European Playoffs for 2009 World Championships: Controversy in Sarajevo

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This past weekend saw the return leg matches for Europe’s 7 remaining spots for the 2009 World Championships that will take place in Croatia next January. 6 of those 7 tickets have been punched, but the winner of the Hungary – Bosnia & Herzegovina play will have to await a ruling from the EHF. At the outset of the two game playoff Hungary was a strong favorite to beat Bosnia, which despite it’s handball pedigree as a member of the former Yugoslavia is still a struggling nation state trying to shake off the conflicts of the 1990’s. But in the first match, Hungary only managed a two goal ,27-25 victory at home, rightly giving Bosnia reason to be optimistic for the return leg in front of a boisterous crowd in Sarajevo.

The second leg, however, did not go the Bosnian’s way as visiting Hungary took an 18-12 lead at halftime. In the second half, Bosnia staged a comeback, cutting the lead to 27-24 with 12 minutes to play. At that point in the match a Bosnian player was called for a charge on the left wing. As he tried to slip between two defenders, one of the Hungarian defenders clearly took the brunt of the charge, while the other defender tried to stop the Bosnian’s upper torso. The result was the Bosnian taking a pretty good fall, even though, at least in this viewer’s opinion, the charge was still the proper call.

Needless to say the Bosnian fans didn’t like it and when a Bosnian player was called for 2 minutes shortly thereafter the fans started to throw debris onto the court. The youtube video shows some of the on court discussion which resulted in the Hungarian team leaving the court, the Bosnian coach addressing the crowd and the Swedish EHF delegate trying to talk to the crowd in English. Best I can tell from the video the crowd continues to throw items and he makes an on the spot decision that “the game is closed.”

Youtube video #1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lGrZtmBzHA
Youtube video #2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RybgJ6cLijo
Youtube video #3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dCDWyRWxHN0

The EHF has indicated on its website that the “case and its consequences are currently being dealt with by the EHF Disciplinary bodies.” http://www.eurohandball.com/inc/print.asp?oid=11570 The handball forums are buzzing with all sorts of conspiracy theories and complaints about the officiating by the pair from Iceland. Bosnia is protesting the match on the grounds that the Hungarian team should have returned to the court and that the EHF delegate could have done more to restart the match. Throwing aside the officiating, it’s likely that the EHF will rule in favor of Hungary as Bosnia would have had to win by 3 goals to win the playoff on aggregate. While it’s in the realm of possibility that Bosnian could have made up the 6 goal deficit it would have been unlikely.

In other matches, Macedonia lost by only 6 goals, 30-24 in Reykjavik, to beat Iceland by an overall aggregate of two goals. This puts Iceland in the unique situation of qualifying for the 12 team Olympic field, but failing to qualify for the 24 team World Championship field. Also joining Macedonia will be fellow former Yugoslavia Republic, Serbia, which tied the Czech Republic on overall aggregate, but squeaks in due to the more away goals tiebreaker. Not so fortunate are Montenegro and Slovenia which each lost by 1 goal on aggregate against Romania and Slovakia respectively. Also qualifying are Poland, Russia, Norway and Spain.

Complete results: http://home.eurohandball.com/report.asp?bid=260&rnr=2&pha=1026

Editor’s Note: If anyone want to chime in with what the Bosnian announcers and the players are saying in their post game interviews (video 3) please do so.

Interviews with USA Team Handball's New Management

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The new USA Team Handball Federation has completed day 1 of its inaugural handball summit in St Louis. A wide range of issues to include the new federation's structure, grass roots development and National Team programs were discussed. Chairman, Dieter Esch, and General Manager, Steve Pastorino, introduce themselves and share their initial thoughts on Team Handball and day 1 of the summit.

