When winter hits and football season starts winding down, the NLL is getting set
to start another exciting season of indoor lacrosse. In Buffalo, where the Bills
and Sabres have frustrated the fans of late, the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team
has done exactly the opposite, bringing home the NLL Championship 2 seasons ago.
After a 2nd rd exit from the playoffs in 2009 however, the Bandits retooled a
little and are making an attempt to reclaim the Champions Cup for Buffalo. But
before they can do that, the team needs to practice and train and part of that
is an Open Practice they put on each December for their loyal fans.

The Bandits team isn't all that changed as the Bandettes dance team went through
some changes as well. A number of well-known faces have moved on in coach Erin
J, Danielle, Karla, Sarah, Denise, and Maggie. Jaclyn takes over running the
squad in 2010 with Erin Y moving up from dancer to head choreographer/asst
coach. With the departures, 6 new faces take their places to join the
established vets. 2 of these new faces aren't exactly new however as 2006-08
alumnus Beth returns to the squad after taking last year off due to scheduling
conflicts. The other familiar face spent the fall of 2008 at Ralph Wilson
Stadium as a member of the Buffalo Jills. Lonna joins fellow rookies Lauren B,
Chelsea, Stephanie, and Ashley V to round out the 14-girl squad intent on
cheering on the Bandits to a 5th league title in 2010.

For their part of the Open Practice, the Bandettes put on a pair of dance
performances, the 1st run giving a break to the players during practice and the
2nd at the end of practice, giving the players a little bit of time to get ready
for a post-practice autograph session in the Arena's concourse. After the 2nd
performance, the Bandettes went around the concourse to pose for photos and sign
autographs while the players took some more time to get ready.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b87/bandettes/2010/Open%20Practice/


Coming up next for the Bandettes is the Bandits Home Opener January 16 at 7:30
in HSBC Arena. The Bandits host their Thruway rivals, the Rochester Knighthawks,
in the 2nd game of their season series after a road trip to Rochester's Blue
Cross Arena on January 9th.

This week, we continue with our look at some of the lovely rookie Jills
Ambassadors on the squad with the beautiful Kristen. This soft-spoken young lady
is working on her degree in biology and hoping to pursue a career as a
physician's assistant. Describing herself, she says she's happy, upbeat, caring
and loving but her strongest quality is her postive attitude. Not an easy thing
to do all the time when cheering for the Bills but she pulls it off as well as
anyone on the squad and it's one of the things her squadmates love about her.
Jessica and Valerie are the only other two that smile quite as much as Kristen
does and, like with her more experienced squadmates, her smiling is infectious.
In fact, since tryouts at the Town Ballroom in April, I can't recall seeing her
without a smile on that pretty face, even in that muddy mess of a "tailgate
party" in Toronto last week. She even went so far as to put a smiley face on her
Jills bio...lol. But like so many of her squadmates, she loves cheerleading and
the Bills and hopes the current playoff drought can end sooner rather than
later. She thinks Buffalo fans are awesome and I'm sure I'm not alone in
thinking the feeling is mutual.

When she's not cheering or taking classes, she enjoys the beach with her
boyfriend (sorry, guys), whether it be swimming, jet-skiing, or just plain
relaxing. She enjoys listening to most forms of music and funny movies and
actually wishes she could change those pretty brown eyes of hers to blue.
Personally, I don't think she should change a thing.

It's that time of year again, when NFL Cheerleaders select their Pro Bowl
representatives, this year sending their representatives to Miami for the
January 31st AFC-NFC All-Star game. This year's selection should be no surprise
to anyone as it's 4th year vet and captain Christina. She started off her career
as a Jill as the only rookie member of the Events Dance Team and also won the
2006 Rookie of The Year. In 2008, she was named a co-captain for Omarlla's line
and moved over to Nicole's line this season. However, after Nicole resigned
suddenly, Christina's took over handling the captain duties on her own and doing
a great job with it, obviously. This won't be Christina's 1st trip to Miami at
the end of January. Three years ago, the Super Bowl was held there just like
this year and a group of NFL Cheer squads sent a half-dozen girls each to
compete in a Beauties on The Beach competition that the Jills, including
Christina,  did pretty well in.

