Tentatively, we are planning an informal meet-up for followers of the Team Handball News website on Saturday night after the All-Star game. Exact time and location is TBD. This will be your opportunity to chat with me, Bogdan and other Handball fans. If you're attending the tournament in Miami this weekend and haven't emailed me already please do, so I can email you with the finalized details.

The recent IHF Memo https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.719 purports to inform the Presidents of National Federations “of the situation that now prevails concerning the governance of handball worldwide. But, if its intent was to truly inform, it falls far short of doing so.

Instead, the memo partially addresses some of the charges, obliquely refers to others and flat out ignores the most damning one. In the extended post, I go through the memo line by line, pointing out the contradictions, omissions and in some cases even provide a courtesy translation.

In short, the memo fails in the following ways:
1) It fails to identify specific allegations. Instead there are oblique references to allegations that are then simply categorized as rumours or false information. In reality, the basic facts surrounding many of the allegations are not disputable. If the IHF wants to state that “something” is false, they should clearly state what that “something” is.
2) In regards to the Muhlematter presentation, the Federation Presidents are essentially being told, “trust the IHF Council, everything was misleading”.
3) It flat out ignores the IHF leadership’s direct involvement with the most egregious controversy; namely the improper assignment of referees for the fixed Kuwait-South Korea Olympic Qualification match and it’s follow on failure to proactively address the controversy.

What I also find somewhat amusing is the, “blame it on the press” mantra of the memo. It’s not as if the press is a collective organized body that woke up one morning and said “Let’s go after the IHF.” Reporters and bloggers don’t speak with one voice (at least in most countries). Pick any controversial issue and you can generally find reporting that slants to either side of the issue. There are exceptions, of course, and rest assured if only one side of an issue is willing to address questions suspicions arise. If the Federation was truly interested in transparency they should hold a press conference and answer questions until reporters got bored and left. Sending a one sided dictate with no real information isn’t fooling me and it shouldn’t fool anybody.

For my detailed analysis of the memo see the extended post.

Memo text is in Black, [color=#ff0000]Commentary is in Red[/color]

Basle, 27th March 2009

To the Members of the Council,
To the Member Federations

Dear President, Dear handball friend,

“It is not customary for us to address you directly on IHF matters.”
[color=#ff0000]Commentary: Why on Earth would it be “not customary” to address the Presidents of the national Federations directly on IHF matters? One would think that regular dialogue would be routine and relatively frequent in this modern age of electronic communication. [/color]

However, as a number of those we have met recently have asked us questions about reports and articles published in the press over the last few months, we find it necessary to keep you informed of the situation that now prevails concerning the governance of handball worldwide.
[color=#ff0000]Translation: We’ve been getting a lot of critical questions about reports and articles in the press. Rather than responding to those reports by engaging with the media either through interviews or a press conference we’ve written this memo which will selectively address some of the charges, obliquely refer to others and flat out ignore the most damning one.[/color]

Already at the time of the Women’s World Championship 2007 some German papers and magazines had published attacks against the IHF, its President and its Treasurer.
[color=#ff0000]Translation: Some German papers published some articles concerning the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament scandal in Japan. Not to mention the embarrassing TV videos (German and Korean) which clearly showed the likelihood of a fixed match having taken place. Additionally, some allegations concerning finances at the IHF started to surface. [/color]

The source of this information was not known then and the Council, meeting in Paris in December 2007, expressed its approval to the way IHF business was conducted by those in charge.
[color=#ff0000]Translation: It was bad enough that there was no way we could sweep the Olympic Qualification scandal under the rug, somebody with inside information was adding fuel to the fire. Reluctantly, we had to agree to a replay tournament. Apparently, everybody in the Council thought that this whole thing would eventually blow over if we simply corrected the situation.[/color]

Again, on the occasion of the Men’s World Championship 2009, held in Croatia, attacks against the IHF appeared in the German and Swiss press, thus partly deflecting attention from a very successful competition to focus on rumours concerning the governance of handball worldwide. This time it was clear that the Secretary General of the IHF was the source of the false information conveyed to the media.
[color=#ff0000]Commentary: The choice of the words “attacks”, “rumours” and “false information” is clearly in the eye of the beholder. Some of the information contained in the numerous articles is not disputable, while the veracity of other information is open to debate. In particular, no one is disputing the events surrounding the Olympic Qualification Tournament and the CAS report https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.535 is pretty thorough in its breakdown of the IHF’s involvement and culpability. In terms of finance allegations, Dr Moustafa doesn’t deny that he didn’t provide receipts for $500,000 worth of travel, he just maintains that it’s simply not required. The doping related allegations are open to some interpretation. I don’t think anyone is maintaining that several players on the Egyptian National Team were not mysteriously scratched from the roster in a Pre Olympic tournament in Athens when they found out that they were going to be drug tested if they played. I also, have a hard time believing that the two doctors that resigned their membership of the IHF’s doping committee are liars when they said that their commission was not adequately funded and it is interesting to note that this funding has now reappeared.[/color]

As a consequence, it was decided that the Council of the IHF, meeting in Zagreb on the last week-end of the World Championship, would devote as much time as necessary to a clarification of the situation.

For four hours the Secretary General had the opportunity to present all the arguments and documents he wished, to prove his point that the IHF executives were not properly fulfilling their duties particularly in the fields of
– Financial matters,
– Administration,
– Anti-doping policy,
– Staff management.

