Buffalo Jill of The Week Jacki

This week, we look at 3rd year dancer Jacki as our Buffalo Jill of The Week. Dancing on Val's line between Kelsey H and Maria, Jacki had a pretty remarkable career as a Buffalo Jills cheerleader. Her rookie season was partially spent injured with a bad wrist, causing her to miss a few games in the middle of the season before getting to travel to the Middle East for a troop visit, watching Super Bowl XLV in Saudi Arabia with 7 of her squadmates and the troops.
In her 2nd season, she got even more notice as she landed the back cover of the Buffalo Jills Swimsuit Calendar in a blue bikini that showed off a fantastic figure to go along with her incredible smile. She went above and beyond the call of duty that season as, at the Jills Comedy Show, she consented to be hypnotized and made a lot of memories for all those in attendance, even though she didn't know what she did afterwards until she got to see the videos I made for her. The best part of the show was when she was told she was auditioning to become one of J Lo's backup dancers with a performance that drew a lot of cheers and applause. In 2012, she didn't do anything grand like she did her 2nd season but she did do something even more significant. As a 3rd year vet, rookies looked up to her on how to carry themselves as Jills, even though she wasn't a captain or co-captain. From my vantage point, she set a very strong example of how to treat people and how to act with class, a lesson not lost on a few of her rookie linemates. You can read more about Jacki at http://buffalojills.com/profile.php?PID=91 Jacki's secondary photo comes from last April's Buffalo Bills Season Ticket Holder Draft Party. Shown posing for the camera that Friday evening are Emily, Jacki, and Lisa.

Emily, Jacki, and Lisa

At last year's 1st cuts, Jills choreographer Kelli Wagner read a little intro to each of the girls as they came out on stage in their swimsuits. They were written by the girls themselves and and besides being beautiful and classy, Jacki is comical as well she shows in the comments that Kelli reads in her intro.

As if all that isn't enough, as seen in this video from last year's 1st cuts, Jacki is also an extraordinary dancer...J Lo would be lucky to have her.

From the Bandettes comes a photo at last December's Open Practice. Shown posing for the camera while the players were getting set to come up for an autograph session are the owners of two of the prettiest smiles on camera this spring...Stephanie and Chrissy.

Stephanie and Chrissy

Buffalo Jill of The Week Jacki

This week, we take a look at now-3rd year vet Jaclyn as our Buffalo Jill of The Week. Dancing on one end of Omarlla's line next to Emily, Jacki, as she's going by these days, has had a pretty eventful career so far as a Jill. Her rookie season had a mishap as she broke her wrist and had to miss a few games healing. She finished up her rookie season with a major troop visit along with 7 of her squadmates in Saudi Arabia. This past season, she got placed on the back cover of the Buffalo Jills Swimsuit Calendar and then got to finish up the season in a big way. The last few years, the Buffalo Jills Comedy Show has featured master hypnotist Jerry Valley and this past January, Jacki was onstage for the entire show and, among other things, auditioned to be one of the backup dancers for a Jennifer Lopez tour...or so she thought. This year, she's already off to a good start as she was probably more focused than anyone else for 1st cuts after vacationing the week between the Workshop and 1st cuts. Doing that, she was able to clear her mind from all the rest of her stress and focus on relaxation and perfecting her routine. You can read more about Jacki at http://buffalojills.com/profile.php?PID=15  Jacki's secondary photo comes from the 9th Annual Buffalo Jills Golf Tournament held at Williamsville's Westwood Country Club last August. Shown posing for a photo while the golfers were arriving for dinner are Loren, Amanda V, Jacki, and Reena.

Loren, Amanda V, Jacki, and Reena

Normally, I'd put up a video from last year's 1st cuts but in Jacki's case, she's getting something special only because of her memorable performance at the Jills Comedy Show this past January. She actually didn't remember doing this after she was released from the hypnotist's control.

Pics from the Jills Comedy Show

One of the big events in Buffalo every year is the Buffalo Jills Comedy Show. The event, which raises money to help the Jills exist, was held at the Tralf Music Hall this year and featured, for a second straight year, master hypnotist Jerry Valley, who's been a featured performer at the Eric County Fair the last 17 years. Last year, several Jills went on stage to be a part of the act but none of them went the distance as far as staying under hypnosis. This year was different as Lindsey and Jaclyn went on stage and Jaclyn was there the whole show.

Jill, Natalie, Melissa, and Myesha working on their routine

Omarlla, Sara, Courteney, and Loren

Jerry Valley gives Alyssa a kiss

Jenny and Melissa

Jills alumni Danielle (2006-09) and Jennifer (2008-09)

After I got there and spent some time talking with Nichole's husband and directing the girls on where to go, I grabbed a few photos of the dancers on stage working through the routine they were going to perform for the fans.Included in the performance was someone who hasn't performed since the Draft party last April...Jill!



