Congratulations to Christina on a well-deserved honor!

Great pics Phil,thanx.

--- On Mon, 12/7/09, philusaf <buffalojillsphilster@...> wrote:

From: philusaf <buffalojillsphilster@...>
Subject: Buffalo Jills and Bandettes The Jills on NFL.com
To: buffalojills@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 9:02 PM







 









       The NFL's cameras were on hand in Toronto last week and snapped a few pics
of the Jills dancers from the Budweiser "Tailgate Party" as well as individual
shots of Stephanie B, Katie, and Vincenza along with a couple more group shots.



Check them out at http://www.nfl. com/photos/ 09000d5d814b009b #id:09000d5d814b
0f1b



and http://www.nfl. com/photos/ 09000d5d814b009b #id:09000d5d814b 0a0a



They also got photos of Kelly



http://static. nfl.com/static/ content/public/ image/getty/ 2009/09000d5d814
91d31_gallery_ 600.jpg



and Jackie



http://static. nfl.com/static/ content/public/ image/getty/ 2009/09000d5d814
92a64_gallery_ 600.jpg



last Sunday when the Bills squished the Fish as well

























[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The NFL's cameras were on hand in Toronto last week and snapped a few pics of
the Jills dancers from the Budweiser "Tailgate Party" as well as individual
shots of Stephanie B, Katie, and Vincenza along with a couple more group shots.

Check them out at http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d814b009b#id:09000d5d814b0f1b

and http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d814b009b#id:09000d5d814b0a0a

They also got photos of Kelly

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/getty/2009/09000d5d81491d31_ga\
llery_600.jpg

and Jackie

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/getty/2009/09000d5d81492a64_ga\
llery_600.jpg

last Sunday when the Bills squished the Fish as well

Last year, the Bills started an 8-game series of games in which they held some
of their home games not at home in Ralph Wilson Stadium, but in the Rogers
Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The reasoning for the Bills In Toronto Series is to
lure some big money corporations to but up luxury boxes in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Bills don't generally have a problem selling out games, even in the midst of
a now 10-season playoff absence. Western NYers are well-known for their love of
their sports teams. The Bills went 6 years leading the league in attendance
during their Super Bowl run. The Buffalo Sabres have high attendance at all of
their games and the Buffalo Bandits are annually among the leaders in attendance
in the NLL. The only problem is the lack of big money corporations to buy luxury
boxes and other premium seating. That's the hope of the Bills in Toronto
series...to help draw the big money corporations down to Orchard Park, so that
the Bills can afford to compete with the large market teams of the NFL when it
comes to signing bonuses and  expenditures not covered by the league's salary
cap.

