Babe Quiz: Who is the only woman to win an Olympic Gold medal
and an LPGA Tour event? Answer below.
Elizabeth Taylor Quiz: How many times has Liz been married?
Bonus Quiz: Name the lucky guys. Answers below.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
In 1972, Cowboys general manager and president, Tex Schramm,
recognized that professional football had become more than
sports – it was sports entertainment. The decision was made to
expand the established football tradition of sideline cheerleaders
into a glamorous, choreographed squad of dancers that would
serve as a counterpoint to the game itself. While the crowds at
Texas Stadium responded enthusiastically, it wasn”t until Super
Bowl X (1976) that the girls hit the big time.
As Suzanne Mitchell, the squad”s director, tells it, “During a lull in
the action, one of the cameras caught one of the girls. So she
winked. She had her hands on her hips, with her pompoms.
After that Super Bowl, I got more calls than you can shake a stick
at. They wanted the girls popping out of cakes. They wanted
them to entertain at parties – any kind. For the next six months,
all I did was say no. I wouldn”t let them do anything. I wouldn”t
let them appear anywhere where there was any alcohol because
we were dealing with an image. We were dealing with Texas.
We were dealing with look-don”t-touch Southern women. Tex
wanted sexy ladies out there, but he wanted them, above all, to be
classy.” [Newsweek]. Here, here. That”s what I like, classy
women…ahem.
Soon the girls were appearing on all sorts of TV shows and on
January 14, 1979, “The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” movie
aired. It was the second highest made-for-television movie in
history. I missed it. I was at a college party that night but
anyway, you name the show, they were on it.
The girls assume a corporate identity, yet they cannot lose sight
of themselves as individuals. It is a basic concept of the
organization that each person in the stadium or in the audience
has a mental picture of their ideal girl – and the squad offers
someone for each of them to identify with, as an individual in her
own right. Isn”t that beautiful? Actually, I just ripped it off of
their site.
Hey Brian, you ask. What about the uniform? Good question.
There have been only five changes to the uniform. Many of you
are probably wondering when was the large buckled belt left
behind “in favor of shorts with a more flattering cut?”
Well, that was 1991, sports fans.
And searching for information on this scintillating topic ( I
couldn”t refer to my Anatoly Dobrynin book), I found a piece on
Linda Badami, who back in 1996 was 37 and by far the oldest on
the squad. Linda is a mother of four. Her 13-year old son
Christopher said, “When I told my friends that my mom”s a Dallas
Cowboys Cheerleader, they didn”t believe me. They said things
like, ”Yeah, and my dad”s the president.”” [Clinton?]
Chris Badami, proud husband and account executive at Roadway
Package System, says “I always carry a picture with me. Most
people are pretty astounded to meet someone who”s married to a
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.” Egads! Continues Chris,
“People just assume cheerleaders are all blond and dumb and
flaunt themselves around.” No Chris, people just think you”re
blond and dumb!
They are often imitated…They are never equalled.
They are…THE DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS!
Most Overrated Feminist…Gloria Steinem
According to Camille Paglia, writing in the May/June issue of
American Heritage magazine, “The media dropped the real
feminist foremother, the ferociously haggard Betty Friedan, like a
hot potato when the flirty blonde-tressed Steinem waltzed in after
a glitzy career as a socialite journalist sporting see-through plastic
dresses.” She turned out to be a party animal and first-class
schmoozer. “She”s chief deb of her own little sorority, which
awards honorary memberships to pampered men of power, such
as glad-handing presidential adulterers.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/3/62: #1 “He”s A Rebel” (The
Crystals) #2 “Only Love Can Break A Heart” (Gene Pitney)
#3 “Do You Love Me” (The Contours).
Babe Quiz: Babe Didrikson Zaharias. As a matter of fact, there
are some who consider the “Babe” the greatest athlete, male or
female, of the 20th century. And guess what? I can”t argue with
that. All Babe did was win the 80-meter hurdles AND the javelin
at the 1932 Olympics, plus she also won a silver in the high jump.
Then she goes out on the LPGA Tour (really its predecessor) and
wins 31 golf tournaments, including 3 U.S. Womens Opens.
Arnold Palmer tells a story of how he was just 13 years old when
Babe came to Latrobe, PA for an exhibition. Arnold and his
father were playing with Babe and another local pro. As Palmer
describes it, “Babe stepped to the first tee, pegged up her ball,
and turned to the gallery and joked, ”Okay, ladies and gentlemen.
Hold on for a second while I loosen my girdle.” The crowd ate
up her showmanship, and I think I became aware of my own
budding desire to show off and please people in that manner.
Watching Babe do her thing, it occurred to me how great it
would be to make lots of people – complete strangers at that –
ooh and aah over a golf shot…something in me was clearly drawn
to the kind of public admiration I witnessed that day Babe
Didrikson Zaharias came to Latrobe.” [“A Golfers Life,” by
Arnold Palmer].
Taylor Quiz: Ol” Lizzie has been married 8 times, officially. But
to seven men. Conrad Hilton, Michael Wilding, Mike Todd (died
in plane crash), Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton (divorced in ”74,
remarried in ”75, divorced permanently ”76), John Warner, Larry
Fortensky.
Girl Week continues, Wednesday.
