Author Archives: John Ryan

Handball Videos at YouTube.com

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If you follow the developments on the internet, you’ve surely heard about the phenomenal growth of YouTube.com: www.youtube.com This website allows anyone to post videos up to 10 minutes long on the web. A quick search of handball or balonmano (Spanish for Handball) in the YouTube search engine pulls us several items. Here’s a sampling:

– Norwegian club team showboats with multiple lobs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReLxWknKByM
– Anja Andersen Highlight Reel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG2Q5vB2Knk
– Highlights from 2004 European Championships in Slovenia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFgGIuWKHug
– Handball mix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOjgYncaS4
– Lucky goal vs slow reacting goalie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4RZFLHFrUg
– What Matt Van Houten wished had happened at the 2004 US Nationals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yOoy9M2qIw

While these highlight reels are fun, this free service certainly could have other uses. Here are a couple of ideas for you entrepreneurs out there:
– Short tutorials on different aspects of the game: goalie techniques, drills, set plays, etc
– Highlights of games for targeted audiences: 5 minutes of video from the USA Cup, Club matches at National tournaments, award ceremonies, etc

Champions League Dodges Private League Threat

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On 24 May, the EHF released the following official statement concerning private league initiatives: http://home.eurohandball.com/ehf_files/ehf_news/st_Official_Statement_2405/default.htm

Courtesy of Mette from Mette’s Handball Corner: http://www.geocities.com/mettekj.geo/danish_teamhandball.html here’s the story behind the press release.

The unnamed Danish club in the EHF’s Official Statement is the Slagelse Handball Club. The “certain representative” is Slagelse Head Coach and former Danish National Team Player Anja Andersen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anja_Andersen Anja Andersen is considered to be one of the best ever Women Handball players and is also known for her outspoken and sometimes controversial antics. This past year she was suspended by the Danish Handball Federation and the EHF after apparently grabbing a referee during a match http://www.denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,919358&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Andersen’s proposal called for a private league with 13 teams: Eight from Denmark and five from Europe. The league would be further divided into a Danish League and a European League with corresponding tournaments ending in a championship with the best team from each league. The league would also be totally separate from both the Danish Handball Federation and the EHF.

In principle, Andersen feels that women's handball is dying while the leaders are not doing enough to address this decline. She got the inspiration for the private league ten years ago when she visited Chicago and saw an NBA basketball game where Dennis Rodman was allowed to kick a chair in anger in front of a cheering crowd – something she has never been allowed to do without punishment. Essentially, she feels that a new, less stodgy league would allow her to show her feelings more freely.

Additionally, she also thinks the NBA structure, with the best teams in one league, higher salaries and forward looking rules is a better model. She feels that Europe should adopt the best aspects of American sports: professionalism and emotions. She has felt this for some time, but only recently felt that she had gained enough knowledge about economics, organization and strategies to make it come true.

Needless to say, the establishment, namely the Danish Handball Federation (DHF) and EHF did not welcome this proposal as it would directly conflict with the Danish League and the Champions League. As Andersen had previously successfully developed and marketed a “Dream Team” tour and established a working relationship with Danish TV3 there was also some definite legitimacy to this threat.

The key element for any new league to succeed is money and Andersen’s strategy was to secure sufficient funding via a TV contract. As Danish TV2 had an exclusive 5 year contract with the DHF, Andersen discussed the possibility of the alternative league with Danish TV3. TV3, however, also entered negotiations with TV2 (and perhaps using the alternative league as leverage) made a deal with TV2 to secure broadcast rights to 48 Danish league matches per season. Effectively, this appears to have ended the possibility of a new private league being developed in the near future.