The whole idea is to give those big money people a taste of what the Bills have
to offer and in all honesty, the Rogers Centre is ill-suited for that. People
are paying premium prices for poor seating where the sightlines aren't suited
for the NFL. In Ralph Wilson Stadium, there are great sightlines all over the
stadium. There's also the lack of tailgating, something that Buffalo is known
for. Buffalo, Green Bay, and Kansas City are always the top 3 NFL cities in
regards to their tailgating. True tailgating has nothing to do with excessive
alcohol consumption but everything to do with the feeling of community in the
parking lots around the stadium as fans grill up their dinners and share with
fellow tailgaters. Toronto doesn't allow tailgating, which detracts from the
gameday experience. The Rogers Centre setup even affects the cheerleaders as
well and not in a positive way. As anyone who's watched NFL cheerleaders a lot
knows, there are 8 spots around the sidelines that each squad of cheerleaders
perform during the game. Besides being stationed at each 10-yard line during the
game, each squad also spends some time dancing in the end zone areas and the
organizers at the Rogers Centre made one mistake when it comes to seating that
prevented the Jills from dancing in the scoreboard endzone area by placing
bleachers only a few yards away from the endzone. In this blogger's opinion, a
better way to sell these luxury boxes is a lot easier than moving games and
upsetting the loyal fan base. Simply set aside a few luxury boxes that aren't
selling for the purpose of giving these large corporations a taste of a real
gameday experience. The luxury boxes are contracted for a period of a few years
as it is. If there are some that aren't selling for a few years, sell them for
individual games. Maybe those corporate types would be more inclined to buy
luxury boxes if they saw what a real gameday experience was about...because they
certainly aren't seeing it in the Rogers Centre atmosphere. Hopefully though,
this Toronto series can help draw Canadian corporations to Buffalo. If nothing
else, the wealthy people in Toronto buying up these tickets are hearing what a
great experience a real Bills home game is from the fans who either already make
the drive down to the Ralph on a regular basis or the diehards that make the
trip up to Toronto.

Now that I'm done with that part, the game itself was nothing that Bills fans
want to remember, and the poor sightlines at the Rogers Centre may have almost
been a blessing for the Bills fans that made the trek to Toronto to see their
team play in a neutral site alongside Jets fans as well as fans of the NFL in
general. Before the game however, fans got a chance to meet one of the Bills
all-time greats when HOF RB Thurman Thomas put in an appearance at the Budweiser
Tailgate Party and, as well as signing autographs and posing for pictures, gave
one lucky fan a ticket to the game....to sit with Thurman himself.

There was someone else at that Budweiser tailgate party that fans were happy to
see as well, though. Keisha, Alyssa, Kristen, and Lindsay of the Buffalo Jills
Ambassador Squad spent a few hours mingling with the fans as well as posing for
pictures and signing autographs. They even sold a number of their smoking hot
Swimsuit Calendar as well which features 41 beautiful ladies in some very sexy
swimwear. To add to that, Omarlla, Eileen, Christina, Valerie, Jessica, and Lynn
put in an appearance for photos and autographs and put on a performance on
stage, showing off not only their beauty, but their dance moves for the hundreds
of fans in attendance. When gametime came, the lovely Amanda delivered the game
ball before joining with Alyssa to accompany Billy Buffalo on promotional visits
around the stadium. Meanwhile, Omarlla, Eileen, and Christina led their squads
around the stadium and put on a pair of big performances in the non-scoreboard
endzone, where they room to perform.

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Jets-Toronto/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46kSOT4AmRQ&feature=player_embedded
Coming up next for the Jills, some of the squad will be at Snowpark Niagara in
Niagara Falls, NY Saturday from 10-1 in an event to benefit the Breast Cancer
Association.
Don't forget to tune into 103.3 The Edge Wednesday morning from 7:30-8:30 to
talk to Bull and one of the Jills for an hour-long interview.
The Bills are back on the road in Kansas City on Dec 13th as they try to improve
on their 4-8 record and the best place to watch the game is the Aud Sports Bar
in Depew. Wing and drink specials, a halftime buffet, and the largest prize
table in Western NY are only a part of the draw as the event features a pair of
the beautiful Buffalo Jills in attendance.