After they finished rehearsing, they joined the Jills Ambassadors in greeting the fans coming in for the show as well as engaged in selling raffle tickets and posing for plenty of photos. Included in the group of people there for the show were a few alumni, Danielle S (2006-09), Jennifer (2008-09), and Stacy (2007,10)























































































After everyone took their seats, it was time for the show to start and to lead it off, the Jills dancers took the stage in 2 groups to perform  Even with a month off, or several months in Jill's case, once the music started playing, the girls showed no signs of rust and the fans loved the performance

Jerry Valley gives a demonstration

Jerry Valley with most of the show participants

After the Jills finished their performance, it was time for the main event as Jerry Valley took the spotlight and, after a few anecdotes about some of his experiences on cruise ships and some demonstrations of his abilities, he brought up some volunteers to submit to being subjects in the show, 2nd year vets Lindsey and Jaclyn included. He ran the subjects through a series of scenarios, weeding out the ones who didn't take to the hypnosis on this try, until he ended up with 7 participants, including the back cover girl of the 2011-12 Jills Swimsuit Calendar, Jaclyn!

portraying vampires for a part in a movie

While most of what they did you just had to be there for or get the DVD, I will share one video. In one of the scenarios, Jerry had the participants convinced Jennifer Lopez was at the front of the audience auditioning backup dancers for her upcoming tour. Jerry had them each first talk to JLo and then put on a performance to the tune of "Let's Get Loud." As shown in the video, Jaclyn's dancing abilities are still fully functioning under hypnosis and drew a lot of cheers from everyone in the audience, not just her squadmates.

See all the pics at http://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/28754

Jerry with the Jills

Jerry and Jaclyn

Coming up next for the Jills, Valerie will be appearing in the Pro Bowl tonight on NBC while Omarlla and Lisa get set to take off in a few days for a troop visit in Singapore! Tryouts for the 2012 squad, slated for April, will be announced in the next few weeks! There will be several empty spots to fill even if every vet who tries out makes it back with 1 girl, Gabrielle, already gone and Murissa leaving after 4 seasons on the sidelines and in front of the camera.

Covergirls announced

Today, the Jills held a private party where the girls celebrated the fact that all their hard work in practice was about to be put on the field and find out who made the cover. They shot a video of the announcement and through it, we find out that Jaclyn and Christina will be on the front and back covers of the 2011-2012 Jills Calendar.

Congrats to Jaclyn and Christina!

Buffalo Jill of The Week Jaclyn

This week, we take a look at another rookie as our Jill of The Week. Spending her gamedays dancing on Omarlla's line next to Jackie, Jaclyn comes across as pretty mature for her age, having graduated college last year out of state in Pittsburgh, PA. Thankfully, she loves Buffalo a lot more than the Steel City and came back home to cheer on the Bills. While the sports teams and family (she admits to being a daddy's girl) are normal reasons for anyone to love Buffalo, the fact that you can wear a winter coat in May isn't something most people mention. Thankfully, girls like Jaclyn can also wear a bikini in May and look incredible doing it as seen in this year's Jills calendar. Jaclyn's secondary photo is from the Saturday Draft Party at the Bills Fieldhouse this past April and features a trio of beautiful rookie dancers. Shown posing for the camera are Emily, Jaclyn, and Jen.

Jaclyn was one of the final three girls to try out for the Jills dancers at 1st cuts along with another prospective rookie and Jills alumnus Kristin M. Take a look at the video here.

Read more about Jaclyn at http://buffalojills.net/article.asp?id=1961182

Pics from Albany

WQBK in Albany is a big supporter of the Buffalo Jills every year. This year they introduced a segment called Keisha's picks in which Jills Ambassador Squad captain Keisha makes football picks every week in a competition with their afternoon guy Mrozek. The loser at the end of the season has to eat a dozen Atomic wings and since we don't want Keisha's taste buds burned off, we're obviously rooting for her. You can tune in at 103.5 ands 103.9 in the Capital Region or online at http://q103albany.com/Home/tabid/967/Default.aspx

This past weekend, they did a little bit more as they brought in Gabrielle and Jaclyn to meet with fans all weekend as well as sell a few calendars judging by the pics. These two beautiful dancers seemed to have as much fun meeting everyone as the fans did themselves. You can take a look at all the pics at http://q103albany.com/QPhotos/tabid/987/Default.aspx

Buffalo Pro Cheer Photos of The Week

This week's photos from the Jills come from the 8th Annual Buffalo Jills Golf Tournament held recently at Williamsville's Westwood Country Club.