The former managing director of the IHF was called in to attend this four-hour session as most of the facts and situations happened when he held office. Mr. Mühlematter produced a file of documents and, in his presentation, concentrated mainly on financial issues. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: Not sure why the focus was on financial matter; a full accounting of the Asian Olympic Qualification circumstances might have been a little more revealing.)[/color]

The Council members first expressed their deepest regrets that the Secretary General of the IHF should have chosen to go to the press to express his grievances without ever mentioning them in an official IHF meeting. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: If, in fact, Mr Muhlematter never expressed these grievances to the Council prior to going to the press, then that was indeed a breach of protocol.)[/color] Second, they rapidly realized the misleading nature of the documents presented. In particular, it appeared that only the expense side of certain financial transactions was made available, thus creating an impression that was completely reversed as soon as the corresponding income side was shown. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: If you’re going to make a point on something like this, you need to provide a concrete example. This is essentially a meaningless statement without any further context provided.)[/color]

The Council members repeatedly asked the Secretary General to produce at least one financial document that would prove convincing – this was never done. Concerning financial questions, it was finally underlined that the accounts of the IHF were regularly checked by internal auditors, by a professional supervisory firm and presented on the occasion of every IHF Congress and that none of them had ever found any fault. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: OK, without receipts for business travel, just exactly how is an auditor to determine whether funds were spent properly? I believe in the trust, but verify philosophy. Without receipts you can’t verify.)[/color]

Though no oral presentation was given by Mr. Mühlematter on administrative issues, the Council members underlined the misleading nature of the documents they had been supplied with. Once again only partial information was provided and totally taken out of context. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: Again, without more detail concerning the documents you aren’t really proving anything. Trust us, the documents were misleading. Sorry, I saw the Kuwait – Korea tape, seeing is believing.)[/color]

At the end of this four-hour session, the Council considered that the allegations conveyed in the press were unfounded and that they had seriously damaged the image of handball and that of the IHF. They therefore invited Mr. Mühlematter to offer his resignation. This was refused, as in the IHF Bylaws no provision exists that makes it possible for the Council to force a member into resignation. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: I much prefer the use of the term “allegations” but, again there is no reasoning or justification as to why any of the allegations are unfounded.”)[/color]

A motion was then produced by the Council expressing condemnation of the action conducted by the Secretary General and stating the above-mentioned facts. In the ensuing vote the President and the Treasurer abstained, being considered as targets of the attacks launched by the Secretary General, they could not pass judgement on themselves. The final result was one vote against the motion (Mühlematter), all other votes in favour.

After this meeting, when it seemed that the situation had been clarified and after the Council had clearly expressed its disapproval of the method of communication used by the Secretary General, Mr. Mühlematter gave an interview to a Swiss television channel where he once again expressed unfounded accusations against the IHF and presented himself as the “white knight” of international handball. [color=#ff0000](Commentary: Why doesn’t Dr Moustafa find someone (anyone) within the press establishment to respond to the allegations. When only one side appears willing to talk people are inclined to think that the other side has something they’d rather hide.)[/color]

Among the accusations that have been fed to the press, the one concerning doping is potentially extremely damaging and we also wish to supply you with information on this point.

Basically, the IHF was accused of not fulfilling its obligations concerning anti-doping measures and quite understandably, journalists, during the Men’s World Championship kept asking us questions about this issue.

It must be absolutely clear that the IHF is fully committed to a clean sport and to the global anti-doping strategy prevailing worldwide. This commitment finds its financial translation in the 2008 budget whose line concerning anti-doping amounts to 45000 CHF.
[color=#ff0000]Commentary: So were Dr Holdhaus and Dr Kastrup lying when they said that they were not adequately funded? Or maybe, just maybe, their speaking out resulted in the money miraculously reappearing in the budget.[/color]

There is, however, a technical difficulty that concerns all team sports and which the IHF is currently trying to overcome. In partnership with the IOC, ASOIF and WADA and upon our express request, we are trying to design a control system applicable to team sports and that respects the athletes’ individual liberty. This approach on our part is the clear sign of our commitment to a worldwide struggle against doping and in favour of a clean sport and we very much regret that on this question again, totally wrong information should have been supplied to the press by the Secretary General.

In addition to the above-mentioned, it seems that the IHF Secretary General is collaborating with Mr. Gerd Butzeck, former member of the IHF Commission for Promotion and Public Relations, who was dismissed from the IHF due to infringement. Mr. Butzeck in his position as the General Manager of the Group Club Handball EEIG, raised accusations in a press release, most of which are similar to those groundless ones brought up by the IHF Secretary General during the IHF Council meeting in Zagreb (CRO) and which had been rejected by the Council.
[color=#ff0000]Commentary: Sorry, for the broken record here, but most of the facts surrounding these accusations aren’t really open to debate. Certainly, it can be argued as to whether the Olympic Qualification tournament was handled properly, whether it’s OK not to keep travel receipts and whether the drug testing program was being adequately supported, but you can’t just dismiss the arguments as groundless.
Oh, and another point, the IHF neglected to point out that this wasn’t a one man’s opinion press release. The GCH press release indicates that it was a unanimous opinion of the leaders of the 24 top professional clubs in Europe. OK, IHF can you explain how these 24 clubs all got duped by these allegations?[/color]

The General Manager of the Group Club Handball EEIG planned to form a private handball league and got into conflict with the European Handball Federation. The IHF is deeply frustrated about such harmful initiative and supports the European Handball Federation against this gentleman. Both Mr. Mühlematter and Mr. Butzeck are in direct contact with journalists in Germany, France and Denmark to publish their false information.
[color=#ff0000]Commentary: OK, as an American who lived in France for 5 years, I don’t know if Europeans are quite ready for a true super league where night after night the world’s best players play each other. Who wants that when we can get Kiel-Essen and other mismatches on a regular basis in tiny arenas? So, I don’t see that necessarily this as a “harmful initiative”. But, that’s beside the point and the basis for another commentary. This whole EHF-GCG diatribe is pretty irrelevant to the supposed point of this memo. But perhaps it was needed for an EHF signature? [/color]

A number of you have strongly recommended that the IHF should take advantage of the Swiss law that makes it possible for an association to make one of its responsible office-bearers leave office having caused damage to the association. We have no doubt that we are clearly placed in such a situation. However, we consider that we should stick to our Bylaws and let the Congress decide how it wants world handball to be governed.
[color=#ff0000][b]Commentary: Here! Here! I’ve found common ground with the IHF. The election in June is exactly how this should be handled.[/b][/color]

As you may imagine, this is not a pleasant letter for us to write. We, nevertheless, have the feeling that it was our duty to keep you informed of the situation prevailing inside the Executive Committee of the IHF. (Translation: As you may imagine, we would prefer that these allegations never saw the light of day. It’s our hope that this obliquely written letter which doesn’t really address anything will fool enough potential voters into 4 more years) We can assure you that our sport has shown its worth to the world again on the occasion of the World Championship in Croatia, and we have no doubt that, on the basis of our joint efforts, it will continue its fantastic progress in the years to come.

Dear President, dear friend, we thank you for your attention and send you our best regards.

