Excuse me, but can I pet your mascot?

When I think of mascots, there aren't too many I would actually like to encounter in person. After all, who really wants to encounter a diamond back, a shark, or a Bengal?.. And last time I checked it was not "p.c." to pet Indians, Patriots, or Saints.. (you could have a sexual harassment lawsuit on your hands). And as for inanimate objects, I don't even want to think about touching a bolt of lightning, or a pair of any one's sox, regardless of their color.

So imagine my surprise that I actually got a chance to interact, cowgirl to fish (I guess you can call them that) with Tampa Bay's MLBaseball mascot, the devil rays. In all fairness, they really weren't devil rays, but Cownose rays, because of the shape of their head. The Devil Rays keep about thirty of these fellas in the "touch tank" out behind center field, where visitors can visit with them or even feed them for ten minutes at a time. While they were generally pretty friendly, stick your hand in there with a little bit of fish, and you'll have thirty new best friends. So, don't feel too sorry for these guys. You may think their lives suck, but in reality only their mouths do. They not only have a great view to heckle the outfielders from, but they get fed fish about every ten minutes. If you ask me.. that's the life. (Wait, I know some people like that... only its beer instead of fish.. LOL.)

Anyways, I was at Tropicana field that night in honor of college alumni night. There were representatives from all sorts of schools: UF, Miami, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Penn State, and of course, my alma mater. Even the mascots from a lot of the Florida schools showed up. Sure they had to break up a few "incidents" between Albert and Sebastian, but at the end of the night all was forgiven.

Before the game, I hung out with Brian Killingsworth and my family down on the field. I got a sweet tour of the facilities including the new club level they just added. I think my sheer presence may have been enough to distract all Cleveland's "little Indian boys," who decided one stretching session simply was not adequate enough. This only further demonstrates they don't grow women there like they do in the south. Many of the Rays players came over, introduced themselves and posed for pictures with me. Sometimes, part of me would cringe, remembering an article I read recently in GQ about how some MLB players like to um.. "urinate" on their hands to prevent calluses and blisters. (yuck.. eck.. ) But one of them assured me that was strictly a "Giants" thing though. :)

I then spent the next few innings posing for pictures and doing radio interviews, getting everyone pumped for the beginning of college football season, and spending their Friday nights at "College Night at the Trop." I only wished we had something like that in Tallahassee. Who knows, it might have saved some of us from those "Dear Six pounds, Eight Ounce Baby Jesus, what did I do last night" Saturday mornings.

The Devil Rays were extremely hospitable to all my family and friends who came out to support and spend the evening with me. It was a real treat that my grandmother came out with us as well, because she rarely gets a night out on the town with us anymore.

At the end of the night, the Rays surprised everyone with a comeback victory, while the rest of the Devil Rays staff gave me my own surprise.. my very own customized devil rays jersey.. complete with STERGER on the back. I told the Rays if they ever need a cowgirl in the bullpen that I would be more than happy to oblige. Not that Kazmir needs to watch his back or anything, but I have proven "I got skills." (My "jock" of a mom made me practice throwing out the first pitch, because she didn't want me to embarrass the family name one afternoon in my backyard.) Besides, I might just fill out a pair of pants in the back better than he does. We will just have to wait and see though.

And that.. ladies and gentlemen is the ball game.

Admin note: Photos displayed courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times website, all photos in this particular post belong in full to the tbt.com website...To view the complete list of pics, visit their official website

"I'm sorry officer.. I didn't know I couldn't do that."

So the Cowgirls are going cellular! The girls and I just returned from a great trip to Jacksonville where we spent two full days shooting exclusive pictures and recording ringbacks and ringtones for many different cellular companies. Soon you will be able to share our school spirit and download these pics, videos and audio straight to your cellphone. And trust me.. they are hot. Really hot. Really REALLY hot.

We shot the majority of the pics in studio, but most of the fun was had on the beach at Ponte Vedra, FL. Allison, CJ and I got to ride horses down the beach... well.. walk.. oh.. whatever. I have never claimed to be a horse whisperer, but at least my horse wasn't as crazy as CJ's, who spent the majority of the time riding around in circles. Allison's was a little more well behaved, but was not enjoying having his picture taken. And all of the horses must have enjoyed their fiber that day, because they all decided to share it with us at one point or another during the shoot. So don't think that riding horses up and down the beach is all beautiful and romantic. Don't get me wrong it was a great experience, but having to watch out for horse "pies" the rest of the day didn't necessarily constitute a good time for me.