Despite what some of her friends have thought this season, our current Jill of
The Week isn't a dancer, but a rookie member of the Ambassador Squad. From a
little bit of a distance, some people have thought she was out there dancing on
the sidelines when it was actually 4th year vet Valerie. The confusion has
helped make the two of them pretty good friends, though. Lindsay is already an
accomplished young lady with her BS in Early Childhood and Childhood Education
and is also currently pursuing a master's in Literacy. If that's not enough,
she's also a speed reader...a talent that will help this future teacher in
grading papers quickly so she can go back to watching a movie with her longtime
boyfriend (sorry guys). That's probably a big part of why she's not quite as
much of a partier as most girls her age...she already landed her guy. With 10
years of dancing and 4 years of cheerleading behind her, you would think she'd
have gone for the dance squad but the dance squad requires a heftier time
commitment and by choosing to become an Ambassador this year instead, she's
working to correct her worst habit, which is over-committing herself and then
stressing out about it. With her focus right now on getting her master's degree,
she figured she wouldn't overload herself for a change. With plans of getting
her degree this upcoming spring, maybe we'll see her decide to dance next
season? We can have fans do a little bit of a double take if she and Valerie
dance on the same line...LOL. Check out her 97Rock Photo album at
http://97rock.com/Article.asp?id=1556008&spid=21992

After a loss last week in which the Bills showed more fire than they have all
season, Bills fans had a little bit of hope for their annual hosting of the
hated Miami Dolphins. With Hall of Famer Bruce Smith getting his HOF ring at
halftime and other greats in attendance, the stadium was electric all the way
through the final whistle, with the Bills sending the Fish packing with a 31-14
slaughter of their hated rivals.
Last year's game was in Toronto so fans got to tailgate this year and meet the
Jills Ambassadors at the 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge Tailgate Parties this year.
Inside the Fieldhouse, Kelly Ann and Swimsuit Calendar Covergirl Katy played a
bit of Family Feud as part of Classic Hits 104.1's contribution to the Bills
Gameday Experience when they weren't signing autographs and taking photos with
their fans. Prior to the game, 5th year vet and co-captain Katie made the game
ball delivery with the aid of 9-year old Mason Muffoletto, a Buffalo youth who
saved his grandfather's life last week with CPR when he suffered a heart attack.
The game itself was exciting, with the teams keeping it close until in the 4th
quarter when the Bills pulled away behind a few big plays. The Jills also kept
it exciting on the sidelines and even debuted a new performance in the
scoreboard endzone after the 3rd quarter.
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Fish%20game/
Coming up next, the Bills and the Jills head north to Toronto to play "host" in
the Rogers Centre to the New York Jets in a primetime matchup on NFL Network's
Thursday Night Football. Prior to the game itself, members of the Jills will be
appearing at the Budweiser Tailgate Party at the intersection of Lower Simcoe
St. and Bremner Blvd, which takes place from 3-8pm.
If you're looking for something to do on Saturday, many of the Jills will be
appearing at Snow Park Niagara in an event to benefit the Breast Cancer
Association. The event takes place from 10am-1pm on First Street in Niagara
Falls, NY.

This week, we take a look at Ambassador Squad Captain Keisha in our weekly
feature. She actually started off her 3rd season on the squad as the co-captain
but was promoted when her captain resigned for the squad. Even if Danielle
hadn't resigned when she did, it's likely Keisha would've made captain in time
anyway. The reason for that is the fact that she goes all out for her
squadmates. We're not talking something like helping them celebrate birthdays
and the like...there are a lot of girls on the squad that really step up in that
way. She's shown up to support and help squadmates at appearances, even making a
trek to NYC her rookie year to support Omarlla and Autumn at an appearance at
the NYC Buffalo Bills Backers headquarters for a road game that season. She even
went to Hawaii to show her support for Jessica in the Pro Bowl this past
February. Stuff like that should come as no surprise to anyone who knows her,
though. Her enthusiasm for life and being a Buffalo Jill is pretty well-known
and when it comes to being a Jills Ambassador, she might be more qualified than
anyone. One of the primary requirements of an Ambassador Jill is good
conversational skills, something that Keisha is an ace at, as anyone who's only
met her can attest. With a Bachelor's degree in psychology and a job as a sales
manager, perhaps she was made for this role. You can read more about Keisha at
http://buffalojills.net/roster/Keisha.php

