Video: Seniors for Firecrackers – Bias Get the Ric Flair Sendoff… WOO!

Senior infielder Samantha Groves loves her Firecrackers – Bias team based in Orlando, Florida and as her time drew to a close with her fellow seniors, she wanted to give the team–and her fellow 2020 grads, especially–a special gift.

Her mother, Lizette Rivera, explains how this creative idea began.

“It’s been a horrible year for these seniors,” she begins, “not being able to do graduation and prom. Sami turned 18 on July 11 and is also class Valedictorian. I had sent a Cameo (a personalized celebrity video message) to her from Johnny Bananas, who is on The Challenge on MTV. Sami got me hooked on the show during the COVID-19 and quarantine and I sent it to her to say ‘’Happy Birthday.’”

“Sami didn’t want to buy gifts for her teammates and coach that wouldn’t last—she wanted a memory.”

And that’s what sparked the idea to give the team a personalized message… from Ric Flair.

For the uninitiated, Flair is a former professional wrestler known for his flamboyance and energy as much as his 40-year career in which he was voted as the #1 Professional Wrestler of All-Time, chosen as the Wrestler of the Year eight times and inducted in both the WWE Hall of Fame and the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.

So how does a retired pro wrestling superstar tie into a club softball team in Florida?

Simple: Flair is famous for his signature “Woo!!!” call (yea, it’s hard to explain… you just have to see and hear it) and Samantha’s Firecracker team liked to do a cheer involving the yell, usually something like “Give me two claps and a Ric Flair… Woo!!!”

For context, here’s a few clips showing Flair in all his high-intensity, high-energy glory in and out of the ring as well as throwing out a few of those famous “Woo” calls:

Samantha explains “This cheer has been our game breakdown cheer since before I came on the team. It brings us together win or lose and I kept thinking if the girls and coach Mike (Bias)and how, if we did a Ric Flair video, we could put it on Instagram or SnapChat and it’s going to come up every year. We will all have that memory even away at college.”

Samantha has just scored some birthday money and says the idea to contact the wrestling legend came when Coach Bias told the team they were having a Senior Night and the six seniors were to give speeches.

“I knew I wanted to do something special,” Samantha continues. “2020 has been hard on us and after my mom got me a Cameo for my birthday I don’t know how I even thought of it but asked if she could check to see if Ric Flair was on it. I wondered if we could get him to say the cheer.”

It didn’t come cheap–$500 for the minute video–but the results were something she and her teammates will treasure always according to the senior.

“It was so great! I had the money from birthday gifts and it was worth it.”

Her mother agrees: “She’s 18 and Mom couldn’t really argue when the cheer and Ric Flair was a team tradition. Also, part of the money for the Ric Flair Cameo is donated to the CDC for COVID-19 relief.”

Check out Ric Flair’s shoutout to the seniors of Firecrackers – Bias prior to their last game which was yesterday (July 19^th, actually) at the Softball Factory Showcase in Savannah, Georgia!

You can also watch Flair’s video on the Cameo platform.

 The video was a senior gift from Samantha to her team and coach Mike Bias, who the athlete says is like a second family.

“Our team is really special and so is Coach Mike and, more importantly, the Firecrackers organization. It’s been the best time of my life and I am excited to see where my college experience takes me and every one of my teammates.”

“Softball is a lot more then hitting and fielding,” Samantha continues. “It’s family. They are all my sisters and Coach Mike will always be more then just Coach Mike.

Sami is one of a half dozen seniors who played their last club softball game over the weekend… here’s the six with their positions and where they will play at the next level.

Position – Seniors – College

• P Taylor Bias (Webber International )
• OF Kayleigh Sprigle (Webber International)
• 2B Samantha Groves (University of New England)
• OF Nikki Miller (not playing in college )
• P Maegan Osmond (Smith College)
• P Faith Campopiano (Webber International )

From Tampa, Florida, it’s natural to ask how a Sunshine State girl would end up going to the University of New England in the often frigid Northeast.

“Sami hates the Florida heat,” her mom begins. ‘She had been volunteering at the Florida Aquarium and one of the senior administrators told her about UNE (located in Maine). We were already heading to Boston for a UMass camp and she emailed the head coach a video and an email.”

“He invited us over and we made the drive spur of the moment. She fell in love with the small town feel but the excitement of taking a train into Boston in an hour. Sami loves the team and the school and is very excited. She plans to study Marine Bio Research and enter the Coast Guard once she has completed her Masters. Her goal is to study the ocean for new and healthier medicines. She feels the cures for some of the worse diseases are under the ocean.”

Samantha adds her thoughts on attending the D3 school.

“ I knew I wanted to go somewhere cold and to see seasons,” she explains. “The school owns its own beach and I’m about 30 minutes from Portlandm Maine and an hour from Boston.  I was actually at another camp when (former softball) Coach Dan (Letellier) emailed me back and my mom and I drove to Maine the next day. I have always loved the ocean and I believe we haven’t studied it enough. I want to be part of that. UNE is a top Marine Bio school so I know I am going to get a great education and play the game I love.”

As for the cheer and Ric Flair, Samantha admits she didn’t know a ton about the legendary wrestler but now she won’t be able to think of her club softball career without him.

“I watch some wrestling,” she concludes, “but my grandpa was a big fan.”

Here’s the video of the final cheer for this year’s Firecrackers team: “FC on three, FC on three… 1-2-3, FC!! Hey, let me get two claps and a Ric Flair! WOO!!!”

Incidentally, the player doing the cheer is Samantha…