I have known Andrzej Krasnicki, the President of the Polish Handball Federation, for a number of years now. It was always a pleasure to encounter him at different IHF events, and he is one of those persons whom you can trust to remain steady and pleasant regardless of the fortunes of the Polish team and the events of a particular match. It was therefore especially nice to have the opportunity for a brief conversation with him after the Germany-Poland game.

Some of you may be aware that for a while Krasnicki was a candidate for the 1st Vice President position in the IHF prior to the 2009 Congress. However, as he diplomatically noted, in the end he preferred to stay out of the politics at that level. Quite suddenly, and in the most devastating of circumstances, however, he found himself elevated to the position of Interim President of the Polish Olympic Committee earlier this year.

On April 10, an airplane with the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and a large number of Polish civilian and military dignitaries crashed in the approach for landing at the airport of Smolensk. The President of the Polish Olympic Committee, Piotr Nurowski, was among those on board. As the Vice President, Krasnicki automatically assumed the position of President for the remainder of the mandate period until 2013. However, as he has indicated, he will withdraw voluntarily from that position later this year. “He prefers to concentrate on his dear handball”, was his explanation.

Krasnicki, like most of his colleagues in the Federation look ahead to the World Championship in Sweden with a good deal of confidence. He felt it should be possible to repeat the good performances of recent years. When asked about the women’s national team, Krasnicki admitted that there has been a period of unusual decline for some years now. He feels, however, that the recent hiring of a new, energetic coach will bring about an upwards trend.

When Chicago now goes back to normal, after 'the battle has been fought', what remains as a lasting impact? This question has to be answered from several different vantage points, and most of the results will only be seen over the longer term.

Taking first the Polish perspective, I could not help getting the impression that for the Polish team it was mostly a matter of doing its duty in participating in a PR spectacle with a strong Polish connection locally. There have been comments in the media from both the coach and the team captain that 'the timing was all wrong' and that 'the game did not seem to have much impact'. I think that reflects more how the team itself regarded the whole enterprise. I did not attend any training sessions, but I watched the game where the Polish team seemed to run out of energy and enthusiasm after about 20 minutes. It seemed to be more of a necessary response to the enthusiastic crowd support when the Polish team began to reduce the deficit to a more respectable final result, after the German team got a bit sloppy towards the end. And the only show of real enthusiasm came AFTER the game, when the Polish players took the time to reward their supporters by chatting, writing autographs and joining the festive spirit around the court. The Polish team would be a welcome participant on future occasions, but one hopes they will then see it as a more positive opportunity.

The Germans seemed more able to combine 'business and pleasure'. For being a group of mostly experienced international players, they clearly enjoyed Chicago as the setting for a 'training camp', but the impression was also that they, and most definitely their coach Heiner Brand, knew that this was an important first opportunity for team building and serious preparations for the World Championships six months from now. With all the club duties during a hectic season, there are not many solid opportunities for the national team to get together, probably not until early January just before the World Championship gets underway. And, as Heiner Brand confirmed, apart from the handful of players who were missing in Chicago but are already well-established in the squad, it will not be realistic to integrate any newcomers into the team between now and January. Perhaps, as discussed in recent weeks, the 'unlucky' draw for the World Championship also serves as motivation… In any case, the German team seemed determined to make the best use of the overall experience and they certainly did their part in the PR efforts.

But clearly the event was primarily intended as a very special opportunity for USA Team Handball, in its efforts to create awareness and interest among potential players, spectators, media representatives and sponsors. Although the Chicago news media did not exactly interrupt their focus on baseball, basketball, football, and the continuing celebrations of the Stanley Cup, the ability to get almost nationwide TV coverage through Comcast was extremely significant. (I have already heard favorable comments in my local Washington D.C, area). But now the momentum has to be maintained, which means that the occasional big events in the U.S. will not provide a sufficient basis. Agreements under which top games from, for instance, Germany and Spain, are broadcast on a regular basis would be the key, and the federation is fully aware of that.

Another important aspect was that the Federation demonstrated its capacity to put on a big event successfully. This is of course something totally different from putting on a much more 'obscure and internal' event such as the National Championships. Now both the participants and experienced observers were able to conclude that this was a very promising start if one wants to look ahead to repeat events in the future, both in other locations and possibly in an expanded format. Such endeavors are much more demanding in terms of planning, management and execution than most casual observers will appreciate, and my long experience with both IHF events and with USA Handball enables me to say that a lot of credit should go to both Dieter Esch and his colleagues at the top level and to Steve Pastorino as the General Manager in charge of his team. If one wants to attract strong partners (teams, local organizers and sponsors) for future occasions, it is critical to be able to demonstrate this competence.

