Post by Banana Cat on Jul 27, 2010 1:03:55 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/2533096,2_1_AU26_SALLES_S1-100726.article
Go see lingerie football? Oh, if I have to ...
July 26, 2010
By ANDRE SALLES / stmedianetwork.com
This reporting thing can be a rough gig.
For instance, while most of you were enjoying your sunny Sunday afternoon, I was hanging out with a bunch of scantily-clad women trying out for a spot in the Lingerie Football League. Oh, and I also got paid for it. See? Journalism students, it's not too late to turn back.
All right, so this assignment wasn't exactly torture. But it was surprising.
I know what you're thinking. A Lingerie Football League practice would probably resemble the pillow fights from Animal House more than an NFL game, right? I was thinking the same thing, and I was all set to write something silly and dismissive. (I had a "tight end" pun that would have killed.)
But I promise you, these were some genuine athletes who showed up to Players Indoor of Naperville on Sunday. Thirty-six women, dressed mainly in shorts and tank tops, lined up to compete for 20 slots on the Chicago Bliss roster. (LFL teams have names like the Dallas Desire, and the San Diego Seduction.) Sunday's was the second of three training camp sessions, and counting the hopefuls from the first, the Bliss coaches now have 51 players hoping to join the team.
Lest you think tryouts for the Bliss amount to a swimsuit competition and some jumping jacks, let me tell you, applicants were put through their paces Sunday. Training camp lasted three hours, with no break longer than two minutes. Players tromped through one real NFL drill after another, running and catching and throwing and tackling. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. If I had to be out there doing it, I'd have died of a heart attack at least three times.
One woman came away from the tackling drill with a bloody nose. Another tore her upper lip apart, but gamely marched back onto the field, gauze affixed to her face, to keep competing.
And at the end of all of that, Head Coach Matt Sinclair broke out the running drills -- half the field and back, top speed. Repeat four times. No, wait, six times. One of the hopefuls failed to follow Sinclair's directions to the letter, and he punished everyone.
"The biggest thing, when they hired me to coach, was they emphasized this would be real football," Sinclair said. "That's the only reason I decided to do it."
And it doesn't get easier once you make the team. Just ask Jessica Dunn of Naperville, who has been with the Bliss for two months. Dunn, 26, said practices run six hours a day, and they're grueling. But there aren't many chances, she says, for women to compete at this level.
That, plus the reportedly sweet paycheck, might explain the sheer intensity of the competition. Julie Harshbarger, 24, of Lisle, already plays for a local team -- she's a kicker for the Chicago Cardinals -- so she knew what to expect. Still, she said, the tryouts were tough and made her feel out of shape.
But Heather Furr, 26, of Plainfield, said she felt good about her audition. Well, in a manner of speaking.
"I feel like I'm about ready to puke," she said, panting.
It's no wonder the tryouts were hard, considering the coaching staff -- they're all former NFL players. Sinclair, 28, played for five years, with the Ravens, the Dolphins and the Redskins, before an injury forced him to retire. He said Sunday's training is a microcosm of the way Bliss practices are run.
I asked him about fans of the LFL, and whether they were there for the first or the second word in the league's name. I was all set to compare it to Hooters, but Sinclair did it for me.
"When you first go to Hooters, when you're 15 or 16 and your dad or your creepy uncle takes you; it's fun to see the girls and the short shorts," he said. "But after a while, the food has to be good."
And after a while, he said, the novelty of barely-dressed women running around on a field wears off, and the actual football game has to be engrossing. He knows the league name invites skepticism, but he swears what they do is "not powder puff," and I believe him.
So in the end, I packed all my puns away. Distressing as it is that the league has to titillate people to get them in the seats, there were some genuine athletes on the field on Sunday, some who could give their male counterparts a real run for their money.
And that, if nothing else, deserves some respect.
July 26, 2010
By ANDRE SALLES / stmedianetwork.com
This reporting thing can be a rough gig.
For instance, while most of you were enjoying your sunny Sunday afternoon, I was hanging out with a bunch of scantily-clad women trying out for a spot in the Lingerie Football League. Oh, and I also got paid for it. See? Journalism students, it's not too late to turn back.
All right, so this assignment wasn't exactly torture. But it was surprising.
I know what you're thinking. A Lingerie Football League practice would probably resemble the pillow fights from Animal House more than an NFL game, right? I was thinking the same thing, and I was all set to write something silly and dismissive. (I had a "tight end" pun that would have killed.)
But I promise you, these were some genuine athletes who showed up to Players Indoor of Naperville on Sunday. Thirty-six women, dressed mainly in shorts and tank tops, lined up to compete for 20 slots on the Chicago Bliss roster. (LFL teams have names like the Dallas Desire, and the San Diego Seduction.) Sunday's was the second of three training camp sessions, and counting the hopefuls from the first, the Bliss coaches now have 51 players hoping to join the team.
Lest you think tryouts for the Bliss amount to a swimsuit competition and some jumping jacks, let me tell you, applicants were put through their paces Sunday. Training camp lasted three hours, with no break longer than two minutes. Players tromped through one real NFL drill after another, running and catching and throwing and tackling. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. If I had to be out there doing it, I'd have died of a heart attack at least three times.
One woman came away from the tackling drill with a bloody nose. Another tore her upper lip apart, but gamely marched back onto the field, gauze affixed to her face, to keep competing.
And at the end of all of that, Head Coach Matt Sinclair broke out the running drills -- half the field and back, top speed. Repeat four times. No, wait, six times. One of the hopefuls failed to follow Sinclair's directions to the letter, and he punished everyone.
"The biggest thing, when they hired me to coach, was they emphasized this would be real football," Sinclair said. "That's the only reason I decided to do it."
And it doesn't get easier once you make the team. Just ask Jessica Dunn of Naperville, who has been with the Bliss for two months. Dunn, 26, said practices run six hours a day, and they're grueling. But there aren't many chances, she says, for women to compete at this level.
That, plus the reportedly sweet paycheck, might explain the sheer intensity of the competition. Julie Harshbarger, 24, of Lisle, already plays for a local team -- she's a kicker for the Chicago Cardinals -- so she knew what to expect. Still, she said, the tryouts were tough and made her feel out of shape.
But Heather Furr, 26, of Plainfield, said she felt good about her audition. Well, in a manner of speaking.
"I feel like I'm about ready to puke," she said, panting.
It's no wonder the tryouts were hard, considering the coaching staff -- they're all former NFL players. Sinclair, 28, played for five years, with the Ravens, the Dolphins and the Redskins, before an injury forced him to retire. He said Sunday's training is a microcosm of the way Bliss practices are run.
I asked him about fans of the LFL, and whether they were there for the first or the second word in the league's name. I was all set to compare it to Hooters, but Sinclair did it for me.
"When you first go to Hooters, when you're 15 or 16 and your dad or your creepy uncle takes you; it's fun to see the girls and the short shorts," he said. "But after a while, the food has to be good."
And after a while, he said, the novelty of barely-dressed women running around on a field wears off, and the actual football game has to be engrossing. He knows the league name invites skepticism, but he swears what they do is "not powder puff," and I believe him.
So in the end, I packed all my puns away. Distressing as it is that the league has to titillate people to get them in the seats, there were some genuine athletes on the field on Sunday, some who could give their male counterparts a real run for their money.
And that, if nothing else, deserves some respect.