In my own little world, I still haven’t quite gotten through the first day’s slate of 8 matches, and I couldn’t be much happier about the quality of the product so far. A few glitches to start, but the 1.5 Mbps quality stream is easily the best picture that fans have ever had to watch a major Handball tournament. If you’ve ever watched the Champions League video at ehftv.com www.ehftv.com and have gotten a bit of a headache from the blurry quality of the lower speed video you should definitely check out the streaming package. And at 18.99 Euros for every single match it’s also cheaper than previous offerings. I don’t know how you spend your discretionary funds, but this is quite a deal compared to my monthly satellite TV package.

Full disclosure: Just in case you were wondering THN has received some modest compensation from the EHF for the Live Streaming advertisement. But as some have pointed out in our forum, I love to critique everything, so rest assured that wouldn’t have stopped me from ripping them if the product was substandard.

User tip #1: If you don’t want to know the score or the current standing of the tournament I recommend that you have a sheet of paper handy to cover the right hand third of your monitor. And you should have a piece of tape so that it can hold itself up while you type in your username and password. I’ve tried to get the EHF folks to remove this from the main page, but was told that most users are watching live.

User tip #2: This is a big one. For the first couple of matches I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of the picture. But, it turns out that I simply wasn’t getting the 1.5 Mbps stream option to load properly. I would click on the little HQ square in the lower right hand corner, but it wouldn’t load properly and I’d get a black screen. A way to get around this, though, is to click on the HQ square [b]immediately[/b] after you select the match you want to watch. I’ve done this for the last few matches and the 1.5 Mbps stream now loads with no problem. A massive thanks to reader, Mark Yazer, for this tip.

THN (23 Dec 09): An Early Xmas Present: EHF to give me the bits for Euro 2010!: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.910

The men’s 2010 European Championship throws off today in Austria. Here are some thoughts on the upcoming Championships.

[b]What’s at stake:[/b] Besides simply the desire to win the tournament, 3 nations will secure bids to the 2011 World Championships. As France (defending champion) and Sweden (host) have already qualified they won’t factor into the ranking of the top 3 teams. Assuming tournament favorite France makes the semifinals the other 3 teams that would join them would also qualify for the World Championships. If Sweden also does well 5th place could be a deciding match.
What the Bookmakers think: France is a very strong favorite to win the title with Denmark, Spain and Croatia seen as their strongest challengers.

Odds to win: (From www.bet365)
France 13/10
Denmark 5/1
Spain 6/1
Croatia 6/1
Poland 13/1
Germany 14/1
Serbia 24/1
Sweden 24/1
Norway 24/1
Iceland 24/1
Slovenia 39/1
Russia 59/1
Hungary 149/1
Czech Republic 299/1
Austria 499/1
Ukraine 499/1

[b]French coach channels Pat Riley:[/b] France is the reigning Olympic and World Champion, so there is now much talk of going for the “Triple” by adding reigning European Champion to their resume. French Coach, Claude Onesta, is using this goal as a way to motivate his players and to avoid complacency. For us old schoolers out there this sound a lot like LA Lakers coach Pat Riley, who in the late 1980’s coined the moniker “Three-peat” as part of their quest to win 3 titles in a row.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-peat

[b]My Prediction: [/b]The three-peat didn’t work for the Lakers then and my hunch is that it somehow it also won’t work for the French now. On paper there’s no real reason for France not to win this tournament. They’ve still got the best players and they are reasonably healthy as they enter the tournament. Still something tells me that French angst and complacency will combine to result in a slip up in either the finale or semifinal. The team most likely to execute the slip up is Croatia which is surely more hungry and has a revenge motive from their loss to France at the WC last year in Zagreb. I think Vori and Duvnjak’s playing in the Bundesliga this season will make them more battle hardened. Another dangerous team will be Spain with naturalized citizen Arpad Sterbik now in the goal. A hot game from him could also prove France’s undoing. For an order of finish I’ll predict:
1) Croatia, 2) France, 3) Spain

[b]Potential Surprise Team:[/b] I think Russia is a better team than they’ve performed of late. They’ve got good players, Igropulo, in particular, and they are due to to have a better performance.
[b]Most likely to disappoint: [/b] With a backcourt minus Hens and Preiss, Germany might not even make it out of the first round. A safer prediction for sure is that we will see more Heiner Brand complaints that the influx of foreign players in the Bundesliga is hurting their national team.