Dr. Hassan Moustafa, President, International Handball Federation
Tor Lian, Vice-President IHF, President EHF
[color=#ff0000](Commentary: Frequent readers to this website will not have a hard time finding praise for the efforts of the EHF to promote the sport. They have an excellent website and the marketing insight to provide products like EHFtv for free. I’ve often wondered where Handball would be positioned internationally if the IHF office was managed by the EHF staff. Because of this, I am totally at a loss as to why the EHF leadership has aligned itself with the current President.)[/color]
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Vice-President IHF, President AHF
[color=#ff0000](Commentary: For more on the Sheikh, be sure to read the CAS report https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.535 on his phone calls with Dr Moustafa regarding referee assignments for the Kuwait- Korea qualification match)[/color]
Mansourou A. Aremou, Vice-President IHF, President CAHB
Manoel Luiz Oliveira, Vice-President IHF, President PATHF
[color=#ff0000](Commentary: Manoel Luiz Oliveira deserves a lot of credit for transforming Brazilian handball into one of the best non-European programs in the world. His handling, however of a number of PATHF issues related to qualification tournaments has been found wanting by this North American.)[/color]

I received a short note from Steve Pastorino indicating that USA Team Handball would like an opportunity to rebut some of the points made in the mid-term review after the Board of Director's meeting on March 31st. Stay tuned.

Last September as missives criticizing the new USA Team Handball Federation ratcheted up in the Forum section on our website I commented that I thought folks were jumping the gun a bit too much on a brand new organization. Instead I laid out my expectations for the new Federation https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.595 in a number of areas along with what I considered some reasonable target dates for completion. I ended my commentary with this statement: “And if my patience wears thin 6 months from now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.”

Well, it’s now been 6 months and it’s time for a review. My original post had 16 items. The original text is in black; my grade and a status update is in blue.

[b]1) A clear and organized plan for USA club competition. [/b](Target date: December 1, 2008). Successfully completing this goal would be to have a revamped competition rulebook that has been vetted, by and large, by the USA Handball community. This won’t mean that everybody will like everything in the competition rulebook, but it should mean that all the major clubs in the USA find it acceptable. As a minimum, every club should have a clear understanding as to what they need to do in order to participate in the 2009 National Championship Tournament.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: D
A competition rulebook was indeed provided by the target date, but the vetting process was less than satisfactory. An opportunity to comment was provided, but vetting was limited to the staff in the National office. Worse, the rulebook was modified in February and the residency requirement for foreign players were changed without any feedback from the membership. Faced with a protest on the last minute change, USA Team Handball backed down and reverted to the original wording. Finally, plans for teams to qualify were thrown out and teams were simply allowed to enter the National Championship tournament on a first come, first served basis.[/color]

[b]2) Announcement of the 2009 National Championship Tournament (Dates and Location)[/b] (Target Date: January 30, 2009). Sooner, of course, would be better, but this should allow enough time for teams to make airfare and lodging reservations.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: A
This requirement was clearly met. I should point out though, that the announcement for College Nationals was a little later than the subject date. Enough time to make plans, but I’m sure teams would prefer to have known sooner[/color]

[b]3) A well organized and successful National Championship Tournament.[/b] There are many elements that go into running a well organized and successful tournament, to include, facilities, the scheduling of games, fan attendance and convenience (lodging and gym location).
[color=#0000cc]Grade: TBD[/color]

[b]4) An improved website with the following content:[/b]
[b]a) A club information page [/b](Target Date: September 19, 2008). This page would include links to websites and Point of Contact information for all clubs in the U.S. You might notice that this target date is only a week away. This, however, should only take a couple of hours and quite frankly it should have been done a month ago.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: B
As I recall it took awhile for this page to get added to the website. http://www.usateamhandball.org/play/clubnearyou/ Additionally, this page could use some more graphics such as an interactive map and club logos (where applicable).[/color]

[b]b) Guidance documentation page [/b](Target Date: September 19, 2008). Any overarching documentation (e.g. the by-laws submitted in the UTHF bid; competition rulebook) that highlights how the Federation conducts business should be posted on this page.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: D
The competition rulebook has been posted, but other documentation is clearly lacking. There’s more commentary on this topic in items 12 and 13[/color]

[b]c) Club Resources page [/b](Target Date: October 17, 2008). A “best practices” section of the website that provides information on how to best organize a new club is needed. This section would include Points of Contact for club development and information on how to request funding grants from either USA Team Handball or the USA Team Handball Foundation.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: B
A club handbook has been developed and placed on the website. http://usateamhandball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/CLUB%20START%20UP%20GUIDE.pdf It’s a workable document with some good information in it. However, I’d prefer like to see an interactive page on the website to address club development. Clubs could ask questions like, “What kind of goals should I buy?” and the Q&A would be viewable in a forum like section for other clubs to see.[/color]

[b]d) An online store with discounts for members[/b] (Target Date: December 1, 2008). This service would be a welcome addition, especially for new clubs that need to purchase balls and goals.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: C
A bare bones online store has been up on the site for several months. There aren’t very many items available, however, and the functionality isn’t the best. For instance, I was confused as to how to purchase a yearly membership. Expecting to see a discount (price/year) for signing up for more than 1 year, I actually learned through email correspondence that it was actually more expensive to buy a multiple year member membership.[/color]

[b]5) National Board of Directors Fully Identified [/b](Target Date: November 1, 2008): Another hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is 7 independent Board of Directors with business skills who would contribute $50,000 each to USA Team Handball. The website currently lists only 2 members, Dieter Esch and his business partner, Brad Krassner. Additionally, the new Federation should make clear how it will identify/select other members of the Board, who are not part of the $50,000 club.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: F
The website currently identifies only 3 of the 7 independent members. A Mr. John West has been added in the intervening 6 months since I first wrote this. There is also still no indication as to how these Board Members were or will be selected. The By-Laws that were submitted when the Utah Team Handball Federation (UTHF) indicated that a nomination committee would be formed and that a Board would be selected prior to January 1, 2009. As far as I know there is no actual nomination committee and I would speculate that Pastorino, Esch and Krassner are the individuals actively seeking potential members. The Active Athlete members of the board have been selected via vote, but that is the only positive development that has taken place so far. The Federation website does indicate that the rest of the board members will be named soon. This is good news, but it has taken too long and with no transparency in the process. Hence the failing grade.[/color]

