The not so usual suspects: Handball mercenaries from the Netherlands, Israel, and Georgia

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Without a doubt, the German Bundesliga (HBL) matches that I most look forward to watching on the “My Sports Germany” channel are the big showdowns like Hamburg – Kiel and Rhein-Neckar Lowen – Hamburg. The world’s best players playing pivotal matches in packed arenas. You can’t beat it and it’s truly a joy that I can now watch matches like that from my couch in Las Vegas.

But, while those matches are a treat, I’ve also enjoyed seeing some of the other clubs in the HBL’s 2nd and 3rd tier play. It’s clear that while these clubs are a rung below the big dogs, they still have passionate supporters and they can play some quality handball. And despite their smaller budgets these clubs still have their share of mercenaries from other countries. Having previously seen a lot of French league play, I’m not surprised to see that the usual suspects from Scandinavia and the Balkans are peppered throughout the league. I’m not certain if it’s true, but I’ve been told that some European leagues even have a mandatory roster requirement for each club to carry at least one left hander with their last name ending with “ic”.

I’ve also noticed, however, that there are more than a few mercenaries from less traditional handball nations. Here are few of the more notable examples:

The Dutch contingent

Fabian van Olphen: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_van_Olphen This 29 year old left Back for Madgeburg has been plying his trade in Germany for 7 years. According to the German Wikipedia article he was principally noted for his defensive prowess, but having seen him play a few times, it seems that he has also developed into a pretty decent backcourt player
Gerrie Eijlers: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrie_Eijlers This 30 year old starts in the goal for Madgeburg and has worked his way up through the ranks with 7 years playing for several clubs
Nicky Verjans: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Verjans This 23 year old right wing has been playing in Germany for 5 years. First with Nordhorn and now for Lubbecke.

Editor’s Note: In the original posting of this article I failed to mention several other Dutch players (see below) currently playing in the HBL. With this many players in the HBL I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before they qualify for a European or World Championships.
Mark Bult: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bult This 28 year old Right Back plays for Berlin
Bartosz Konitz: 26 year old Left Back (Luebbecke): http://www.tus-n-luebbecke.de/category/tus-team/spieler-portraits/
Tim Remer: 25 year old Left Wing (Luebbecke) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Remer
Mark Schmetz: 33 year old Left Wing has been playing in Germany for 12 years. He’s played in the HBL’s 1st Division for Essen, Lemgo and now Ahlen-Hamm. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Schmetz

The Israeli contingent

Avishay Smoler: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avishay_Smoler This 25 year old right winger starts for Lemgo and has already been playing in the HBL for 3 years. Not to mention he made his national team debut at the tender age of 15.
Flensburg website (2007): Avishay Smoler: The first Israeli in the Bundesliga: http://www.sg-flensburg-handewitt.de/hsg46.html?&L=0
Chen Pomeranz: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Pomeranz: Pomeranz, 26, first made a name for himself when he led the Swiss league in scoring during the 2007-08 season. Following that campaign, the Center Back move to the HBL, first with Wetzlar and now with Ahlen-Hamm.

The Georgian backcourt

Sergo Datukaschwili: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergo_Datukaschwili Nope, I’m not referring to Mabelton, Georgia native, Gary Hines. Instead, I speak of Tbilisi native Sergo Datukaschwilli. When the Soviet Union broke up in the 1990’s, handball remained relevant mostly in the republics closer to Northern Europe. Russia, particularly, the women’s team has been a power while the Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic Republics have been to varying degrees respectable. Further south, they must still play handball, though, otherwise Datukaschwilli wouldn’t have found his way to the HBL. Although, it’s been quite a circuitous route for the 32 year old Datukaschwilli, who’s playing his first season in the HBL’s top league. Prior to signing with Lemgo he spent twelve years playing in Germany, Lebanon, Serbia, Italy, Greece, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and Dubai. Interestingly, enough Datukashvilli and Gary Hines share a former club, as both found their way to the Canary Island’s Tolimar Tres de Mayo.
Sergo Datukashvili, new player Expo Tres de Mayo: http://www.eldia.es/2003-07-04/jornada/jornada29.htm
USATH: Gary Hines: http://usateamhandball.org/athletes/gary-hines
THN (15 Jan 07): Gary Hines Joins Tolimar Tres de Mayo: https://teamhandballnews.com/2007/01/gary-hines-joins-tolimar-tres-de-mayo/
THN (18 May 10): Get this guy a contract!: https://teamhandballnews.com/2010/05/get-this-guy-a-contract/

