Throw Back Thursday. What’s old is new again: Main Stream Media Reports on handball and quickly figures out how to make the U.S. more competitive in 2008, 2012, 2016….

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post has written a nice story/commentary on Team Handball

Aug 2012 (Washington Post): U.S. athletes run fast, jump high, throw hard — why are we so bad at handball?: Link

So, far it’s the main stream media story about handball that has gotten the most traction.  For sure, it makes a number of assumptions and provides some back of the napkin analysis that drives the few handball fanatic in this country a little batty, but hey it’s great publicity for our sport.

It definitely has some great quotes including a mind-boggling one from U.S. Men’s coach, Javier Garcia Cuesta, assessing that LeBron James could become the best handball player in the world in just 6 months.  I’m guessing (really hoping) that coach Garcia was just being provocative, because he surely knows better or he has completely forgotten how long it took him to turn some pretty decent athletes  back in the 80s into just competitive player.  And that was when handball was far less professional.

Kilgore’s article is not the first article to propose solutions.  Back in 2008 Sean Gregory of Time Magazine provided some analysis in.
Aug 2008 (Time Magazine): Hey, America, What about Handball: Link

Annoyed, I provided a detailed critique:
Aug 2008 (Team Handball News): Thanks for promoting team handball, but save us your naïve solutions: Link

Prior to the 2012 Olympics I wrote this commentary as a plea to the articles that were sure to follow
July 2012:  Memo to the Main Stream Media: Please do your research prior to posting your Team Handball stories:  Link

It didn’t do a whole lot to stop the flood of articles. Bill Simmons of Grantland and now the host of HBO’s Any Given Wednesday had a great article, but again with naïve solutions.
Aug 2012 (Grantland) London Chronicles Part 2:  Handball, Handball, Handball: Link

To date, the only mainstream writer to get his handball facts straight for the most part has been Stefan Fatsis.
May 2009 (NY Times): Handball has it all, but an American interest: Link

I would assess this simply from his willingness to maintain interest with the sport beyond a 4 year cicada like presence.  You watch, you learn, you appreciate and in the case of Fatsis you find every little excuse you can to promote this woefully under reported sport.

Sorry, if I come off a little petulant.  In the end, I can’t complain too loudly. Any promotion is really good promotion when it comes to Team Handball.  Every time someone sees the sport it picks up a new fan.  At some point there will indeed be a tipping point by which the sport gets the following it should have in this country.  And, once that happens it will only be a matter of time before we’re cheering on Team USA in an Olympics.  So, if you must intrepid main stream reporters give us your wisdom, but at the same time please keep promoting the sport beyond 20 August 2016