02/07 — Aloha!

It's early morning here in Hawaii and the sky is still dark before sunrise. We’re going to practice at Aloha Stadium today for the first time and then visit the Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR) later this afternoon.

We had some “free time” Wednesday and went into town to get Pro Bowl rings. My group is AFC-2 and it includes Nicole (Buffalo Bills), Aisha (Cincinnati Bengals), Lauren (Miami Dolphins), Jennifer (Oakland Raiders) and Jenn (Denver Broncos). We were joined by NFC-2 while the other two groups (AFC-1 and NFC-1) visited a local hospital.

In regard to the rings, each girl had different options in terms of design (flowers and leaves) and metal (gold and silver). I had “Pro Bowl” carved onto the outside of my ring and on the inside “Linda, 2007 New York Jets Flight Crew” was engraved. We’ll get them before we leave and might have them for the game.

Before we picked out our rings, all the cheerleaders were introduced at a kickoff rally in Bishop Square — a beautiful outdoor park right in the heart of downtown Honolulu. Everyone was presented by name and by team. Then we did a little performance and right when I walked out, I saw my dad wave (my mom was next to him), so that was really fun to see my parents there. A lot of the other girls had family members and/or friends in attendance as well. It’s nice to be able to perform and still have people there you know even though you’re not on the mainland.

Speaking of my parents, I haven’t really talked to them since the plane touched down. I woke my mom up yesterday morning to tell her about the rally and that was the last time I talked to her. So that kind of lets you know how busy we are here.

Last night vans took us to the hotel the players are staying at for the Pro Bowl Welcome Party/Luau. There were probably like 1,000 people at the party and more food than you can imagine. Hula dancers and fire dancers performed and they put on a good show.

The fire dancer was absolutely amazing. He was twirling two batons of fire — it was absolutely insane. I would have set myself on fire in two seconds and he was doing things I couldn’t imagine doing. It was the most impressive thing I’ve seen.

I definitely feel well-protected because we have plenty of security. You turn your back and think you’re alone, but they’re always watching us. Last night at the luau, they were all in headsets and followed us around. It’s kind of funny.

After a nine-hour practice day, we scaled back on Wednesday. There was a two-hour practice in the morning and then just an hour practice after the rally, so it wasn’t bad at all. We learned the halftime routine in the a.m. and then we went over it again in the afternoon. During the actual halftime, Lifehouse is going to play one song before we perform. The second song — “First Time” — we’ll actually get the chance to go on stage and dance with them.

What’s on tap for today? We have breakfast at 7 a.m. followed by a field rehearsal at the stadium. My group visits that military base and we’ll probably be there until 6 p.m. We’ll come back here at 7 p.m. and then scoot over to Dave & Buster's tonight just to relax and hang out. Some of the girls have a huge five-hour break today, so they’re going to go to the beach and get their rings. Everyone is doing different things. It will be another busy, busy day.

We’ve been practicing in the hotel in like a grand ballroom, so this will be the first time we’ll be on the field for practice. When we were driven to the luau yesterday, we actually passed the stadium. It’s cool-looking so I’m real excited to dance there.

Sun’s out! Gotta run.

(Editor's note: On Friday, in addition to Linda's next Radar entry from Hawaii and the Pro Bowl, she will be making a radio appearance back here in the slightly chillier Northeast. She is scheduled to be a guest on the Max Kellerman Show on 1050 ESPN New York, probably at 10:40 a.m. EST, although she could be rescheduled for 12:40 p.m. You can click here to get to the ESPN Radio Web site, and we will have the interview available on our newyorkjets.com's Multimedia Home page in the afternoon.)