the Raiders apparently got wind of the suit and tried to head it off by paying the cheerleaders considerably more than their 2013-14 contract salaries last week – in Lacy T.’s case, $2,780 for 332.5 regular work hours and 10 hours of overtime. That still was less than the promised contractual rate of $125 for an eight-hour shift in a home game, the suit said.

Raiders officials said they would not comment on the suit.

The suit said Raiderettes are required to take part, without pay, in two to three rehearsals per week, the 10 charity events, a team rally, Fan Day and the swimsuit calendar photo-shoot. They must also pay the costs of traveling to those events, it said.

In addition, the suit said, the cheerleaders must buy accessories such as tights, false eyelashes and a yoga mat, and pay for a team-selected hairstylist, whose appointments cost several hundred dollars. Lacy T. claims in her suit to have spent about $650 on those items this past season.

The team fines Raiderettes $10 or more for such offenses as failing to bring the right pom-poms or a yoga mat to practice, the suit said. It said a cheerleader who gains 5 pounds from her weight at the start of the season, or who appears “too soft” to the squad’s director, is benched for the next home game, has to stay in the locker room, and forfeits the $125 wage she would have made for participating, though she still must take part in pregame and halftime activities.

The suit seeks compensation for minimum wages, overtime, expenses and meal and rest breaks that state law requires after five hours of work.

Click here to check out the photos.

Fantastic gallery on SportsIllustrated.com. Click here to check it out!

New York Daily News: The stage is set for Super Bowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. Both teams have championship-caliber rosters, not to mention cheerleader squads. [Photo Gallery]

sidebar: this will be an interesting game for Kristal-Lynn. Holy divided loyalties, Batman!

Lots of photos from throughout the season. Click here to go there now!

By DAVID KEYES
Bonner County Daily Bee
January 18, 2014

SANDPOINT — When most people imagine a professional athlete, thoughts of strength, fitness, grit and determination come to mind … and oh yeah, money.

When Sandpoint’s Danae Rokstad takes to CenturyLink field on Sunday as part of the Sea Gals cheerleading squad, she will be continuing a dream that started when she was two, took her to college and now has her one game away from cheering at the Super Bowl.

Most people don’t think of cheerleaders as professional athletes, or athletes of any kind.

Danae and her mom Donna are here to tell you that cheerleaders have to stay

as fit as any athlete on the field, have their fair share of injuries and have to perform in the worst kind of weather … all at the same time having to look traffic-stopping beautiful.

“You try to jump around outside in cold, wet Seattle, smile and then drop into the splits,” said Danae, only half joking.

Danae has always wanted to cheer.

“She had pom-poms around the house when she was growing up, in fact she might have been born with them,” said Donna.

Danae, 23, has been dancing since she was 2 years old. After lessons, Danae would practice for hours more to perfect the moves.

“She never rebelled,” Donna said. “She knew even at that age that the extra practice time would make her better.”

Danae has been in formal dance lessons since she was 3 and has landed in the spotlight ever since.

When the Rokstads moved to Sandpoint from Lewiston in 1999, Danae signed up for ballet, tap and “the works” with Laurie Buck at Studio 1 Dance Academy.

“She was an incredibly hard worker,” Buck said. “There was nothing she couldn’t learn and she had tremendous willpower. She was part of a group of girls that really raised the bar.”

Danae took dance lessons four days a week all the way through her junior year in high school. She even threw in gymnastics classes for good measure.

While she was in middle school, Danae went to a Seahawks game with her family. She didn’t watch the game.

“She was critiquing the cheerleaders and watching them move,” Donna said. “They aren’t cheerleaders, they are dancers. I can do that!” Danae exclaimed.

Danae quickly moved to the front of the stage.

She won the fitness category and was first runnerup in the local Junior Miss program and finished high in a state program.

The girl with the effervescent smile, never a hair out of place and the whitest teeth imaginable was the cheer team captain at SHS and led the squad to state titles and national appearances.

Go Griz! Go Seahawks!

The University of Montana was the next stop. Danae was picked for the cheerleading squad as a freshman but a wrist injury kept her sidelined.

She also suffered a serious back injury that kept her out of action for six months.

She soon found her way to the dance team where she would dance and choreograph. She was the captain of the team her senior year.

“She has always wanted to be the captain, the choreographer, the planner,” Donna said. While in high school she would choreograph the positions of the cheerleaders on the football field. Often her bedroom and portions of the house would be covered with sheets of paper with random Xs and Os, looking a lot like football plays.

Last year, the Sea Gal director contacted the Montana seniors and invited them to an open tryout in Seattle — exactly one week after they were notified.

That was April. Danae said something clicked when she learned about the opportunity. Like many other young ladies, she had dreams of being a professional basketball or football cheerleader. This was her chance and she was going to give it her best shot.

