The MLN MAJOR ATTITUDE
Dance Team 2009
The top dancers and cheerleaders of minor league and alternative professional sports warm up a chilly winter in our second annual feature of the most beautiful and talented women entertaining fans across North America.

 

Brian ROSS
Sr. Editor,

Hey! Over here!

Yes, we know it is hard to tear your eyes off the lovely Ms. Steward, or any of the gorgeous women who qualified for the MLN Sports MAJOR ATTITUDE Dance Team 2009, but a word or two about them before you jump over to their bio pages is in order.

All of these lovely ladies perform in dance team or cheerleading units for professional hockey, basketball, football, or lacrosse clubs across North America.

In a world where the economy stinks, and the cost of everything seems to be spiraling out of control, it is nice to get away and catch a pro game at your local arena or field. While the action on the field during the game is great, a club with a dance team has that something extra.

Aside from being air-sucked-out-of-your-lungs gorgeous, all of our Dance Team are exceptional dancers in their own right. Many of them have some very cool day jobs.

Dancers submit photographs, answers to a short series of questions, and either team photos or video. SZ's editors also check out videos of the dance teams on YouTube and, in some cases, in person.

Nicole Steward of the Black Pearls, who graces our January, 2009 cover (see above) was selected as the top dancer overall for her beauty and her moves on the field. In all, three of the top ten dancers and eight of the top twenty in the Dance Team were members of the Black Pearls team. Three of the Denver Outlaws Dance Team made the top ten, and six more filled out the top twenty spots.

They are also a big part of their community, by way of their club. Most of the dance teams in our system visit local charities, hospitals, and brighten the days of folks in their town.

Shalaine Priddle of the af2 Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz' dance team was no. 2, Candice Vecchiarelli of the Outlaws was third, Philicia Moredock of the Black Pearls was fourth, and Keri Ramsey of the Storm Chasers (Albuquerque Thunderbirds, NBA D-League) was fifth. The feature includes large photos of each dancer, a short bio, and, in several cases, digital posters that can be printed out on inkjet paper.

More than twenty three teams entered this year's MLN MAJOR ATTITUDE Dance Team competition. Also featured this year were dancers from the Storm Chasers (3), the Rochester Knightingales (Rochester Knighthawks (NLL) (2) and the OKC Yard Dawgz (1).

The only low note to this year's MAJOR ATTITUDE Dance Team was the withdrawal of several of our teams from the Arena Football League (AFL), which went dark for the year, we were told, in December.

To all of those wonderful women who had entered, we extend both our apologies and our sympathies. Hopefully the powers-that-be will get their act together, and both you and the players for whom you cheer will return to action in 2010.

The Black Pearls of the Peoria Pirates of the arenafootball2 league purloin the top team honors this year although the Denver Outlaws were just narrowly edged in our editorial ballot. We started with 18 teams in our competition this year, but nearly half were AFL clubs forced to withdraw.

Click on the photos of the ladies to see their bios and large photos! If you see a logo "DP" on the photo, like the button below, and a poster suitable for printing out on 8-1/2 x 11" paper will pop up!

Make sure that your printer has plenty of ink.

This is the second call to competition for the MAJOR ATTITUDE Dance Team. Last year's debut of the feature in January was one of the biggest audiences for a story appearing at SZ, surpassed only by the MLN FAB50 Hockey 2008 rankings last March, and the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2008 mid-season rankings in July.

Photographers contributing to this year's MADT were Melissa Claborn Photography (Yard Dawgz); Todd Clark (Denver Outlaws Dancers); Leichtner Studios, Rich Paprocki, Jane Shafer Kim Jew Sports Photography, Anthony A. Griego, Jr. New Mexico Sports News (Andy Rivera) (Storm Chasers);and Casper Muñoz and Rita Hill Photography (Central Valley Coyotes). Black Pearls photos courtesy of the Peoria Pirates football club.