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

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

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

Short and Sweet..

On Saturday, we absolutely spanked a team 106 - 72. They were bad. I mean, really bad. None of the housemates scored in double figures and we still had over 100! That is just crazy talk. When the game started, it felt like I was playing against an average high school team. I have an extremely hard time focusing in games like that, so I am very happy that I did not end up embarassing myself too much throughout the game.

Our young Germans were all smiles during our post-game locker room celebration as T, Trev, Marko, Junior, and I rode the pine most of the day so that they could clock some big time minutes. The newspaper articles seem much happier this week and they even commented on how much everyone has improved throughout the year with the help of the 4 Americaners...

After the game, a bunch of our teammates came back to our apartment to chill and celebrate. Trevor and I taught them the fine art of kings, horse races, and up the river down the river. We ended up just hanging in the apartment instead of going anywhere else.. a decision I was very happy with.


Earlier in the day Saturday, Freddy and I went to Dortmund to check out the shoes and clothing stores. I guess there were a ton of sales, so I picked up a new v neck and buttown down shirt from H and M. When I tried on the buttown-down shirt, Freddy looked at me and said "Indiana Jones.." Haha, so if you can picture Indiana Jones type gear on me, that is what I picked up, so don't try messing with me anytime soon cuz I may look like this stud muffin. But, for realsies, haha.. I felt that it was a tight Euro-look that I could still pull off so I went for it.

Trevor's mom has been here for the past weekend, bringing with her powdered gatorade, slim jims, and reeses peanut butter cups. Staples in any American's diet if you ask me. Special thanks to her for bringing a little bit of America with her to Germany.

Big love sent out to my boys at Amherst for holding it down against a very good Middlebury squad on saturday for senior day. I wish I could have been there for that, but it is all good. Now, it is their time to go out and get a NESCAC 'Ship... I know they can do it and they know they can do it so I say let's make it happen. Next week should be interesting as we have a week off from games and there is a major German festival going on all week: Carnival. More to come later....


- MFG

Greatness..

Some people like to say only Greatness equals Greatness, but I have a new way to sort out that formula: Winning + WTG + Fwalt + Palaces + Sim Ju = Greatness.

Will arrived bright and early Friday morning (as all of my visitors have) at Dusseldorf airport. We mostly just hung out on Friday and Will caught up on some sleep because we had some big plans laid out for the weekend.

First, we wake up Saturday morning and decide we should hit up a castle so Will gets to see some classic, old Euro stuff. I do a quick google search and find something called Castle-somethingorother. I write down the address and we GPS that ish. We arrive at the address and we are somehow in a flat, rural neighborhood. Something does not seem right here. Will and I both decided that this castle would suck anyway because it is not on high ground, and therefore, would have an extremely difficult time defending itself. We turned around and head back to the house, wondering where the hell this castle was. No Biggie. We arrive back in Werne and guess what - Fletcher Walters is in the building. Fletch just rolled up and was waiting for us in my apartment.

At this point, I am extremely frustrated by this fake castle and re-run my castle search. I find the link for castle whatsamacallit and click on it. This castle is actually a scuba diving club. No joke. This is the link. Frustrated, Fletcher tells me that he google mapped Werne and saw this very cool picture of a hunting castle/palace thing. We check it out and it looks legit. Without having any idea whether we can actually go near this palace or have to pay for it, etc., (we needed a more successful adventure than our last one), we just go for it. Fletcher - GREAT WORK. This palace was absolutely amazing. We walked around, checking out all the statues and such and taking ridicuous, blog-worthy pictures like this. Posing like a statue is far more fun than you can imagine.

After the palace adventure, Fletch and Will went to Sim Ju to get some food from the Carnies ("Small hands, smell like cabbage." - TRUE), while I took a pre-game nap. Keep in mind, they have been doubting this festival all day. Saying things like, "Dude, we are in Werne, there will probably be like 100 people." FALSE. They fell in love as soon as they began to smell Currywurst, Crepes, and Pilsners. (Side Note: I think Will and I ate Carnival food 90% of the time we were eating, actually probably 90% of the total time Will was here. It was amazingly tasty and terribly repulsive all at the same time. But, seriously, Carnies can make some quality dishes.) They came back to the apartment impressed. Needless to say, I was excited for the game, but I was more excited for the Festival afterwards. Here is a little bit of info on Sim Ju.

