Half-Time Highlights: A Guide to Dancing in the NBA/NFL

Interested in this book? This review is almost a paraphrase...To put this in context, I am an aspiring NFL cheerleader getting ready for my first auditions. I've wanted to do this for several years and I am finally ready to go for it! As part of the preparation process I have searched online for any tips and advice I could find about auditions, specific tips on how to wear my hair and makeup, a good diet and exercise plan to help me achieve the leanness required, etc. I feel that I've found all I can online - none of it exactly what I'm looking for, but helpful nonetheless - yet I am still looking for some good inside information; something more that could really give me some insight and an edge at auditions. I was really excited when I came across Half-Time Highlights, thinking that this would be a great source of some inside information that could give me some additional help. I was extremely disappointed.For anyone aspiring to be an NFL/NBA cheerleader (or any pro dancer for that matter), there truly is NO USEFUL INFORMATION in the book and the advice is generic and commonsense. I read the book in it's entirety in about 15 minutes - it's double spaced and the chapters are short; writing this review has taken far longer. The first six pages cover a brief history of cheerleading and how it led into pro sports cheer/dance, the author stating that she began dance classes at a very young age, and was also on the high school's pom squad for two years, and basic definitions of pom squads vs. dance/drill teams vs. NBA/NFL cheerleaders.Chapters 2 and 3 are one page each - Chapter 2 is a few bullet points of the most common age/eligibility requirements for pro dance teams. This information is available on each team's website anyway - and more specific and detailed at that. Chapter 3 described the author's first audition, but in no detail - just that she realized she was not prepared, so she took prep classes and worked with a personal trainer and made the team the next year because she was prepared.Chapter 4 is titled 'Preparing for Auditions'. This is the longest chapter, and of the 50 pages in the chapter, 36 are dedicated to describing basic rules of football and basketball. In my opinion, this is totally unnecessary - that type of information is easily found elsewhere, and in more depth, should someone want to understand the rules of the games. Candidates advancing to the final rounds of auditions may be required to posses some game rules knowledge (among other team and league specific information), but at the initial stages of auditions it's not necessary.The remaining pages of Chapter 4 touch on exercise, nutrition, alcohol, and hair and makeup. Again, the information is completely generic: The author states that training is important - take dance/prep classes, build cardio endurance, and exercise regularly (nothing specific, but working out in the a.m. works best for her). The diet recommendation is to find what works best for you and your body (the author likes to minimize carbohydrates, especially right before bedtime). The author briefly discusses some considerations regarding alcohol as part of one's diet program. The Hair and Makeup section offers nothing more than what a dance team's website would offer in terms of what they are looking for and how you should do your hair and makeup (down, glamorous, natural but defined).Chapters 5 and 6 are each less one page and basically say that politics may be part of any area of life - this one included, and that even though you may not agree with a decision, you should still respect it. But the experience, while time-consuming, is well worth it.Chapter 7 is motivational in nature - don't give up, think positive, try again, etc. Some motivational quotes.Chapter 8 states how important 'the look' is and reiterates that the job of a pro cheerleader is to look and perform the way the team wants her to. Common sense/generic.Chapter 9 lists some former pro cheerleaders who went on to act/dance/reality tv.Chapter 10 lists some Do's & Don't's. Pretty generic stuff here too - basically be professional and polite, have confidence, be knowledgeable. Don't date the players, clean up your social networking sites.Chapter 11 is a list of all the NBA and NFL teams with the dance team director names and websites. Padding, in my opinion.This may not be significant to some people but I was surprised to find spelling and grammatical errors, a citation error, and some formatting errors - maybe just because it is a first edition and they were missed during the proofreading process? Anyway, that also detracted from the book and its credibility for me. I could have written a better, more informative book than this just based on my own preparation and research - and I'm not a pro cheerleader yet! Save your money for your audition outfit and use other readily-available resources, books/magazines, internet, dance team websites, and common sense to prepare yourself.