Dancing with the Stars

We've done it! We've made it all the way to the end of the list of the 13 new couples vying for a chance to become America's favorite ballroom dancing duo on Dancing with the Stars. Today, let's take a look at the 13th and final couple: Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke.

Dancing with the Stars season 7 will begin with a three-night premiere event in exactly one week. This year, all 13 teams will each prepare two routines for the first week. They'll all perform on Monday night, but only 12 teams will be allowed to perform the following night. Then, on Wednesday, we'll have the first results show of the season.

Maurice Greene

Pros:
I've been a fan of Maurice Greene's for a while now. I was just getting into running when Greene took the world of track and field by storm, and I followed his career avidly. Other teenage girls probably had pictures of movie heartthrobs taped to their bedroom walls, but not me. I cut out pictures of Maurice Greene from my Runner's World magazines and taped them above my bed to inspire me to run fast.

This man knows the meaning of hard work. He didn't make the Olympic team in 1996, but he knew that he had it in him to be a champion sprinter, so he redoubled his training to get there. In 1998, he set a world indoor record in the 60m (6.39 seconds). In 1999, he won three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay at the World Championships. That same year, he set a world record in the 100m by running it in 9.79 seconds. The following year, he won Olympic gold in Sydney in two events. You can tell that when he wants something, he goes after it with the tenacity of a real overachiever. He's going to be in the rehearsal studio with Cheryl for hours and hours until he gets all his steps down cold. He's going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Cons:
Notwithstanding my own nerdery when it comes to track athletes, I think that Greene's biggest weakness is his obscurity to the American public. He is an Olympic athlete, yes, but then, so is Misty May-Treanor. She is just back from the 2008 Olympics, so her Olympics-derived fame will probably overshadow Greene's in a big way. Further exemplifying the fact that he's not longer a household name, Greene participated in the NBC game show Identity in 2006, but the contestant failed to correctly identify him. I'm hoping that Maurice Greene can project a positive, outgoing personality to really get the fans behind him.


Cheryl Burke

Cheryl Burke is also a champion. She has two Dancing with the Stars titles to her name, as well as many other ballroom awards. She is also a gifted teacher and choreographer. In 2006, she won two Emmys for Outstanding Choreography, and in April of this year, she opened her own dance studio. She has a dedicated student in Maurice Greene this season, and these two will definitely make it far.

Read more pre-season analyses:
Ted McGinley and Inna Brayer
Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas
Jeffrey Ross and Edyta Sliwinska
Cody Linley and Julianne Hough
Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson
Brooke Burke and Derek Hough
Toni Braxton and Alec Mazo
Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas
Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer
Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff
Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani
Misty May-Treanor and Maksim Chmerkovskiy





-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: USATF.org
(Images courtesy of ABC)