kalibean

The Maddie/Amy thing shouldn't have been a thing...Gina/Lexie would have made a ton more sense. Both Maddie and Amy were great cheerleaders, just didn't have the pop and sizzle. Well, Heather. I would have liked to see Heather in the mix too.

I 100% didn’t recognize her. And even with you saying it’s her, I’m zooming in and can’t tell it’s her. I feel like she’s done the whole med spa and then heavily filtered thing that Tara has been doing. Like it’s them but it’s not and I’m so confused but also making an appointment for myself.

They really need an alternative ending in lieu of jump splits. I would support replacing it completely, but 100% it needs to be replaced for these types of “stages.” Fan kick to splits, the marking jump they do in practice, etc.

I don’t think they would have, and I don’t know that the average viewer would have come across the headline as quickly as this group. The second article quoted had the incident happening in 2008 when Travis was 20 and the alleged victim was 16. They were coworkers and it sounds like there was a power imbalance. It’s an icky enough age difference because there are huge leaps in maturity in those ages, but probably not icky enough for many. Maybe as a woman I’ve just been harassed/groped/whatever so many times that it doesn’t register anymore (and how horrible is that) but I was surprised there wasn’t a larger pileup of accusations in the article. Maybe they’re hoping if one comes forward, more will. I assume it has to be significant for a suspension, so likely more to the story than released.

I didn’t think Cassie should have made it her first year, based on what we saw, but not much different than Breelan or Ashley Pro or Caila or Kat or a million other last picked that they hope will get better and rarely do. Cassie did, tho, and while she wasn’t in the best half of dancers, held her own. She also had her tumbling and a good singing voice for the variety shows they did back then. I feel the same way about passing her through with an injury as I did with Danielle, Daphne, Brooke, etc….she would have been healed in time for regular season and had proven she could be a good cheerleader. I think she got some advantages because of her mother, 100%, but they’re consistently inconsistent on deal breakers to make the squad. Now if some of the behavior issues are true, she should have been given the treatment of Erica, Holly, etc. and quietly stepped down.

And nothing wrong with that, @Kamal 💜 We all like what we like. I think it’s cute too, tho the armpit thing I can’t unsee now that it’s been pointed out!

Dickies could probably make a cute white cut off short, and they’re a Fort Worth based company…could be a good tie in. But I like the wrangler idea too! I like the uniform, but those shorts need some improvement for the type of figure currently on the team vs what was a little curvier back in the day.

Justice for Lexie! Gina is great too, but I think Lexie would have been a solid choice. She’s lots of fun to watch and so pretty too.

Another option is to take BC straight through the season, and skip a period entirely. That’s what I would have done. A little breakthrough spotting is a million times easier to deal with. Many of these women are a low enough body weight that they might skip fairly often anyway. Common enough for a lot of female athletes.

Can I choose neither Melissa or Maddie? Lol. Melissa is good on camera, and has a polish that is still very relatable. She doesn’t add as much value as I would like, but I get that she has a fan base and is probably the most immediately recognizable former DCC. Maddie is a great guest to support, and to an earlier point, got the boot her first year and came back much improved. But as good as I think she is one on one and in the locker room, she struggles on camera and lacks polish. I don’t know who I would pick tho, other than Jacie who I think is pretty much the best ever and is still young enough to the team to be relatable.

I don’t even get Kashara 2.0 out of Maddie, because Kashara is great on camera and always looks like she’s having a blast. And she just wants you to have fun with her too. I like Maddie as a DCC, and she seems like a great teammate and leader. But the accolades given didn’t make sense. Amy too. Good cheerleaders, good locker room, solid team leaders, but not the second coming of DCC Jesus.

When she first popped up here, there were some very strong opinions about her look. Tide seems to have turned on that, thankfully, and her dance skills are awesome. I assume she was ranked that low because TPTB wanted to see how her cameos turned out. She seems to be fantastic in every style, like a pixie version of Gina. I can’t think of another DCC to compare her to because she isn’t a girl next door dressed up like Maddie or Christina, or a unique glam like Amanda. She’s doing her own thing. I still get Christine Baranski vibes too.

I wish she had just been the “bad guy” and frankly I think it’s fair. Expand on what she first said - if I had seen this pre camp, I wouldn’t have brought you in. I need dancers who make smart, mature choices. Take a year to grow up some, clean up your social media, make smart choices and come back to us next year. Bad guy in this situation would have been cutting just bc risqué song choice, especially if Ava had consistently posted dance videos to trending songs. I might have left a song like WAP out of my social dance portfolio, or gone with an edited version, personally. And that’s likely the better judgement choice. But the DCC uses plenty of risqué songs in their routines, just not as explicit.

And that’s weird too because he isn’t hiring for the same type of dance job as Kelli. She needs dancers that make good judgements because the bigger part of their job is the ambassador side. Someone who isn’t mature enough to know flipping off the camera isn’t a good choice is an ambassador risk. Full stop. No one gives a rats ass what a one off performer does. I didn’t mind her asking for his point of view, tho, because while her daughter could tell her she’s being ridiculous and old fashioned, Travis is a peer-ish of sorts. Younger, more respected, etc. so I can see where she’d take his opinion into advisement especially if Ava cleaned everything up. They could stop beating a dead horse, tho. Either she gets it and feels embarrassed by her dumb choice or she doesn’t. Maybe they’re thinking about old squad Whitney who was immature in her social media posts as a TCC and then made the biggest gaffe of all time and should have been kicked off the squad. And would be today for sure.

