Christmassy Jills at the Bills-Pats game

This time of year is a time for giving and unfortunately, instead of giving their fans a happy holiday season, the Bills, with some help from some questionable officiating calls, gave away a game to the hated New England Patriots for a 13th straight time. Thankfully, this blog isn't about the game itself or else it wouldn't be very family friendly when describing the game, the officiating, and the fans who chose to disrupt the Bills offense with excessive noise during critical offensive plays that resulted in false starts.

Instead, this blog is about the beautiful ladies on the sidelines, who never have fans pulling out their hair or frustrated.  Well, there might be some frustration for guys when they fall in love with these young ladies but that can't be helped. Prior to the game, members of the Ambassador Squad were found at the 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge Tailgate parties as well as inside the Fieldhouse in their Santa's helper outfits posing for pictures and signing autographs for the fans. Prior to kickoff, 3rd year vet co-captain (and next week's Buffalo Pro Cheer Jill of The Week) Jill delivered the game ball before the entire squad performed to some Christmas music. They even did a big performance in the tunnel endzone to Christmas music as well still wearing their Santa hats with their winter gear. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Pats%20game/

Coming up next, 103.3 The Edge is holding its final Away Game Party of the season on Sunday, December 27 as the Bills visit Atlanta to face off against the Falcons. The Aud Sports Bar and Grill in Depew is the place to be whether you haven't made it there this season or have been there before. This week, in addition to the large prize table, wing and drink specials, buffet, and visits by the Buffalo Jills, they'll be giving away a 47 inch TV. You must be present to win this prize so if you've been there and entered before during the season, you'll forfeit your chance to win this TV if you don't show up.

The Jills take the field at the Ralph one final time this season as the Bills host Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Gametime is currently set at 1pm for this matchup against former AFC East rivals. However, with the Colts possibly playing for a perfect season, there is a chance the game could be moved to a later start, news which would be announced no later than Monday, December 28th.

Buffalo Jill of The Week Nicole P

This week, we take a look at an early departure from the 2009 Buffalo Jills. Nicole P was in her 6th season on the squad and her 2nd as a full captain this season, heading up the line that Pro Bowler Christina has taken over in her absence. Her career on the Jills has a number of highlights, including her own trip to the Pro Bowl 2 years ago and the honor of the cover of the 2006-07 Buffalo Jills Swimsuit Calendar. She also appeared on "Que dice la gente," a Hispanic version of the Family Feud. It was a special edition of the show where the participants were all NFL Cheerleaders. As a Spanish teacher, she was an easy selection for the show. Even before joining the Jills, she was an accomplished young lady with a number of Outstanding Performance awards at National dance competitions like Showstoppers and Starpower. She even won an Outstanding Overall Achievement Award at a Showstoppers National Dance Competition. You can read more about Nicole at http://buffalojills.net/roster/nicoleP.php

Jills on The Edge and initial tryout dates set!

Back at the end of July, 103.3 The Edge, 1 of the Jills' primary sponsors, gave some of their normal weekend DJs some time off and brought in members of the Buffalo Jills to DJ for most of the weekend. The Jills all did pretty well and a few were really outstanding. They'll be doing that again for a chunk of this weekend as well. Tune in from 7pm-midnight Friday, 10am-midnight Saturday, and 7am-10am Sunday (they do still have game duties) to WEDG-FM at 103.3 on your radio tuner or listen online at http://www.wedg.com/

Also, even with the current NFL season still going on, it's never too early to start thinking about joining the 2010-2011 Buffalo Jills. The Open Workshop (closed to the public) will be held at the Conference Center of Niagara Falls at 10am on Sunday, March 14th, 2010. The workshop is free for all interested young ladies who want to possibly tryout for the squad and gives everyone a chance to learn the requirements of being on the squad in more detail. The audition dance routine is taught at this workshop as well. First cuts will be Saturday, March 20th and will be open to the public like this past year's were. Get all the details as they become available at http://buffalojills.net/appearances/details.php?recordID=70

The Jills at the Edge Away Game Party vs KC

With a 4-8 record and little shot at the playoffs, one would think that Bills fans would lose interest in watching their team in a meaningless game against the also-struggling Kansas City Chiefs. However, many diehard Bills fans didn't care that their team would soon be out of it as many of them not only watched the game, but went to the Aud Sports Bar in Depew to see it after a snowstorm hit the area only a few days ago.

The reason for fans filling the Aud was more than just seeing the game alongside fellow Bills fans. All season long, the Aud Sports Bar has been the host of 103.3 The Edge's Away Game Parties. With drink and wing specials, a halftime buffet, and the largest prize table in the region, fans flocked to the Transit Road location for not only those reasons, but a chance to meet a pair of beautiful members of the Buffalo Jills. This week, fans watched a Bills win over the Chiefs in the company of 2 Jills rookies. Kelly is a dancer on Omarlla's line during home games who, along with a pair of her squadmates, put together an impromptu routine for the Tailgate Warriors show filmed back in August that, sadly, didn't get on the show. Courteney is a member of the Ambassador Squad who is probably as cheerful as anyone on the squad. You can meet her at the 97Rock or 103.3 The Edge Tailgate next week before the Bills host the hated New England Patriots.