For the next three weekends, Danae drove from Missoula to Coeur d’Alene to meet up with her mom and they would drive to Seattle together.

Most of the girls auditioning had known about the tryouts for a long time so they had purchased expensive, bedazzled outfits.

Since Danae was late to apply, Donna would drive while Danae glued and bedazzled her workout gear using tweezers and very small plastic jewels.

“We lost a lot of jewels along the way,” Danae said. “I am still finding them in my car.”

So, you want to be a cheerleader?

More than 200 women showed up for the open audition inside a CenturyLink Field meeting room. After an hour of so — including “freestyling” for a minute to a song in front of judges — half of the group was cut. There were 15 judges, including Doug from the “Bachlorette” and several local TV personalities.

There was nothing romantic about it, the girls who were cut were notified at the end of the session and had to leave immediately. The survivors were given a routine and rehearsed it and were told to come back in a week and perform it.

During the semifinals, girls were randomly paired and performed their routine in front of a panel of judges in very tight quarters. They also had to perform a kick routine.

After waiting “forever,” the group was again cut in half. The girls were asked to set up an interview with judges the next week and to work on a new routine.

The only problem Danae had was that the next week was finals week so she couldn’t leave Missoula.

The judges moved her interview to the next weekend, right before a Saturday and Sunday tryout that would determine who would make the cut.

On that final weekend, the current Sea Gals were added to the mix and the realization about how far she had come began to sink in.

Danae had taken over a meeting room at the hotel to work on the routine the night before. She said she was intimidated by all of the returning Sea Gals.

“Just when I thought I had cleared a hurdle, here were more girls and they had already been through this,” she said.

Donna was across the street in a hotel room watching the tryouts on the Internet. She was more nervous than her daughter.

“We had a lot of family and friends watching online,” Donna said. “I was just along for the ride. It was all in her hands.”

After each round of the competition Donna would give Danae fresh-cut flowers from Pike Place Market. She had the flowers ready — win, lose or draw.

More than 60 finalists were vying for about 32 slots and after a few routines, the girls who made the squad heard their numbers called.

“They called a lot of numbers before they called Danae’s,” Donna said. Most years the Sea Gals take 24-32 women, this season they took 34.

“I kept looking around as they called out numbers and there were a lot of returning Sea Gals and not many slots left. Then they called my number and I could breathe again,” Danae said.

That was Sunday. She had nine days to move and get ready to be a Sea Gal.

In short order, she had to leave Missoula, find an apartment and a job.

Danae and family took care of all of that and she reported to the first official practice where she was also fitted for a $3,000 Sea Gals uniform and had her photo taken for her “glamour” publicity shots.

Practices are every Tuesday and Thursday. They start promply at 6 p.m. and some last past midnight.

“That’s when it became real to her,” Donna said.

This is where professional athletes and professional cheerleaders go in opposite directions.

While pro players make millions a season, cheerleaders work part-time and are paid minimum wage only when they are practicing, making official appearances or performing.

“Thank goodness I live in Washington where the minimum wage is higher,” she said.

That’s right, the cheerleaders with the million dollar smiles and moves in front of the TV cameras are making the same wage as the guy selling hotdogs at the stadium.

What the job lacks in pay, though, it more than makes up for in perks and connections.

A few weeks back, the Seahawks were playing in New York. Since the Sea Gals don’t travel to away games, Danae had planned to watch the game on TV.

Former quarterback Warren Moon knows one of the Sea Gals and before Danae knew it, she and a few of the cheerleaders were on a private jet with Moon to enjoy the game in New York.

She works at the 520 Bar and Grill in Bellevue when she isn’t making numerous appearances.

Danae’s busy life picked up steam when the Seahawks entered the playoffs. She is at a fever pitch right now as the arch rival 49ers come to town Sunday to decide which team goes to the Super Bowl.

ABC15.com and the Talking Stick Resort both have great photos from this year’s final auditions for the Arizona Rattlers Sidewinders dance team. Click here for the gallery on abc 15, and click here for the Talking Stick Resort’s gallery on Facebook!

Colorado State University
January 16, 2014

CSU senior dance major Angela Wood is having the time of her life working as a Denver Broncos cheerleader.

Not many people can say they have their dream job at the tender age of 21 — and prior to graduating from college. Angela Wood is happy to say she’s beaten the odds.

“I’m having the time of my life,” she said.

Wood, you see, has a rather unique occupation. Each week she has a front-row seat – heck, she’s WAY closer than the front row – to watch Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in their quest to win a Super Bowl.

Wood, a senior dance major at Colorado State University, is a rookie for the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. She earned her spot last spring after a week-long tryout process that began with more than 150 women hoping to earn one of the coveted spots on the 26-member squad.