Dieter Esch: https://teamhandballnews.com/request42.html (4:17)

Steve Pastorino: https://teamhandballnews.com/request43.html (7:15)

(left click to play; right click to download)

Team Canada Tours in France in Preparation for Pan American Championships

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Team Canada has been touring in France in preparation for the Men's Pan American Championships in Brazil (24-28 June). They based out of Saintes (France Div II) where National Team Member Alexis Bertand plays. Additionally, they played a tournament in Bordeaux. For more information check out the Canadian National Team Site http://www.canadianhandball.com/ and a player blog site: http://www.teamhandball.ab.ca/league.php?scriptName=LEAGUEINFO&leagueID=12092&leagueInfoID=55784

Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Final Results

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[b]Tunisia scares Spain; Iceland again denies Sweden[/b]

[b]Spain 29 – Tunisia 28[/b]
Spain lead most of the game, but could never put Tunisia out of striking distance. With Iker Romero scoring to make the score 25-22 with 13 minutes left to play it appeared that perhaps Spain had given themselves some breathing space. Tunisia then behind some strong goalie play, however went on a 5-1 run to take a 27-26 lead with four minutes to play. Spain, then took control behind some big stops by Hombrados in goal to squeak out a 29-28 victory.

[b]Iceland 29 – Sweden 25[/b]
Iceland and Sweden battled to a 13-13 tie at halftime, but Iceland controlled the 2nd half through smart and determined play by veterans Stefansson and Sigurdsson, who had 6 and 5 goals, respectively. A dejected Swedish side could only sit in frustration on the sidelines as Iceland once again denied them the opportunity to play on the World Stage. (Iceland also knocked out Sweden during 2007 World Championship qualification)

[b]Poland 28 – Argentina 26[/b]
Hats off to Argentina for making host Poland sweat a little during this match. The score was 13-11 at halftime, but Poland took control in the 2nd half leading by as many as 7 goals. Argentina only closed the gap at the end of the match after the outcome was settled. Still this was not a throw away game for Poland as a loss would have resulted in a 3rd place finish for the home side as Sweden would have taken 2nd on Goal Differential. Although the outcome was never in question, the Poles undoubtedly would have preferred (and were probably expecting) to cruise to a 10 goal victory.

The 12 Nations Participating in the Olympics are

Germany (World Champion)
China (Host)
Denmark (European Champion)
Egypt (African Champion)
Brazil (Pan American Champion)
South Korea (Asian Champion)

Poland, Iceland, France, Spain, Croatia and Russia (Olympic Qualifying Tournaments)

[b]Commentary on the Seeding Format: [/b] As I’ve pointed out on numerous occasions the IHF, really needs to review the seeding for these tournaments. As the results in Zadar clearly show, placing 4th or 5th resulted in a lot better draw than finishing 2nd or 3rd. Poland and France both had tough matches, while there never was any doubt that Croatia and Russia would advance. It would make much more sense to tier the teams into four pots rather than automatically assigning them to tournaments.

Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Two Showdowns for Olympic Berths

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France, Poland and Croatia have all qualified for the Olympics, but 2nd place is still undecided in all 3 tournaments. In tournament 1, Sweden and Iceland will battle it out. Sweden only needs a draw to advance and Iceland must win. In tournament 2, the Tunisia – Spain match will likely decide 2nd. If Spain wins or draws they will qualify for Beijing. If Tunisia wins they will qualify if France draws or beats Norway. A Norwegian victory on the other hand would likely qualify Norway as they would probably have a better overall goal differential. Finally, the Japan – Russia match is technically a showdown as well. If the Japanese indeed pull off the monster upset they will head to Beijing and send the Russians home.

[b]Commentary on the video streaming:[/b] If you’re thinking that the video quality just isn’t worth your time, you might want to reconsider and check it out. I’ve certainly complained in the past about the quality of the video streaming made available by the IHF, but this time around I‘ve only got some minor complaints. I watched the France – Spain and Poland – Iceland matches and it was a decent viewing experience. Particularly, the Paris match which appeared to have a higher bit rate than the match from Wroclaw. Additionally, most of the matches are available on demand and thankfully the final scores are not placed on the video access page. A simple thing, but it was great to watch both matches without knowing the final score for once. My only complaint was that the Tunisia – Norway match was not available as due to a glitch it was linked to the France – Spain game by mistake.

