I hate to spoil everyone's good mood but after reading John's latest I decided to post this article a lot sooner.
If you read between the lines, all recent activity points to the fact that we are nowhere closer to achieving national recognition, despite an unprecedented boost in media coverage. I actually challenge you to dig in and find the last time you had the opportunity to read, hear and watch so much about team handball on US soil.
I admire John's perseverence and willingness to go the extra mile in figuring out ways to promote this sport.
He's often tried really hard, maybe too hard, to find solutions to so many nagging US team handball problems. That should have been the NGB's job, after all they were getting paid handsomely but that's a different story that just doesn't go away.
Most of us here have agreed to disagree that in order to make handball thrive, we need a combination of grass roots efforts and more media exposure.
Surprisingly, we received the media exposure via an unexpected, albeit welcomed, NBCOlympics.com web coverage of the Beijing Olympics – [link=http://www.nbcolympics.com/getinthegames/asktheexpert/expert=bogdanpasat/index.htmll]covered by yours truly[/link] -, as well as a solid lineup of NBC TV broadcast games.
Yet, hypocrisy reigns. Here is brief look at where we are today.
– We know that the new NGB, USATH – no federation, no association no organization, just USATH – has launched a website which has been a huge letdown — at least based on the feedback I got from you. You wanted more information about US handball not game reviews.
– The new NGB also released a "competition rule book" filled with so many whacked out concepts that my mail server almost blew up from all your complaints. (by the way, please don't ask me how and why I am the point person for so many of these emails, just know that I am. Must be by charming personality). That said rulebook is now being reviewed now for a re-release.
– We, the few of us caring to read/contribute to this great website, do nothing but bemoan everything from what could be done to what should be done… to how team handball should go about its proliferation. We do it in a very well organized manner and very articulately. It looks good on paper. It always does.
– The North Carolina THC is organizing another team handball tournament, yet few people know about it. Not to mention that Doc. Silva – long a mainstay at Chapel Hill – is no longer around and nobody can tell us where the hell he is.
– A small number of very talented handball people, long disenfrenchised and blacklisted by previous handball administrations, are still waiting to hear from the new NGB, while continuing to spend their own hard earned cash to keep handball alive in thier respective regions. Mind you, these are handball professionals who don't TALK about things because they are way too busy DOING things. And their commitment and love for this sport remains unconditional.
– We've been asked for and preached to look towards the handball future. To stay positive and to not worry about the past (whose past?). We've done so. Like little minions, waiting for the carrot to stop dangling and to drop. So, I ask you my dear THN readers, wehre are we today compared to last year, when we had no NGB?
Maybe we do need more patience. To some extent we all do!
I think we all have a treshold. We each function based on personal values, ethics and expectations. Some associated with our sport have survived by whoring themselves way too many times. Those who spoke out (or up), were vilifyed because they did not know how to do it or becasue they, too, had skeletons in their closets.
These past three years have given me the opportunity to realize that I don't need anyone to help me grow the sport of team handball here in Texas. No sugar daddy and no spell check! And there is more where this came from.
I know I can handle my own! If this makes me a maverick so be it. At least I'm not a hypocrite.