USA Cup Competition Starts

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The USA Cup’s first day saw the USA lose to GOconnectIT from the Netherland 25-24 and to Canada 29-24. The tournament will consist of a double round robin between the 3 teams over the first 3 days (27-29 June) followed by a semifinal match on 1 July and a Championship game on 2 July. More information is available at the USA Cup website: http://www.usacup.us/index.php

The Binghampton Press & Sun-Bulletin also has a nice feature article on 3 USA National Team players with connections to Binghampton: http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060627/SPORTS/606270333/1003

USOC Olympic Assembly Meeting

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This past week the United States Olympic Committee had its second annual meeting last week. Here are a few links to reports on the event: (We will add more as we find or hear about them)

USOC (Schedule of Events): http://www.usolympicteam.com/117_47331.htm

LA Times: USOC Draws Up a New Strategy: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newswire24jun24,1,7366511.story
– Mentions that the USOC is eager to explore the feasibility of an Olympic Sports Channel on Cable TV

Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph: USOC Taking Conrol of NGBs: http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1318679&table=story_archive&sec=3
– Mentions Team Handball’s decertification
– Notes that international perception that USA NGBs are poorly run hurts US bids to host Olympics as NGBs are responsible for organizing the competition

Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph: USOC Opts for a New Bid Approach: http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1318701&table=story_archive&sec=3
– Highlights changes to the USA selection process for Olympic City Bids
– Notes the Olympic TV Channel that is being considered

Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph: USOC fears that young people don’t care about Games
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1318731&table=story_archive&sec=3

Matt Van Houten Myspace: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=73440975&blogID=139200389&MyToken=2a4ef497-ac6b-4bc0-966f-de04cde0aff4
– Matt Van Houten's report on the meeting

Houston Chronicle: US Olympic Channel May Be Coming Soon: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4001293.html
– Highlights that the USOC would like the channel to be availabile prior to 2008 Olympics

USA Women’s National Team Update

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Team USA has returned home from their European Tour. They played a total of 19 games against several club teams and the Israeli National Team. Their overall record was 5-12-2.

I had the opportunity to watch two of those matches while the team played in the Arc-de-Seine tournament near Paris. The US beat a London club team 24-22 and lost to a Paris selection team 27-21. After the match, I had a short interview with head coach Christian Latulippe. Listen:
[file=request.php?12]John Ryan interviews Christian Latulippe[/file]

More information on their European tour is available here
– Press Release: http://www.usateamhandballwomen.com/News/June21_06.html
– Europe Trip Blog: http://www.wnteuropetour2006.blogspot.com/

The Women’s team is now gearing up for the USA Cup (26 June – 2 July) in Cortland, NY. They will play matches against Canada and a top club team from the Netherlands. For more information check out their dedicated website: http://www.usacup.us/

Finally, we have posted an interesting interview that Bogdan Pasat had with Women’s National Team Player Jennifer Farrell this past April. The interview covers several topics such as marketing, player recruiting, and what their expectations were heading into the European Tour and USA Cup. Listen:
[file=request.php?13]Bogdan Pasat interviews Jennifer Farrell[/file]
See Bogdan interview Jennifer:
[link=e107_images/newspost_images/b_j.jpg][img]{E_IMAGE}newspost_images/b_j_thumb.jpg[/img][/link]

Matt Van Houten Myspace Website

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Matt Van Houten, a recently retired USA Goalkeeper, and the USOC’s Athlete Advisory Council AAC Representative for Team Handball has created a Myspace.com website: http://www.myspace.com/teamhandballrep

The site is intended to keep USA athletes informed of important information that he receives in his role as the AAC rep and should be another good link to add to your “favorites.”

Euro Play-Offs for Men’s World Championships: Sweden Fails to Qualify

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The past two weekends determined the final 8 spots for the World Championships
http://home.eurohandball.com/report.asp?bid=227&rnr=2&pha=1086

Notably, Sweden was knocked out by Iceland. Both teams won on the road with Iceland surprising Sweden 32-28 in the first match. Sweden, however could only manage a 1 goal victory in Iceland, so they will be staying home once again. With their failure to qualify for the 2004 Olympics, 2006 European Championships, and the 2007 World Championships might they be looking for a new coach?