Men’s Pan American Championship Group Draw

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The Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) drew the 8 nations participating into two separate groups today. The resulting groups are:

Group A (Argentina, Greenland, Chile, Canada)
Group B (Brazil, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Cuba)

Notes:
– The pairings on each rung of the ladder were 1) Brazil, Argentina; 2) Greenland, Dominican Republic; 3) Chile, Uruguay; 4) Canada, Cuba Apparently, the Dominican Republic, simply took the USA spot in the draw. The USA had placed 4th at the 2006 championship and hence was seeded in the 2nd group. The Dominican Republic had qualified for the tournament as the 3rd place team from the Division 1 Championship and probably should have been seeded in the 4th group. Granted every team simply has to win their matches, but more thought could have gone into the seeding and draw.
– The top 3 teams will qualify for the 2009 World Championships in Croatia. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals, so those 3 spots will come from those 4 teams. Argentina and Brazil are the odds on favorites to play in the Gold Medal match. Cuba, which played well at the Pan Am Games will be the odds on favorite to advance from Group B. Group A should have an interesting fight for the 2nd spot between Greenland, Chile and Canada.
– Argentina’s veteran National Team player, Eric Gull has returned to the National Team after an extended absence. Gull, along with fellow Spanish League professional Andres Kogovsek played in Argentina’s loss to Iceland in Olympic Qualifier play in Croatia. Gull’s return is likely linked to Argentina’s selection of new National Team coach, Eduardo Gallardo. Gallardo previously coached Argentina’s top club team, River Plate as well as Argentina’s Youth Team which placed 4th at last year’s World Championship. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.367 According to Ruben Gomez, a former Argentine IHF Official and owner of the Mexico Forum website http://handball.mforos.com/ , Argentina has sent a youngish team to the qualifiers with an eye towards 2012. 4 players are over 30, but most of the rest are in their early 20’s.

Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (Free Live Video Streaming)

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The International Handball Federation is offering free live streaming of all 3 Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments this Fri-Sat. The top 2 finishers in each tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

Link to matches: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcatart=1435

Note: Make sure you double check your calculations in figuring out what time each match will be played in your time zone. Local times are listed first, US East Coast is in parentheses. If the service is like the Women’s tournaments you will need to watch the games live as no tape delay was offered. Still, the time change isn’t too bad for North America and if your office hasn’t fire walled out video you should be able to enjoy lunch and live handball at your desk on Friday.

[b]Tournament 1 (Wroclaw, Poland) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
18:00 ISL – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – SWE (14:15)

Saturday, 31 May
18:00 SWE – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – ISL (14:15)

Sunday, 1 June
18:15 SWE – ISL (12:15) ** (projected battle for 2nd place)
20:30 ARG – POL (14:30)

[b]Analysis: [/b]Host Poland is the big favorite here, but will do well to beat a resurgent Sweden in their first match. Assuming Poland wins out it will set up a huge Nordic Country show down on Sunday. Sweden beat Iceland 24-19 in January at the European Championships and will be favored to do so again. The Swedes, however, will be wary as they remember Iceland beating them in Sweden 32-28 in June 2006 as part of 2007 World Championship qualification. Sweden was able to win the 2nd match in Iceland. As they only won by 1 goal, though, Iceland won the 2 game aggregate and kept Sweden from participating in the 2007 World Championships.

[b]Tournament 2 (Paris, France) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
19:30 FRA – TUN (13:30)
21:30 ESP – NOR (15:30)

Saturday, 31 May
17:00 FRA – ESP (11:00)
19:30 TUN – NOR (13:30)

Sunday, 1 June
14:30 TUN – ESP (8:30)
16:30 NOR – FRA (10:30)

[b]Analysis:[/b] France and Spain are the big favorites here, but don’t discount a potential Tunisian surprise. Many of their top players play professionally in France and there is a significant Tunisian population living in the country. Tunisia has also played in the Bercy tournament several times as well, so they will be very comfortable playing in that arena. Sunday’s, Tunisia – Spain match up could very well be for 2nd place. If Tunisia hangs tough at the start of the match, the crowd will get behind them and it will look and sound like the match is being played in Tunis, not Paris.