[b]6) First National Board of Directors Meeting[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2009).
[color=#0000cc]Grade: F
The first Board Meeting has now been called for 31 March, but it’s way overdue and it’s simply not appropriate for a Sports Federation to have operated this long without a Board of Directors (BoD) meeting. The BoD is supposed to provide direction and guidance for the management staff. Without that direction, the Federation may or may not be headed in the right direction. Bottom line: without an active BoD, the Federation has not been following its own by-laws and the spirit of its own proposal bid to bring in independent directors with business acumen.[/color]

[b]7) Senior Men’s National Team Program Plan[/b] (Target Date: March 1, 2009). A well thought out plan on how the U.S. will organize and prepare the Men’s National Team needs to be clearly articulated. Such a plan should clearly identify strategies for player identification and development, training and competition schedules. A key element of this plan will also be a decision on whether to develop players in the U.S. or whether to foster opportunities for players to be placed on European club rosters.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: C
For all I know a plan has been developed. Certainly, there have been a number of tryouts and athlete identification camps. It has not been articulated, however, how those athletes will be trained and how Team USA will prepare for international competition. Several of the athletes identified at these camps also appear to be college graduates. Past experience has shown that molding inexperienced handball newcomers in the 22-26 age range into world class players is problematic in that those athletes tend to leave the program prior to fully developing as players. The Men’s team will travel to Puerto Rico in 8 months for the PATHF Div 1 Championships. What’s the plan, Stan?[/color]

[b]8) Senior Women’s National Team Program Plan[/b] (Target Date: March 1, 2009). As with the Men, a well defined plan is needed. Additionally, if the Women, participate in the PATHF Div 1 Championships later this year a near term interim plan should also be developed.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: C
Again, for all I know a plan has been developed and the same concerns in regards to training athletes and preparing for international competition needs to be addressed. To the Federation’s credit, they did field a team at the PATHF Div 1 Championships. Some have criticized that move as a waste of resources and feel vindicated by the very poor showing of the women’s team. I was disappointed and surprised by the results, but support the concept of Team USA [b]ALWAYS[/b] fielding a team for WC or Olympic qualification. Say what you want about the poor results, they should help inform USA Team Handball on where the program currently stands and how far it needs to go.[/color]

[b]9) Youth and Junior Team Program Plans [/b](Target Date: March 1, 2009). These plans will need to mesh with the Senior Team Plans. They will also require a substantial amount of thought as the U.S. has very few players in these age categories and limited resources to support their rapid development.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: C
Again, many of the same issues discussed with the men’s and women’s teams also apply. In addition, the youth and junior team program plans will require some “outside the box” thinking to be successful. Some player identification camps have been identified, but the overall plan has not been articulated. Additionally, resources are being spent on an under 23 team. While this may align with our collegiate programs international competitions are focused on under 21 and under 19 programs.[/color]

[b]10) Fully Staffed Regions[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2009). A hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is their plan to have a dedicated Regional Director and Coach for each of the 5 regions. I would expect that personnel will actually start to be hired and identified in the near future. And I would expect the regional staffs to have a very active and hands on role in helping new clubs to get on their feet and in organizing regional competition.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: C
The regions have not been 100% staffed, but a lot of people have been hired. From website reports they appear to be getting involved with their region’s development and organization. Could they be doing more? Sure, but there are some inherent challenges with the geographic size of the United States and the limited resources of USA Team Handball. I was never convinced that this organizational structure made sense with the current Handball demographics of the U.S. I also won’t be surprised if there is a significant reorganization at some point in the future.[/color]

[b]11) Regional Board or Directors Fully Identified [/b](Target Date: September 1, 2009). As with the National Boards, I would expect Directors to be identified in the coming months. As the Regional staffs have not been identified yet, however, this will take some time. Additionally, it may be challenging to come up with Regional Board Members due to the financial requirements.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: TBD[/color]

[b]12) Interim Over Arching Guidance Documentation [/b](Target Date: September 19, 2008). To the casual observer, the new Federation appears to be currently operating with no formal written by-laws. By-laws were submitted during the certification process, but I suspect that these by-laws are not being followed to the letter. It should be clear to the USA Handball Community what “rules of the road” are being used to guide the new Federation. Simply posting the UTHF Bid by-laws would be a start, along with a general statement of accountability. Right now my assumption (in the absence of a Board of Directors) is that Dieter Esch is calling the shots, but that GM Steve Pastorino has been given a significant amount of latitude to do what he thinks best. This is to be expected in a start-up situation, but that construct should transition as soon as possible to a more formalized structure.
[color=#0000cc]
Grade: F
Six months later this documentation and/or guidance has still not been developed. The UTHF Bid by-laws https://teamhandballnews.com/request49.html have not been posted on the Federation website nor is there any other statement of accountability. A precursory look at several other Federation websites shows that most of them post their By-Laws for everyone to see. (For more on this topic see #13 below) [/color]

[b]13) Finalized Over Arching Guidance[/b] (Target Date: February 2, 2009). Step 1 for the new board should be to approve new bylaws for the Federation. It should be clear to everyone what the roles and responsibilities are for Board Directors, Committee Members and Staff. Additionally, members at all levels should understand how they can influence and participate in the process.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: F
As far as I know there are no new bylaws being developed. And if by some chance they were being developed, it clearly isn’t being done with any transparency as I and other members of the USA Handball community are unaware of it. In essence, USA Team Handball is currently being run independently without any formal input or accountability to its members. Say what you want about the previous incarnation of USA Team Handball and its dysfunctionality, but there were committees and board members that were accountable to the membership. It was also often messy and in the end self-destructing. Because of that self-destruction, I thought that it made sense to give the new regime considerable leeway to clean up the ashes and rebuild the Federation with minimal interference. That time has now past in my opinion. It’s high time for more transparency and a clear understanding of how the outside business people are going to work with the USA Handball Community at large. And the key words are “work with”. USA Team Handball is a non-profit, amateur sports federation. It is not a for profit sports franchise (Real Salt Lake) or a modeling company (Wilhelmina) and that means there is accountability to that nebulous Handball Community. I am not calling for a return to the old way of doing business as clearly that was not working. All I’m saying is that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.[/color]