The other interesting matchups saw Poland overcome a 5 goal deficit to beat Greece while Norway held off Romania with a tie in Stavanger for a one goal aggregate win.

Men’s Pan Am Championships Update: News and Notes from USA’s Tom Fitzgerald

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The following are some brief notes that I’ve edited from an email I recently received from Tom Fitzgerald.

USA-Mexico Match: Tom indicated that Team USA had an extremely poor shooting performance with several shots hitting the post. With 1:52 remaining in the match the US was actually down 28-24. A foul on a wing shot resulted in a penalty goal and a two minute penalty. The US then repeatedly stopped Mexico on defense and rattled off 3 straight points in the time remaining. As described this is a remarkable comeback which salvaged the USA’s prospects.

USA-Puerto Rico Match: The US led the whole game and at one time pulled ahead 20-12. Puerto Rico got within 3 goals at the end and the US also had the luxury of getting some inexperienced players more playing time.

USA-Argentina: The USA was outmatched vs. an Agentina squad with 9 players playing in Europe and 2 in Brazil. As the outcome of the match was somewhat meaningless, the US started some of it younger player to get some of the starters some rest. At one time the score was whittled down to 22-15, but Argentina finished strong and ended up winning 38-20

USA-Brazil: No illusions here and Tom indicated that this will be a tough match for the US. The Brazilian has been training for the past 10 months and has a roster full of professional players.

USA-Greenland: This likely showdown for 3rd place should be interesting. The US and Greenland played a friendly match last Sunday and the US pulled out a 31-25 victory. In was during this match, however, that John Kelly, who had been playing very well for the US got hurt.

Player Performances: Tom indicated that Danny Caparelli and Gary Hines are playing exceptionally well and that Troy Steffen and Divine Jackson have been pleasant surprises. To win the match against Greenland they will definitely need some of the younger players to play well.

Coach Martinez: Tom noted that from his perspective Coach Martinez has been a good teacher and that the team is responding well to

Men’s Pan Am Championships Update: USA and Greenland Qualify for the Semifinals

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Thanks to Puerto Rico’s 34-21 thrashing of Mexico, Team USA has qualified for the semifinals. Unless the USA pulls a major upset against Argentina later today they will finish second in Group B and will play Brazil in the first semifinal on Friday. Long time USA veteran, Tom Fitzgerald highlighted in a short email exchange that the younger players on the team were coming along nicely and were really benefiting from getting game experience.

With a 32-30 defeat of Uruguay, Greenland has also secured the second place spot in Group A. Greenland also defeated Chile by the same score on the first day.

Side note: The Brazilian Federation website indicates that the matches are available via web streaming, but I think this is only for the Brazil matches.

Analysis: Barring a major upset in the semifinal, Brazil and Argentina will meet in the final and Greenland and the USA will play for the Bronze and the 3rd ticket to the World Championships. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of days unfold. The USA will continue to benefit from more game experience, but the wear and tear of playing 5 matches in 5 days has to be factored in. The semifinal matches could very well quickly turn into 2nd team scrimmages as all 4 teams will likely (and rightly) be more concerned with their next match. If one of the coaches is quoted as saying they are not looking past their current opponent treat that quote with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Men’s PanAm Championships Day 3: Scenarios for the Semifinals

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Note: The following scenarios assume that Brazil and Argentina will remain undefeated in Group Play.

Group B

The USA will advance to the semifinals with either a Puerto Rico victory over Mexico or a tie between those two teams. If Mexico beats Puerto Rico goal differential in all group B matches will apply. The USA currently has a 20 goal advantage, but has yet to play Argentina which beat Puerto Rico by 18 and Mexico by 17.

