| WALNUT
HIGH SCHOOL - November 8, 2003 |
By
Charli Harshbarger
 You can't go wrong with cute guys in
shorts. I have been a huge fan of the Hollywood
Knights for almost two years and tonight my dream
came true, I am officially a reporter for the
Hollywood Knights.
Although I found some hilarity in some of the
players expressions when I told them about this
recent development, I was extremely surprised at
how warm and welcome they all were towards me
joining the team. The most surprising thing is
what these knights gave up to follow their dream.
More about that later, on to the game.
The game set off without a hitch. With a
beautiful, goose-bump beginning brought to us
from the Walnut Choir (whom we were supporting
that evening), made the night that much more
memorable. Half time was unlike any other. Of
course, the crowds at the autograph tables were
swarmed with eager fans waiting for their idols
to emerge, but the players welcomed the fans with
open arms, ready to give out hugs. During half
time, At Last made a solid effort at a
performance until a fan stepped over wires and
unplugged them temporarily. They commenced their
performance after the intense autograph session
and blew up the place with their new single
"Penny For Your Thoughts."
 Going into half time the knights
were lagging on points, but pulled ahead by the
end of the game. It was a fight to the finish
when one of the Walnut Staff members sunk in a
basket on the final bell, causing the game to go
into overtime and the knights ending the game
with a twelve-point lead with a final score of
71-83 in favor of the Hollywood Knights. I have
to say, honestly, this was the most exciting game
I have ever been to; it was on your feet,
screaming at the top of your lungs, nail biting
pure excitement. Kiko and the other players were
on fire! Pushing and pulling, running and dodging
the oppositions every move. The knights put in a
solid effort into coming out with the miraculous
victory.
What the most incredible thing about the games is
to find out the soul purpose behind the
inspiration for the players to join the team.
Most became "celebrities" by following
their passion and leaving jobs such as teachers
and inspirational leaders behind.
As Walnut staff members, Joey Davis and Rod Alder
said, "It's an ego thing, power! Actually,
our choir director set this up last year. We're
just a bunch of guys who like basketball. A lot
of us used to coach basketball here so she asked
us if we wanted to play and we all said yeah.
It's a fun way to get out of the house and draw
attention to us in an appropriate matter. Get the
kids involved."
Also, Dante of 3rd Storee said, "I think
it's a good program, what they do is they raise
money for schools and I think that's very
important because schools definitely need funds
to keep it moving, to keep books in the school,
computers, so forth and so on. So, anything that
has to do with that I support. I have a six year
old sister, so I need to make sure that the times
she's in high school everything is well
put."
We are all looking forward to a fantastic season
and can't wait to see what the knights have in
store. Hope to see you out at the games. Come out
and support your local schools! |
By
Jeanne Flores
Saturday, November 8, 2003, Walnut High School
was the place to be. No one could ask for a
better season opener as the Hollywood Knights
faced off against the Walnut High faculty
Mustangs. Sporting new shoes and other gear from
the Hollywood Knights sponsor Reebok, those in
attendance included Josh Henderson, Tha
Goodfellas, Arlen Escarpeta, Kiko Ellsworth,
Anthony Montgomery, Wesley Jonathan, Mike
"The Miz" Mizanin, Cylk Cozart, guests
Ashlee Simpson, D-Smoove and J'Son of 3rd Storee,
new comers Tyler Hoechlin and Sharif Atkins, and
half-time performance by At Last.
The Walnut High School Choir opened up the night
by singing the National Anthem. Tip off came with
Tha Goodfellas, Kiko, Wesley and Cylk as the
starting five. The faculty gained possession of
the ball and obtained an early lead as they
converted every Knight turnover into a basket. As
the Knights struggled to obtain a lead over the
Mustangs, Arlen, Anthony, Tyler and Sharif danced
to Pharell's "Frontin'" while sitting
on the bench. Fans in the stands screamed their
heads off as DJ Speed and Ron T. walked along the
sidelines giving away free stuff such as Power
106 shirts, Elvis cd's, and trucker hats. Half
time came and the audience was treated to the
harmonious sounds of At Last. Justin, Mike, JP,
Hans, and Ken sang where in the midst of singing
"More Than Friends," when suddenly all
sound was cut. It was reported by Knights CEO,
Michael Mirisch that the breaker blew because
there wasn't enough power that was needed. While
the production crew attempted to fix the problem,
fans scrambled the courts to meet their favorite
Knight(s) during the autograph session.
