Move over Mermaids the Manatees are taking the field
with
Iolande Argent
For those of you who haven’t heard (and even for those that have)
the Florida Marlins are looking for some footloose fat men. Yes, you
read that correctly, “fat men”. It seems that the National League
team is creating an all-male; plus-size cheerleading squad will be
dubbed the Manatees.
A real manatee is a 1,200-pound mammal sometimes referred to as a
“sea cow.” They are gentile creatures. They’re not very agile and
often are caught in boat propellers. Bearing that in mind the
Marlins want their “Manatees” to have the same dimensions,
but with agility, that’s why they’re holding tryouts for the big
men.
The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and
jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season. The men
are judged on how well they dance a choreographed routine.
If selected for the Manatees the men won’t be paid. Instead they’ll
get tickets to games they perform at, and the honor of dancing in
front of crowds that have been smallest in major league baseball for
the last two seasons.
Now all this might seem strange to you but the Marlins aren’t the
only pro sports team capitalizing on Americans’ expanding
waistlines. The Matadors, a big-man dance troupe that’s entertained
fans at Chicago Bulls basketball home games since 2003.
The term cheerleaders might be an unfamiliar site in baseball; big
men , on the other hand, are not. Fans of the game have been
cheering for big men like Babe Ruth and Kirby Puckett for years.
Moreover, just for the fans that are not ready for “big male”
dancers; the Marlins have the more traditional female cheerleaders
called Mermaids too.
Play Ball!