The game went well. We won by around 20. Trevor had something like 24 and T and I each had around 18. It was nice having some friendly faces in the stands. Fletcher and Will were loving it and I played to the crowd a little bit throughout the game. They both think that I had around 20 rebounds but I think that may be a bit of an over-estimate, more like 19. I had one of the greatest blocks of my life on Saturday. As an unsuspecting guard on the other team went in for an uncontested, fast-break lay-up, I rose up to spike the ball out of the air towards my teammates on the bench. Right after, I made a no way symbol with my hands to the crowd to signal that the game was officially over (I am loving this stuff, you can do anything, it is so fun/ridiculous). The other team had 3 Americans too, so we thought they were going to be good, but judging by the point total at the end of the game: this was not the case. They were OK. We went up early and held onto the lead throughout the game. We are now officially second place in our league behind the team that beat us last week. As soon as the game ended, we did our patented celebration dance thing and than got psyched for the ridiculousness that is Sim Ju.

Most of the guys on the team and some of our fans rolled back to our apartment before going into Sim Ju. We just straight murked tequila with oranges and cinnamon and listened to quality Euro tunes. We actually left the apartment relatively early for a Saturday night and went straight to get a 1/2 METER BRATWURST. Yes, it was .5 Meter, 1.64 feet, almost 20 inches (no Romo)! Wow, it was glorious. We then hit up the beer tent where jolly, traditional German tunes were sung throughout the night. At one point, the entire tent went into a Ziggy Zaggy, Ziggy Zaggy, Oy, Oy, Oy! chant which was amazing and quickly prompted everyone to chug their beers. The night ended kinda early for Euro standards but was long and quality nonetheless.

Sunday, we hit up the Festival yet again, and ate all day. We took a break from the festival to watch Trevor coach one of his teams, hit the beer tent intermittently, and won some sweet Green Goblin masks in a balloon shooting Carnie game. We also discovered how Germans truly feel about America (notice the picture to the right). A great Sunday to say the least.

On Monday night, Will and I had a nice dinner at this Italian place that sponsors our team and talked about the world and the economy over a nice bottle of Red. Sounds kinda awkward, haha, but I truly appreciated it. Will was dropping knowledge about the US markets and I was actually fascinated by it. I think I am finally maturing haha. I dropped Will off at the airport Tuesday morning to finish off an amazing weekend with the bigger (not quite as large) brother. Will, I would just like to say thanks for rolling up. It made me happy.

Brooke is coming on Friday bright and early for a great weekend. Fletch and Andrew play each other this weekend (I think?) and we have an away game on Sunday. Should be another quality weekend in the Deustchland. 'Til next time.

- MFG

Amsterdam.. Check Please

First off, I am in absolute awe that the things that are legal in Amsterdam are legal in Amsterdam. The place is absurd. Saying that, I will go over the weekend's events with as much details as I can, but to truly understand what it is like in Amsterdam, you have to go there at some point in your life. I highly recommend it. It is not only a city with great history and friendly people, but those damn Dutch know how to chill out with the best of them....

As the long-time readers (haha) may already know, I absolutely love European cities with rivers going through them. In comes Amsterdam, the city with the most bridges in all of Europe and with canals all over the damn place. I was in river-through-the-city heaven. It is most definitely a beautiful place. This is especially impressive due to the fact that it straight poured throughout our visit without putting the slightest damper on our weekend events.