What’s worth noting about these unlikely mercenaries is that it provides clear evidence that if a player is good enough, some club in Europe’s top league will find him and put him on their roster. The fact that these players have made it, should be heartening to Americans, Brits, Australians and others toiling away in the lower divisions in Europe. While Germans might lament or resent foreign players taking roster spots from Germans it clearly benefits developing handball nations to have their top players playing regularly at levels that can’t be duplicated in their home countries.

That being said these mercenaries still haven’t been able to put the Netherlands, Israel or Georgia into a World Championships and with the exception of Israel in 2002 the final round of the European Championships. A quick review of their recent national team results shows some respectable scores in qualification play, but not enough wins to move them into the next tier. In Europe it would seem that 2 or 3 players in the HBL is insufficient to take that next leap.

EURO 2010 — that terrible and dangerous Norwegian food!

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In my posting below from earlier today, I hinted at the possibility that the Swedish team might try to surprise the Norvegians; and I mentioned the rumors about stomach problems on the Norwegian side.

Well appararently it was more than rumors, as three Norwegian players were unable to participate today. So this is now a 'popular' explanation, when the Norwegians (including the King, who was present) try to understand how it could happen that the Swedish women left the Norwegians without a chance. The half-time score was 14-6, and the final result was 24-19 after the Swedes had an eight-goal lead at one point. This is likely to be the best, and most important, handball result for Sweden against Norway, since the union between the two countries was dissolved in 1905…

Of course, for the Swedes it is slightly amusing to hear about the stomach virus or food poisoning on the Norwegian side. Clearly that Norwegian food must be pretty bad and dangerous; probably the Swedish team escaped just by eating food brought from home or by going to McDonalds….

Women’s EURO 2010: Germany out – 7-goal advantage not enough

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Today, when one half of the Main Round is starting, it may be appropriate to offer some comments on the preliminary round. A major women’s handball event in Denmark and Norway is always likely to cause a festive mood, especially if the home teams do well. And when we get to the semifinals in Denmark later in the week, it would be a major surprise if both host teams are not there.

The preliminary round started out in a way that made it look as if we would have predictable results and no particular excitement. But in the end, this is not how it came out. The heading already reveals the main story for those who have not followed events in their daily media. The last thing I read in a German web site before the start was that ‘getting to the semi-finals is fully realistic’. And while a loss against Sweden in the first game was a bit of a setback, the situation at the start of the last group match was highly favorable. Germany could afford to lose by 7 goals against the winless team from Ukraine and still move on.

But the German women collapsed completely. They described themselves as ‘statues’ and ’paralyzed’. In an incredible manner they managed to lose by 10 goals so they are out; not the normal image of German handball! But Ukraine, who had won a qualifying group ahead of the strong Romanians, suddenly showed some qualities. And the Dutch benefited also. They had just lost against Sweden, but with Ukraine advancing instead of Germany, the Dutch now bring two points into the main round.

The Swedish team may be seen as the main positive surprise so far, but now they face tougher opponents in the form of Norway, Hungary and France from the neighboring group. After three straight wins, they will have to fight to avoid three straight losses, as discussed by the more pessimistic experts in Sweden.

