Heather Zara Gets Dream Job at Ch. 4

By Terry Foster
The Detroit News

Heather Zara loves sports so much, she still has pieces of confetti from the night the Pistons won the 2004 NBA title.

And when her alarm rings at 2:30 every morning, the television is usually tuned to “SportsCenter” or a replay of the previous night’s Tigers game.

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Zara, WDIV’s morning traffic reporter, is a passionate sports fan who used to scramble around the Lions dressing room looking for stories.

This weekend, Zara moves to the sports desk, anchoring Channel 4’s weekend show.

“I feel like I have my dream job, but I am not the kind of person to stand still,” said Zara, who grew up in Warren and attended Mott High.

“Down the road I would like to get a job in sports. Right now, I work with some amazing people. If my career ended at Channel 4, I would be very happy. I love working in the city, and you have some of the best sports teams around whether you are a fan or a reporter.”

Zara is a risk taker.

She left a full scholarship at Wayne State and transferred to Michigan State so she could study broadcast journalism.

“I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t do that,” said Zara, who won an Emmy her junior year and appeared headed toward her career in sports.

But WDIV held a contest for a traffic person in December 2007, and she decided to take a shot at coming home. She had just left a small Maryland station for a behind-the-scenes job in Chicago. The audition was a hit. The day after Super Bowl XL, Zara was on WDIV doing afternoon traffic.

Not bad for someone who played volleyball and softball, but was cut from nearly every basketball team she tried out for. What she coulddo was dance, and she landed gigs with the Detroit Fury, the now-defunct arena football team, and Automotion, the Pistons’ dance group. That’s how she celebrated the Pistons’ title — confetti and all.

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Desperados Dancers Reinvented?

This is one of those “can you help a sista’ out?” kind of posts.

The Dallas Cowboys introduced a new dance team during this year’s draft day festivities. The team is called the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dance Team, presented by Miller Lite. Most of the R&B Dancers appear to be former Dallas Desperados Dancers. Their performance indicates that they will have a much more urban hip-hop vibe than either the Desperados Dancers, or the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (who also performed during the festivities.)

That’s about all we know about them at this point. Who they are, where they will perform, and their overall role as part of the Cowboys organization is a bit of a mystery, so if anyone has the scoop, please let us know.

In the meantime, you can watch two different videos of their recent performance

Michelle Guidry Named Turfcats Cheerleader Director

From <a href=”http://www.turfcats.com/news/2009-03-14/guidry-named-cheerleader-director.html” target=”_blank”>Turfcats.com</a>
<blockquote>The Austin Turfcats were pleased today to announce that Michelle Guidry has been named the Director of Cheerleading and Dance for the team.

Guidry is originally from League City, Texas, south of Houston. She grew up dancing from the age of three. She attended Clear Creek High school where she was a member of the Cavaliers Dance team and was honored to be an officer for two years and serve as Captain of the dance team her senior year.

<center><img src=”http://procheerleaderblog.com/blog/images/2009/Mar/guidryturfcats.jpg” alt=”Michelle Guidry” /></center>

After graduation Michelle spent two years at Kilgore College where she was a member of the world famous Kilgore College Rangerettes. While with the Rangerettes her performances include the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, the second inauguration of President George W. Bush in Washington D.C., several halftime performances at Dallas Cowboys games and halftime performances at the Cotton Bowl.
After attending Kilgore College, Michelle went on to finish her college career at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She majored in Psychology and minored in Sociology. Michelle attained a degree from Texas State University this past year in Psychology.

Guidry spent two years cheering and dancing for the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League. Her second year she was honored to also direct the team and choreograph routines for the cheerleaders.

She is looking forward to a great season with the Turfcats! The team cheerleaders are currently seeking a title sponsor. Having your company’s name on our team can reach approximately 250,000 sports fans each year. More importantly, a title sponsorship can help establish a scholarship fund for members of our team. With rising tuition, and increased demands on our team, we desperately need a scholarship fund to ensure our program’s success.</blockquote>