Steve Says

...a gym membership and a time machine."

It's a running joke we have in my house- something I'm told when I see a younger athletic version of my former self and wonder "I can do that, right?"

Wrong.

Last night - as part of a rare mid week activity.  (Don't they know it's "Must-SeeTV Night"? err.. I um.. mean... it's... a... full lineup of quality programming on the FOX Network. )  No, I'm not usually a mid week adventurer.

Five friends and I piled into what was the largest truck this Yankee has ever been in.  I'm not sure what it was- all I know is it had 4 doors and an after-market accessory that caused the engine to rumble every time you stepped on the gas pedal.  Nonetheless we piled in... and headed to Garland to the Cheer Athletics facility.

The place was BUZZZZZZZZZING.  Excited parents, friends, fans, and lets not forget the INSANELY talented cheer squads.  It was what I imagine walking into a giant can of Monster Energy Drink would be like.

Now, for those "in the know" let me start with two apologies.  First, my terminology is a little rusty- this illustrated by me asking one of the guys on the "Pumas" squad if he was a "flyer" (apparently the equivalent of mistaking the quarterback for the waterboy).  Second I didn't come prepared with a camera- so the pictures below (taken with the camera feature on my cell phone) are a little shaky as well.

So, back to the whole 'gym-membership-and-a-time-machine' thing. 

Not even close. 

I love when people have amazing talents and these people do!  Flipping, flying, synchronized stunting - it was truly amazing.

Regardless if you are a fan of cheer squads or not, you HAVE To give credit where credit is due.  These people were amazing! 

"Do any of these people HAVE hamstrings?"  a friend of mine asked. 

So, why were we there?  The event was the "Show Off" for the teams headed to compete in the worlds competition this weekend.  6 teams from Cheer Athletics (FierceKatz, Jags, JungleCats, Panthers, Pumas, and Wildcats <-- are you sensing a theme here?) are headed to Orlando this weekend to compete in the USASF World Championships.  That's pretty impressive!

There is a webcast available for those of you who want to check it out- you can visit www.USASF.net  for details.

(again, sorry for the quality of the photos they do NOT do these folks justice- in my defense, they're blurry because I could barely keep up with how fast the squads were tossing each other around)