[b]14) Strategic Plan [/b](Target Date: March 20, 2009). The strategic plan would be a top to bottom plan that identifies the goals for USA Team Handball and how it plans to achieves those goals. This is something that should be developed with at large membership input, but may very well also require outside the box thinking.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: F
As far as I know, such a Strategic Plan has already been developed. But, if it has been developed it’s been done in-house without much membership input. So the negative grade is for 1) either not having a plan or 2) not sharing it with anyone.[/color]

[b]15) Marketing Plan[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2008). The new Federation has indicated that they will expend significant resources in this area. I don’t expect for them to provide the members at large a detailed copy of their marketing strategy, but I would like to see regular reports highlighting current ongoing efforts in this area. My metric for success in this area will be successfully getting Handball on TV in the U.S.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: B
The 2009 World Championships were on TV in the United States for the first time this past January. Granted, it was Web TV (ESPN360) and only available in a sliver of the American market, but this was still great news. The new Federation has also kept everyone informed of new sponsors such as Grundfos and SnapSports. Would I like to see more sponsors and ESPN prime time telecasts? Sure, but the trend is in the right direction.[/color]

[b]16) Fundraising.[/b] This is without a doubt the big kahuna, in that sustained success hinges on creating sufficient income to meet expenses. With the dramatic increase in paid staff (when compared to the previous Federation), as well as plans to field youth and junior teams there’s simply no way for the numbers to add up without significant new funding streams being developed. The metric for success in this area will be an Income side of the balance sheet showing significantly more $ than that of the $300,000 – 500,000 budgets common in the waning years of the previous Federation. I won’t expect the Federation to provide detailed information, but as a non-profit, top level budget numbers should be available for public review. Additionally, it will become readily apparent that there is a cash flow problem if there are staff cutbacks and/or the USA fails to send teams to International competitions.
[color=#0000cc]Grade: TBD/Unknown
Putting a grade on fundraising is difficult without seeing some budget numbers. Since this was written in September, the financial crisis also should temper everyone’s critique of this critical area. Finding sponsors to shell out money for an unknown sport is challenging enough in a flush economy. Getting them to fork over money at the same time they’re laying workers off might well be impossible. Additionally, some wealthy individuals with money to burn 6 months ago may have seen their net worth’s decline by 40%. Suddenly, a contribution to USA Team Handball is competing not only against other good causes, but against dwindling retirement and college education plans. So far the Federation appears to be weathering the financial storm as there have been no staff cutbacks and a team is still being sent on tour to Europe this summer.[/color]

So, that’s it in a nutshell. Of course, the folks in Salt Lake City don’t take orders from me, so I’m not expecting them to jump all over my metrics. But hey, as soon as I send my $60 in for membership, there’s got to be some degree of accountability. And if my patience wears thin 6 months from now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

[color=#0000cc]Well, as you can see by this fairly negative review, my patience indeed is starting to wear thin, particularly in the areas of governance and planning. In my opinion, there’s been more than enough time to straighten up the Federation’s basic organization structure and to start articulating the Master Plan that will lead Team Handball in the USA out of the wilderness.

But, while my patience is wearing thin, I still have some left in the tank. The Federation is making progress in some areas, even if it’s not as much as I and others would like to see. Next week, the Board of Directors will also be meeting for the first time, and in all likelihood, these and other issues will be discussed in detail. If the Board of Directors functions like it’s supposed to, they could very well jump start the Federation with some good top level guidance and direction.

So, I’ve said my piece for now and I’ll be waiting to see how the Board of Directors takes charge. My hunch (hope) is that there could very well be a flurry of activity and increased levels of transparency in the next few months. Stay tuned.[/color]

Not satisified with just his post as the International Handball Federation (IHF) President, Hassan Moustafa has decided to run for President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). He will be up against incumbent Swiss Denis Oswald, who is also head of the International Rowing Federation. The election will take place will on March 24 in Denver by secret ballot among the 26 sports federations

In my opinion, this has got to be one of the most extreme cases of hubris I've ever seen. Seriously, on what possible platform would you run? "Vote for me, I led International Handball through a unique and challenging Olympic Qualification process." Or perhaps, "Model accounting and finance practices for your federation too."

International Herald Tribune: Moustafa makes surprise bid for key Olympic job: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/11/sports/OLY-Moustafa-Election.php

The German media is abuzz with new allegations that the Champions League Final from the 2006-07 season was fixed by Kiel. Kiel won the final two game aggregate series against their arch rivals Flensburg. Allegedly both former coach Noka Serdarusic and current general manger Uwe Schwenker made payments to officials. Other games are also being called into question with Spain’s Leon Ademar complaining about unfair officiating in their matches against Hungary’s Veszprem this season.

I’m quite frankly struggling to make heads or tails of what’s going on. My German is non-existent and the automatic translations make it somewhat garbled as to who the sources for the accusations are. It appears that the information is second hand and related to Rhein Neckar Lowen’s decision not to hire Serdarusic as their new coach. (i.e., RNL decided they weren’t going to hire a cheater)

More information is sure to come out and Handball-World has done a story in English on the matter. Additionally, the EHF issued a press release indicating that they are monitoring the situation and will discuss it at meetings being held Monday in conjunction with the quarterfinal draw.

And guess who could play who next round? Well, there’s a 33% chance that Kiel will play Flensburg. The next round should be interesting as should be the post-draw interviews at efhTV www.ehftv.com

Handball-World (English):THW asks public prosecution for investigations – Schwenker takes holiday to defend himself http://www.handball-welt.de/o.red.c/news.php?LID=&GID=1&auswahl=19296
EHF: EHF reaction to “Manipulation charges”: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12160
Handball-World (German): HBL-Präsident Witte zu den neuen Vorwürfen gegen den THW: "Nur neue Gerüchte": http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=19280
Der Spiegel (German): MANIPULATIONSVORWÜRFE IM HANDBALL: http://www.spiegel.de/sport/sonst/0,1518,611876,00.html
Handball123 Forum Discussion on the topic:
http://handball123.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1206&start=325

The recent Group Club Handball (GCH) press release https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.695 was mostly a rehash of several irregularities that have allegedly taken place over the past few years under the leadership of IHF President Hassan Moustafa. One aspect of the release, however, was particularly striking to me and that was news that the IHF Council had [u]unanimously[/u] voted to censure Secretary General, Peter Muhlematter. Muhlematter has been leading the charge in recent months to publicize the allegations of irregularities and this obviously has not sit well with the IHF leadership. The GCH release goes further to state that the leaders of the top 24 clubs in Europe unanimously agreed that Moustafa, not Muhlematter, is the problem.

