This week, we take a look at our first rookie as our Buffalo Jill of The Week. Jenny, who dances on Christina's line next to Natalie and Amanda V, has already made her mark on the squad in a few ways. For one, she drives further than anyone else on the squad with her home being in the Syracuse area. I would have to guess she keeps her iPod fully charged to keep her company on that drive. She even volunteered for an appearance in Jamestown on Opening Day so her normal 2 1/2 hour drive turned into 4. But her contributions so far go beyond that kind of dedication...she's also quit the exceptional dancer as she and Myesha were the only 2 rookies to perform at the Jills Golf Tourney this year. When you have that few rookies doing it, it says something about how great they are as dancers. A lot of girls, when they join the Jills, are still working their way through college. Jenny's already a college grad with her degree in communications and her hope is to be able to use that degree for the ASPCA to help find homes for all the abandoned and otherwise homeless animals around. With all the charities that get a lot of attention, the ASPCA is one that, while the needs are simple to get help, the attention it gets to get that help isn't what it should be. I have a feeling Jenny would be able to help change that. Read more about Jenny at https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1L5vBIFSSrlfgx1A7KSOmBX7H34IOaCTpeUEF8yOhlgg Jenny's secondary pic is from the Lions preseason game prior to the Jills coming out for pregame. Shown posing for the camera in the tunnel are Jenny and Natalie.
Jenny and Natalie
Don't forget to check out her tryout video from 1st cuts!
On Tuesday, 6th year vet and captain Christina of the Buffalo Jills appeared on National Television Show Anderson Cooper, a new talk show this year whose focus that day was on, among others, Paula Abdul. Christina once met Paula several years ago and got the chance to meet her again on the show. Then, she appeared on Winging It, on CW23 in Buffalo, with a recap of what happened and also talked about this Sunday's big pregame performance.
CW23, a TV station in Buffalo, has, for the last 4 years or so, had a young woman employed as a spokesperson. The 1st two years, Lydia Dominick filled the role and while in that role, worked with the Jills pretty frequently. She even became kind of an honorary Jill while doing a series on Jills tryouts and now she's co-hosting a talk show on WGRZ-TV. Her replacement, Allie Hartwick is now about to leave the job herself (they are basically given 2-year contracts to keep a new face in the job and give the ladies some experience in the television industry). This year, among the people up for the job are a few Buffalo Jills alumni and one Buffalo Bandettes alumnus as well as some current Jills
At 7A is 4th year vet and current Buffalo Jills Ambassador Squad captain Laura http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_a/cw-star-video-7A
At 9A is 3rd year veteran Ambassador Ruby http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_a/cw-star-video-9A
At 10A is 2009 Buffalo Bandettes alumnus Erin M http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_a/cw-star-video-10A
12A is 3-year Buffalo Jills alumnus Michelle http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_a/cw-star-video-12A
27A is 2009 Buffalo Jills covergirl Katy R http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_a/cw-star-video-27A
At 5B is 11-year Buffalo Jills alumnus Eileen http://www.cw23.com/dpp/cw_star/search_videos_b/cw-star-video-5b
All we as fans need to do is vote by clicking the Facebook like buttons on their pages and it'll help give them a leg up, so to speak, on the competition
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and around the NFL, players use pink cleats, gloves, and other items during a few special games each season. NFL Cheerleaders also do something special each year with pink pom-poms and sometimes even special uniforms. This year, the Buffalo Jills are going all out. As everyone who's been paying any attention to the Jills the past year knows, the squad put on the largest halftime show in the NFL outside of the Super Bowl with the aid of several dancers from Fusion Dance Studio, the Buffalo Bandettes, and several Buffalo Jills Alumni. For the next home game, against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 9th, the Buffalo Jills will welcome over 100 Buffalo Jills alumni to the field for a very special pregame performance. For that game last year, all the alumni involved cheered within the past decade or so. For this performance, Jills alumni of all ages have come in for this big performance. There are plenty of girls from recent years, including Katie K and Angelina who were with the squad only last season. But there are also plenty of ladies from before as well and I was told one Jills alumnus performing is in her 70s! Also, like last year's halftime performance, several Buffalo Jills Ambassadors will also be on the field performing as well. Sara and Courteney were no surprise at all nor were Miranda and Shannon. But also joining the dancers for this performance are Rebecca as well as Keisha and Laura, the captain and co-captain of the Buffalo Jills Ambassador Squad! That's not all, though. Stephanie Mateczun, who cheered on the Jills herself before becoming the director, is also part of this performance.
They've been practicing for a couple of weeks so far and to show off what they've learned to friends and family, the Jills invited family and close friends to see the first hour of Thursday night's practice. Husbands, children, and perhaps even some grandchildren got to see what their loved ones did before and will be doing in just over a week.
It was a major thrill for me as well. Besides the girls I know from very recently, there were several girls there from back when I first launched the Buffalo Jills Fan Club on Yahoo before they switched to a groups format and long before I launched the more professional-looking Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog.
Kristin B and Lynn (2008-09)
Julie P (1997-2002) with her son...Julie is perhaps the biggest reason I first launched the site
Kristina at the merchandise table while everyone was still checking in
Several Jills Alumni including Jena (2005) and Megan (2006) on the left
Julie P (1997-2002), Korinne (2004-06) and Nicole P (2004-09)
Keisha and Krystin among several alumni
Melissa, Allison (2002-05), Steph, Tina (2000-02), and Danielle (2002-03) among the alumni