After a week in which the Bills fired their head coach and benched their
starting QB, Bills fans weren't sure what to think of their new look Buffalo
Bills but many of them showed up at the Aud Sports Bar and Grill in Depew to
find out. In addition to the game, wing and beer specials, and prizes from 103.3
The Edge, fans got treated to a visit from 2008 Pro Bowl Buffalo Jill Jessica
and this week's Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog Jill of The Week Stephanie B, who visited
with fans, posed for pictures, and signed autographs during the game. The game
itself ended in disappointment with a loss for the Bills fans. But the day at
the Aud was anything but disappointing to the fans that got to meet Jess and
Stephanie.
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Jags-Road/
The Jills are staying busy this week with plenty of appearances.
For one, you may be able to catch a few of them on Wednesday as they visit
97Rock's DJ Jickster as he camps out at Rosa's Home Store on Union Road in
Cheektowaga. He's hanging out there collecting food for the Food Bank of Western
NY which needs lots of help in these tough economic times. See all the details
at http://www.97rock.com/Article.asp?id=1593461&spid=21994
Also that morning, be sure to tune into 103.3 The Edge as Morning Bull
interviews one of the Jills from 7:30-8:30. Yoy can even listen online at
http://www.wedg.com/ and call in with your own questions (no personal phone
number or email requests please, though...lol)
Also, if you're looking to dance off all the food you put it on Thanksgiving,
head across the border to Dragonfly Nightclub in Niagara Falls, Ontario where
some of the Jills will be appearing for Industry Thursdays on American
Thanksgiving. See the details at
http://buffalojills.net/appearances/details.php?recordID=62

The Jills next take the field next Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium when the Bills
host the hated Miami Dolphins at 1pm. Meet the Ambassadors inside the Fieldhouse
and at the 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge Tailgate parties before seeing the dancers
perform before and during the game, a game in which HOF DE Bruce Smith will get
his HOF ring at halftime.

This week, we take a look at ebony beauty Stephanie B as our Jill of The Week.
In her 3rd season, she's spending gamedays on Omarlla's line next to Katie and
Jackie. She's a future elementary school teacher who hopes to make a big impact
on many lives, besides obviously making hearts beat faster as she's doing now. A
competitive dancer for most of her life, she enjoys the Jr Jills program because
it not only allows her to share her love of dance with the next generation, but
gives her a start in her future plans as a teacher. It's just that instead of
reading, writing, and arithmetic, she's teaching dance and cheer moves. Judging
from how the group that she, Jessica, and Christina taught progressed at the
Jills Open Practice in September, she's off to a strong start. This past
February, she was part of a group of 8 Jills to make a trip to Iraq. You can
read more about Stephanie at
http://buffalojills.net/roster/stephanie_b.php

The Buffalo Jills are one of the only squads in the league not sponsored by the
team they cheer for. Instead, their main sponsor is a set of radio stations that
actually airs the Bills games. One of these stations, 103.3 The Edge, has Away
Game Parties featuring food and drink specials, halftime buffets, the largest
prize table in Western NY, and a visit by members of the Buffalo Jills in
uniform. This year, the Edge Away Game Parties are held at the Aud Sports Bar
and Grill in Depew, a sports bar with plenty of memorabilia all over the walls
from the recently demolished Memorial Auditorium.
The 2009-10 edition of the Buffalo Jills got their first game experience
cheering in Canton, Ohio this year at the annual Hall of Fame game when the
Bills faced off against the Tennessee Titans. Now deep into the regular season,
the Bills once again faced off against the Titans, this time in Nashville's LP
Field, the site of the Bills' last playoff appearance. For this game, against an
opponent the Bills last faced outside the Hall of Fame, the Jills sent a pair of
Hall of Fame quality Jills in 10th year vets Omarlla and Eileen. Even with all
their experience on the squad, they've yet to cheer for a playoff-bound team,
which is actually quite saddening. For all they've given to the team, you have
to hope the Bills will reward their long tenure with the chance to perform in
the playoffs. Unfortunately, with the Bills putting in a poor performance in
their game, the chances for that happening this season are looking slimmer by
the week. Thankfully, Omarlla and Eileen's contributions to the Jills and the
Bills have always been first-rate and we can only hope these two beautiful
ladies keep performing for several more years, or at least long enough that they
can cheer in the playoffs like they deserve to.
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Titans-Road/
There will be a number of opportunities to see some of the Jills before next
week's Edge Away Game Party as many of them will be visiting with 97Rock's DJ
Jickster on Thursday as he lives in a truck until it's filled with food for the
less fortunate. Stay tuned to 97Rock to find out where he and the truck will be
parked.
Also, Bob Weaver Motorsports in North Tonawanda is having an Open House Thursday
evening from 7-9 with Jills in attendance for photos and autographs.
Also, don't forget to tune into 103.3 The Edge Wednesday morning at 7:30 to hear
Bull interview one of our beautiful Jills with the phone lines open for
questions.