Brianne, DJ Jickster
Our first photo was taken while the golfers were just starting to check in and features 4th year vet Brianne with 97Rock's DJ Jickster. Longtime Jills fans should remember Brianne well as she spent the 2005-07 seasons with the Jills dancing on Omarlla's line and, no surprised, she'll be dancing there again. She actually almost came back for the 2008 season but wasn't feeling well at tryouts and took that as a sign to take a year off at least. Thankfully, she missed it too much to stay away for good and, as you can see in the photo, I wasn't the only one happy to see her back. Jickster, as everyone should know, is a DJ at 97Rock, one of the primary sponsors of the Jills, and is the Jills' 2nd biggest fan. He's even joked that he won't do an appearance without some Jills there as well.

Natalie, Emily, Jill, Jaclyn
The 2nd photo features 4 of our beautiful rookie dancers on the Jills. We've already introduced you to Natalie and Emily and joining them in this pic are Jill and Jaclyn. With Michelle's move to the Ambassador squad this year, the dance squad was in need of someone with some great gymnastic abilities and as she showed everyone at the Golf Tourney, Jill fits that need extremely well. In fact, based on what I saw on Monday, Jill seems to have more natural gymnastic ability than anyone since Kaitlin M (2005-07) who backflipped from one side of the room to the other at Jills tryouts in 2006. Jaclyn is not your typical blonde bombshell. She comes across as pretty mature for her age and didn't stay close to home for college like a lot of girls, choosing instead to get away for a few years to Pittsburgh where she still got the small city feel but obviously she'd have to come home to be able to cheerlead since the Steelers don't have a squad even though they were one of the first NFL teams with cheerleaders.

Alexis, Amanda Z
From the Bandettes, our Photo of The Week actually comes with a bit of sadness involved. In a photo taken before the April game against Toronto, we have Alexis and Amanda smiling for the camera. The sadness comes from the fact that the camera-loving Alexis and the gymnastically talented Amanda have each told me they won't be returning for the 2011 season, having moved away. Thankfully we still have plenty of memories of these two and Amanda has a championship she can look back fondly on from her rookie season. These two will definitely be missed but their departure will give a few more rookie hopefuls a better shot at winning a spot on the 2011 Bandettes squad at tryouts in early October. Stay tuned for details on that.

Buffalo's Italian Festival

One of the great things about Buffalo in the summer, other than the relatively mild heat (as opposed to other regions of the country...it still gets pretty hot here) is the large number of festivals that go on seemingly every weekend in the region. In addition to the Taste of Buffalo last weekend, the Italian Festival kicked off on Thursday and Hamburg, NY is holding its Burgerfest today as well.

Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict was an issue for the Taste of Buffalo and the Jills last weekend but they're making up for it with appearances at the Sorrento Cheese Italian Heritage Festival on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo this weekend. Considering that the Italian Festival seemed busier than the Taste, it worked out pretty well. Friday evening, Jills rookies Taryn and Jaclyn were on hand to collect donations to support the festival as well as meet and pose with fans as well as the reigning Miss Italian Festival. Appearances like these are definitely not a chore for the girls as Courteney and her husband were there as well and Taryn planned on returning to the festival in street clothes herself to check it all out. Jaclyn made sure to eat before the appearance to avoid temptation however...lol.

However, this post isn't just about current Jills...it wasn't even an advertised appearance for them. It was, however, an advertised appearance for Jills alumnus Ashlee A(2005), who spent a few years singing with Studio 54 and now sings with the About Face Band and was singing at Class Act, a bar on the edge of the Italian Festival, Thursday and Friday nights. In addition to her singing, she helps her fiancé with his Martial Arts Academy in Williamsville.

Check out the photos at http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2010/Italian%20Festival/

The next major Jills appearance is August 2 at Williamsville's Westwood Country Club when the Jills hold their 8th Annual Golf Tournament. Go to http://buffalojills.net/Article.asp?id=1833570&spid=34534 for details on this event.

That's not the only time they'll be on the golf course that week as some of them will be appearing on August 4th at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, partnered with the Buffalo Bills, in Verona, NY.

Also, don't forget, Buffalo Bills Training Camp starts up July 29 in Pittsford, NY and there will be occasional appearances by the Buffalo Jills for many of the practices.

Finally, since this post was about 1 Jills alumnus, it's a good time to remind you about another Jills alumnus, Theresa Joy (1998-2002), whose TV series "The Bridge" is airing tonight on CBS at 8pm. Make sure you tune in or at the very least set your DVRs.