When we were first introduced to them, so to speak, they both seemed immature and he seemed like a little shit. He’s still a shit, and if a restraining order is true, an abusive dick on top of it all. Quite an achievement at his age…is he even 20 yet? I don’t think their early engagement is necessarily an indicator of abusive control, tho, I think THAT was a knee jerk reaction to his cancer. At least I think it was cancer? The content of the conversation doesn’t really bug me, seemed like justified bitching that you’d do with a partner. And I’ve heard people joke that “they’ll put that in a book” before. I think I’ve said it too. I’m never writing an autobiography, but I’ve made the joke. That said, the text chain is prob not true, but if it was 🤷‍♀️

I just want to add that Michelle the staffer seems warm and lovely, and I like how she escorts to the office. I think the TCC probably appreciate her friendliness and affection. I also love that Cailey doesn’t have lash extensions. She’s so pretty and approachable too. I sincerely hope she feels better, because I think she would be an amazing DCC. She looks like an adult (some of these TCC look so YOUNG) and she’s just so mature and lovely. I’m so sad for her that she is injured. She’s just delightful and would be a perfect DCC.

Do you know off the top of your head when she cheered, @Holly85? I'm friendly with a couple former Seagals from when I lived in Seattle (co-workers) and neither of them follow her. I assume different years, but now I'm curious. (I looked at both her podcast account and her personal account because I'm procrastinating on a work project. LOL.) None of the past pro cheerleaders I'm friends/acquaintances with follow the podcast page either...but honestly I think a lot just did their time, enjoyed it, and don't think about it much anymore.

Honestly, based on the limited info we have from the show and interviews with Kelli, I would imagine the DCC break even on expenses excluding the reality show. Between staff salaries, the DCC’s hourly and flat rate combo, building expenses, etc if they’re bringing in $1M per KF then I imagine they’re also spending it. Jerry Jones calls them their finest ambassadors, and I believe that. The DCC are likely considered marketing at this point. It’s hard to measure ROI on goodwill, but the show and appearances help overshadow some football shenanigans. I would be very curious to see the balance sheet!

I would think that would be way, way higher. The organization itself is worth several billion dollars, so $9M is a rounding error. I remember something about $1M in revenue, but that also seems low once you roll in calendar sales and CMT money. So maybe $1M in local appearance fees?

The DCC do travel as a group, on commercial airlines from what we’ve seen - what allegedly happened to the WFT ladies is that their passports were being held, and then they were asked to do shady stuff for friends of the team that were there. Topless pics were also passed around on official team email, and not in a “let’s pick the January girl” way. If one still had all of their paperwork, and their passports weren’t being held by someone that wasn’t themselves, they could catch a cab to the airport and go home. At their own expense, I’m sure, but I can’t imagine this situation happening to the DCC. That fashion show in season 7 (?) felt gross enough to many of the peeps here. The team (just Snyder?) was fined $10M for misconduct, and quite a bit of leadership changed. Now that more details are coming out, I’m curious if any other repercussions will happen or if Gruden will be the fall guy. I don’t see Snyder being forced out like that one NBA owner was, though.

I’m glad this Gruden debacle has brought this story back into the limelight, because I feel like it got press for 30 seconds in 2018 (?) and then quietly disappeared. Yet their sleazy AF owner still persists. Can you imagine any DCC being trapped on a calendar shoot? I’m sure many have been uncomfortable, be it a fashion show or a top off sunset shot, but having passports taken?? 🤯🤯🤯🤯

The dance community isn’t terribly large…I’m willing to bet most trying out would pop right up with just a few letters of a first name. Look how easily posters here are found! I think most candidates are probably just two degrees away from a DCC or staff member. The algorithms are just so darn strong now. (Yay for me as a retailer, but wooooo it’s weird.)

I think particularly for the ones that come from years of experience with other teams, they get in and are like okay, did it, and it’s a freaking LOT and I’m out. Plus the reality show…if you don’t find your people with a quickness I think it’s very easy to bounce earlier than planned. Brianna (Titans) is the one out of towner that came from another team in recent years and really seemed to stick it out…but her friend circle within DCC is awesome and tight, even tho Alanna, Brennan and Lily aren’t on the team anymore. For Sydney, Alexandria, and others who might have already hit pro bowl and other leadership things on their prior squad, the drama of DCC probably is just too much to want to fuss with for long.

Can the rookies still opt out of being featured? Maybe Lea did so if it was an option, @Bellisima08. I know I would! But a lot of these gals like the promotional opportunities like being an affiliate if they’re better known, so I imagine not many choose that option.

With you on all of these but Alexandria - why for? I liked her look once she got her eyelashes sorted (I HATE lash extensions, they always look bonkers) and I liked her dancing too. I mean, she bailed but if you weren’t clairvoyant I’m curious why you’d cut her.