Melissa Shavapart, sophomore, gushed on which
Knight she fancied, "Wesley Jonathan,
because he's cool! I like him on 'What I Like
About You.'" Students compared autographs to
their friends like Chariza Son, sophomore, who
wasn't shy about who her favorite Knights were.
"My favorites are Mike Mizanin and At Last.
Mike because he was on 'The Real World' and At
Last because I liked their last year's
performance," said Son.
While fans met up with the Knights, Mustang
teacher, Michael James, commented on their lead
over the Knights at the half. "Well, we've
had a couple of guys that are really hot and have
shot really well," began James, "Some
guys are pretty good shooters, so we have to keep
doing what we're doing and kind of stop them in
the second half. When asked about maintaining the
lead, James replied, "Basically just take
care of the ball and not give that many
turnovers. Make sure they turnover more than we
do, score when they have a turnover, and not
rush."
At Last took the courts one last time and
revealed that they are currently in the studios
working on another album which included the song
"Penny for Your Thoughts," in which the
boys belted lines including "Penny for your
thoughts, nickel for your kiss."
The second half was on it's way and with Coach
Andre Smith's advise in mind "Relax, have
fun, and it's just eight points...that's
nothing," the Knights were determined to win
this game in their favor. Big play by Arlen came
arise. Mike rebounded from Arlen's miss to yet
miss again. Fortunately Arlen jumped over the
opponents to rebound Mike's shot and score with a
one-and-one at the free throw. The Knights
pressure only continued as the faculty began to
turnover their possession with defense like
Anthony and Josh double-teaming and trapping a
faculty member in the corner. Turnovers became
the faculty's weakness as they began to give away
points and the Knights gained a slim lead. The
crowd didn't give up on their Mustangs and
chanted, "Let's go Mustangs!" With
several important free throw baskets made by
Knights like Kiko resulted into the crowd
stomping there feet in the stands in hopes to
distract the Knights. A last effort by one of the
faculty members, a questionable buzzer shot tied
the game in the fourth quarter. While referees
discussed the status of the game, the crowd began
to chant "OVERTIME," and were more than
pleased to hear that the refs decision to bring
the game into OT. Unfortunately for the Mustangs,
the Knights never slowed down and secured their
win 83-73 Knights.
One on One
HK: The team is behind right
now, what was you're advise to them in the locker
room so they can catch up?
Coach Andre Smith:
Relax, have fun, and it's just eight
points...that's nothing.
HK: What is it like reuniting
with these players after the off-season?
It's Awesome! I haven't seen them
for about four or five months now. I'm glad they
came back in shape and ready to go. We're ready
to have some fun.
HK: What have you guys been
doing during the HK off-season?
Dante (3rd Storee):
We're working on a new album right now, and we
just finished filming the movie "Honey”
with Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer and Lil Romeo
J'Son (3rd Storee): I concur, I
concur.
HK: What is your
guys' role in that move?
Dante (3rd Storee):
We're playing ourselves. Jessica Alba is...she is
trying to break into the music industry and her
project is to direct our video, to choreograph
our video.
HK: You guys
haven’t been performing or playing ball for
a while, when can fans expect to see you guys on
the courts?
Dante & J'Son (3rd
Storee): The next game!
HK: How did you become a VJ for
MTV?
Ashley Simpson: I
just actually got a call because I knew a couple
of people at MTV. So they just wanted me to come
in and do the summer because of 7th Heaven and
stuff like that. So I came in, met everybody and
I did TRL and Say What Karaoke. It was so much
fun.
HK: What was it
like being in the Hamptons?
It was so much fun. It was really
cold because it is New York and the rain would
pour, but it was really awesome. It was a really
cool experience I've never really done anything
like that, so that's why I chose to go out there
and do it.
HK: On 7th Heaven,
you guys have to deal with very sensitive and
serious subjects such as death for the season
premier. What is it like?