[b]Tournament 3 (Zadar, Croatia) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
15.30 RUS – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – JPN (11:30)

Saturday, 31 May
15.30 JPN – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – RUS (11:30)

Sunday, 1 June
15.30 JPN – RUS (09:30)
17:30 CRO – ALG (11:30)

[b]Analysis: [/b] Go ahead and pencil in Russia and Croatia to qualify. Heck, you don't need to use a pencil- use a pen. It would be an epic upset if either Algeria or Japan were able to knock off those two sides.

USA Team Handball Summit Invitation.

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[center][b][color=#ff0000]ADVERTISEMENT[/color][/b]

[link=/docs/Invite.pdf] [img]/docs/Invitea.jpg[/img] [/link]

[b]Dear Handball Friends,
Mr. Dieter Esch, President, USA Team Handball, invites you to attend the inaugural
Team Handball ”THE FUTURE IS NOW” Summit, to be hosted in St. Louis, MO., June 13-15.
The Summit will be a meeting of the US handball community. It will address the future
direction of the sport. The Summit is open to everyone; from club representatives,
coaches, referees and players, to friends of the sport interested in the challenges ahead.
President Esch requests that if there are any issues that you would like to discuss, to
please forward them to [link=mailto:amirhaskic@gmail.com]Amir Haskic[/link].
Additionally, please RSVP to [link=mailto:amirhaskic@gmail.com]Amir Haskic[/link] as well.
Plan to arrive in St. Louis by 4:00 PM on Friday, June 13.
Plan to depart after 2:00 PM on Sunday, June 15.
Summit details will be forwarded shortly, including hotel information and Summit agenda.
Make your flight reservations ASAP!
See you in St. Louis![/b]

[b][color=#ff0000]ADVERTISEMENT[/color][/b][/center]

2,908 Goals: The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of German Handball Heads Home and a Marketing Opportunity is Squandered

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Well, it was back at the 1993 World Championships when I had my first opportunity to see Kyung-Shin Yoon play. And it was an up close and personal opportunity as Team USA battled South Korea for 15th place and an opportunity to avoid the “wooden spoon” (i.e. last place). We did our part to keep the USA’s unblemished record of World Championship futility alive, losing 35-28. After the match, I remember telling my teammates, “That young guy Yoon’s quite a player. You know wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he gets a contract from some Bundesliga club soon. Heck, I’ll go further; barring injury by the time he’s done playing he’ll be the all time scoring leader in Bundesliga history.”

In truth, I don’t remember much of anything from that match other than the annoying little sing song chant the Koreans did on defense after they had scored a goal. But I do remember, thinking, “hey that guy’s pretty tall for a Korean” and surely that was the 19 year old Yoon on his way to future stardom.

And quite a career it has been. In 12 seasons starting with Vfl Gummersbach in 1995 and ending with HSV Hamburg this past Saturday he found the back of the net a record 2,908 times. In 7 of those 12 seasons he also led the league in scoring, including a single season scoring record of 324 in the 2000-2001 campaign. What is even more remarkable is that with his nearly 8 goals/game average he has accomplished this in far fewer matches then most of the other players on the top 10 all time scoring list. Sure, he’s benefited from the fast style of play introduced by Gummersbach and now favored by many teams in the HBL, but he’s also benefited from remarkable consistency and a career that has been relatively injury free.

What’s surprising and somewhat disappointing to me, however, is the lack of celebration or acclaim that surrounds the departure of a player with such a record. Handball is above all else a team sport, but holding the career scoring record in the World’s best professional league is arguably the greatest individual record a handball player can have. Those of us who are old timers remember the retirement of the NBA’s Yoon equivalent, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCJ/is_4_31/ai_113183440
In poor Kareem’s case his departure was woefully overdone, as for an entire season he and his team were subjected to a pre-game ceremony of retirement gifts from every city in the NBA. The outpouring of recognition was surprising giving Kareem’s stoic and less than animated personality. Still even the most casual fan recognized the significance of the all time scoring leader retiring.