Norway ‘obliterated’ Hungary in what had been anticipated as a close fight for the top spot in the group. But especially the performance of the goalkeeper, Katrine Lunde Haraldsen, caused the Hungarians to become desperate. She allowed only 13 goals by the strong Hungarian, and had a save percent of 68 in the first half! Perhaps her playing for the Hungarian club Gyoer this season gave her an edge!? Today we will have Norway playing Sweden, and even the rumors of a major stomach bug in the Norwegian camp cannot prevent them from being the favorites; but who knows…

In the groups played in Denmark, the home team got solid wins against Serbia, Romania and Spain. This should put them in a good position, although they now face Russia and Montenegro, two of the overall favorites. Montenegro showed that their impressive run in the qualifying group was not a fluke, as they prevented Russia from getting revenge. But then the Croatians, who had lost against Russia, brought their Montenegrin neighbors down to earth with a narrow victory in the final group match. All in all, these results seem to play into the hands of the Danish team. Tomorrow’s match pitting Denmark against Russia will be decisive.

Denmark has indeed benefited from a tremendous crowd support. And this should help them a lot the rest of the way. By contrast, there was some embarrassment in Norway, where the first two group matches drew very thin crowds in the huge Lillehammer arena with 11.000 seats. Christmas shopping, school exams, and bad winter weather (in Norway!?) were mentioned as excuses, but many also blamed it on exorbitant ticket prices.

Finally, it seems that, generally speaking, the refereeing has not been a problem area so far. The mixture of the top women couples and a number of couples with substantial experience has been adequate. However, the difficult part of the event remains. And, apropos, ‘tremendous crowd support’, this can unfortunately affect the refereeing as well, not consciously but at least subconsciously. Let us hope that controversies can be avoided, so good luck to all the referees!

Women’s European Handball Championships with free web streaming

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In case you missed it, the EHF is making every single match of the ongoing Women’s European Championship available for viewing online. And not only is it free, they are even offering it at 1.0 Mbits/second, which allows for a pretty decent picture.

Link to Video Page: http://www.ehf-euro.com/Stream.2860.0.html#:
– Click on Program Overview

Direct Link to Video Player: http://player.cdn.tv1.eu/player/_v_/_s_handball/_x_s-411205637/handball/dates.html
– You can select matches by date, round or nation

Sorry, though for Handball fans in Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belarus, Serbia and Russia. Due to license restriction, you’ll be limited to the matches on your local TV networks. Hats off to the EHF for providing these games free of charge to the rest of the world. Now, if we could only get them to provide the same web streaming quality for the Champions League matches.

Bundesliga: how to ensure high quality referees

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In ‘handball-world.com’ there was an article on December 3, which was at the same time worrisome and almost amusing. On the surface, it was primarily a statement from the referee chief Peter Rauchfuss in the German Federation (DHB), apropos a pronouncement from the German Bundesliga (HBL) boss Frank Bohman regarding the need for professional referees. http://www.handball-world.com/news-index.php?LID=1&GID=1&auswahl=28751

As I would have expected from Peter Rauchfuss, who is very experienced and always seems to demonstrate common sense, he points out how impossible or undesirable it would be to try to make a sudden switch to professional (= full-time employed) referees. He notes, among other things, that the demands of the refereeing function at the elite level require individuals with strong personal talents and important career experience, ideally with some managerial competence. Handball in Germany or elsewhere does not have a situation like in the NBA or NHL, where young referees with demonstrated talent can be recruited and built up for a solid long-term career situation, in a setting where the financial circumstances make it realistic to give up on an alternative professional career.

Regrettably, the HBL representatives seem to understand too little about the world of refereeing to help carry on a constructive debate. Statements which imply that the Bundesliga referees do not spend more time on refereeing and preparations than the time they spend on the court actually refereeing the HBL games show a totally unrealistic understanding and constitute an insult. But it is also clear from other statements that the issue of professional referees is really a ‘bogus’ issue. What really seems to be at stake is just one more aspect of the battle for power and prestige between HBL and DHB.

What HBL should appreciate is that they enjoy the benefits of strong traditions and a situation where DHB is one of the absolute top organizations in providing high-quality education and management of handball referees. Peter Rauchfuss and many of his colleagues are really first rate. What HBL instead might ask is if they contribute sufficiently to a situation where DHB, in its responsibility for refereeing from the HBL at the top down to the very bottom of the ‘pyramid’ in Germany, really needs solid resources to handle the specialized training and monitoring at the elite level, not just in terms of manpower but also for instance in terms of technology. But this is a very different matter from HBL suddenly wanting to seize control over an area where they do not have any particular expertise.