“I’ve been dancing my whole life, but it’s always been a dream of mine to be a Broncos cheerleader,” Wood said. “My family has always been Broncos fans, and being part of the dance world, I always wanted to be one of these amazing women.”

Long journey

Wood started dancing at age 3, and began competing for her dance studio at age 10. She traveled to national competitions every year and danced while at Littleton’s Chatfield High School.

Coming to CSU was an easy decision – “My sister graduated from CSU (Michelle, Journalism and Technical Communication, ‘09),” she said. “My family is all about the Rams.” – where she immersed herself in dance classes. She was also part of CSU’s Golden Poms during her freshman and sophomore years before landing a spot on the Denver Mammoth dance team.

Committed to her passion

During that time she was focused on earning her degree in dance, specializing in ballet.

“Dance majors have to be extremely committed,” said Carol Roderick, a special assistant professor of dance at CSU. “It’s six hours a day of practice, including weekends. You can’t be late for class, and you can’t just decide to skip a class. Angela not only works very hard, she’s a very nice young lady and a pleasure to be around.”

When she turned 21 – the minimum age for a Broncos cheerleader – Wood focused her efforts on making the squad. Candidates not only have to demonstrate their dancing ability, they don business attire and answer questions in front of judging panels. And, yes, they are tested on their knowledge of the team and the game.

Part of the team

Wood’s tryout caught the eye of team veteran Heather Hartman, who serves as a “line captain” for the squad.

“From the moment I saw her perform at auditions I knew she was going to make the team,” said Hartman, who has been a Broncos cheerleader for four years. “Angela’s one of those dancers you can’t take your eyes off when she’s performing. She really has an amazing energy about her.”

Wood said waiting to hear her name called at the end of the tryouts might have been the most difficult aspect of the process.

“Tryouts are very, very intense,” Wood said. “When they were announcing the names of the girls who made the squad, my name was toward the end and I was starting to get really nervous. When my name was called I just started crying. It was definitely one of the best days of my life.”

Much more than dancers

While the Broncos cheerleaders are known for complex dance routines and signature costumes, their primary function is community service. The squad makes appearances at 20 or more events per week throughout the year, serving as team ambassadors at fundraisers and other community-oriented events.

Her favorite event was the “Be Beautiful Be Yourself” fashion show in September – a major fundraising event for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. The cheerleaders escorted models with Down syndrome down the runway.

“It was a really cool experience,” she said. “I love children and getting the chance to connect with them. They’re all Broncos fans, too, so it really was awesome.”

Lots of driving, dancing

In addition to doing eight to 10 hours of team practices weekly, Wood attends two or three events – and that doesn’t include the actual cheering on game days. In all, she spends up to 20 hours per week on team commitments. The squad only cheers for home games, although they would be invited to the Super Bowl.

“Let’s just say I-25 is my second home,” she said, laughing.

After graduating in the spring, Wood hopes to return with the Broncos cheerleaders and coach a high school dance squad in the Denver area. Eventually she hopes to open her own dance studio.

Three Rams on squad

Let’s get a few things straight:

1. No, she can’t get you tickets. She only gets two, and those go to her parents.

2. No, she can’t get you Manning’s autograph – or anyone else’s for that matter. The players and cheerleaders are rarely in the same room at the same time. Wood said she’s been to just one event where players were present, and Manning was not among them.

3. No, she doesn’t have any amazing stories to tell about what she’s seen on the field. The squad concentrates on dance routines and getting fans involved. “We get to watch the game a little bit, but mostly I stay focused on what I have to do next,” she said.

Despite the challenge of balancing her studies and holding a high-profile job 65 miles from Fort Collins, Wood wouldn’t change a thing. Two other squad members – Patricia Reimann (Apparel and Merchandizing, ’12) and Lauren Hanna (Communications Studies, ’11) – are CSU graduates, and their presence helped her feel welcome.

“All of the girls are extremely nice and very supportive,” she said.

Unique honor

Roderick said Wood is her first student to become a Broncos cheerleader. Even though it’s not a traditional career path for ballet students, she fully supports Wood.

“When prospective students come to look at CSU as an option, one of the first questions they ask is whether our alumni are working professionally,” she said. “Everyone like Angela who goes out into the professional realm is a real feather in our cap. She’s a special girl, and she’s a good representative of our program.”

Enjoying the ride

With the Broncos so close to their goal, Wood admits she has been dreaming about cheering at the Super Bowl – even though the game will be played in New Jersey in the dead of winter.

“I can’t even imagine how amazing that would be – especially in my first year,” she said. “It’s already been such an incredible season, and that would make it even better. I might freeze out there, but it would be totally worth it.”

The Dance Pak section of the Toronto Raptors website has been updated to show case this year’s team. Click here to read all about ’em!