But in Yoon’s case the exact opposite is occurring. The fans at Hamburg did give him a standing ovation as he walked off the court last Saturday, but there were no celebrations a la Jackson Richardson or a special retirement match a la Stefan Kretschmar . I guess in the marketing world tattoos or dreadlocks are often seen as prerequisites. A little flash is needed along with the skill if you’re going to get promoted as a star.

Interestingly enough, in addition to playing handball 3 more years in Korea, the 34 year old Yoon intends to study sports marketing. Here are some questions he might want to consider for a research project:
– What country is 4th worldwide in internet broadband penetration with 29.9% of all households having a broadband connection? ANS: South Korea http://www.oecd.org/document/60/0,3343,en_2649_34223_39574076_1_1_1_1,00.html
– Who is arguably the most accomplished Korean professional athlete ever in his particular chosen sport? ANS: Kyung-Shin Yoon; Handball
– What Handball league has the best overall content for web TV which works best with broadband? ANS: The HBL

So it doesn’t take a marketing genius to see that maybe, just maybe, a unique opportunity to promote handball in Korea was lost. Maybe there is a Korean language HBL page which promoted Hamburg games and it’s Korean star, but I get the sense that Yoon’s notoriety in his native country is minimal. As I’ve mentioned before if you want to grow a sport in a country one of the best ways do it, is by promoting the native son who’s done well abroad. It’s not too difficult to spot the Parker jerseys in France, the Nowitzki jerseys in Germany and the Yao jerseys in China. Perhaps it’s too late for the Yoon HSV Hamburg jerseys in Seoul, but let’s hope that next time around an opportunity like this presents itself the handball world pounces on it.

Kyung-Shin Yoon HBL Player Profile: http://www.toyota-handball-bundesliga.de/handball/spieler.php?menuid=62&topmenu=41&saison=08&vid=1710101107&nr=20

Kyung-Shin Yoon Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoon_Kyung-shin

Kyung-Shin Yoon Career Statistics
Season Total Goals/7 M Goals
95/96 39
96/97 209/41
97/98 207/53
98/99 228/27
99/00 256/26
00/01 324/76
01/02 263/59
02/03 273/40
03/04 261/85
04/05 221/63
05/06 200/17
06/07 236/88
07/08 188/78

HBL Career Scoring Leaders: http://www.toyota-handball-bundesliga.de/staticsite/staticsite.php?menuid=77&topmenu=61&keepmenu=inactive
HBL Season Scoring Titles: http://www.toyota-handball-bundesliga.de/staticsite/staticsite.php?menuid=81&topmenu=61&keepmenu=inactive

Lacrosse Growth in the USA- A Model to Follow?

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A couple of years ago Frank Deford of Sport Illustrated reflected upon whether the Duke University rape scandal would actually help increase interest in the sport. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5363527

Two years later, he highlights again that sport's growing popularity. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/frank_deford/05/21/lacrosse/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90642119
Note the comparisons to soccer and the impact Title IX is having on the growing numbers of collegiate women's teams. As I've pointed out there are some fallacies with trying to follow the path to success other sports have taken in the USA. https://teamhandballnews.com/news64.html But rest assured if this somewhat elitist prep school sport can grow exponentially, there's hope for handball yet. Who knows maybe Frank Deford's next whimsical piece two years from now will be about handball.

Handball Marketing Survey

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Readers: We recently received the following email:

"As students at the Aarhus School of Business, we are writing our masters thesis regarding European handball and brand awareness. What we would like to know is how your relationship to handball is. For example: how much handball do you watch on TV and live, do you play handball, how much do you spend on handball equipment – and what are your relationship to some of the larger sports brands in handball?

Our thesis will deal with the mechanisms in handball, and the general brand awareness within handball. Besides that, we wish to investigate how sport companies can brand their products towards their target group – that is, you.

In order to gather data to our thesis, we have made an online survey that we will appreciate if you would complete – the survey is anonymous and will only take five minutes to complete.

Link to the survey (in english) http://www.askpeople.dk/ask/real/scheme.php?frm=1&pubFormId=83aeb158dd23665

Thank you in advance,
Andreas Aaquist and Martin Jacobsen, Aarhus, Denmark."

