The Bandettes and Jr Bandettes at the Bandits-Swarm game

The 2015 Bandettes!

The NLL regular season is now over half over with the Bandits having come into last night's game against the Colorado Mammoth with a 4-5 record. It's been a tricky season for Buffalo so far with only 3 home games among their 1st 9 but the positive of that is that 6 home games remain of the final 9. They Bandits started off the 2nd half of the season with a hard-fought game against a team whose fanbase rivals that of Banditland. One of the issues for the Bandits this season has been the 4th quarter and after going into the 4th with an 11-11 tie after quarter-ending scores of 4-3 and 6-6, the hope was that the boys in orange could fix their 4th quarter woes. The lack of goaltender Anthony Cosmo didn't prove to be a big issue as backup Davide DiRuscio, in his 1st ever NLL start, was able to step it up and show his worth by shutting out Colorado over the final quarter. Add to that the long-awaited return of the ageless John Tavares to the lineup and the scoring of Alex Kedoh Hill, and the Banditland faithful were sent home happy after a 14-11 win, leaving the Bandits sitting at .500 going into the final 8 games of the season.

Jessica, Kirsten, and Meghan on hand to help with the Jr Bandettes

The Bandits have been doing a theme night every game this season and for this game, it was a salute to service, honoring Western New York heroes in the military, firefighting, law enforcement, and nursing fields. The Bandettes boast 3 young ladies in the nursing field, either studying in it or already working in it. As such, MaKenzie, Melanie, and LaToya are trained and certified First Responders in the event of an emergency and were recognized for that before the game.

Melanie, MaKenzie, and LaToya wave to the crowd

Bandettes and Jr Bandettes lined up to welcome the team to the turf

With the Bandettes on Saturday night, their main focus was the Jr Bandettes and as such, they were kept pretty busy behind the scenes a lot all day long. They started off their day with the Bandits as a part of a photo shirt for 26Shirts. For those unaware, 26Shirts is a Buffalo-based company that has expanded into Chicago and Pittsburgh recently and sells sports-themed t-shirts and sweatshirts. What's truly unique about this company, founded by #BillsMafia co-founder Del Reid, is that the shirts are available for 2 weeks only, and that $8  from every shirt sold goes to support a family in need. The shirts are supported by the players that are featured on them with many of them acting as models for the shirts. The current campaign, which ends tonight at midnight, features HOF RB Thurman Thomas and he and his lovely wife Patti appear in the ads promoting the shirts. Tonight, when the Thurman Thomas shirt finishes its run, the 1st Bandits-themed shirt goes on sale with photos of the people who wore them in yesterday's photoshoot. In addition to members of the Bandits being part of the ad, several of the lovely Buffalo Bandettes dancers donned the shirts for the shoot as well and those photos will be seen about midnight eastern time when the shirts go on sale.
The Bandettes spent the rest of the afternoon leading up to the game working with the Jr Bandettes but when it came time to perform for pregame, they were ready to go and made sure to pose for a few photos beforehand. 2nd year captain Mandy even made a point of welcoming me back after I had to miss the last game due to the weather, roads, and unsafe drivers on them. Mandy also gave me a request that I was unable to fulfill due to how busy the girls were behind the scenes, but I can assure her that we'll be working on it the rest of the season.

The Bandettes in the middle of a performance at 1st intermission

Heading out for halftime

Bandettes and Jr Bandettes performing at halftime

Bandettes and Jr Bandettes posing after their performance

The squad was able to perform during the 4th quarter and, as seen in the pics, a few girls were sporting a new look with MaKenzie's highlights and LaToya's new hairstyle. They both looked great, IMO. After the game, after first running into longtime Jills and Bandettes alum Marissa, I got a chance to talk to a few more alums and Bandettes. Kelsey (2013-14) was there for the game and is looking forward to the next game. In 2011, several Bandettes alums came back and joined the then-current squad for a game, performing on-field like they used to do. Starting this week, practices begin for the next game, March 13th against Toronto, and several Bandettes alums, including Kelsey, will be part of them. Conversations were also had with Jessica, Kirsten, Stephanie, and Mandy and besides hearing about the 26Shirts photoshoot and some of the alumnae returning for next game, I also got to see the new Bandettes posters. This season's is different than past ones in that it has the girls grouped by the lines they dance on during the games. They are the same size as last season's and are pretty sharp, IMO. We should expect to see the Bandettes handing them out and autographing them the next game.

Squad photo at 3rd intermission

Performing during the 4th quarter

MaKenzie, Brittany, Mandy, and Chrissy

You can see all the photos at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalobandettes.shutterfly.com/pictures/8103
The new Bandits-themed 26Shirts will be available starting at midnight tonight for order at http://www.26shirts.com/
Next up, the Bandits and the Bandettes are getting ready over the next two weeks for the March 13th game against the hated Toronto Rock at First Niagara Center.