NFL Cheerleader Playoffs-revisited

In the summer of 2006, Six Flags New England was the site of a special competition put together by the NFL Network. Each NFL cheer-leading squad sent a pair of girls for a series of contests involving athletic ability, football knowledge, and dance ability. From the Jills, Omarlla and Aimee were the contestants and they were under a strict oath of secrecy as far as the results were concerned...which drove everyone crazy for months. The competition was a made-for-tv event put together for NFL Network by IMG and hosted by Matt Gallant with Ian Eagle, Carrie Milbank, and Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Johnson as reporters. The 1st 2 events of each round were athletic competitions with the 3rd event a "Know Your NFL" segment testing the knowledge of the girls. The final event was a dance competition judged by Chad Johnson, choreographer Cris Judd, and former NFL Cheerleader Bonnie Jill-Laflin.

Aimee and Omarlla at Slick Willie's

The Jills with the NFL Network Cheerleaders

In mid-September, NFL Cheerleader Playoffs came to TV and, to celebrate the event, the Jills took a night off from practice and invaded Slick Willie's Billiard Hall and Sports Bar in Tonawanda for a viewing party with the fans. Prior to the show, some of the Jills put on a dance performance and Aimee and Omarlla conducted a trivia game using questions from the show with correct answers awarded prizes by the NFL Network Cheerleaders who were on hand for the event. The show itself wasn't that memorable as far as we were concerned in Buffalo. Tampa Bay's and Denver's cheerleaders took their matchup in the 1st round, sending the reps from the Jacksonville Roar and the DCC home. See all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/10339

Group pic before the show

In 3 weeks, it was time for another viewing party as Omarlla and Aimee were featured in week 4 and for that, the Jills took over Bada Bing on Chippewa on a Thursday night for the party. The party itself was a little more subdued with no dance performances but still a lot of fun was had in watching Omarlla and Aimee on tv. Jills alum (and future Jill as well) Kelly Ann (2003-04, 09) put in an appearance to support her former squadmates and rookie Ambassador Tamara showed off her design abilities with a Bills-themed top she made.

Brianne and Amanda P

During the show, you would've thought it was a gameday at the Ralph considering all the cheering everytime Aimee and Omarlla finished an event. Their 1st event was a 100-yard dash relay and after edging out their competition in the 1st heat, they smoked by the Texans cheerleaders to win the event and 50 points. The 2nd event was an aquatic relay which proved tricky. Prior to heading to New England for the competition over the summer, Omarlla couldn't swim. Knowing that swimming was a possibility in the competition, Aimee took Omarlla to her parents' backyard pool and taught her to swim before the competition. In the relay, Omarlla took the 1st leg and was in 3rd place when she handed off to Aimee, who then showed her swimming abilities in epic fashion. Despite starting in 3rd place, she was in the lead by the halfway mark and cruised to an easy victory in the event, garnering the pair another 50 points.

The 3 Musketeers of 2006-07, Jessica Z, Kaitlin B, and Valerie

The 3rd round event was more knowledge than anything. The object was to match all 32 team logos with the team names. 1 pair of girls got them all right with 3 seconds to spare. Aimee and Omarlla topped that by getting it done with 13 seconds to spare, garnering them another 100 points. At this point, they were already guaranteed a finish of at least 2nd place and a spot in the 1st round. The 4th and final round was a dance competition. After 2 squads tied for 1st with scores of 262, the Jills contingent once again topped everyone by taking a score of 264, even earning extra props from NFL WR Chad Johnson, one of the judges for the event. After the cheering died down at Bada Bing, I asked Omarlla "you were even giving the other squads a chance, were you?" Her response, accented by a cute smile, was "We just had to represent, yo." See all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/10486
From the Bandettes comes a photo from the February game against the Rochester Knighthawks. In 2014, the Bandits host the reigning NLL Champs on January 25th and on April 26th. This photo was snapped during the 3rd quarter while Kirsten's line was performing a hot routine. Seen in this photo are Kirsten, Brianna A, Chrissy, Lauren K, and Chelsea.

Kirsten, Brianna A, Chrissy, Lauren K, and Chelsea