GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Newsical The Musical is doing its Off-Broadway run.  It was "Girls Night Out" as a group of us first dined at an Italian restaurant called Piccolo Angolo in Greenwich Village.  Small restaurant with an open kitchen.  I started with Burrata, followed by a veal Osso Bucco with a side of Gnocchi.

One person had Mussels.  Although it wasn't too much garlic (as requested), there was something in there that made it hot, as in "spicy".  I think she should have been warned.  Come to think of it, there was an order of calamari that was also extremely hot...at least that is what everyone who tasted it said.

One person ordered that meatballs.  Now those were the biggest balls going.  Two meatballs would have fed four!

Here's few photos of the group.

As for the show.  It was hilarious!  Skits change due to it being the news.  Funniest for me was "Celine Dion" singing "The Hokey Pokey", a spoof on Adele, a Barbara Walters interview (all done by the same actor) and a commercial regarding poorly treated cats and dogs...not what you would be expecting.

NEW YORK SHARKS SPONSOR

Cabot Creamery Co-op, a sponsor of the New York Sharks, was onhand to give out samples of their cheese as well as tossing frisbees into the crowd. Six of them had a coupon attached for a free t-shirt. They had a tough time tossing due to the high winds, but the crowd loved it as well as the samples of extra sharp cheddar, jalapeno cheddar and a low fat version of pepperjack. Check out the website of the New York Sharks at www.nysharksfootball.com for a video of the Cabot Creamery player of the game, Chante Bonds...it's her second time winning.

NEW YORK SHARKS OPENING

"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave." When the National Anthem is sung, Dana has to hold the flag. The winds this day were up to 45 miles and hour. Even Dana, as strong as she is, required another player to hold HER up! How many Sharks does it take to hold up a flag? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Afterward, Samantha Rapoport, from the NFL, did the coin toss. Here is the coin that was tossed as well.

NY SHARKS MOTHER'S DAY

The New York Sharks women's pro football team had a great deal to celebrate on Saturday, not only winning 12-8 against the Pittsburgh Passion but celebrating Mother's Day as well. They did this by inviting MOS (Mother's Of Sharks)to come on the field with them as both the player and mother was announced. Here are a bunch of photos that I took and hoping to get the names.

WINE CADDYS

I got Andra Douglas one of those wine caddys from www.winecaddys.com This was special. The caddy is of a quarterback player. Andra, who's the owner of the New York Sharks, played quarterback on the team. She placed a special bottle into it before taking photos.

NEW YORK SHARKS

Home opener of the New York Sharks! We played against the D.C. Divas and took it 19-13. That's 2-0! It was an edge of the seat game for sure. Down to the wire it was a matter of their dropping the ball near the goal line with only seconds to go. We took the ball and took a knee. Samantha Rapoport from the NFL was on hand to do the coin toss. Samantha is doing her utmost to get girls flag football into the NYC schools.

New York Sharks Bite Bank of Hollywood

Adrienne Smith, Leeann Brzozowski, and Melodie Abrook, three players from the New York Sharks, women’s professional football team, entered the world of celebrity money handouts and were granted the $65,000 that they asked for.

It was the new Ryan Seacrest-produced E! reality show, Bank of Hollywood, that pinned them up against “ bankers” Sean Patterson, Vanessa Rousso, Melody Thornton and Candy Spelling. The Sharks requested funding for their training and competing in the first ever International Women’s tackle Football Tournament to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in June, 2010.

How did this all come about? “I received an email in September regarding something referred to as ‘your dream’”, said Adrienne. “My job entails Marketing and got in touch with a few of the players to get their opinion on whether this would be something that would work for the team. With a positive reply, I filled out the application, which I was to bring with me to a casting call in New York City. Both Leanne and Melodie were behind me and available. We showed up dressed in full gear.

I got a callback for round two, in which they videotaped us asking for the money. The producer must have been impressed as I kept receiving calls and paperwork. They requested our appearance in Hollywood.”

Andra Douglas, owner of the New York Sharks, flew out with them, where two of the producers met with her after deciding on what day the shoot would occur.

“After we arrived,” Adrienne continued, “they took us to the studio for a rehearsal. That’s when we learned who the judges were, although we never made contact with them until that actual day of the shoot.”