Finally, while the Federation is rightly emphasizing much more strongly than has been the case in the past, the need for solid grassroots efforts and a youth movement with targeted locations and programs, it is also necessary to demonstrate to both the existing top players and potential future Olympians that the national team level is not ignored. The level of competitiveness may not make a U.S national team a PR weapon at this time, but the time to begin nurturing a squad with focus on 2016 is now, not in 2014-15, and the candidates need to sense that. So this is why top events such as the 'Battle of Chicago' have a demonstration effect, but it is just as important, as the case was now through the USA-L.A. matchup, to offer an opportunity for the top U.S. players to share the limelight and begin to have a sense for what the 'big leagues' are all about. Congratulations, USA Team Handball!

Having access to German and Polish federation representatives and coaching staff provided an opportunity to gauge the reactions to the draw. Prior to the draw, both teams had preferred to be very diplomatic. Now there are no attempts to hide a delight on the Polish side. Nobody really wanted to comment on Sweden as an opponent, whereas there was great optimism in relation to Slovakia. Korea is known to be a 'dark horse' on the men's side, but it seemed that nobody was too scared. And above all, there seemed to be particular safisfaction about having TWO relatively weak teams in their group. What will Argentina think about that?

On the German side, the reaction was more stoic. Being drawn into the group that others describe as the 'group of death' was not seen as a cause for panic. There were even comments to the effect that it might be positive during the preparations to know that they are in for a really tough test and furthermore against well-known opponents. I got the sense that Egypt was not seen so much as a worry, and that Tunisia by tradition might be more inclined to cause trouble for Spain and especially France. But of course there is a concern that qualifying for the next round is not really good enough; there is a need for taking a few points from France or Spain in order to have good chance for the medal round.

While we here in the U.S. are caught up in the euphoria surrounding the ‘Battle of Chicago’ and the live TV broadcasts from the Germany-Poland game, there are of course things going on in handball in Europe also in the middle of summer.

One of my recurring topics last year was [b]Gunnar Prokop and HYPO[/b], regrettably mostly for negative reasons. Now it seemed that the only commotion surrounding Prokop was going to be his recent 70th birthday… And any notion that there would be a separation between Prokop and HYPO seemed like a ridiculous one. But that’s where we now suddenly are. Prokop is gone, and true to his character he did not go quietly and happily, something that one might have wished him after all his years of enormous efforts for women’s handball and HYPO.

I do not claim to know the inside story, but Prokop always seemed obsessed with success, personally and for his team. And he knew that success in the Champions League does not come without an all-star team these days. So when he found that he had formally signed up four top players but that at least a majority of the club board vetoed this acquisition, presumably for financial reasons, then this was too much for Prokop. He felt that both he and the players had been treated in a disgraceful way. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/generelle/prokop-hypo-er-doed-og-jeg-har-tabt-ansigt

The players (Gitte Aaen, Carmen Amariei, Kristine Lunde-Borgersen and Mette Meldgaard) are fortunately sought after due to their star caliber, despite the fact that most top teams had finalized their building for the coming season. Nevertheless, the players are obviously upset and want to take legal action. However, here they were surprised to find that the EHF had to refer them to civil court, as the signed contracts had never been taken to the point of being ratified by the EHF. The Danish Federation raises strong concerns about the fact that such procedural details could leave the players without protection. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/internationalt/kritik-af-ehf-regler

The [b]transfer market for the top women’s clubs in Denmark [/b]has been more turbulent than ever in recent months. The main cause seems to be that, while some clubs seem to be doing quite well, economic realities have forced some others to make tough choices and cut back, something that has forced an exodus of a number of strong players. For instance, a good number of Swedish players are now returning to clubs in their home country, something that should at least contribute to an immediate strengthening of the Swedish league,

In the third Scandinavian country, Norway, there is also [b]some controversy. Larvik[/b], a club with high ambitions and strong resources, yet again failed its goal to win the Champions League. So the club that is already loaded with international stars is now further upgrading. The latest acquisition seems to be the famous goalkeeper, Cecilie Leganger, who will be competing with Danish national team goalie Lena Rantala. Understandably, other Norwegian clubs are concerned about this ‘hoarding’ of stars, arguing that it will ruin the Norwegian league and make it uninteresting. Of course, the response from Larvik is simply that ‘business is business’ and they will do what it takes to reach their goal. It is then up to the other clubs to obtain the necessary resources and players to become competitive, instead of complaining. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/norge-posten-ligaen-kvinder/byaasen-vi-maa-goere-som-larvik