What’s to make of all this? Well, I can’t vouch for the veracity of all the allegations, but as the saying goes, “where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.” And one of the allegations, the Asian Olympic Qualification scandal, can be considered fact as far as I’m concerned, since it is very well documented in the independent CAS report. I would challenge anyone who has read the report https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.535 to not come to the conclusion that President Moustafa’s actions and inactions were scandalous and not what one would expect from the President of an International Sport Organization. Quite frankly, maintaining the integrity of the sport is the #1 responsibility of the IHF President. Simply having something like that happen under your watch is grounds for replacement. Actively taking part in its actual occurrence is unconscionable.

So, it’s not surprising to me that President Moustafa would seek to silence Mr Muhlematter. But it is bewildering that it was not just Moustafa, as the IHF Council unanimously agreed to seek his resignation. The Council membership (see below), includes several representatives that know or should know better.

[b]IHF Council[/b]
Dr Hassan MOUSTAFA (EGY), President
Mansourou A. AREMOU (BEN), Vice-President Africa
Bader AL-THEYAB (KUW), Vice-President Asia
Tor LIAN (NOR), Vice-President Europe
Manoel Luiz OLIVEIRA (BRA), Vice-President Pan-America
Peter MÜHLEMATTER (SUI), Secretary General
Miguel ROCA MAS (ESP), Treasurer
Christer AHL (USA), PRC President
Naser ABU MARZOUQ (KUW), CCM President
François GNAMIAN (CIV), MC President
Carin NILSSON GREEN (SWE), CPP President
Nicole Christiane ASSELE (BEN), Representative Africa
Yoshihide WATANABE (JPN), Representative Asia
Jean BRIHAULT (FRA ), Representative Europe
Mario Garcia DE LA TORRE (MEX), Representative Pan-America
Source: IHF: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=109

A lot of analogies and references to popular culture strike me as appropriate: The Emperor’s new clothes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_emperor_has_no_clothes and ostriches with their heads in the sand http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/11/02/1777947.htm are a couple. Perhaps the best one is the climactic scene in the movie, Spartacus, (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOCsNrzlV2k&feature=related) where the slaves are offered leniency if they turn in Spartacus. As Spartacus, rises up to turn himself in someone else calls out that he is actually Spartacus. Others join in and a chorus of “I am Spartacus” ensues. Only those that attended the Council Meeting can fully attest to what occurred, but it’s pretty clear that “Spartacus” was turned in at this meeting as no one joined the chorus. The other IHF Council members when given a chance to stand up for what some of them surely felt was right, stayed quiet. And even worse, they took the other side.

Why? That’s the question I’m asking. Most likely, the underlying reason, is that the Council members believe that despite the irregularities, President Moustafa is not going anywhere, anytime soon. There may be a IHF Presidential election coming up in June, but it appears that he has the requisite votes for re-election. And with the deadline (4 March) for candidates to apply fast approaching and no one stepping forward as an alternative his re-election could be a foregone conclusion. Faced with this ”inevitability”, one can infer that the Council members decided that they would rather have a seat at the table than follow Mr Muhlematter out the door. There’s a number of reasons why someone might rationalize such a choice. One reason, could be the personally selfish one to continue the benefits that IHF Council membership provides. Sure, there’s work involved, but attending premier handball events for free is a pretty nice side benefit. Undoubtedly, there are also organizational concerns and continental representatives want to continue to ensure that their regional interests are served. Finally, others probably feel that maybe they can be a force for good on the inside and that if they leave, someone worse will take their place.

I can understand the rationale for these reasons, but at some point you just have to say, “Enough is enough. Can we really not do any better than this?” What’s more, if there’s more than one lonely voice out there, more people will usually speak up. Say what you want about the Spartacus analogy, but I’ve seen versions of it play out in both my personal and professional lives. Sometimes the majority is silently waiting for someone else to speak first or even more critically for a couple of respected individuals to “second” what the original voice has started. And then once that critical tipping point is reached everyone starts wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place.

Call me naïve, but I have a hard time believing that a qualified and respected member of the International Handball community couldn’t win an election against the current President. Heck, such a candidate should be able to win on a simple pledge to keep continental qualifying events clean and to fill out a travel voucher with receipts on every trip. But perhaps I am naïve, as no such candidate is stepping forward. And more importantly some individuals who should be looking for and supporting such a candidate are instead complacently lining up with the current President.

Be forewarned IHF Council Members, you reap what you sow.

Normally, my handball viewing options are an internal debate between watching the best scheduled HBL match of the week at HBL.tv www.hbl.tv or one of the Champions League matches at EHFtv www.ehftv.com. I like the Champions League better, but the video quality with my HBL.tv subscription is far better. So Lemgo – Rhein Neckar or Kiel – Ciudad Real? Well, how about Berlin – Essen instead?

Yes, I couldn’t resist the novelty of watching the British foreign legion play in their first scheduled match on HBL.tv. Certainly, novelty is all that the scheduled match had going for it as Essen is stuck in last place and Berlin is an improving side trying to crack into the top tier of the Bundesliga.

It’s clear from watching the match that the Brits are truly being given a unique opportunity to play in the World’s best league. All 5 player with Essen saw action and 3 of them scored. Merlin Braithwaite scored two and Sebastian Prieto and Chris McDermott each scored one. The game was never in doubt as Essen lost 35-21. Based on previous scorelines this match was some improvement and perhaps they will pick up some points against one of the other “also rans” later in the season. Additionally, the Brits are being given a great opportunity to be seen as players and it’s possible that they might latch on with another club. Maybe not in the HBL, but in one of the lower leagues.

Handball clubs should also take note of the potential marketing opportunities that foreign players could bring to their club. It’s not a coincidence that the San Antonio Spurs (avec Tony Parker) is shown on TV in France more than any other club. Should an American ever reach Bundesliga stardom there would be at least a trickle of paid subscriptions to watch his matches via web streaming. I like watching great handball no matter who‘s play, but there’s something special about watching a compatriot make good. In the mean time I’ll check in on the Brits to see how they are doing this season.

