Andy Goldstein's Colorado Avalanche fan blog

Everyone’s a college basketball fanatic today.

Without any basketball knowledge, my mom is filling out a bracket, and even though she helped put my sister and I through Ohio State, and the Buckeyes’ opening-round game is in our hometown of Dayton, Ohio on Friday, she’s actually picking Siena because she likes Crayola crayons.

My Dad is taking the Utah Utes to the Sweet 16 because he loves “My Cousin Vinny.”  Did you say Ute?

In between Mah Jongg games my grandma is also filling out a bracket.  Grandma, who can make serious money from spinning Dreidel, taught me blackjack as a wee lad in between episodes of He-Man, so I trust her gaming instincts.  However, she’s taking Tennessee to the Final Four because head coach Bruce Pearl is a nice Jewish boy, and she’s willing to forgive him for the heinous orange blazer.  I’m not.

Continue reading "Gladness for Madness"

How do you do it, Terrell Owens?

How do you get booted off a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1996?

How do you get cut from the team that gave Adam “Pacman” Jones another chance to screw up?

How do you get ousted from a team whose main focus seems to be reality shows?  One show, set to air on Spike this spring, will feature 12 athletes fighting for the Cowboys’ last training camp spot.  Another show, which airs on CMT (the network that makes Larry the Cable Guy look like Laurence Olivier), revolves around the Cowboys’ cheerleaders.  Wow!

It isn’t job performance.  In his three years with the Cowboys, Owens caught 38 touchdowns while putting up a robust 3,587 receiving yards. 

Continue reading "T.O. Be Or Not T.O. Be?"

In the interest of Black History Month, Tiger Woods is teaching us all a lesson.

The lesson?  Golf stinks without him.  Sorry Fuzzy Zoeller, but it’s true.

If you’re a sports fan like me, you’ll watch just about any game or event if it’s on TV.  I watch as much sports as my girlfriend can stomach, and since I’ve been known to occasionally watch bowling on Sunday, she can be pretty tolerant.

In fact, when the NFL doesn’t rule our Sundays, my favorite thing to watch on TV is golf.  There is no greater stress relief then kicking back in your recliner with a Reuben and a cold glass of iced tea and watching the final round of any tournament that’s on.  I started watching golf years ago in high school.  I’d get too stressed about Monday to enjoy my Sunday, so I found watching golf to be a very soothing Sunday activity.

Continue reading "Oh, The Times They Aren’t A - Changin’"

In his address to the nation Monday night, President Barack Obama spoke about the plan to stimulate the U.S. economy, which some experts say is at its worst since the Great Depression.  Although, if I had my choice, I’d rather live through the Depression as described in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” than be part of the current period that spawned “The Hills” and the Jonas Brothers. 

According to President Obama, the stimulus package on the table would extend unemployment benefits and provide job training so that we may put a dent in the alarming unemployment rate, which currently stands at 7.6 percent.

Coming to a cubicle near you, it’s Adam “Pacman” Jones!

On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys finally came to their senses and officially parted ways with their loose-cannon cornerback.  Yes, I used Dallas Cowboys and “senses” in the same phrase.  I’m shocked, too, I actually heard my fingers gag as I typed that statement.  This is the same Cowboys franchise that is going to use a Michael Irvin-hosted reality show to fill their 80th and final training camp spot this year. 

Continue reading "Pacman, What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Everyone reading this entry has done something in their past they are not proud of, and I mean each and every one of you.

Whether you stole a pack of gum from a convenience store or hit a parked car without leaving a note, you felt guilty the next day.  But you learned from your mistakes, and hopefully you earned the forgiveness of those you hurt.

So many of the people we honor and respect on a daily basis have done stupid and terrible things in their past, but it seems we’re willing to turn a blind eye to it as long as they’re in the warmth of the limelight.  We have granted passes to presidents, actors, musicians, athletes, writers, etc.  

It’s a fact that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has smoked or snorted anything and everything that could alter his mind, including his father’s ashes, and he is still a worldwide treasure.  Before the Super Bowl, reporters seemed to forget about the restraining order against Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for alleged abuse against a former girlfriend.  And how many photographers does Sean Penn need to assault before he serves any significant punishment?

