AIR-BORNE SUPREMACY

“Swim with Mike” charity soars to new heights and so do the new-identity Song Girls, as a Conspiracy is Born to send an Ultimatum to the UCLA Spirit Squad:  The Chase is On — If you slow down, you’ll get caught

Forget the celebrated Oregon Duck Cheerleaders — USC’s re-vamped song girls are the ones who are closing the gap.  The song girls donned bikinis for charity on Saturday, and showed that they have really turned the corner from the group that was getting in trouble with dong-bongs and incurring widespread fan displeasure not that long ago.

Whether the personnel has turned over, or just enjoyed make-overs, there are now several top-notch Cheerleaders on the sc squad who could easily fit in, looks-wise, in Westwood.  You just couldn’t say that as recently as two years ago.  Their choreography execution was also sharper, and their bodies, as revealed by their matching two-piece swimsuits, seemed firmer and healthier than just last year.

In Football and Basketball, some Bruin fans like it when sc is good, and raises the level of the Rivalry….Not me — I like it when the trojan teams lose all of their games.  And I used to feel the same way about the Cheerleaders.  But it wasn’t fun making fun of Cheerleaders who were getting called fugly by their own fans already.  It was just sad.  So it’s a GOOD thing that the current song girls represent an upward trend — Their quality should keep the pressure on UCLA to keep expending the substantial effort that they do, to pursue the best of the best in their selection process.

So — Are you wondering:  Is it April Fool’s Day?  Why is a self-proclaimed trojan-hater kissing trojan ass so blatantly all of a sudden?

Well, when the trojans are raising money for a really worthy cause, I tend to lay off a little.  And when they do it by wearing little bathing suits and letting fans take thousands of photos, then I’m really not in a hating mood.  So, for the next few days, while I share over 100 worthy photos from the event, I will not tolerate (or even publish) any negative or disrespectful comments about the song girls.   You can say that UCLA is still #1, but anything South of that will be deleted.

And I’d be pretty surprised if you actually had negative things to say.  I am selecting the BEST, most flattering shots, and there were plenty of good ones from which to choose.  I think that if you are not impressed, you need to take off your Rivalry-tinted Glasses.  And hopefully, none of the song girls will object to any of the shots, since this whole endeavor is for charity.  If you like these photos, please go to swimwithmike.org to donate.  The event is over, but they never stop accepting much-needed help.  This charity helps young people with serious injuries (i.e amputation and paralysis) attend college and lead productive lives.

Of the two recipients who spoke on Saturday, one got paralyzed in a Plane Crash, and the other, by doing a belly flop into a pile of leaves.  Very different circumstances, but both just rip your heart out.  If one dollar makes it to a needy victim like them BECAUSE of the photos I post, then those photos would be the BEST photos I’ve ever posted. 

So… Below are 36 of the best Kodak moments from the event.  If you want to enlarge the photos, click on them, and they will fill your screen.  If you want them twice as big as that, you’ll have to e-mail me, since my website can’t handle files that big.  The photos also have mouse-over hidden pop-up captions, but today, most of them are just mushy compliments, as I was truly impressed by the trojans and their new and improved efforts, as the unit’s overall quality is finally starting to be reminiscent of the squads from their 1970’s Heyday.

***Speaking of heydays, I wanted to slip in a mention about Jackie Robinson Day.  Last week, to commemorate probably the Greatest Bruin of All, every single Major League Baseball Player wore Jackie’s #42, with no names on the backs of their jerseys.  It’s a great and deserved honor, but I was just wondering:  What if Chris Roberts had to call a Baseball game on that day?***