Pride of Cincinnati Diaries 2007

January 22-28

One word: Fridged

Friday night started with a cold walk into the Sports Complex where Bart and Andy awaited with delicious trail mix, or so I think that's what Andy was eating. I mean, it looked like gerbal food. Just kidding.

Not to our surprise, we entered an icebox known as the tennis courts. Unfortunately, "Saweetie" wasn't going to be there, so we Etnad ourselves through warm up and chuckled our way across the floor. HAH! Then, ladies and gentlemen Michael Gaines was in the house! (A roaring applause from the audience) He brought some friends with him this time. Matty and Jim came along for the festivities. Yay! It was a show weekend so we had to get down to it. It was obviously going to be a looooong weekend.

While Mike and the staff worked on restaging the ballad, crippled Jeff and I worked with Jim on the lift. Out of the 89 different lifts we tried, I think we laughed, kicked each other, and fell through about 85. Sorry about your nose, Jim. We eventually got it...or so we thought.

Moving right along, we finished staging at about 10ish and started chunking soon after. Pumped up and ready to go, we set up for a run through that was going well until the lift. Uh-oh is right! Picture it, I'm ontop of Jeff's shoulders facing the front as the toss behind me is swirling in the air. Yes, I clearly didn't catch it. Then, without a clue what Jeff was thinking, he bends down to get the flag. Mind you I'm still on his shoulders holding on with one hand. Of course I roll forward with my toosh to the audience, my legs kicking in the air and one hand holding on to Jeff's throat for dear life. Disaster! I don't know what the staff was thinking but I wanted to laugh so hard. Of course we gathered ourselves like professionals and finished out the run-through with a smile. It was a classic moment. I hope they got it on tape.

Anyway, like I said, we had a long weekend ahead of us so we quickly pulled it in and ended rehearsal at 11...ish. It was another country club weekend where we stayed at a hotel but no time for fun, we had to wake up at 6 the next morning. So good night POC.

The next morning started way before the roosters, and once again we shivered into an arctic rehearsal site. As Whitney would say, "that's aiight" because it was a SHOW DAY. Once again, we were on a time crunch so dance block went quickly then we went right into the show. Keith had some changes that needed to be put in this week so that was first on the agenda. The whole hour went smoothly, adjusting to the new changes and then it was chunk time, run through and out the door. Before we knew it, we were scarfing down food, painting our faces, plastering our hair and trying to relax through it all. Relax??????? Wait a minute. Two hours flew by and the Klug bus was calling our names. It was a bumpy ride to Gallatin but we made it!

Show warm-ups are always a riot for the POC and we had just that. For once, we were in a suana. I think we all lost about 5 pounds during the fabulous Etna warmup. Good times, good times. Equipment warm up was a little tricky but we got it. Johnny,"I got it, I got it!" Like usual, the show was on a delay so we had plenty of time to relax and control our nerves before hitting the show floor. As we entered the screaming gym, I think I sneezed on Andy's equipment. Dude, I didn't have any free hands. Don't get mad. Think of it as good luck vibes???? Anyway, set up went smoothly and it was show time! Everyone sucessfully remembered the changes and performed their hearts out. Don't worry Jeff, Todd and I nailed the lift. No choking, no falling, no kicking. I don't know about you but I think our first show went very well. Yay Pride!

Of course the day wasn't over yet. We had some yummy pizza and cookies after the show then it was back to rehearsing. Again, the ballad needed attention so Mike, Andy and Jim worked on making it right. While the adjusting took place, Jeff and I headed to uniform world.

Like all the staff, Bart was all about perfection and making sure we were going to look great on the floor. It took awhile and a little bit of a brain teaser to figure it out, but we got it. We're going to look flippin' sweet! Four hours went by and it was time to go home. We dragged into the hotel, showered, snuggled in bed with a delicious brownie and....wait a minute. Good night POC.

Sunday morning started out with a, you guessed it, freakin polar awakening. I don't think the tennis courts like us. Anyway, it was an unusual dance block but it was fun. Dance break!!!!! Of course we ended it with a good ol Channel One ending on the circle. Get it POC '07! The first block consisted of, you guessed it, staging of the ballad. Why all the staging? Mike says it's because he wants it to be perfect for us. Thanks Mike! (a roaring applause from the audience)

It was lunch time before we even knew it. The KY crew went to Taco Bell where we met up with Maya, Todd, Travis, Jim, Matty and Andy. I don't think TB likes Andy Acheson. HAH! Maybe it's the arm bands??? He ordered before half of us and didn't sit down till after us. Don't give him any sympathy. He was being mean at TB, so cut the awws and boo-hoos. Just kidding! After Andy finally sat down to eat, it was time to go.

The rest of rehearsal went pretty well and we had a good end of the weekend run through. Time to say goodbye. Hug, hug, kiss, kiss and out the blizzard we call the tennis courts.

All in all, we had a great three days and are one weekend away from being awesome at the Dayton Regional. Personally, I won't be there next weekend but I love POC so much that I'm going to miss them all even if it's for a short while.

Amanda Morris

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