[b]Time Shifting:[/b] With on demand streaming of the European Championships available, I will probably see very few if any games live. Most likely, I’ll start watching at around 8:00 PM here in Vegas. So, as I will be in my own little world for the next couple of weeks, don’t be looking for any up to the minute updates at THN. On top of that, my fear of finding out the score before I see matches will probably also impact other handball news related coverage. If you’re sending me an email make sure it includes no spoiler information.
THN (23 Jul 08): Extreme Time Shifting in the Desert or How I Hope to Watch Olympic Handball: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.539

[b]European Championships Official Song: [/b] All I can say about this is that there’s no denying the simple fundamental truth that nothing quite says “Handball” like an Austrian guy with a trace of a British accent wearing a white skullcap singing a cover of a Neil Diamond song written as a homage to Caroline Kennedy. “Good times never seem so good… so good… good” Let the game begin!
Euro 2010 Website: Official Song Released.
DJ Otzi Official Site: http://www.djoetzi-music.de/ (Click the video link for the song. You gotta see it to appreciate it.)
“Sweet Caroline” Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Caroline

The 3rd part of the Washington Post series on the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) was published yesterday. The third piece looks at the possibility of the USOC receiving some of its funding from the U.S. government. Many of our readers around the world might be surprised to learn that the USOC receives no funding from the U.S. government and in turn, the U.S. Team Handball Federation (USA TH) receives no funding as well. The USOC instead receives the bulk of its funding from TV and sponsorship revenues that the IOC shares with the U.S. The percentage that the U.S. receives is a point of controversy and may have contributed to Chicago failing to get the Olympics.

Switching to government funding could have implications for minor sports like Team Handball. Historically, minor sports in the U.S. have received the bulk of their funding from the USOC. In the last decade, the USOC decided to run itself more like a “business” and this resulted in the decision for a pay for performance plan that meant that more money would go to the sports that can get medals. As Team Handball only supplied the possibility of 2 medals (men and women) and had virtually no hope of realistically competing for a medal funding for the sport dropped substantially. A switch to government funding could lead to more equitable sharing amongst the sports as the USOC would have more oversight. You could even run into the possibility of Congressional meddling should USA Team Handball ever establish a resident training program in some state. I.E., some congressman could be incentivized to make sure that funding is maintained at the university in his district.

Regardless, the fickleness of USOC funding is likely to remain. This is why the USA TH has been seeking alternate revenue sources such as its own sponsors and support from the international community. Hopefully, the USA will be able to wean itself out of this dependency, but the reality is that this won’t happen overnight

USOC IN LIMBO
– PART I: RIFT WITH THE IOC: Deteriorating USOC-IOC relations threaten both organizations: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122101900.html?sid=ST2009122602221
– PART II: LOOKING FOR A LEADER: USOC seeks answers: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/12/26/ST2009122602221.html?sid=ST2009122602221
– PART III: In search of revenue, time to tap Uncle Sam?: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011304258.html?sid=ST2010011304440

From the news accounts and photos (see links below) it appears that a good time was had by all at the recently concluded Big Apple tournament. Participating in the tournament were 5 club teams from Germany and the hosts, New York City Team Handball. As I reported earlier there were some space and time limitations that precluded this tournament from having more American participation. The tournament was won by a club from Stuttgart and in addition to the tournament an all star game was held with many former and current Bundesliga stars participating.

The entire event was largely conceived by Karl Gladeck of German company, TR Team Travel, as a way of introducing Handball to the USA and allowing German fans to mingle with top Bundesliga stars in a unique setting. Besides Handball many of the visitors took part in the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration and attended an NBA basketball game between the New Jersey Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Note the photo op with Pascal Hens and Shaquille O’Neal.

Although, not an official Bundesliga event it was good to see that the General Manager of the league, Frank Bohmann made the trip. Here’s hoping it opened his eyes to the possibility of more aggressively pursuing the vast, untapped market in the U.S. Sure, the tournament and venue were small, but it’s still notable that a sizable contingent of Germans flew to the U.S. for this minor event in the midst of a recession. Certainly it’s worth exploring whether something could be done on a larger scale.

The German Federation, a separate entity from the German Bundesliga, is working with the U.S. and Polish Federation to play a Germany – Poland National Team exhibition in Chicago on 17 July. It will be interesting to see how that this match is promoted and whether it can avoid the low attendance figures that the French Miami tournament had last year.

The key is to balance the European travelers with an American audience that unfortunately doesn’t exist yet. Mr Bohmann met with USA Team Handball President, Dieter Esch and General Manager, Steve Pastorino so surely steps to grow such an audience were discussed. One such step that I’ve promoted ad nauseam is the need for TV broadcasts in the states. Barring a major deal with ESPN or NBC Universal let’s hope that Bundesliga webstreaming is brought back on line even if it is just for the few fans that are already here in the States.