Once the horses left, we spent the rest of the evening playing in the waves. I know you're thinking "waves" in Florida, but seriously, some of them were pretty intense, especially when you weren't prepared for them. The shot would be all set, then the wave would come crashing in, and make us fall flat on are butts, or completely soak us in the face. With none of us weighing more than a buck ten.. we might as well have been plankton. And forget about hair and make up. I'm really glad the "wet rat" look is "so hot right now."

Then it was off to the showers, well, the beach showers anyway. So apparently wearing thongs is illegal in Jacksonville, because we had been at the outdoor shower for maybe ten minutes when several police cars converged on our shoot. The only words that could come to my mind were those of Dave Chappelle..."I'm sorry officer, I didn't know I couldn't do that." Oh well, they seemed nice enough and let us off with a warning. Needless to say that ended our last session for the day. There's never a dull moment though with the three of us, something exciting is always happening. LOL. We went home that night completely exhausted. And Allison got her chocolate cake. So all were happy.

The next day was much of the same as far as pictures go, but we also got to spend some time recording ringtones and ringbacks. I even got to test my singing abilities. Dear lord, I pray they lose that one. The fight song has never sounded so scary. It's one thing when there are 80,000 of your closest friends singing it with you, but when you are doing it yourself.. not quite as intimidating. Oh well. We tried.

The next few weeks are going to be insane. Not only is college football season right around the corner, I also have a lot of exciting projects coming up. For starters, to get my tailgating skills up to par, I am hosting a college night at Tampa's Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, on Friday, August 18th. For updated details, check out my news page. All college students who sit in the special designated student section receive a free beer with their ticket stub and valid ID. Other great specials too!!!Should be a blast. Hope to see you there!!

Also, make sure you look for updates on where the Cowgirls will be, especially week one when Florida State takes on the Miami Hurricanes. With UM's Moss suspended, it should be an especially interesting match up this year. You can read more about my predictions in my latest SI.com article. The new one comes out Wednesday 8/16, so be sure to catch up on your reading at the office.

We're really excited about this upcoming FSU Football season!!! And we hope you are too. The partying starts in Tally on Thursday 8/31 before the big game at Big Daddy's on the Tennessee strip. Then we saddle up and head on down to South Beach to show those Hurricanes how we do' in Tally. So, Wear Garnet Darn It!!!.. And we hope to see you at the Orange!!!...

--Much love, Jenn

Ps. For all those that have written me these past weeks, I can't express how much it has meant to me. It's nice to know that people care about what's going on in my life, and that I have friends out there that will support me no matter what. Thanks again.

Admin note: Pics to come later tonight....

Wear Garnet, Darn It!

I remember watching a televised Penn State game last year in utter amazement. Their student section was brilliant. There, in the cold of winter, they stood in nothing but white. Shirts, sweatshirts, parkas... it was all white. The die hard fans stood there in nothing but body paint and swim trunks. Individually, sure, they looked average. But put them all together in Happy Valley, and you had the most menacing looking student section since the Cameron Crazies.

Sure, there is plenty of Garnet and Gold to go around come game day. But what about that kid sitting next to you, with the camo on?... Or the Girl in Pink with "Nole girl" written across it. PUh-LeeZe!... We are not cheering for a deer hunting league here people!!! Nor is Florida State still called FSCW!!!.. What happened to wearing school colors? I am implementing a call to all students attending the game at Miami. WEAR GARNET, DARN IT!...

I was less than thrilled with the turnout down at the Orange Bowl for our bowl game against Penn State this past season. Maybe there were more FSU fans than I thought, but it was the fact that Penn States fans were so color coordinated, that they totally engulfed the stadium. The fact that some of our fans were wearing white didn't help too much either. I have been to the orange bowl people, and I have seen the white out. It is purely mesmerizing. Not to mention, extremely intimidating. It's something about an entire section of people moving to the beat of Zombie nation that gives a person there the chills.

Doak is known for its kick @$ student section. Time to take the Student Section @ Doak on the road with us to the beach, and downgrade these Hurricanes to a mere breeze. Bring back the noise spear. Amp up the warchant. A tiny section of the stadium just wont do it, but an entire army will scare the living daylights out of enemies, and get our boys "in the game."

Let's get pumped people!!.. This sets the tone for the rest of the season, and is without a doubt one of the most important games in the ACC conference every year.

For those students entering the lottery for tickets.. do us all a favor. If you register for a ticket... USE IT!.. How is a team supposed to get amped with an empty student section, or worse one that sold their tickets to the opposing team??? They play hard, so you can party harder.
This time.. no excuses. It's a night game.. so save your white shirts for the day light.

It's time to wear garnet, darn it. And.. as always.. Go Noles.