Group A

Greenland will advance to the semifinals with either a win, tie, or a 1 goal loss today against Uruguay. If Uruguay beats Greenland the tiebreaker rules for 3 teams apply. The 1st tiebreaker is points among the matches involving the 3 teams (Greenland, Chile, and Uruguay). As this would be level at 2 points a piece, the next tiebreaker is goal differential among the matches involving the 3 teams. Greenland defeated Chile 32-30, Chile defeated Uruguay 27-26, and Greenland and Uruguay play today. Greenland is currently +2 and Uruguay is -1. Uruguay, therefore needs to win by 2 to advance to the semifinals. Chile’s goal differential is locked in at -1 and therefore can not advance unless they beat Brazil.

US Victory Over Puerto Rico (Automatic English Translation)

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From the Brazilian Federation Website: http://www.brasilhandebol.com.br/

Translation was done using Babel Fish: http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr

United States WIN the FIRST One In the PAN-AMERICANO OF IN ARACAJU

The United States had had work to win Rich Port in the first game of the second round of the Championship Pan-American of Masculine Adult Handebol. Placar was closed in 28 the 25 (10 the 8 in the first time). This was the first victory of the Americans in the competition. After that, Chile defeated Uruguay, for 27 the 26 (16 the 11). Brazil enters in squares this night against Greenland, to 20h, while, at this moment, Argentina faces Mexico, in the game that started to 18hs. Rich port started better and with more speed. To the few, the team of the United States if made right in the attack and passed to the front. In second time, the American team grew still more and went off in placar. Still with a reaction sketched for the Puerto Ricans, the teams of the North America guaranteed the victory. The American shipowner Tone Fitzgerald praised the performance of the adversary. "It is a fast team very young e. They run very and kick fort. In second time, our teams changed the game and, as they were tired, us we obtain the advantage." Chile made a game with sped up rhythm and was to the front in placar for almost all the confrontation. Exactly fighting, Uruguay did not obtain to pierce the Chilean blockade and lost many balls. Almost in the end of the departure, the climate esquentou when Uruguay leaned in the marker, but Chile obtained to remain itself in the front and closed the confrontation. "It was a very satisfactory departure. We could have strained more placar. Tomorrow, we wait to earn of Brazil ", commented the technician of the Chilean team, Rodrigo Bown. United States: Danny, Milan (2), Jeff (1), Tone (4), Gil (3), Gary (5) and Troy (8), beyond Muris (4), Divine (1) and Mark. Rich Port: Rafael, Omar, Isael (2), Joseph (2), Juan Cepeda (8), Freddie and Hector (3), beyond Dennis (3), Rafael Cepeda (1), Alberto (5), Jose (1) and Elvis. Chile: René, Landmark (5), Patrician (6), Emil (9), Philip Maurin (5), Guillermo (2) and Nicolas, beyond Alfredo, Landmarks, Jimmy, Fields, Rodrigo, Pablo and Philip Miholovic. Uruguay: Sebastian, Javier (2), Pablo Mounts (2), Diego (3), Pablo Marrochi (8), Maximiliano (3) and Expensive Pablo, beyond Mario, Gonzalo (1), Sebastian Noveri, Diego Viscava (4), Cristian, Gabriel (2), Hermann (1) and Nicolas.

Men’s Pan Am Championships Update

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Group B

The USA rebounded from an opening round 28-28 tie vs. Mexico to defeat Puerto Rico 28-25 in a key Group B Match-up. The USA will likely advance to the semifinals if Puerto Rico defeats Mexico. If Mexico defeats Puerto Rico, goal differential will decide who advances between Mexico and the USA. This, of course, assumes that Argentina goes undefeated in Group play and that standard IHF tie-breaker rules are in effect. (i.e., for two teams with the same points the tie-breakers are head to head competition, followed by goal differential in all group matches, followed by total goals scored in all matches. If Mexico does beat Puerto Rico, the USA will know going into their match with Argentina the goal differential they will need to reach the semifinals.

Group A

Greenland defeated Chile in a key first round match up 32-30. The outcome of today’s Uruguay-Chile match up (currently in progress) will be pivotal in determining the scenarios for advancement that will likely hinge on the final group A game between Greenland and Uruguay. (This logic, of course, assumes that Brazil will go undefeated in group play.)