Uhhhhh... GAME ON!

See ya in Venice!


Oh, and we won last night.. Woo Hoo

- MFG

Clip of the Week!

Game tomorrow, yada yada yada.. This week's clip is a good one.... Now, when you get something on youtube sent to you from your mother, you usually think to yourself "What the heck could she have seen that I, a younger, more experienced youtuber, have not seen yet?" Welp, she got me on this one.. its tight



Sooooo, that was sick and my mom got me on that one... Im stressing hard right now due to our impending trip, last minute changes, and of course, packing up and leaving the life I have been living for the past 8 MONTHS! That is insane to me and I cannot believe it is all over, but, on the other hand, I am so excited to travel and get back to my life in America with my family, girlfriend, and friends. Alot of conflicting emotions plus stress equals I need to relax. I am sure I will once Andrew, Fletch, and I crack open that first bottle of red in Italy... That is all for my rant, I am sure there will be more to come over the next 3 weeks... Until next time......

- MFG

Soccer is Tight...

I have officially decided being a pro soccer player in Europe is one of the coolest jobs in the world. Marko and I went to the BVB Dortmund vs. Bremen bundesliga game this past weekend and it was amazing. I guess Dortmund's stadium is one of the biggest in Europe, holding 85,000 people, and it, my friends, was LEGIT.

The fans all have their flags and they chant songs. It was awesome. Dortmund ended up winning 1 - 0 on a penalty kick but their were about 123345235909 other chances to score. Marko and I were both a little sad that no other goals were scored, but it was exciting nonetheless.



After going to the game we got back and a bunch of our teammates came over to hang out. We ended up finding our way to Dortmund again that night, going to this club called Prisma (spelling?). I think it was definitely my favorite bar/club I have been to in Germany thus far. Let's just say, Saturday was a LONG day.

The night before, we had our game for the week. The team was young and garbage and it was very difficult to focus on the game. I actually only played probably 7 minutes. 5 in the first quarter and than I got my second foul early in the 2nd and by half, we were already up by like 25. The young Germans got big minutes throughout the game and it was great to see how much they have improved over the year. I was happy to let them have their moment and stick it to the other team throughout the second half. We ended up winning by almost 50 while scoring 126 points, of which, I had none. I took one shot that hit the back rim and my line for the day was probably 0 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 FOULS in 7 minutes of play. Woo hoo, go me....

Congrats to Trev's second men's team who won their league championship on Sunday and than bbq'ed all night at our apartment. Good times. Also, big ups to Amherst Women's Hockey for winning the national championship this past weekend. Mucho respect. Of course, congrats to Amherst Women's Basketball for killing it and reaching the National Semi's as well. Great work. Gotta keep that Amherst pride.. JEFFS FOR LIFE

UMMMMMMMMMMM, on SUNDAY Fletcher, Andrew, and I begin our European trip! We are all extremely excited and I think we may do something crazy before we begin the trip, but that, of course, will be for a later post. After all, if I aint gonna do something crazy now, when the hell else will I? Probably never... We fly to Venice on Sunday night and the mayhem begins. I will try to update the blog as much as possible but who knows how much internet we will have.

I hope everyone is doing well back in the States and I miss you all. If anyone wants to improve his/her bball game this summer, there is a private basketball instructor waiting to be hired and his name is ME. Let me know... email me, do whatever.. mgoldsmith08@gmail.com... I know some of you young studs at Delbarton read this blog, so hit me up, facebook me.. do whatever... I will be home April 19th and I cant wait to see Brooke in Barcelona on the 11th, my fam on the 19th and my friends thereafter... MUCH LOVE

- MFG

As Promised...

This week's clip of the week is clearly the promised Dunk Contest written about yesterday. Enough said... Enjoy!



- MFG

Extra, Extra: Read All About It

After a slow start to the week, it has suddenly taken a turn into blogworthy territory. First, the bad news: We lost on Saturday. We played great for 3 quarters and had a few tough possessions, a few bad calls, and a few mismatches we couldn't fix in the fourth and ended up taking the L. There is no excuse and we definitely should have been able to hang on for the win, but that's why they play the game. I don't want to go into too much detail because it might upset me. As you can tell from this and that, the papers did not want to talk much about it either. I think I had around 10 points with like 16/17 boards. We were still a little upset that night and did not do much, but whatever dude, life moves on.

And move on, it did.... On Sunday, we not only discovered one of the greatest shows in recent memory - The Tool Academy (Matsuflex, Tiny Tool, and Shawn are legends) - but we also had a VERY traditional German meal with our land lady. It was interesting to say the least. It began with us sitting around the couch in a dimly lit family room, sipping beers and freshly squeezed orange juice with the man in the house (huh?) and ended with some epic battles in darts. In between, we had zee German meal.