For more on the Brits in Essen check out this in-depth interview at Handball-World.com:
http://www.handball-welt.de/news-index.php?GID=1&auswahl=19015

Since Sweden won back to back to back titles (1998 EC, 1999 WC, 2000 EC) no team has been able to repeat a major championship. That is until now since France has now won back to back with their recent Olympics and WC titles. Are we seeing the beginning of a French Handball Dynasty destined to last through to the next Olympic Games or is this a mere blip on the radar screen and major handball titles will revert to ping-ponging back forth amongst the European Powers?

Recent history: Below is the recent order of top 3 finishes for the major Handball competitions: European Championships, World Championships and Olympics

2004 Olympics: Croatia, Germany, Russia
2005 WC: Spain, Croatia, France
2006 EC: France, Spain, Denmark
2007 WC: Germany, Poland, Denmark
2008 EC: Denmark, Croatia, France
2008 Olympics: France, Iceland, Spain
2009 WC: France, Croatia, Denmark

Can they continue the string with a European Championship next year and beyond or will they drop down a few notches to the parity that has been the norm in recent years? Frog Lover (FL) and Frog Hater (FH) take up the debate:

FL: Bien sur. We have the best players in the world and therefore the best team! Who else could beat Croatia in Croatia? Karabatic at Center Back, Ohmeyer in the goal, Dinart on defense. Not to mention Abalo and Guigou at the wings and Narcisse with his athleticism. My goodness it’s not even fair to have so many good players from the same country.

FH: Vraiment? I notice you didn’t brag about your Right Back or Circle Runner? Yeah, Jerome Fernandez is world class, but he’s a righty and you Frogs don’t have any lefties to properly play that position. Sooner or later that’s going cost you. Also, Cedric Sorhaindo was barely adequate at Circle in the absence of Bertrand Gille at the WC in Croatia. You really could have used Gille at Circle.

FL: Uh, hello? We still won in Croatia. And isn’t it wonderful that we can still win while missing a top player like Gille (in Croatia) and Fernandez (in Beijing) with his broken wrist. It’s called depth and boy do we have it. What other nation can lose a major cog in the wheel and still win a major title without missing a beat?

FH: All true now, but you frogs won’t stay young forever. I say again, Fernandez is playing out of position and he’ll be a little creaky at age 35 when London rolls around in 2012. Dinart will also be 35. The Gille brothers will be 34 (Bertrand) and 36 (Guillame) Nobody is on the horizon to backfill those positions. Those players are already past their prime and there old bodies will be struggling under the weight of all those games 3.5 years from now.

FL: Ha. Ha. I notice you didn’t mention Karabatic and Abalo as being creaky old men in London. They’re 24 now and will be 28 and 27, resepectively in London. That’s right, they will be in their prime and Narcisse will still be in relatively good shape at 32. Not to mention, the fact that Karabatic’s performance was somewhat ordinary in Beijing and Croatia. Surely, you don’t think that will continue for all the championships coming up in the next 3 years. And we’ll let our old timers take some strategic breaks. Perhaps we’ll let Fernandez take off the EC next year in Austria, but make sure Bertand Gille’s back playing. We’ll just rotate our old guys until 2012. Besides, 35 is old for a Handball player, but it’s not ancient. Judicious use of playing time, plus a few up and comers and we’ll be fine.

FH: So, who are those up and comers? You’ve got some good backcourts now, but nobody on par with Narcisse, Karabatic, Gille and Fernandez. Even in Croatia, you had to call back Joel Abati (38 years old) to fill in the gap.

FL: Well, give us a couple of years to find someone. Also, my friend, expect even more from Abalo in the coming years. He’s too much of a talent to keep hidden on the wing for an entire game. Every time he comes round to the backcourt area he creates havoc for the defense. Something tells me it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing him play a little right back or maybe even center back.

FH: Ha. Ha. My turn to laugh. He’s too small and slight of build to play back court. Guys like Roggisch will eat him for lunch.

FL: I didn’t say he will play there full time. I’m just saying he will play there some to mix it up. Guys like Roggisch can’t stay in front of him. They’ll get their two minute penalty and then we Frogs we’ll play 6 on 5. Try covering him then.

FH: We are digressing. The real issue here is that you guys are, you know, French. It doesn’t matter if you have the best players. Some way, some how, you guys will find a way to lose. Not to mention, there is the traditional European way of equality. We’ll see to it that you guys are knocked down a peg.

FL: Perhaps. We will see. I will say this though. Who’s going to beat us? You can have this same basic discussion with every team in Europe. The same basic discussion, except that every other national team has a lot more flaws than we do.

FH: Touche! I don’t have an answer for that. Except to say every story needs a villain. Handball now has one. If France isn’t the team everyone was rooting against before, they certainly are now.

While the World Championships is Handball‘s premier event, there’s a lot to be said for the quality and level of play in the European Champions League as well. Most of the same top players are featured in this competition and if Ciudad Real or Kiel were a country, I would have to like their odds of making the final.

With the first round of the competition over there are a lot fewer pretenders left. The new format this year with the top 16 teams playing in four groups of four also means that there will be some pivotal matches in the next 4 weeks. Some clubs are in the hole, based on the two matches they took with them from the first round, but every club still controls their own destiny.

One matchup this weekend brings back memories of what has to be the most compelling match I’ve ever seen. I am, of course talking about Montpellier’s miraculous 32-19 loss versus Flensburg back in 2005. No, there’s no typo in that last sentence. Having beaten Flensburg 36-22 a week earlier in France, Montpellier saw a determined Flensburg team slowly peck away at their 14 goal lead on the return leg to take over on aggregate in the 59th minute.

Montpellier had one last chance to cut the lead to 13. You have to ask yourself, how does the shortest player on the court, a lefty no less from the left hand side, score this goal?

Video: Gregory Anquetil last second 9 meter throw vs. Flensburg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxwlwul4G70

Also, subject to EHFtv video availability and my own schedule I will call either the Zagreb – Chambery or the Montpellier – Flensburg match. If you wait for the on demand video to become available at EHFtv.com www.ehftv.com you can even watch/listen without knowing the final score.