USA Team Handball: Team Stuttgart Wins Big Apple Tournament (3 Jan 10): http://usateamhandball.org/news/2010/01/03/team-stuttgart-wins-big-apple-tournament/30278
USA Team Handball: German media pick up Big Apple Tournament (4 Jan 10): http://usateamhandball.org/news/2010/01/04/german-media-pick-up-big-apple-tournament/30293?ngb_id=42
New York City Team Handball Club: http://www.newyorkcityteamhandball.com/bigapple.php
Handball-World: Handball goes New York (31 Dec 09): http://www.handball-world.com/news-index.php?LID=1&GID=&auswahl=23569
Handball-World: Bundesliga Stars celebrate New Year's Eve together in New York (2 Jan 10): http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=23585
Handball-World: Big Apple Tournament started – THC New York in the semi (3 Jan 10: http://www.handball-world.com/news-index.php?LID=1&GID=1&auswahl=23588
A-Shaq jersey for Hens: http://www.handballwoche.de/artikel/bundesliga/news/ein-shaq-trikot-fuer-hens/
Bild.de: Pascal Hens meets Shaq (4 Jan 10): http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/mehr-sport/2010/01/04/hsv-handball/pascal-hens-trifft-nba-star-shaq-o-neal.html (with photo of the two stars)
Stuttgarter Zeitung: Development after the New Year's Eve Party (2 Jan 10): http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/2335512_0_2147_-entwicklungshilfe-nach-der-silvesterparty.html
THN: If you build it, will they come? (18 Apr 09): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.734
THN: German Bundesliga blocks internet Handball broadcasts to rest of world (22 Sep 09): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.827
Handball-World: Tournament in New York: All-Star team beats U.S. Selection (4 Jan 10): http://www.handball-world.com/news-index.php?LID=1&GID=1&auswahl=23597
Handball-World: Tournament in New York a great success – not only for the winning team from Stuttgart (5 Jan 10): http://www.handball-world.com/news-index.php?LID=1&GID=1&auswahl=23598

As the self proclaimed world’s #1 proponent of internet web streaming of Handball matches I was very pleased and a little surprised by the EHF’s recent announcement of their upcoming Euro 2010 web package. The key sentence:

“All games of the EHF EURO in Austria will be available on the internet at a 500 kbit/s rate as well as at a [u][b]1.5 Mbit/s[/b][/u] rate so that subscribers can optimise the service to their own technical possibilities.”

For those of you who don’t know, 1.5 Megabit/second is a dramatic step up in service compared to previous offerings for the World and European Championships where speeds of 450 and 750 Kb/s have been the norm. 1.5 Mb/s isn’t quite the same picture quality you typically see on TV, but it’s very close and there’s a lot less pixilation when compared to 750 Kb/s.

Unfortunately, the service will not be available everywhere. Sorry handball fans in Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Belarus you’ll be restricted to the TV matches in your respective countries. Not too often is it better to be a Handball fan in say, India or the U.S, but as long as TV executives are still living in 1999 instead of 2009 we’ll have to suffer through these archaic rights restrictions.

Finally, perhaps I shouldn’t celebrate too much just yet as it remains to be seen as to whether the actual package will match the advertisement. The Euro 2008 service was to put it kindly, less than satisfactory. The Euro 2010 throws off on 19 January.

EHF (16 Dec 09): Follow the EHF EURO 2010 live on your computer!: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12777
THN: World Championship Handball Web Streaming: Slow, but Steady Progress (16 Jan 09): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.673
Handball Video Streaming ($43 vs. Free): Hmmm…. I’ll take Free, Thank You (14 Feb 08): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.455
THN: Women’s World Championship Video Streaming: More Bits Please (6 Dec 07): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.423

A few items of note from the recent Women’s World Championships in China

Pool play provides a second chance: Runners-up France started this year’s tournament in dismal fashion losing to Brazil 22-20 and Denmark 24-16, before rolling off 7 straight victories over Congo, Sweden, Germany, Angola, Russia, Austria and Spain enroute to the final. A large pool of 6 teams gave France 5 games to get their act together and gel as a team. If the format had been with smaller pools of 4 or 5 teams France might very well have played in the President’s Cup.

Expat Fans: This article tells the story of a small group of French Expats that cheered on their team in China: http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/community/news/2009-12/492415.html

Where were the fans?: The IHF put a brave face on the small numbers in attendance at their final press conference, but early round matches were very poorly attended with official crowds of 100 and in many instances less. One player blog commented that the players outnumbered the crowds in some cases. Other reports indicate that crowds for later matches were larger but inflated by what appeared to be “forced attendance” from groups that were wearing matching uniforms. Speculation aside, China was reportedly the only nation to bid for the event and the IHF should be commended for trying to promote the sport outside of Europe. The simple reality is that Women’s Handball, even more so than the Men’s game, has a very limited appeal outside of Scandinavia and the Balkans.
Chinaview.cn: IHF officials satisfied with handball World Championship in China (20 Dec 09): http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/20/content_12674741.htm

Minnows get whacked: The performance of nations like Australia, Chile and Thailand was less than spectacular and some European blogs and news reports have called for the return of the B World Championships. The B World Championships as the name implies was a secondary championship with lower ranked teams from around the world that the IHF used to hold. Entry into the A World Championships was then limited to the winners of the B World Championships in a promotion-relegation system. I’ll have more to say on this topic after I complete a “ranking of the continents” article, but here’s a story about Thailand’s experience in the meantime:
Haandbold.com: Thailand: Modest goals were achieved (21 Dec 09): http://www.haandbold.com/nyheder.php?id=19315