20060422 - The Brandon All-Stars Senior Black cheerleading squad goes through warm-ups before their competition Saturday at the Sun Dome in the Tournament of Champions event. The competition was the last in the career of five seniors on the undefeated squad. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060422 - Breezy Dusnik (bottom) and the rest of the Brandon All-Stars Senior Black cheerleading squad collapses to the floor in exhaustion after their competition Saturday at the Sun Dome in the Tournament of Champions event. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060426 - Frank Myles, of Tampa, prays near the end of a Bible study and worship service on Wednesday night at the Bible-Based Fellowship Church. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060422 - Bob Bazer, 19, hangs out with other comedians backstage at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center before Saturday night's show. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060425 - Austen Love, 6, of Tampa, rides on his dad Wayne'sshoulders as they cheer for the Lightning outside the St. Pete TimesForum before Tuesday night's first-round playoff game against theOttawa Senators. It was the first playoff hockey in Tampa since theLightning won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004, but this timearound their luck wasn't as good as they fell hard, 8-4. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060419 - The Academy of the Holy Names team, including Catriana Messina (left) and Kristina Cruz, takes in the action from the bench in their home game against CCC in the 3A District 11 softball semifinals. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060414 - Rapper Supastar Rated R, 30, of Tampa at Club Manilla. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060415 - Magic forward Dwight Howard takes off his shoes and prepares to toss them and his jersey into the crowd after collecting 26 rebounds in the win for the Orlando Magic against the Philadelphia 76ers at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando on Saturday night. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060415 - A fan waits for autographs from Orlando Magic player Carlos Arroyo before the team's game against the Toronto Raptors. Arroyo is most famous for toying with the USA basketball team in the 2004 Olympics when he was playing for Puerto Rico. The Orlando metro area is about 25-30% Latino. In Puerto Rico and other cities with large PR populations, Arroyo is a huge star. During his first game in Orlando, he got a standing ovation from the crowd full of Latinos. Hispanic media hound him before and after games. Puerto Rican newspapers report on his career like he's Michael Jordan. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060413 - Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor works out with NFL training guru Tom Shaw at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060408 - Cowboys and cowgirls of all ages and abilities gathered at the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds in Davie, FL, on a weekend in April for the inaugural Sunshine Stampede Rodeo. The three day event was the first for the Florida Gay Rodeo Assocation, formed last year to bring together members of the gay and lesbian community who celebrate a love of the sport. The International Gay Rodeo Association has 4,500 members and events in about 33 regions of the United States and Canada. Their events include three days of typical and not-so-typical rodeo events and parties. There are all the same events as regular rodeos, but men and women can each participate in any event, and there are special "camp events" including goat dressing and wild drag racing. Over two thousand people came to participate in the community atmosphere, to be outdoors, have fun and to raise money for local charities. For a multimedia gallery from the event, visit http://www.sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/gay_rodeo/ (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060408 - "Pinch my cheeks," says Anne Budd, Ms. IGRA 2006 runner-up, before the Grand Entry parade. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060408 - The glove of a more traditional rodeo hand works alongside that of a drag queen in the Wild Drag Race event. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060408 - A competitor warms up his technique before the rodeo begins. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060411 - Radio personalities Alvaro Lopez, Pedro Valdes and Roberto Ferrer work in the booth at the SuperQ 1300 AM WQBN radio station on Tuesday in the station's Tampa studio. "La Super Q" says they are the oldest Spanish radio station in Tampa Bay and have been serving the local Hispanic community for over 50 years. Like many stations nationwide, they were instrumental in getting the word out to the local Latino community about the recent immigration protests. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - Wilson Montero, of Perth Amboy, NJ, paces around the ring during his match against Jean Phillipe Jean-Baptiste, the first event of the evening. Boxing returned to Ybor City when more that 1,100 people attended an evening of matches at the historic Cuban Club. The historic venue was home to fights nights on Mondays in the 1920s and '30s, and the tradition has returned with the first championship bout in Ybor in five decades. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - The six boxing matches were the main draw on the card, but a team of dancers performing in the ring between rounds drew at least as much attention from the crowd. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - Jose Roman, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, gets instructions in his corner before the fourth and final round in his boxing match against Arnold Hill, of St. Petersburg. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - Boxing referees Brian A. Garry and Dennis DeBonn take a moment in between matches to go over how certain punches should be scored. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - A clang on the ringside bell signals the end of a round. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060203 - Jose Roman, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, comes out of his corner for the fourth and final round in his boxing match against Arnold Hill, of St. Petersburg, at Ybor City's historic Cuban Club. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060406 - Plant engineer Kent Youngblood has his first job at the Big Bend power plant. (Times photo by Brian Cassella)
20060328 - Ozzie Iglesias jumps over a fence in pursuit of some chickens in a Miami backyard. Iglesias, with two Chicken Busters co-workers, have rounded up some 7,000 wild chickens on the streets of Miami in the past three years. Some officials are worried about the animals potentially spreading bird flu, but they can also carry other diseases and are a nuisance to neighbors. (Brian Cassella / St. Petersburg Times)