Not just HBL, DHB and German handball want high-quality refereeing in the Bundesliga. What goes on there is a major issue of propaganda for our sport globally. So, although I speak without knowing exactly what resources Peter Rauchfuss currently has at his disposal and how advanced his operations are in a scientific and technological sense, I am sure that there must be room for improvements. So clearly HBL could and should assume a responsibility for contributing, rather than focusing on power and prestige.

But the training of the existing referees is not the only consideration. The Bundesliga has become the strongest league in the world by having the resources, through its clubs, to recruit the very best players and coaches in the world. In a similar way, it would seem natural to reinforce the resources available to DHB and HBL by also utilizing top referees from outside Germany. Surely they are many IHF referee couples within easy reach who could surpass the quality of the bottom half of the group currently used by the HBL. It would be quite realistic for a dozen such couples to handle one or two games per month in the Bundesliga. Moreover, this would be logical, in the sense that the exodus of players from many countries to HBL has lowered the quality of the national leagues in those countries, to the point that it is detrimental to a number of top IHF/EHF referees who do not get enough real top quality matches in their own countries.

Once Brothers: A basketball documentary worth watching for handball fans

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Recently, I had the opportunity to watch an outstanding documentary titled “Once Brothers”. Part of ESPN’s awarding winning 30 for 30 series, this documentary chronicles the friendship (and it’s breakup) of Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic. Divac, a Serbian (and now the President of the Serbian Olympic Committee) and Petrovic, a Croatian were teammates and friends on Yugoslavia’s national team. At the 1990 World Championships, despite rising tensions in Yugoslavia, they were able to win the Gold medal. The celebration, however, was marred and a friendship was broken, when Divac pulled a Croatian flag from one of the celebrating fans. I won’t rehash the whole documentary, which is told mostly through Divac’s eyes, but I’m pretty confident that most of you will find it a moving story, regardless of your nationality and connection to the former Yugoslavia.

Watching the documentary also reminded me of the first time I came to the realization that the Yugoslavian Republics had their very own distinct national identities and it was in probably one of the more unlikely places you’d expect: Calabasas High School in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles.

In the spring of 1991, word got out that the Croatian State team would be visiting Southern California so a match was scheduled against the local West regional team that would be participating in the upcoming Olympic Sports Festival. In typical U.S. fashion not a whole lot of planning took place and when Ivo Petranovic, then one of Cal Heat’s players (now more known as a referee) mentioned that he could probably get 300-400 Croatians to attend, it was met with a grin and a “Yeah, whatever you say, Ivo.” I’ll never forget rolling into the parking lot a little early to help mark handball lines on the floor only to see the parking lot full and all these people waving strange looking flags with the Purina Cat Chow symbol.

The West regional team was hopelessly outclassed, but it was fun to see a match played in from front of a passionate crowd. Now that may not seem like a big crowd to you, but I would bet it’s one of the most highly attended matches (outside of the Olympics) in U.S. history. And now having seen the “Once Brothers” documentary it’s even clearer to me why the outpouring of National pride was so strong on that day nearly 20 years ago.

Once Brothers will be rebroadcast on ESPN this Sunday, 12 December. Set your DVR’s up now.

ESPN: Once Brothers website: http://30for30.espn.com/film/once-brothers.html

There are some short videos from the documentary at this site and I’m sure that there are copies of it available elsewhere on the internet. It also wouldn’t surprise me if a Serbo-Croatian version has been made. As it’s mostly Vlade doing the narrative it wouldn’t have been too hard for him to record another version in that language.

