Gentlemen $tart your engine$ — Donors lap it up, as the USC Song Girls kick it into (swim)gear, and are the spark plugs behind proceeds for the Swim with Mike charity overtaking $750,000 by Noon
It’s not too late to join the race… the race to help students who have sustained catastrophic injuries but still have the courage to go to College and chase their dreams of success and superior productivity. That’s who the beneficiaries are of the Swim with Mike charity, which held its annual fundraiser at USC on Saturday. You can contribute by going to swimwithmike.org and ponying up some dough.
Today I will share 50 photos from the event, and over the next week or so, I will be sharing hundreds more, most featuring the USC Song Girls, and the Trojan Dance Force. Yes, today I capitalize my arch rival’s school name and nickname, temporarily putting aside the contempt, all in the name of a very good cause. Sometimes it’s hard, as a few of the speakers at Saturday’s event bragged arrogantly about the “glory” of USC, and even took potshots at UCLA. I had to bite my tongue, to avoid an ugly scene. But I was DYING to remind them that this charity is supported by many, many people from schools other than SC, including, yes, UCLA. My coverage of this event has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people — make that hundreds of thousands of POTENTIAL DONORS — who undoubtedly help push the proceeds up into the millions. Some of these Trojan speakers should try to remember that, and keep the mean-spirited taunting to a minimum, at least for one day.
In that same spirit, all the photos I post of the USC Cheerleaders from this event are (imo) tasteful and respectful. From the hundreds and hundreds of photos, I select only the best, most attractive shots I can find, and I will NOT publish any negative reader comments. I’d allow something suggesting that the Bruin Cheerleaders are superior (which very would could be true), but no “fat and ugly” comments (which really WOULDN’T be true). Year after year, I am amazed and impressed by the fact that the Song Girls are WILLING to participate in the Innertube Relay Race — IN BIKINIS — knowing that there are dozens of unforgiving cameras pointed at them the whole time, operated mostly by snarky wannabe Journalists just aching to take shots at them, critique them, and make rude, suggestive, and disrespectful comments in the blogosphere. I will NOT be joining that chorus.
The quality of the Song Girls is better than it was several years ago — Everyone looked fit in their two-piece bathing suits, they all had nice smiles, and I would say about two or three of them are “5-Star’s.” The rest earn 4, which is still a very respectable showing. And the Dance Force and Yell Leaders were also fun to look at and photograph. Of course this is all SUBJECTIVE — You can make your own assessment from the photos below, and the photos that will follow all week long.
After the event, there was an SC Football scrimmage at the Coliseum. I will also be sharing some Football photos and impressions from that contest, in the days to come. It wasn’t easy being surrounded by Trojan Football fans in Red and Gold, having to hear their band play their two songs over and over, but there was one saving grace: It was the first time I ever watched SC score a Touchdown without being angry… because it came at the expense of the SC Defense! And they gave up quite a few!
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I want you to remember that the only reason you get to experience these SC Cheerleader photos is that these girls (and I) want you to consider donating your time or some money to the worthy cause. So enjoy these, make a donation, and check back tomorrow and next week for a lot more pics!!
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This photo below is from the SC scrimmage… I will be discussing it later. I’m just posting it now so I can get it on the BruinZone Message Board.
