A Note on Andy Goss

Swampdawg1 · Mon, 09 Oct 2000 08:25:57 -0700

I am writing this letter unbeknowst to Andy Goss
and hopefully he will not even read it or know of it.
I just want to address a few points about
him.

After reading some of the posts last week concerning
Andy's character and past actions, I must say that I was
disturbed to learn just how vindictive people can be and
how unwilling they are to forgive. Andy is my
teammate and my friend. I realize that he has said things
in the past (and the present for that matter) that
can be viewed as controversial, but they should be
regarded with a grain of salt. Most of the time he says
stuff to be the Devil's advocate, not even really
believing what he says. 

While it bothers me that
people have such an insistency to grip the past close,
it also is disturbing how critical people can be of
others without even knowing or having met them. The
insularity of not liking someone because others don't like
him/her is, to me, a very foolish and dangerous trait.

Andy Goss is one of the most selfless and tacitly
caring people that I've ever met. Furthermore, his
dedication to quizbowl and expanding it to as many people as
possible is something to be admired. Though Andy is only a
junior, he singlehandedly runs our practices, publicizes
the goings-on, emails the teammates, gets the
questions, reads, etc. What more, Andy put us up in his
house this weekend during the Delaware Baby Hen and his
parents paid for all of our food and lent us all beds.
Andy is also a very good and dedicated Christian, with
high standing morals (Good God, he won't even drink
until he turns 21 in February...that's crazy!!!).

On a final note, Andy is even a good "coach" to us.
He gave up his weekend this weekend to accompany the
freshmen to Delaware, despite having a fair amount of
schoolwork/midterms to worry about. I had by far the absolute worst
tournament of my life this weekend. I simply played like
shit, having way too many negs and totally sitting on
the buzzer. Basically, I sucked it up and was very
disappointed with my play. Subsequently, in between rounds and
at lunch and all, I was feeling a bit down and
disappointed with myself (I know I shouldn't have, it's only a
game, but I'm a pretty competitive guy and took it
hard). Andy was always right there to get my head back
in the game and to get me to focus. He just wanted
us to have fun, not necessarily win. He also
provided moral support to the "B" team, who struggled at
times. All in all, he made everyone feel good, put their
worries to rest, and makes everyone else in just a bit of
a better mood because of his perpetual optimism and
happiness (have you ever heard anyone laugh quite so
much???).

Anyway, that's just my two bits. I just want people to be
fair to others and think for themselves. If Andy does
something explicity against you or verbally harms you, then
by all means, take it up with him and address the
grievances. But, please, give the guy the benefit of the
doubt and don't dislike him without knowing why. Andy
Goss is a great guy, opinionated or not, and deserves
the same respect and chance that everyone else does.

Darren Abernethy
Duke University '04
"Chance
Favors the Prepared Mind"
 -Louis Pasteur