It's hard to go out there and do our
work. But it's also really cool because so many
people go through these types of situations. So
these really touch people in a positive way,
because people go through that kind of stuff and
there is always a lesson to be learned.
HK: Finally, what
is it like to work alongside Tyler Hoechlin, who
just joined the 7th Heaven cast?
I love Tyler! He is so awesome. He's
so adorable and so much fun. It's nice to have
someone that I can work with that is also a
friend off the set.
HK: First off, how'd you sign on
with HK?
Tyler Hoechlin: I
had a friend, Josh Henderson, who said they have
this celebrity thing that goes on every weekend
and he said I should go for it. It just sounded
like fun.
HK: What do you
think of it so far?
Pretty sweet. It was a great season
opener, and the crowd was into it, which made
things better.
HK: Can we expect
to see you at more games?
Definitely, I think I am playing in
next week’s game actually.
HK: Can you
describe your character on 7th Heaven?
My character on 7th Heaven, well at
first it was a little weird because he just came
into a house, but he really is a laid back guy.
He's probably a typical American teenager.
HK: What is it like
working on set with Ashley?
Tyler: It’s a
lot of fun. Honestly, every day I don't work
I’m just depressed. I hate not working
because it's nice to work around people that work
hard but can have fun too. Everybody on set is
just really cool and it's really awesome so far.
Ashley is really fun; we have some really funny
conversations. We hang out.
Ashley Simpson: We go shopping.
Tyler: Yeah. Well actually, she
goes shopping, I just watch.
HK: What is it like coming back
this year?
Mike "The Miz"
Mizanin: For the season, great! I get to
see old faces and new faces. I just came to have
some good fun.
HK: A lot of people
are probably wondering what is it like being on
"The Gauntlet."
What is it like being on "The
Gauntlet?" Hell. Complete hell.
HK: Can you give a
little hint on which team wins?
Not gonna give a hint.
HK: What is the
best/ worst mission you went through?
Best mission is definitely Red
Barron. You guys haven't seen it yet. Worst
mission was either snake soup or ice cream. As
much as I love ice cream, 22 pounds of it, I
puked five times. Oh! And the other one, I had
hypo-thermia.
HK: Can you
describe the drama that went on, for instance,
the following episode discusses the issue of you
and Trishelle.
Trishelle and I started a
relationship on the show. Drama, The Gauntlet
just brings all the drama. Sending someone,
nobody wants to leave, everybody wants to stay,
stuff like that.
HK: What is it like
watching yourself on TV?
I hate watching myself on TV. I make
myself look like an ass.
HK: How did you sign on with HK?
Sharif Atkins:
Actually, one of the players on the squad, Arlen
from 'American Dreams,' I met him at a couple
parties and he told me about the organization, so
I was like, "Yeah! I'll give it a
shot."
HK: What do you
think of it so far?
Oh, I love it! I love it. The energy
is great. All the kids seem like they have a lot
of fun, and it gives me a chance to get a little
work out here.
HK: Can we expect
to see you during the next games?
Yes, yes, yes. I will definitely be
in the next game. I think I’m hooked!
HK: Do you think
you'll bring some of your cast members from ER?
You know, after a couple, I just
might go talk to them and say "Look, come
down to a game, check it out, see if you like it,
and see if you want to join up."
HK: What is it like
working on the ER set? You guys have to deal with
so many technical terms, the action, etc.
Oh, it's great. The technical terms,
we have doctors and stuff on the set and they
tell us how to pronounce the words, because we
don't come in knowing how to pronounce them. So
they have to instruct us. After that, a little
bit of repetition, everyone is really cool, down
to earth, and easy to work with.
HK: One of the big
things about ER is that your cast is so diverse
and you get to work amongst a wide variety of
people.
That's what makes it lovely. That's
what makes it really really nice, because there
is diversity in age, diversity in ethnicity. It's
great. It's a hospital though. It's a Chicago
Hospital, and that's what it's supposed to look
like - to have all those types of different
people in there. I think it's a great picture of
it.
HK: What have you been doing
during the off-season?
Kiko Ellsworth:
Nothing.
HK: What happened
to Port Charles?