Editor's Note: I've taken the survey and can attest to the fact that it doesn't take very long to complete. The results should be interesting and hopefully we will be able to see the completed product at a later date.

Dieter Esch: The Handball Missionary from Germany

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Below is a translation (courtesy Bjoern Brembs) of an article that appeared in the German publication Handelsblatt:
http://www.handelsblatt.com/News/Karriere/Koepfe/_pv/_p/200811/_t/ft/_b/1428928/default.aspx/der-handball-missionar-aus-deutschland.html

The Handball Missionary from Germany

By Hans Weymar, May 13, 2008

COLOGNE. If the often so critical German publication "Manager Magazin" describes someone as "one of the most illustrious and probably one of the most successful corporate personalities of the last decade", then one would think that the public would remember his name. In the case of Horst-Dieter Esch, this did not happen.

The lines hyping Esch's success were written in 1982. Esch's r ise as the son of an engineering fitter-machinist to CEO of the construction-machine corporation IBH in Mainz earned him the image of a prodigy. IBH was buying and buying and the "Economist" called this expansion "Esch-pansion".

One year later everything was over. IBH became bankrupt in one of the most spectacular cases of post-war Germany. At the end all that was left was about a billion Deutschmarks of debt, and the private Bank Schröder, Münchmeyer & Hengst which had lent about 900 million to IBH almost went down with it. In 1984 a regional court in Koblenz found Esch guilty of fraud and sentenced him to six and a half years. In 1988 he was released and shortly thereafter he emigrated to the USA. There, he bought the modeling agency Wilhelmina and did well. Super Models such as Linda Evangelista were among his clients. Germany? Far away.

In the coming months Esch's name may be heard in his home country once again. The man who now calls Park City, Utah his home is looking to drum up support for the Teutonic game of handball from corporate sponsors to conquer the world's most important sports market. "I have decided to make handball popular in the US" said Esch to the Handelsblatt.

The first leg, says the 65 year-old with some pride, has already accomplished: "For the last two weeks I've been the president of the US handball federation". Esch, who claims to have played field-handball as a goalie for club TV Weingarten, suggests in the phone-interview that the handball-scene has been waiting for someone like him: "the handball community here is breathing a sigh of relief".

Well, maybe not the entire community. His past did provoke some rather hefty debates on the few fan-forums. The US Olympic Committee is quoted on the online news-service, Teamhandballnews, that they vetted Esch in two separate background checks: "In this process, Mr. Esch was completely open and transparent and more than cooperative concerning all the necessary information."

A year and a half ago a friend told him of the desolate state US-handball was in: "As a good German, I of course immediately asked: where are the structures? Where is the federation?" There was very little of that. The USOC was merely managing the third rate national teams. Esch now wants to build everything from the ground up, starting with a meeting of all concerned parties from June 13-15 in St. Louis.

Esch is not the first one trying to build enthusiasm in the US for handball. The efforts by the world-federation IHF have all miserably failed. The problem: "Team Handball" as the sport is called in the USA, is as exotic there as the German/Dutch sport of bosseln ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klootschieten ) is here. The German still believes he has a chance: "In the summer, the big Basketball arenas are empty". One would need to convince owners and investors to let people play handball there during this time. "There already is quite some interest in this idea".

Esch's partner Dennis Berkholtz, a member of the 1972 USA-Team at the Olympics in Munich, is estimating that eight million dollars would be needed to get a professional league going for two years, featuring European players. "The German players should play for New York and the Polish for Chicago", says Berkholtz. Esch adds that eight million dollars will not be enough, it's only a start.

The question is, who would invest so much money? Handball sponsors from Europe, both Esch and Berkholtz affirm. Especially sponsors from the handball heartland Germany: "Once we have managed to get the appropriate structures running here, I will focus my attention towards Germany and Europe", says Esch. Adidas, Nike and Puma are supposed to be the first targets.

If these corporations will commit to such a risky investment is doubtful, given Mr. Esch's past. Esch, however, affirms he doesn't want to make any money from handball: "Handball is not a business for me, Handball is my hobby".

Editor's Note: Feel free to discuss this topic in the Forum