Do they have the names of the positions? I'd like to see them... You know, leader, manager, etc.... get your mind out of the gutters!!!
What is so funny is the irony that they are willing to parade women around in tiny little costumes (or bikinis if it is a calendar) and let them dance suggestively, yet they want them to clean up their act? Um, maybe I'm missing something...
Yeah, Jeff, you are. The main aims in this family entertainment are three: 1. Give infants that important reminder to breast feed. 2. Offer equal opportunity for women in an event that features nearly an hour of sweaty men bumping and grinding in tank tops. 3. Provide excellent role models for young girls in the audience.
Ahem. Indeed, Adult and kid entertainment all in one. I wouldn't mind the Rockets' taking the Finding Nemo route. Pleasing both generations. We could even start the games off by Steve and Cat doing a finding nemo skit, where Cat is the clownfish and Steve is the forgetful Dory, the fish with constant mental lapses. Cat- "Something's wrong with you... really.." Fun to be had by all.
I could understand the desire for wholesomeness if the Power Dancers were cheerleaders, but they're not - they're dancers. And they're dancing suggestively in a testosterone-charged environment in tiny little costumes. It seems to me that strip club experience would be a plus for the job, not a disqualification.
I wouldn't blow Hoffman's blurb out of proportion -- we really aren't changing our policies at all. We've never allowed visible tattoos (there's makeup dancers use to cover those up, by the way) or the extra piercings (take them out for the performance, put them back later if you want ... been that way for a while). Hoffman made it seem like it was something new ... it's not. That said, we're very grateful for him giving us top position in his column. It's a well read column, and the exposure for the tryouts is great. Our fax machine has been buzzing all day. We're pretty happy with the improvements in the dance team over the past several years. We just want to keep doing more of the same. Sharla is just doing her job trying to get the word out. Ken is doing his job trying to create a little buzz to make his column entertaining. All just part of business. Tim
Wanna put some butts in the seats? 10$ lap dances should do the trick...just ask the manager down at the mens club or treasures if they are having a problem with attendance...and they get $20 per dance....or so I have heard.
I applaud the Rockets for trying to keep this part of their entertainment at a more acceptable level. I know most of you guys are just kidding with some of your examples, but this is a line that's really easy to cross if it's not controllled. A few years ago here in SA the Spurs let their Silver Dancers get way out of hand. One of the most disgusting things I saw them do happened on a night I took my boy(then 6). They did a routine to some Prince song that pretty much extolled the virtues and pleasures of "doing it", for lack of a better term. If the choice of song and lyrics wasn't bad enough, the routine was even worse. It was pretty much a bump and grind, hands all over themselves, topped off by endless and much emphasized thrusting of the hips. They must've gotten more complaints than just mine, because the Spurs have cleaned up the dancers' act quite a bit since then. I don't mean to sound like a prude or like I couldn't have enjoyed it. But there absolutely no place for that at an NBA, NFL, MLB,etc game. Exposing some skin and dancing is fine, but there's something wrong when the poles are all that's missing!
We know all that. We're just having some fun with it. Still, you have to admit that it's funny, corporate American struggling with the fine line between sexy and sluty. Everyone knows that sex sells, but one little top gets popped at the Superbowl and out come the family values.
Generally, six year old kids shouldn't be at NBA basketball games. I know that some kids mature quickly and are very well-behaved at an early age, and your kid could've been one of them. But most kids that age don't understand a basketball game and don't want to sit through one for 2 1/2 hours. Instead, they fidget constantly, drip food on others, kick the backs of seats, cry and scream, and run around the seats and stairs. Most parents I see end up leaving the game early with them or just berate them constantly. Sorry, but those sluty dancers belong at a NBA game more than a young child.
Dude, you're nuts. My father started taking me to NBA, MLB and NFL games when I was about 2. I've taken my son to games since he was about 2...he freaking loves them. Loves the action...loves the mascot...loves the event of being out with dad. Your slutty dancers belong at any one of the gentleman's clubs that exist around our fair city.
There are time & place for these things, but slutty dancers and William Hung don't belong in NBA games. If one likes to be aroused, do what Max said and go to one of the Gentlemen clubs and get it up and personal.
Every kid is different. My 3 year old wouldn't have the attention span. But if yours does, more power to you. I think we're all just kidding about the dancers. Of course the game should be suitable for kids.
I've never understood the hiring practices behind cheerleader/dance squads. No tats, piercings or previous strip club/adult business experience, but we expect you to dress in next to nothing and perform provacative dances in front of 15,000 people. I guess you we just gotta keep that sexual marketing as clean as possible.
