The Bandettes at the Bandits-Titans game

With a 2-6 start, the Bandits have a lot of work to do to have any hope of making the playoffs but made their first step in returning to the playoff hunt with a 12-10 victory over the visiting Orlando Titans in HSBC Arena. Fan favorite Mark Steenhus contributed 6 goals and 4 assists to the home team effort.

The Bandettes, meanwhile, helped keep the excitement level high with high energy performances and routines including a halftime performance with 4 tumblers! Amanda and Ashley were joined on that performance in tumbling by Lauren S and Chelsea. After the win, a few of the girls joined in the celebration at Pearl Street's postgame party before they called it a night. After the Jr Bandettes clinic that morning and with most of the girls on other appearances Sunday morning, an early night was definitely a must for these hard-working young ladies.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b87/bandettes/2010/Titans/

The Bandettes have a few weeks off from games as the Bandits' next home game is April 3 when they play host to the Colorado Mammoth.

Jills tryouts: round one! and a video from the Jills Comedy Show

Jills tryouts are starting up and Saturday afternoon was the first optional workshop for prospective Jills to get a leg up on the competition. This year, Skunkpost's Christie Weber will be reporting on tryouts throughout the process and her first report includes interviews with director Stephanie M as well as Courteney, who's looking to transition from ambassador to dance in 2010.

See it all at http://skunkpost.com/news.sp?newsId=1783

Also, Christie was at last weekend's Adult Comedy Show and besides a few clips of what happened onstage, she interviewed headliner Jocko Alston. You can find out more about Jocko at http://www.jockoalston.com/

Warning: video is NSFW with adult language

See it all at http://skunkpost.com/news.sp?newsId=1737

Bandette of The Week Kirsten

This week's featured Bandette seems to be one of the biggest fans of the camera on the squad as she's flashing a smile for the camera almost constantly it seems. Kirsten is in her 2nd season with the Bandettes and has been dancing on Meghan's line her entire time on the squad. Almost never seen without a big smile, Kirsten is actually from Long Island, here in Buffalo attending college with plans of becoming a physical therapist. One of Kirsten's main qualities is her dedication and the fact that she moved far from home to pursue her degree, even planning on getting her master's. That also says a lot about how strong this young lady is as well. A lot of 18-year olds may look forward to moving away from home to go to college, but many get too homesick to throw themselves into something as time-consuming and challenging as a professional dance/cheer squad. Kirsten did it and it probably helped calm the homesickness enough that she's back for a second season and hopefully many more. But besides what it says in her bio, something to be noted about Kirsten is how warm-hearted and caring as well as very easy to talk to. You can read more about Kirsten at http://www.bandits.com/profileB.asp?bandetteID=200913

Buffalo Jill of The Week Michelle

This week, we take a look at a former Jill who came back to the squad as our Jill of The Week. Michelle started out as a Jill in 2007 but at the time, wasn't ready to make the commitments that the role entailed. So after departing the squad early and taking last year off as well, she came back and was even better than we had hoped she'd be when she originally made the squad. She spent the season contributing her tumbling abilities on performances and routines and she and Kaitlin were rated the highest of all the pairs of Jills who appeared at the Edge Away Game parties by the staff there at the Aud Sports Bar and Grill. No easy feat when you consider all the girls that appeared there throughout the season but the manager raved about how well Michelle and Kaitlin interacted with the customers the best out of all the other pairs of girls there. He also said how much he was wowed by Michelle's beauty but then, who isn't? Originally from Boston, she loves the "small-town" friendly feel of Buffalo and has been working towards her nursing degree. You can read more about Michelle this week only in the webgroup's files section where we've uploaded a copy of her 2009 Jills bio. Sorry, phone number is not included.

If I Can Dream Premieres March 2

As we previously reported, there's a new reality show starting up called If I Can Dream and 1 of the inaugural season's 5 stars is former Buffalo Jill Amanda P (2005-07).

Beginning on March 2nd, If I Can Dream will let you be a part of the lives of 5 talented young people as they pursue their dreams in Hollywood. Living together in a house in the hills, their every struggle and triumph is streamed online, in real time.

YOU can watch, interact, and participate along the way, taking the journey with Amanda, Ben, Giglianne, Justin and Kara before they become stars.

See every triumph. See every setback. See every minute:

LIVE Streaming 24/7 at IfICanDream.com

New EPISODES each Tuesday on Hulu. http://iicd.tv/HULU