After some issues at the airport, my mum finally arrived Friday in the early AM. When I say early, I mean early, like 6 in the morning. We hit copious amounts of traffic on the way to Holland but finally arrived at the hotel and settled in. Trevor, T, and Marko went to their hotel, which was hilariously dirty, and my mom and I took a nap before venturing out into the city. For some strange reason, we were very motivated that Friday and saw both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum before dinner. It was intense to say the least. The Rijks was an art museum but also had alot of information on the history of the Netherlands as a whole which I was digging. As soon as we walked in, there was a serious replica of a Dutch East India Trading Company ship that was made a long time ago. Of course, my immediate thoughts went straight to Captain Jack Sparrow and the glorious crew of the Black Pearl.

Don't get me wrong, I love museums and history and such (wow, I am a nerd.. damn you Amherst!) but, I feel like there is no place in the world which induces daydreaming about weird ass stuff more than a museum. You walk through checking out famous paintings, punching in numbers so that you can listen to your audio tour, and immediatley upon seeing a large famous painting such as my favorite from the Rijksmuseum and their most famous piece, "The Night Watch," I wondered how the hell Rembrandt got all those people to pose for long enough to paint that ish. I imagined the little girl in the painting getting antsy and Rembrandt attempting a million different ways to make her stand still like when a 4 year old gets his/her photo taken for the family christmas card. Or, maybe he did it from memory and all my rambling daydreams were for nothing. Whatever the case may be, my daydreams can make any museum a little bit more interesting. I found myself secretly wishing my mom had made a scavenger hunt for the museum like she did when I was a youngster. A tactic I most definitely will use with my future fam, not only to keep the young ones interested, but because I am a large child inside a large man's body.

I definitely dug the Van Gogh museum too. It kind of went through his life like a biography which made it more interesting to me than just looking at his paintings. It also turned into a bar during our visit which never hurts the cause. That night, momma G hit the hay early and I ventured into the streets of Amsterdam to meet the other roomies. We went out, and it was great. We made friends with a Dutch bartender and drank some local brews and met some crazy Englishmen having a bachelor's party. In addition, many a prostitue tapped on their red-lit window and said, "Hey, big fella, you want a good time?" in broken, Russian-accented English. I tried to get a picture of some of the red lights, but every time I took one it would inexplicably go a bit blurry. It is like the prostitutes have power over the weather a la Storm from X-Men. Here is my best shot, however. Surprisingly, alot of them were quite good-looking (must have been because it was the Friday graveyard shift cuz I heard some horror stories about the old day shifters), but they scared me. Nevertheless, I am glad I have a beautiful girlfriend (shout-out one time!).

At the end of the evening, I walked back with the guys to their hotel before beginning the solo mission back to my own hotel. The walk from their hostel to my hotel was essentially a straight walk following a single canal. In my state, in the wee hours of the morning with a rainstorm coming down, I found it extremely difficult to follow my soggy hotel map and got severely lost. This journey reminded me of my famous walk towards UMass (I was not trying to walk towards UMass) in the early weeks of Sophomore year at Amherst, except, I could not call Andrew and ask him to pick me up on Lincoln Ave. I finally found a place I recognized and got home safe.

Saturday was a day of Touristy events. Me mum and I went on a bus tour of Amsterdam with a stop at a diamond factory followed by a lovely canal tour. It was a great way to see all of Amsterdam and I took maybe a million pictures. You can see all (most) of the pictures from the weekend here.

Saturday night was basically the same as Friday minus the whole getting lost thing. Sunday, I showed ma the Red Light District cuz she just had to see it. I quickly realized the difference between Friday / Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. After viewing a small sampling of the Sunday morning shift, I had a bad taste in my mouth that finally went away around Wednesday. In addition, my eyes stung for a couple days, but I have finally recovered from the horror that is Sunday morning in the Red Light District. I am now doing my best to black out those Sunday memories, but, alas, luck is not on my side and those visions have been seared into my memory until the end of time. So, now, I'm praying for the end of time (Meatloaf fo' life). Haha, no, Amsterdam was great and a visitor must take the good memories with the bad. In my opinion, this weekend's great memories far outweigh any of the nasty/ugly ones because all the nasty ones were absolutely hil-arious.

Final opinion: I recommend a visit to Amsterdam to anyone in the area. It is absolutely worth it and will definitely be a trip you will never forget, whether you want to or not. Much love.

- MFG