The contestants are kept separated and the producers provide many rehearsals as Adrienne, the main spokesperson, represented the three. “We waited in the ‘green room’ hearing the live audience ‘cheering’ or ‘booing’. I can’t begin to tell you how nervous we were.”

At first, the audience and judges see three what appear to be male football players. We had our hair totally tucked into our helmets. When we removed them, there were cheers as the audience reacted to our being females.”

While we were making our appeal, there was footage of our team playing in the background. It took three of the four judges to say, ‘yes’!”

What does it mean for the New York Sharks? The competition involves both the Independent Women’s Football League, (www.iwflsports.com) and USA Football (www.usafootball.com) for which the $65,000 will help fund the New York Sharks’ participation in the tournament.
“It doesn’t guarantee that the three of us will play”, said Adrienne, “as there are coaches from both the IWFL and USA Football selecting the qualified players.” Team USA players will be selected from the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL), which consists of more than 1,800 female athletes on 51 teams across North America. According to the IWFL website, the player roster will be announced by Feb. 1, 2010.

Although the show first aired on January 11th, the show can still be seen on Friday the 15th and Saturday www.eonline.com

For further information on the New York Sharks go to: www.nysharksfootball.com

Andra Douglas in 1996?

I found some videos of Andra Douglas when she was playing flag football. This collage makes her look like a Ninja!

The Final Farewell

The question of how to pass the time with AirTran not leaving until 4 p.m. I got up at 7:30 and met Andra and Linda for breakfast. They were leaving a lot earlier than I was. Lucky them. I decided to take photos of people saying, "Goodbye". There were those that met as a specific group from different areas. There were those that met on the boat and formed friendships. It was heartwarming seeing the hugs.

I finally left. Having a VIP status I was able to disembark whenever I wished as well as get a porter quite easily. Got on the shuttle bus and there were Andra and Linda. When I checked into AirTran I noticed that the name of the guy behind the counter, Rodney Dykes. Now, that's even funnier than Mr. Butch.

Well, I wasn't the only one that was leaving late and it looked like a lesbian convention at the airport. No turbulence on the plane and it took days before I walked around not feeling like the earth was somewhat swaying.

Saturday At Sea Continued

After the press conference I took a lunch break and returned to the same Galaxy of Stars for another Sweet Sparks. This one had love guru Barb Elgin, health and wellness profesionals D. Magrini and Victoria Proctor, social networking Marven Laura Fitzpartrick, speicla pet CPR clinic by Doctor Michelle Jack and special guest Andra Douglas!!! Comedian Jennie McNulty was present to listen to Andra as Jennie has been playing tackle football for years! Same league, California team.

There was a show entitled Elements being performed at the Stardust Theatre at 5:30. I wasn't sure as to what it was all about but got that it was a Norwegian Cruise Line Production. "Mesmerizing magic, to the visual feast of flying, to exciting music and dance, this dazzling show will revel in the four elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire". Somehow I thought that it would be one of those cruise crew song and dance productions. It turned out to be one that I hope no one missed. Sort of a Cirque du Soleil meets magic. Hat's off to the performers! Will the Farewell show be as spectacular?

Jennie McNulty opened the show and announcing that Andra was in the audience, which led her into some comedy regarding her playing football. Andra got a big cheer for this. Jennie was pretty funny. Then came the main act...Suzanne Westenhoefer. I have to say that anyone who made fun of the hurricane got a laugh. She said little and went into her own spiel. Most of it was humorous but the audience didn't seem to care for the humor involving her sister who died as a child. She also joked about her goofs with audience members such as when she kept asking some woman to come up on the stage to find out that she was in a wheelchair. Part of her routine also centered on what she called "bio man", I think. A guy who is born a man, likes being a male and straight. She compared it to her cat. Pretty cute.

Although there was PJ Party and Club Skirts Party to end the cruise and evening, I opted to pack and put my luggage outside my stateroom and get some shuteye for a early morning wakeup.

Photos are of the Sweet staff, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Jennie McNulty and Esther getting a taste of Sweet...hmmm...if I click onto the photo and then enlarge further I think I see Meredith Baxter near the front and center of the stage.

Andra Snorkels Looking For The New York Sharks

I was happy with watching the glass bottom while Andra searched for the New York Sharks. Last video was a sum up of the day and shooting from the balcony of my stateroom.