"...and then he went by and I asked Hollywood, where'd he go, where'd he go. And Hollywood says, Where did WHO go?"

- from the movie TOP GUN
 

This is quite appropriate today because this same scenario happened this past weekend at the CINCO DE MAYO tournament that was held in Whittier.

It happened, innocently enough, at a game in the 3rd grade boys division.

There, on the court, were our now famous Knights boys, otherwise known as the Junkyard Dogs or JYD's.

There were our Doggies, battling their hearts out against yet another larger, stronger, faster opponent. There were our Doggies defending, scoring, pressing, biting scratching, clawing.

Then it happened...

Showtime Nick Billings took a pass from Too Good Sebastian Atashi and broke for the basket on a one man fast break.

A large defender from the Kings took off after him. His larger strides allowed the defender to catch up to Showtime just when Showdoggie was ready to go up for the layup. A sure block coming up was what the crowd thought, what I thought, what EVERYBODY thought; even Daddy BadDog.

Just when the defender had Showtime in his sights and ready to simulate his own version of SMACKDOWN, Showtime surprised everyone by making a 360 spin move around his amazed and befuddled defender and making the layup.

WHERE DID WHO GO?

The WHO is Showtime. Showtime is a dog. A Junkyard Dog.

JYD! Woof, Woof, Woof!

That move was so great and so electrifying that it changed a BadDog to a SpinDog. That was like a worm changing to a butterfly, right before our very eyes.

SpinDog will never be the same as now he will forever have his eyes on the future...waiting, waiting, and waiting for the next edition of Showtime.

There were definitely no holes in the OH-ZONE this past weekend as our new, improved, and deadly Boys 4th took yet ANOTHER tournament CHAMPIONSHIP.

Yes, this team has now won two CHAMPIONSHIPS in the last two tournaments and the roster improves every day.

With Coaches Bob Oh and Marcos Pena leading the way, our Oh-Zees have taken the RYB tourney and now the CINCO DE MAYO.

A thrilling two overtime victory over our tough friends from the Antelope Valley, AVAC, proved that our boys can play with anybody and they are making quite a reputation themselves with their abilities and their courage.

In Santa Barbara, they will chase a third consecutive title.

Only one other Knights team has ever won more than two in a row and that is the legendary first Knights team in our history.

Their record of seven tournament wins in a row stands as the standard, but our Boys 4th can really put themselves above other great Knights teams of the past with another title in SB. GO BOYS 4TH!

Let's EVERYONE let them all know how much we appreciate them bringing so much FAME and GLORY to our name.

Please read Kelly Cowan's account of the weekend's action on our own Sports Page.

It's really good stuff.

The MadDogs of the Boys 8th took the Silver Championship at the CINCO DE MAYO tournament, beating, again, our other friends, the Hub City Gymrats.

Playing two games without Quinn; JT, our lone big played his heart out against two, three, sometimes four other large bodies and kept in each game.

Both Fidel and Christian gave very courageous efforts playing BIG and did so well that we were able to split our Saturday games with one win and one loss.

The Double D coaching combo of Dave Borst-Smith and David Miya pulled out a very dramatic and exciting and IMPROBABLE win against a very tough AVAC team. Wow! They even went to OT too.

Sunday brought another matchup with that tough AVAC team and our boys prevailed again, this time without OT.
That brought them to the Championship game against Hub City.

Let's wait and see if their parent rep will write that account so we can all read about these guys on our Sports Page.

All of our teams were in action this past weekend and I urge all to check on our Sports Page for a complete account of their exploits.

Will all team reporters please make sure that those exploits are reported?

We have many tournaments coming up, so please get those pencils ready to write.

Our kids are counting on you.

We have only been playing with one Boys 6th lately, a combo effort from both Black and Gold.

It now appears that September will bring about a solid two separate team system.

With baseball over, players will be coming back to us and the numbers will be favorable for the new teams to at full strength.

Also, we have been able to secure commitments from new players to join our club in September.

Coach J.R. will come over from the Girls 8th to take over the new Boys Black 6th and will be assisted by Coach Bob Oh.

September should bring about the formation of the Boys 5th as we should have the numbers to begin that team. Coach Jason will take over that team.

Did anyone see the debut of our new high school team and the results of our first one?

We now have two playing each and every tournament.

One is coached by Knights Super-Coach, J.R. Watanabe, and the other is coached by yours truly.

Coach J.R.'s squad of Golden Knights has a combination of players from Torrance High, Peninsula High, and Narbonne High.

The Black Knights of mine are a combo of players from Sunny Hills, South Torrance, Washington Prep, and Loyola High.

Both teams will be in action in all future tournaments coming up, including Santa Barbara, Lancaster, San Pedro, Las Vegas, San Diego, Whittier, and the new High School Kick-Off Classic in October in PALM SPRINGS.

Next year, all of these Knights will be eligible to try out for our South Bay AAU High School Elite team that is the Best of the Best from ALL the high schools in the South Bay. Team SBE is now another reality for Knights to aspire to.

From Boys 3rd to AAU High School Elite.

Now that's a journey that is open to all Knights players, with high school stardom sandwiched in between.

Add in shooting clinics, plyometrics, and weight training, and what more could a growing boy/girl want?

Coming soon in December will be the new ARC/SPK Training Leagues for all levels of players from all over the South Bay to learn the game, play some games, and get into traveling basketball.

Get ready for our Knights Golf Club Kick-Off Fun Day!

Coach BadD....er....SpinDog Billings is arranging a Knights players only Family Fun Day on the golf course to introduce our newest travel venture.

Yes, the Knights will bring traveling GOLF to the South Bay. Already donations of clubs and balls are POURING in from golfers who wish to see this happen, and those aren't even Knights golfers!

Complete strangers have contacted the SpinDog to just GIVE us the equipment needed to start.

Please check the Knights Golf Club module on our website for more information.

Getting back to the Knights Golf Family Fun Day, the SpinDog is securing a little, tiny, friendly 80 yard per hole golf course in Torrance for us to play on.

After the golf, a little barbeque, a little talking, and...voila...a Knights Golf Club is formed.

Just to give you all a little glimpse of the future, SpinDog has gotten AVAC, SGV, ARC, and SE Warriors to all begin golf teams to compete against.

You do not have to play basketball to play on our golf team.

SpinDog's son, Dino, will be our first Knights Golf Captain and will help the SpinDog create a winning Knights tradition on the course right from the start.

Dino is a heckuva golfer who will immediately bring credibility to our team and begin a new history of greatness in our Knights Book of Champions.

Kinda overwhelming isn't it?

Knights, Knights, Knights!

Enjoy the ride.