Port Charles is cancelled. It was
cancelled about three months ago. So I’ve
been going on auditions. But since Port Charles,
I did a movie called "Guarding Eddie,"
where I played a Clipper basketball player, did a
commercial, and I was on Half & Half.
HK: In fact, Bad
Boys II was released during the first part of the
summer, what was it like being in that movie?
That was great. It was about a year
ago when I did that. It was very inspirational to
work with guys like that. I learned a lot.
HK: Finally, you're
opinions on the opening game.
We won. OT. What a first game.
HK: What have you been up to
over the summer?
Cylk Cozart: I've
been filming a movie and I’m getting ready
to film another one. This move is called
"The Helix Reloaded," it's a spoof on
the Matrix and I play the Orpheus.
HK: The other movie
right now?
Marvin Gaye. I'm playing Marvin
Gaye.
HK: And how's that
going?
It's going great, we're going into
pre-production right now. We're going to shoot in
London, Belgium, Hawaii, D.C., L.A., and Detroit.
HK: Is there
pressure on you to execute this film to the
detail?
I'm one of the producers. So I have
the rights to this film from one of his brother's
Frankie Gaye, Ed Townsend (who wrote "Let's
Get It On"), and various staff members who
traveled with Marvin when he was alive. The
pressure is getting the story where it's not a
fictious story, where it's right, where it's real
because he changed the way people look at racism
in this world through his music. The first song
after the millennium and after 9/11 was
"What's Going On."
HK: Finally, what
do you think of tonight's game?
Wow! It was almost a repeat of last
year. Fortunately we came out on top. It was
played very well on both teams and the energy of
this crowd was just incredible. What a great
first game to come to Walnut High School.
HK: What is it like seeing/
reuniting with your friends?
Anthony Montgomery:
(jokingly) What friends? I don’t like these
guys. I just play with them. Nah, it's great. I
think this is my first...second...third year on
the Knights, but it's my first year to be at the
season opener. So it was great, lots of fun. You
saw the game right? It was intense, wasn't it? I
was like "Oh, Walnut is about to beat
us...No they're not!" It was fun.
HK: What have you
been up to during the off-season?
I don’t know, technically, what
is you're off-season because for the hiatus of
the show, or someone who has produced a play, and
I’ve been working on some other projects. I
was on Half & Half, I did an episode of
Boomtown, right now I’m doing a documentary
on my grandfather, who was a jazz guitarist,
I’m working on a music project on my own,
I’m working on an animated series, and keep
trying to do stuff.
HK: I noticed that
after halftime you we're limping out of the
locker room. How's you're ankle?
Yes. My ankle is hurting. I guess
it's not killing me, but it doesn't hurt as bad
as it did. The worst part is that I didn't even
hurt it during the game; I hurt it during the
warm up before the second half started. I shot a
jumper and didn't realize that one of my
teammates was behind me and I ended up rolling it
on his leg. So, I just kind of rolled it on the
outside. But the trainer from Walnut High taped
it up and I put some ice on it and I feel fine.
HK: What have you been doing
during the off-season?
Arlen Escarpeta:
I’ve been playing a lot of basketball,
trying to work on my game; just trying to have
lot’s of fun, and working on the show.
Actually, just for a couple of movies.
HK: What Kind of
movies?
Actually, one is a basketball movie
and the other is a football movie.
HK: On American
Dreams, what is it like for you’re character
now?
What they are doing this season is
that they are really trying to break out my
character some more. He’s evolving, you
know, to be a real person. We have a ton of huge
guest stars on the show, Alicia Keys – she
was great. We have Hillary Duff coming up, and
we’re just having tons of fun.
HK: What is it like
to have to deal with the issue of racism?
My mood, it's not necessarily
enjoyable, but I’m glad that I have the
responsibility to portray that because it's
something I want to speak out against. I'm a
sociology major and the issues we deal with in
the show are very close to my heart, and I’m
glad that I have that platform to be on TV where
everyone can see and hear it because I get a
chance to say what I feel.
HK: You’re
feelings on returning this season?
Nothing like coming home,
that’s all I can say.
HK: And what is
your advise for the rookies this season?
Have fun. Don’t be afraid to
shoot the ball. I don’t care if you miss it.
Shoot the ball, take your time, don’t be
afraid to take risks. |
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