Who knows, perhaps a continuing polarization among the super-rich and the not so wealthy clubs will eventually pave the way for what is openly being advocated at this time by Ciudad Real’s wealthy president and sponsor, namely [b]‘the introduction of an NBA style handball league in Europe’[/b]. The timing of this unilateral statement may be a bit surprising, coming so soon after the highly touted forming of a Forum for European top handball clubs and for the collaboration between clubs and the EHF. One might have thought that a pronouncement about a European league would come only after careful considerations through these formal channels. Could we even envisage a situation where both men’s and women’s clubs are moving in this direction? http://www.groupclubhandball.com/?p=904

Finally, there was a somewhat anticlimactic verdict from the EHF’s Court of Arbitration, on[b] the appeal from the German top referees Lemme/Ullrich [/b]regarding their suspension by the EHF. Both parties may have hoped for a final resolution in a more substantive way, either clearing the referees or bringing out the names of other guilty parties into daylight. However, the case was brought to an end on pure formalities. The ECA concluded that the EHF had started its proceedings against the referees too late in relation to the time of the debated game, under the EHF rules in effect at the time. This is somewhat ironic, as the EHF in the meantime has changed its regulations precisely to avoid that such important cases will be become time-barred, especially as it is not unusual that suspicions or evidence may only come up long after the event. So the only ‘winner’ at this point is the German federation that will now get its money back for the protest fee they had paid on behalf of the referees. http://www.eurohandball.com/article/13244 http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=26459

And now on to CHICAGO!!

Of course, we will have many months to speculate about the possible outcome of the men's World Championship in January. But it has been interesting to following the reactions to the draw in some of the top countries. Some strong reactions were inevitable. Some of the top coaches had been interviewed in advance and, for tactical reasons, they preferred to downplay the importance of the draw. But now when the results are known, it is impossible to conceal some reactions. The Nordic countries and the top Balkan countries will perhaps disagree, but it is hard to deny that France (2009 World Champions), Germany (2007 Champions), and Spain (2005 Champions) must be counted among the absolute favorites in every Championship. It was known that these three teams were seeded in the first, third and second category respectively, but the chance that the three would be drawn into the same group was only 1 in 16; nevertheless, this is exactly what happened!

To make things worse, if one wanted to add a combination of 4th and 5th seeded teams to this group, it is hard to imagine a more difficult one than Tunisia and Egypt. These are always tough and demanding opponents also for the very best teams. One can imagine that the face of the IHF President gradually started to take on a more and more horrified look for every team that was added to Egypt's group. And I do not envy the task of my old colleagues in the Rules & Refereeing Commission who will have to figure out the best referee nominations for the matches in this group. I still remember, with some pain, the difficulties in 2007, when precisely France, Germany and Spain ended up on the same half in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Well, there will surely be time for further speculation as it gets closer, but one could already now state that it would no longer be a world sensation if one of the three most recent champions failed to go beyond the preliminary round!

On the same half as this 'group of death' is a group headed by Iceland. This group is likely to have many close and interesting battles, with teams such as Norway, Austria and Hungary. These teams must sense that it is not good enough to advance; surely they need to bring a few points with them before the encounter the top teams from the neighboring group. If not, the chances for medals are likely to be remote.. Brazil and Japan are good enough to cause a surprise in some match, but will they really be strong enough to advance? Perhaps this will be Brazil's best chance in a long while to move closer to the top.

Sweden will not be the only home team in the preliminary round. While Denmark might grumble about having to face not just Croatia but also the always dangerours Serbs and the now again emerging Romanians. surely they must be pleased with an arrangement that allows them to count of thousands and thousands of loud Danish supporters in every game. (In fact, this may carry over and become a real battle in the main round in a potential game against Sweden in Malmo). The Malmo Arena holds about 12.500 spectators. I just wonder how many of those tickets that the Danes will be able to get hold of… And they will have some competition, because there are many Croats and Serbs among the local immigrants in southern Sweden, and these countries also tend to have busloads of faithful supporters making the trip to every major championship. Let us hope it will not occur to them to bring vuvuzelas… The Algerians may be good enough to cause some occasional upset, but their chances of advancing do not look too good.

Chile will be able to count on some spectator support in their first appearance in a men's championship. They have many ex-compatriots living for decades in Sweden, but it is not probable that it will help a lot. Argentina will be somewhat more likely to create difficulties for some opponent. As always, it is hard to predict just how strong the Korean men's team will turn out to be; they are not quite as reliable as their female counterparts. Similarly, Slovakia is a relative newcomer at this level but should not be underestimated. Nevertheless, Sweden and Poland must be seen as the favorites in this group and, without offendng anyone, it was not surprising that the Swedes chose this group considering the alternatives.

John Ryan and I will be back in due course with our more specific predictions. And perhaps we will find a way to have our readers brought into a competition with us. Be prepared!

Here is a link to the page from the official World Championship web site that provides the detailed match schedule for the preliminary round: http://www.handball2011.com/news