Continue reading "Puff, Puff, Let It Pass"

Caveat emptor, Los Angeles Galaxy, caveat emptor. 

Two years ago, in an effort to inflate the relevancy of Major League Soccer, the Galaxy signed international superstar David Beckham to an outlandish five year, incentive-laden contract worth as much as $250 million.  The sports world was abuzz about Beckham and his Spice Girl wife, Victoria, moving to L.A. to bring the world’s sport stateside, and to give TomKat another option for playdates.

From the beginning, Beckham delivered the hype, but not the results.  In his two years with the Galaxy, the team hasn’t made the playoffs.  His short career in L.A. has been marred by injury, and eventually disinterest.  At the time of his signing, former Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas said Beckham is a sound investment and will help bring the MLS to the next level.  Lalas is no longer with the team. 

Continue reading "Shhhhh. Just Go, David Beckham"

Djokovic ended his Aussie Open run against American Andy Roddick four sets into their quarterfinal match Tuesday.  Despite winning the first set, the 105 degree heat on the court got to Djokovic and he decided to call it quits.  Yes, I said 105 degree heat.  In Melbourne.  Even Crocodile Dundee would have been asking for Gatorade and Gold Bond.

On top of all that, Roddick holds the record for the fastest serve in tennis history at 155 m.p.h.  That kind of power mixed with triple-digit heat?  No thanks.  A mid-August family reunion in Boca sounds more fun than that.

Continue reading "Where Have You Gone, Novak Djokovic?"

Let it be said before I begin this blog:  I am from Dayton, Ohio, and I love the Cincinnati Bengals.  Wow, I feel so much better.  Now I’m ready to face the other 11 steps…

As you know, the NFL is getting ready for Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida.  The last Super Bowl to feature the Bengals was Super XXIII in Miami, Florida.  For those who prefer their numerals to be numbers, the Bengals’ last Super Bowl trip was on January 22, 1989, twenty years ago today.

To mark this anniversary of mediocrity, I’ve decided to bring some hardware home to Cincinnati.  No, not the Lombardi Trophy.  Ha!  I’m talking about a Tony Award.

Yes, I’ve begun casting for the most entertaining piece of NFL artistry since the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl Shuffle.  I’m talking about the brand-new Broadway smash, Who Dey: The Musical!  It’s a song-and-dance journey through 40 years of franchise ineptitude.

Continue reading "Who Dey: The Musical!"

Here we go again.

The Super Bowl is around the corner, conference play is heating up in college basketball and Punxsutawney Phil is testing my patience by even thinking about seeing his fat little shadow.  What, it’s 15 flippin’ degrees outside and I live in Tennessee!  I’m cold!

But I digress.  It’s also that special time of year where Brett Lorenzo Favre, possibly the greatest quarterback of this generation, keeps us on the edges of our seats while he decides his future.  Will he or won’t he?  Should he or shouldn’t he?  He loves us, he loves us not!

Obviously, this is not a new discussion.  Green Bay Packers fans have fought this off-season battle for years.  Now, it’s time for New York Jets fans to lock, load and prepare for a potentially draining off-season.  But cheer up all you green-and-white junkies, you do have a new coach to be optimistic about, defensive monster Rex Ryan.  And let’s not forget, Ryan just helped the Baltimore Ravens, a team with a rookie quarterback, get to the AFC Championship game. 

Continue reading "An Open Letter From Brett Favre"

With two weeks remaining until the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers battle it out with Bruce Springsteen in Super Bowl XLIII, I wanted to pay tribute to one of the classiest athletes in all of professional sports. 

That’s right, you guessed it:  Joe Sakic.

I know that hockey is not the first thing on the minds of most sports fans these days, particularly a player that is not even in his team’s lineup, but I feel with all the bad press circulating around professional athletes lately, it’s high time to highlight one of the good ones. 

Sakic did make news on December 10, 2008 for a rare off-the-ice altercation.  He broke three fingers and damaged tendons in his hand after fighting with…a snowblower.  Already out of the lineup with a herniated disc in his back, the 39-year-old Sakic is now out of the lineup until the end of February at the earliest.

Continue reading "Joe Sakic: the Man, the Myth, the quiet Legend"