For their top-selling swimsuit calendar, the Buffalo Jills have the option of
getting their shots done here in Western NY or in a more exotic location on a
cruise through the Caribbean. Obviously, most of the girls would prefer to get
their shots done on the cruise but unfortunately, it's a rather pricey endeavour
for the girls as they do have to pay for it themselves. To help pay for the
cruise, the Jills hold fundraisers like the annual Beer Blast and pizza party at
SoHo on Chippewa in downtown Buffalo. All but a trio of the Jills' 37-girl squad
was in attendance for the event which included plenty of raffles, wine-tasting,
and a few special appearances. No one knows about the hard work that the girls
put in to these events more than former Jills and 5 alumni put in an appearance
at the event to support their former squad. A former long-time Bandettes captain
even put in an appearance to support one of her friends on the squad.
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2009/Fundraiser/
With the Bills on the road this weekend, your best chances to meet some of the
Jills are to check out the Edge Away Game Party at the Aud Sports Bar in Depew
where a couple of the girls will be in attendance for about half of the game and
at Sole Restaurant in Williamsville where 1 of the girls will be bartending the
whole game.

Every so often, a cheerleader leaves the squad but chooses to come back after
some time away. This season, the Jills have 3 such young ladies and our first
look at one is Kelly Ann. She was a dancer with the Jills in 2003 and 2004 and
was actually an early departure from the 2004 squad. The last few years,
however, found her making the occasional appearance at a few Jills events and
probably got her thinking about returning. This year, she's back and obviously
looking just as good as if not better than (my vote goes to better than) she did
when she was dancing. She's an Ambassador this year though so if you never got a
chance to meet her when she was on the squad before, there's a lot more chances
to meet her on gamedays at the 97Rock or 103.3 The Edge Tailgate parties on
Radio Row.
Back in 2003, the Jills site had a Jill of The Month feature and Kelly Ann was
one of those chosen for the honor and the following is what was said: Well it is
obvious... Kelly Ann is gorgeous!! Kelly Ann is a Rookie to the Jills this past
season. Her soft spoken demeanor should not be mistaken for her personality.
Kelly Ann is very sweet, professional and easy to talk to.
"A dedicated, hard worker too, Kelly Ann's work ethic is one to be admired,"
says Buffalo Jills Director Stephanie Mateczun."
Kelly Ann returned to the Jills this season because she regretted leaving the
squad early when she did. She hates leaving something unfinished and chose to
return to the squad to put in another full season. Hopefully, she won't quit at
just the one season although she has previously wanted to return to school for
her masters degree after having received a bachelor's in political science from
the University of Miami, Jim Kelly's alma mater. If she does intend to do that,
I'm sure UB would be ecstatic to have her as she'll probably graduate near the
top of her class. To read more about Kelly Ann, check the files section of the
webgroup (registration required) to see her 2003 rookie bio. Yeah, she was
cheering the last time the Bills beat the Patriots. Maybe having her back on the
squad will make something happen on December 20th?