Although I must admit that the mashed potatoes were extremely tasty and scrumptious.. yum yum yum.. the rest of the meal was more interesting than scrump-diddly-umptious... First, the other side dish - sauerkraut. Now, I am not a big sauerkraut guy, but I definitely felt it was necessary to eat as much as possible so as to be polite to my lovely hosts. It was pretty tasty (I mean it was OK) and I am sure for all you sauerkraut lovers out there, a traditional German 'kraut would have made your day, but everyone has their own tastes, and 'kraut has never made my taste buds tingle with delight.

The main dish of the night is known as "eisbein." Wikipedia describes it very well here, even commenting on what the side dishes usually are with this meal. Man, wikipedia is so SMART. Now, eisbein is pig leg. It looked to me as though this pig leg was hacked off by some sort of large butchering knife and placed in an oven or something. The outside skin of the meat was so crispy it was nearly impossible to cut with a steak knife. Our host described this outside portion as her favorite part, almost like a potato chip, except harder to chew.

Me: ehhhhh, the outside was not my fave as it was solid as hell and full with fattyness. I ate most of my eisbein without gagging or doing any of my other standard maneuvers which used to plague the Goldsmith dinner table during my younger years (I was a bit of a picky eater).

After dinner, we had a lovely little orange, gelatin type cake thing... yes, that is the best way to describe it, and, I must admit, it was quite tasty. As we were about to leave, we got swindled into sitting down in the living room again and than challenged to some darts. Obviously, I was down and we ended up staying for probably another hour after the meal. It was a great time and definitely something any self-respecting German-American who lives in Germany should experience in his life... ONCE... at the most...

This dart game lead to some chatter between the housemates and somehow forced Marko into challenging me to a dunk contest. This dunk contest took place last night. I will now go into my alter-ego sports reporter and shamelessly hype this contest (video will be coming shortly thanks to the ever-so-talented Trevor Wittwer).

THIS JUST IN: BIG NEWS FROM WERNE, GERMANY

In a historic move, Marko "the Serbian Sensation" Filipovic has challenged Matt "the One-Legged American Vet" Goldsmith to a slam dunk competition. This contest will be hyped as "McSnack presents: the 2009 TV Werne Slam Dunk Contest." (In no way does McSnack represent or serve McDonald's affiliated cuisine, bringing pea soup, currywurst, and other strange German specialties to the foreigners of Werne every Monday and Thursday.)

In an epic battle of bitter rivals, Filipovic has challenged Goldsmith to something much larger than even he could understand, reminding many spectators of the Rocky vs Ivan Drago fight in Rocky IV or even the movie Miracle, chronicling the 1980 US Olympic hockey victory over the Soviets.

Marko "the ex-Yugoslavian, ex-Serbian-Montenegroan, current Serbian" Filipovic is a young, 21-year-old talent with immense amounts of potential, a 6'10" frame, and a naive outlook on life. Don't worry though ladies, he is not like most Serbians, and still chooses to cuddle as frequently as he can. He hopes to come to a town near you as soon as possible, currently studying hard so he can pass the SAT's and go to college in the States.

The much wiser, far more experienced Goldsmith is a wily veteran full of big ideas and high hopes. Matt "the One-Legged Wonder" Goldsmith aka "Peg Leg," aka "the Jersey Jumper," aka "I-will-take-reverse-lay-ups-and-lefty-hooks-all-day" is hoping to bring the American style of showmanship and pure, uninhibited, Nascar-esque power to all of his dunks. He describes himself as a crowd-pleaser with "a few tricks still up the old sleeve."

With a rivaly so ingrained in history, the "McSnack presents: the 2009 TV Werne Slam Dunk Contest" will surely be one for the ages. My early prediction: mark one more down for good ol' Amurica.

Video to come soon...

- MFG

Clip of the Week!

Don't you go thinking I forgot. This week's clip is a bit different than past week's... it is not meant to be funny but rather, simply entertaining. This is a clip of one of the tightest dances ever on America's Best Dance Crew. This is a show on MTV where "crews" battle each other to see who the best in America is. These are the Beat Freaks and they are absolutely ridiculous.



BOOM! That was siiiiiiiiick... K, later..

- MFG

Great Stuff..

As the newspaper article about our game states, my Mom and Dad came to Germany this past weekend for a little basketball and a little bit of travelling. It was a great weekend (especially since I got to travel on the parents bill) where we got to see the biggest cathedral I have ever seen in Cologne and "Old Town" in Dusseldorf. The game wasn't too bad either as we won by like 40 points and I had 18 for my hometown fans, which happened to include Fletcher and AO for the second half. It is always amazing when you look into the stands and see some familiar faces.

Trevor put in work with like a thousand dunks and blocks and everyone in the house had at least 15 or so except Marko who sat out the game due to a rolled ankle. I think the four of us ended up with like 75 of our 110 points.

We came out firing and quickly built a 20 point lead we never relinquished. The young guys got to play and overall, it was a great game and an awesome environment for a TV Werne match. We have a big game this weekend and hopefully we will get the w. We lost to this team by 40 while I was in America healing up my foot so I am hoping that I can make the difference on Saturday.