[b]An [u]Odd[/u] Coincidence[/b]

If you have ever lived in the United States then you already know that the Super Bowl (the Championship of American Football’s professional league) is the most over-hyped sporting event in the world. For two weeks the entire U.S. media market is saturated with so many stories on the Super Bowl that it becomes mind numbing. The actual event is watched by so many Americans that companies pay 3 million dollars for 30 second commercial spots.

As one of the few Americans who follows Handball, I’ve always though it somewhat amusing that in recent years Handball’s World Championships Final shared the same date on the calendar. And living in Europe, I was also one of the few Americans that could partake in both events, even if I time shifted the Super Bowl to Monday night. And yes even the Super Bowl, finds it way into European homes. Nothing more annoyed the French two years ago then the fact that they could watch the Super Bowl on free, over the air television (albeit at 12:15 in the morning), but they could only watch the Handball final on cable or satellite. (fortunately rectified this year, since France played in the final)

This year, with ESPN360 and Handballworldcup.tv a few more Americans also took part in the daily double of two championship games. Both of these were internet options, but perhaps the ESPN 360 exposure will lead to an ESPN broadcast. With an 11:30 AM start time the championship final would be a nice diversion before the pregame shows, which start several hours before the game.

[b]An [u]Odds[/u] Coincidence[/b]

As a Las Vegas resident, I was also amused at a strange “odds” coincidence. As most sporting fans know the Super Bowl is the number one betting event in the U.S. And you can bet on more than just the game. You can bet on a number of “proposition” bets. One of the more common bets is the “over/under” or total points scored in the game. For the Super Bowl this number was 46.5, which by a strange quirk of fate was the total score over/under being offered by online sports books for the France-Croatia match.

This coincidence got me thinking about the bizarre multi sport proposition bets offered in Vegas, that allow punters to bet on whether Dwight Howard will have more rebounds in an NBA game then the Steelers and the Cardinals will score in the first quarter. And it got me thinking that maybe some day, just maybe I’ll go to my sports book on Super Sunday some day in the future, look up on the big board and see a prop bet for Daniel Narcisse goals vs. Larry Fitzgerald receptions. Trust me, if we ever see that we’ll know that Handball has hit the big time in the U.S.

Article on Super Bowl prop bets: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28916244/

Going into the tournament France and Croatia were the heavy favorites. With only a few hiccups they’ve marched towards destiny and a final game full of anticipation. Both sides had easy wins in their semifinal matches and should be well rested. France dispatched Denmark without defensive standout Didier Dinart, but he is expected to play in the Final. They’ll need him and his strength to handle Croatian circle runner Igor Vori, who is having an outstanding tournament. Croatia has rested Ivano Balic throughout the tournament, but expect him to play more in this final than he has all tournament

So who’s going to win? Well man for man, I give the edge to France. If I had both sides in which to fill out one roster it would have 5 French starters: Guigou and Abalo at wing; Karabatic and Narcisse in the backcourt and Ohmeyer in goal. Croatia would add Vori at Circle Runner and Metlicic at right back. And, of course, I would have Dinart subbing in on defense. But, this match is being played in Zagreb, so these personnel shortcomings are offset by a loud and raucous crowd.

The bookies have called this game a pick em, with neither side favored. I’m going to give the edge, however, to France. They lost a close semifinal game to Germany two years ago in which the home crowd and some friendly officiating resulted in a narrow loss. They know, or they should know, that they will need their “A” Game to overcome the intangibles of playing a very good team in their home country. I think they will get an early lead and keep Croatia at arms length for the rest of the match.

If and when that happens the next discussion will be about whether we are seeing the beginnings of a dynasty taking shape.

1) What’s the significance of Croatia’s 22-19 victory over France. With both teams already qualified and resting key players the match was the equivalent of a “friendly”. One would be wise not to make too much of it. Still, a win is a win and Croatia’s win means that they will have a slightly easier opponent (Poland, instead of Denmark) in the semifinals.

2) Is it better preparation for the semifinals to play tough “win or go home“ matches or easy matches? France and Croatia had a relatively easy time of it in their main round group. Group II, however was a dogfight, with almost every match closely contested. Poland carried 0 points into the main round and needed 3 victories in 3 matches to have any chance of advancing. They did just that with convincing victories over Denmark and Serbia before squeaking out a victory in the waning seconds against Norway. Essentially, they’ve won 3 straight “elimination matches” while Croatia has been on cruise control since an opening match scare against South Korea. So, the answer to the question? It depends. In Poland’s case it’s probably helped their psyche some, but it can also be emotionally draining. For France and Croatia, it’s been a tremendous opportunity to rest their players, something both sides needed. All in all, at this level, I’d say the players will be ready for the semifinals regardless of how they got there. Being well rested is a good thing.

3) Has Didier Dinart fully recovered from his thigh injury? In Saturday’s match against Sweden, Dinart came up limp with a thigh (perhaps hamstring?) injury. He exercised on Thursday and will play in Friday’s semifinal, but whether he’s 100% or not remains to be seen.

4) What exactly is so special about Dinart anyway? Dinart’s name doesn’t show up in the score line much, but he is clearly the key to France’s excellent 5-1 defense. In the 5-1 defense Dinart plays the “3” or middle position along the 6 meter line. What make’s Dinart so effective is his ability to tie up the offensive circle runner player and at the same time step up quickly to defuse breakthrough situations and jump shots at 9 meters.

Playing the 5-1 defense helps disrupt the backcourt players and get them out of their rhythm for their jump shots, but it’s a tradeoff, in that the 5-1 is more susceptible to offensive breakthroughs. It’s all a matter of the amount of court space that you have to cover. With a 6-0 defense, 6 players are covering the arc, so the distance around the arc is split 6 ways. With a 5-1, 5 players cover the arc, so each player is responsible for a little more space on either side of him. That extra foot or two may not seem like much, but as a former defensive specialist myself, I know firsthand that just a little more quickness (or a little less ground to cover) makes all the difference when you’re guarding 1 on 1 or helping out a teammate. Dinart has that quickness and his ability to cover so much ground in the center makes it almost seem sometimes as if France is playing a 6-1 defense instead of a 5-1. If Dinart is full strength look for France to advance. But if he isn’t, Denmark’s chance are as good as France’s are.

5) Who will win? I’m banking on a France – Croatia final this Sunday. The sports books are as well. Croatia is a 4 goal favorite over Poland, while France is a 2.5 goal favorite over Denmark.