USC Song Girls: Fright On!

In an odd twist of events, it appears that there will actually be a reason to watch members of the USC athletic department in the month of March.

E! Entertainment has announced (HT: Scott Wolf) that it will debut a new reality show Friday March 13 cleverly titled, "Hot Girls in Scary Places" in which three female friends are presented with the challenge of spending the night together in an abandoned, and supposedly haunted, hospital. If the trio is able to make it the night and complete a set of challenges therein, they will win $10,000. Oh yeah, and the best part- the threesome will comprise of college cheerleaders. Specifially, members of the famed USC Song Girls, including the already internet famous Lindsey G.

Now while casting cheerleaders into a "real life" 80's horror flick is an otherwise brilliant move, I think E! is making a mistake by casting girls from USC. It's not that the Song Girls aren't beautiful enough to be on tv - they certainly are - but what can the producers at E! throw at the girls that they don't already experience in their daily lives? Gunshots fired? Those might as well be evening crickets in South Central. Women shrieking in the attic? That's every Thursday night in an SC frathouse. Shadowy figures in the window? No different than during football recruiting. You want to freak out a USC coed? Ask her to walk three blocks to a local convenience store at midnight. That will do the trick.

E! says this project is being considered as a "special/backdoor pilot." Or as it's known at Southern Cal, a Maualuga.


Photo Credit: Yeung Photography.

Film Session Review: Arizona State Looks Good In Victory

As a UCLA fan, it was painful to watch the Bruins go into Tempe and get swept by the Sun Devils in heartbreaking fashion Thursday night. But like any dedicated basketball fan, I had to review the game tape both to see how Arizona State pulled off the win, as well as to get a sense of closure. ASU was certainly prepared for this game. Jeff Pendergraph did a great job passing out of double teams to find wide open teammates behind the arc, and defensively, the Sun Devils' matchup zone gave UCLA problems all night. But ultimately, the difference in the game was the home court advantage:

(video recommended for broadband connections only)

As you can see, ASU's spirit squad, while not the force it was before being conjoined by the administration, still had ample talent to put on the court. They were quite prepared to pull off the shocker.

Patriots Cheerleaders May Need Help Oiling Up

This might be old news that I just missed while I was out. It seems like the kind of thing that With Leather would have been all over. So if this is indeed outdated, I apologize.

The New England Patriots recently began their auditions for this year's cheerleading squad. An initial group of 300 has been reduced down to 55. These girls will compete with the existing squad in April to determine the final composition of the 24 girl team. Once the roster is finalized, the cheerleaders will be off to Punta Cana to shoot their 2008 calendar. Accompanying them on the April 28 to May 5 shoot will be a video crew to document the magic.

But why should the camera crew get to have all the fun? Now you can stalk and ogle the Patriots cheerleaders too! An online travel agent has put together a package so that the average horny Joe can stay at the same resort as the Patriots girls while they shoot their calendar. For the low, low rate of $690 for 5 nights with air included (from NYC), any loyal NFL fan can troll the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana in the hopes of stumbling across a cheerleader bikini photoshoot (wow, those three words look beautiful put together.) And even if you don't see the shoot itself, chances are pretty good that you'd run into a few girls working on their tans by the pool. Plus, it's an all-inclusive resort, so it won't even cost you anything extra to order Ashleigh vanGerven (pictured) a drink.

Sure, it might at first seem a little creepy and sad to fly to the Dominican Republic just to try to see a few cheerleaders in their bikinis. But I think the sadder alternative is not trying at all. So have a great trip. And send me lots of photos. And just a word of advice- when you talk to a hostess in the Dominican, make sure you say Punta Cana and not Puta Canta, or you might have some strange results.