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Chiefs-Road/

Next up, the Jills will be cheering on the Bills against the Patriots* and there are still plenty of seats left for the game so Bills fans can help the Jills cheer on the team in an upset win. With the turmoil going on in the Pats' locker room of late, the timing could be perfect for the Bills to tally their first win against their divisional rival since the 2003 Opener.

The Aud Sports Bar will be the place to be on Dec 27th, however, as not only a pair of Jills will be in attendance, but they'll be drawing for a new 47" television set. If you've entered at any time this year, you still need to be there to claim your prize.

The Bandettes at the 2010 Bandits Open Practice

When winter hits and football season starts winding down, the NLL is getting set to start another exciting season of indoor lacrosse. In Buffalo, where the Bills and Sabres have frustrated the fans of late, the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team has done exactly the opposite, bringing home the NLL Championship 2 seasons ago. After a 2nd rd exit from the playoffs in 2009 however, the Bandits retooled a little and are making an attempt to reclaim the Champions Cup for Buffalo. But before they can do that, the team needs to practice and train and part of that is an Open Practice they put on each December for their loyal fans.

The Bandits team isn't all that changed as the Bandettes dance team went through some changes as well. A number of well-known faces have moved on in coach Erin J, Danielle, Karla, Sarah, Denise, and Maggie. Jaclyn takes over running the squad in 2010 with Erin Y moving up from dancer to head choreographer/asst coach. With the departures, 6 new faces take their places to join the established vets. 2 of these new faces aren't exactly new however as 2006-08 alumnus Beth returns to the squad after taking last year off due to scheduling conflicts. She's even getting an added role in her return, that of Justina's co-captain while Melissa moves over to Meghan's line to take the co-captain spot of the departed Danielle. The other familiar face spent the fall of 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium as a member of the Buffalo Jills. Lonna joins fellow rookies Lauren B, Chelsea, Stephanie, and Ashley V to round out the 14-girl squad intent on cheering on the Bandits to a 5th league title in 2010.

For their part of the Open Practice, the Bandettes put on a pair of dance performances, the 1st run giving a break to the players during practice and the 2nd at the end of practice, giving the players a little bit of time to get ready for a post-practice autograph session in the Arena's concourse. After the 2nd performance, the Bandettes went around the concourse to pose for photos and sign autographs while the players took some more time to get ready.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b87/bandettes/2010/Open%20Practice/

Coming up next for the Bandettes is the Bandits Home Opener January 16 at 7:30 in HSBC Arena. The Bandits host their Thruway rivals, the Rochester Knighthawks, in the 2nd game of their season series after a road trip to Rochester's Blue Cross Arena on January 9th.

Buffalo Jill of The Week Kristen

This week, we continue with our look at some of the lovely rookie Jills Ambassadors on the squad with the beautiful Kristen. This soft-spoken young lady is working on her degree in biology and hoping to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant. Describing herself, she says she's happy, upbeat, caring and loving but her strongest quality is her postive attitude. Not an easy thing to do all the time when cheering for the Bills but she pulls it off as well as anyone on the squad and it's one of the things her squadmates love about her. Jessica and Valerie are the only other two that smile quite as much as Kristen does and, like with her more experienced squadmates, her smiling is infectious. In fact, since tryouts at the Town Ballroom in April, I can't recall seeing her without a smile on that pretty face, even in that muddy mess of a "tailgate party" in Toronto last week. She even went so far as to put a smiley face on her Jills bio...lol. But like so many of her squadmates, she loves cheerleading and the Bills and hopes the current playoff drought can end sooner rather than later. She thinks Buffalo fans are awesome and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking the feeling is mutual.

When she's not cheering or taking classes, she enjoys the beach with her boyfriend (sorry, guys), whether it be swimming, jet-skiing, or just plain relaxing. She enjoys listening to most forms of music and funny movies and actually wishes she could change those pretty brown eyes of hers to blue. Personally, I don't think she should change a thing.

Christina to the Pro Bowl!

It's that time of year again, when NFL Cheerleaders select their Pro Bowl representatives, this year sending their representatives to Miami for the January 31st AFC-NFC All-Star game. This year's selection should be no surprise to anyone as it's 4th year vet and captain Christina. She started off her career as a Jill as the only rookie member of the Events Dance Team and also won the 2006 Rookie of The Year. In 2008, she was named a co-captain for Omarlla's line and moved over to Nicole's line this season. However, after Nicole resigned suddenly, Christina took over handling the captain duties on her own and doing a great job with it, obviously. This won't be Christina's 1st trip to Miami at the end of January. Three years ago, the Super Bowl was held there just like this year and a group of NFL Cheer squads sent a half-dozen girls each to compete in a Beauties on The Beach competition that the Jills, including Christina, did pretty well in.

Congratulations to Christina on a well-deserved honor!