After the game, my mom made the best meatball subs that have ever graced my taste buds and a big salad. Everyone in the house absolutely loved the home-cooked, Americanized meal and is extremely grateful... Thanks Ma Dukes! After feasting, Fletcher, Andrew, and I sat around and continued to plan out Euro Trip 09. It seems as though Paris is off the list and Barcelona has slid in, so thank you for all the input. I cannot lie, I am so excited about this trip. It is definitely going to be one of those things that we never forget and I just can't wait to get it started....

On Sunday, I woke up early and the rents and I took the train to Cologne to check out the old city on the Rhine. It was awesome. As you pull into the train station the Rhine is on your left and the Cathedral is on your right. This thing was absolutely massive as you can tell by the photo at the top. After seeing the Cathedral, we hit up the Roman and German Museum of History. It was filled with very cool, old artifacts, including Maximus Decimus Meridius's tombstone (that's not true, but I like to think so). He was the commander of the armies to the North, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a... well, you get the drift.

To end the day, we went to the Chocolate Museum. It caters to the youner crowd but, somehow, I still found it most entertaining. After our second, tasty German meal of the day, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel, which, by the way, was definitely the nicest hotel ever (the mini bar was complimentary! unheard of..). The next morning we went to Dusseldorf and checked out the Old Town there. It is pretty nice, but I definitely liked Cologne better. The highlight of the day was definitely the full glass of water with ice and the grilled chicken, cheddar, and bacon sandwhich I got at an Irish pub in the middle of Dusseldorf. It tasted just like I was back in Motown at the Dublin... Really made me miss home, but, I will be back so soon so it is allll good. Overall, great weekend with the rents and one I will not soon forget!

- MFG

Clip of the Week!

Ok, this week's clip is an oldie but a goodie. It is a clip of a bunch of "gamers" playing World of Warcraft (a computer game) online. They are strategizing and deciding how to attack the next level. I guess they talk to each other using headsets and are like in a group who consistently play together or something. I dunno, but, all I do know is, the only one I would want to hang out with is the infamous Leroy Jenkins and you can see why for yourself.



Hope you enjoyed it!

- MFG

The Week in Review..

Sooo we suffered a heart-breaker of a loss on Saturday. We were late, we were down, we were up, back down, tied, and than lost by 3. I was satisfied with my play and actually felt pretty good most of the day, after the 1st quarter at least, but the game ended poorly for me and it soured my entire opinion on the game.

To review, most of the team got lost and we showed up late. Then, we went down by a bunch of points early in the first and than came out on fire, dropping in 37 in the second quarter. This run was capped off beautifully by yours truly by stealing in inbounds pass halway between the 3 and half-court with 3 seconds left, turning, and wetting a bomb of a three at the buzzer. We went into the half up 8.

Within two minutes of the third quarter, however, we were losing by 1. We took a BUNCH of bad shots in a row and our defense was suspect at best. BOO.. So we went back down by ten, than tied it up in the fourth quarter with like 3 minutes left. Got whistled for an intentional foul on a REBOUND which lead to two free throws and an and 1 runner in the lane by their American... 5 point possession in the last two minutes, eeeyaa later (to clarify, I committed neither of these fouls.. I felt I needed to say this since my dad thought I committed BOTH).

My mood was sour after the game because within the last minute I hit a three, grabbed a few big boards and choked on two free throws.. Woo hoo... It was a minute full of emotions and the last one was an "I suck" feeling. Luckily, my teammates were there to pick my mood up after the game. We didn't do much that night.. Just relaxed after the loss and watched Godfather Part 2 for the first time. Freakin awesome and I highly recommend...

The other major event of the last week was the planning of Eurotrip 09. On Sunday night, Fletcher, Andrew, and I met to talk about our adventures and they are going to be serious. The basic sketch is to start in Venice, hit Naples quickly, Rome for a few days, Florence, Nice and Barcelona... this is where the plan has haulted. We cannot decide whether to do a long train ride from Barcelona to Paris and than hop over to London after a few days, oooorrrr do an extra day in Barcelona, hit up Madrid for a couple days and hop on a cheap Ryanair flight from Madrid to London. I will be putting a poll on the side of the page and would appreciate you voting because all of us want to see everything and we cannot make a damn final decision.

We even emailed our old Art History professor to see his opinion and in true Art History professor form, he said we will figure it out in time and that deciding is part of the learning process.. Damn you for still trying to teach us things about life! So, once we do London for a couple days, we are going to go to Dublin for a couple nights and than I am coming home April 19th! Woooo hooo, very excited about coming home.

Speaking of home, my parents will be arriving here in Germany on Friday morning. I cannot wait and I am sure my pops is super psyched to see a game this weekend, so we better make it a good one. I know not having Amherst basketball every weekend has taken a toll on him.. haha... After the game, we are going to see some German cities before they go home on Tuesday. Should be fun and I cannot wait to see some family! That is all for now, don't forget about the poll....

- MFG