Goldstein and the team

We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.

Join our community!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Goldstein and the team
Topic Started: Jan 10 2009, 04:20 AM (90 Views)
Tuke	Jan 10 2009, 04:20 AM Post #1
Incoming Freshman Posts: 25 Group: Members Member #10 Joined: July 20, 2006	Even though Goldstein was inarguably somewhat of an outcast among the team, it seems some players accept him more than others. I've noticed that Jackson is very rarely mean or insulting to him and he seems to be somewhat close with Hayward. (Hayward even roots for him when he fights Vetaglia and he sticks up for him when Albert Hodges tries to make him leave the meeting) Salami is also once seeing hanging out with him at an arcade. On several occasions, Goldstein and Baker are seen exchanging high fives on the bench. On the other hand, some players seem to resent him more than others. Reese seems especially hostile toward Goldstein. In "Little Orphan Abner", it's Reese who pushes him in the beginning of the episode and he's very short with him in "The Russians are Coming". Coolidge also seems to resent him quite a bit on a few occasions, most notably when he would rather get help from Mack Wade (who he expresses a dislike for) than study with Goldstein. Thorpe, Vetaglia, and Gomez seem to be somewhere in the middle, as their attitudes toward Abner are inconsistent. It's kind of an interesting aspect of the show to consider... or then again, I might just be thinking about ol' Carver high a bit more than I should. Edited by Tuke, Jan 10 2009, 09:10 PM.



Thorpe	Jan 13 2009, 05:02 PM Post #2
Incoming Freshman Posts: 6 Group: Members Member #157 Joined: January 13, 2009	As much as those who write about the show say Goldstein was a flat stereotype, he seemed to nail the "awkward kid who overdoes it" role very well. The episode "Little Orphan Abner" was perhaps the greatest demonstration of that -- when Goldstein confronted the team for his poor treatment, it seemed very real; remembering the years when I was in school, I knew quite a few "Goldsteins" along the way. I think Reese and Coolidge definitely were the hardest on the guy, and Heyward seemed the closest thing to Goldstein's friend on the squad. The only thing that was unbelievable about the character is that Goldstein was actually on the basketball team at all, even as a starter! He must have had some skills for that.



Lucius Robinson	Jan 14 2009, 12:50 PM Post #3
Team Manager Posts: 109 Group: Members Member #53 Joined: March 16, 2007	Hayward swung both ways on the "no love for Goldstein" meter probably more than anyone else. He defended Goldstein when Albert Hodges only wanted the brothers at his meeting, he backed Goldstein when Goldstein and Vitaglia scrapped, and he wanted Goldstein on his team in the pickup after Abner joined the Marines. Plus, he was genuinely concerned about Abner's safety when Abner saw him staking out trying to meet Trotter. In the first season, however, Hayward was one of the biggest antagonists, calling him "sweet meat" when the team was checking out the cheerleaders, shoving him in a locker in the Magum episode, and leading the way on using Goldstein and his house when his grandparents were at the hospital. If anything, Goldstein's confronting tirade in season 1 probably had the most effect on Hayward, as his treatment of him markedly improved in Season 2. Abner and Gomez seemed to be somewhat close, you can see them playing odd-even in the opening credits of season 2 and them talking before the meeting about Jackson and his alcohol problem. Abner also jokes about being out with Go-Go's sister (although in a later ep we see his sister and she looks to be about 10-11 years old!) and tells him if he becomes a golf pro, he can buy his uncle a green card. Only negative moment with Gomez seems to be that he didn't want to sit with Abner on the plane to San Jose. One positive with Cool was that he and Abner were roommates in Vegas, but I agree that Cool took plenty of shots at him when he had the chance. They almost got into a fight after Cool's head swelled at practice after dealing with Walter Preston and after Abner mocked him for knowing the square root of 9. Thorpe was a big antagonist, too, shoving his face in a pie and saying whenever he would spit on him, it would be on purpose. He also chided Goldstein about crossing his legs on the bench during games. Thorpe did, however, lead the charge when the team came over for potluck at Abner's house after his grandmother came home; it appeared to be his idea, anyway. Salami was off and on, they hung out at the arcade when Salami was moonlight boxing. Reese chided him for not knowing how to tell a joke and wondered what turned out so good with his granddad being at the hospital and the team helping him out. He was quick to point out his lack of a date at the "party" at Abner's house. On the plus side, Reese was willing to walk around at the casino with Abner, but became annoyed at his dumb hunches. Jackson had his positive moments with Abner. When Abner fell into the trash can after pretending to be deaf, Jackson was quick to see if he was OK. Jackson also wanted Abner to be the judge of the dance contest at his house, and reassured him about the Lincoln Park crowd at the money game. Edited by Lucius Robinson, Jan 14 2009, 05:22 PM.



Charlie Wade	Jan 14 2009, 08:16 PM Post #4
Incoming Freshman Posts: 16 Group: Members Member #102 Joined: January 7, 2008	A lot of excellent Goldstein analysis here! Let me add my two cents. First, For the time, I think the idea of a Jewish kid playing on a 1970s Los Angeles inner-city basketball team was not unrealistic. He lived with his grandparents who looked like they had been in the neighborhood forever. The area had changed and the Goldsteins were the old guard. Those areas have changed a lot since the time of the show and the makeup of the Carver High team would look much different today. Also, although his character was not supposed to have any skills, Ken Michelman could play ball. He didn't get many chances to show it but when he did you could tell that he could play at least a little bit. I'd take him over Nathan Cook in an instant and let's not even talk about Timothy Van Patten!



1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)


« Previous Topic · TWS Talk · Next Topic »