Finally, I would like to know if there were similar stories back in the 1990s with the Yugoslavia National Handball team. Please share your thoughts and insight on our Facebook page or send me an email at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com

New Zealand Handball with some top flight new recruits

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[img][/img]The world’s best national rugby team (New Zealand) recently met the world’s best national handball team (France) for a cross promotional photo op in Paris. I’m guessing Ritchie McCaw or Dan Carter became the first ever New Zealander to score on Thierry Omeyer.

For Americans wanting a little context, this meet and greet would be roughly the equivalent of the U.S. National Basketball team or the Super Bowl Champions hanging out with French National Team. Oh, to have that kind of publicity opportunity. I’m guessing the folks in Salt Lake can only contemplate such an occurrence at this point in time.

As a side point, it’s interesting to note that France is the only country in the world where there are significant fan segments for both rugby and team handball. Many countries play both, but nowhere else are they anywhere near par in terms of interest. The 2nd place country for these loose criterions is probably Argentina.

French Handball Federation website: When “les experts” meet the “All Blacks”: http://www.ff-handball.org/detail-news/article/quand-les-experts-rencontrent-les-all-blacks.html
ESPN Scrum photos: http://www.espnscrum.com/new-zealand-tour-2010/rugby/image/130408.html?object=104316;page=1

EHF game of the week: Kiel at Barcelona (Live and with English Commentary)

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Last year’s Champions League finalists will meet in a key Group A clash. For once, a so called Group of Death has proven to be an accurate moniker as this group has been ultra competitive from top to bottom through 6 rounds. Kiel is in first place with 10 points (4 wins and 2 draws) while Barca is tied for 3rd with 6 points (2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses). A loss for Barcelona at home could slip them into 4th place and with tough road matches at R-N L and Celje remaining it’s conceivable to start talking about a disastrous failure to advance out of Group Play. Yikes! Usually when teams of this caliber meet in Group Play it’s for pride and a better seed. That’s not the case here. Barca has some serious incentive to win this match.

Fortunately for them, Kiel continues to be plagued by injuries with circle runner Marcus Ahlm being the latest stalwart to be put on the sidelines for an extended period of time. The match is at 5:15 PM (Central European Time), 11:15 AM (U.S. East Coast) on Sunday, 5 December. Barcelona is a 2.5 goal favorite.

ehfTV Live Broadcast: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/live/high/001251
ehfTV Tape Delay Broadcast: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/video/001251 (Usually available a few hours after the match)

There is also a tape delayed broadcast on the MHz Network in the U.S. at 4:00 PM (U.S. East Coast), Sunday. For information on how you can watch MHZ see this http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/carriage/

Great Britain Women score major victory against Slovakia

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The Great Britain Women’s National Team is currently in Poland taking part in EHF Group Qualification Play for the Women’s 2011 World Championships. Through 3 rounds of play, Great Britain has a 2-0-1 record with wins over Cyprus (39-20) and Slovakia (27-26) as well as a loss against Austria (30-20). The win over Cyprus is no surprise, except perhaps for the margin, but the victory over Slovakia is pretty noteworthy. Slovakia is not part of Europe’s elite, but they have a long tradition of playing the sport. To knock them off a neutral court is clearly a sign of British progress.

Going into the final two rounds of games, it’s even possible that Britain could play Poland in a winner take all match on Sunday to qualify for the next round. Austria will need to lose to both Poland and Slovakia for that scenario to play out. A prospect that is conceivable with Poland hosting the event and Slovakia playing Poland close, losing 28-31.

British Handball: Injury Mars Great Britain Win Over Cyprus: http://fastbreak-handballnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/injury-mars-great-britain-win-over.html
British Handball: Last-Gasp Goal Helps GB Women Beat Slovakia: http://fastbreak-handballnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/last-gasp-goal-helps-gb-women-beat.html
EHF 2011 Women’s World Championship Qualification Page: http://www.eurohandball.com/wch/women/2011/round/3/Qualification+Europe

Citizenship and eligibility in an age of mercenaries

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Handball.mforos and various Spanish sports media have reported about a situation that seems to have the potential for becoming increasingly common. With the steady trend for top players to move from handball countries without financially strong clubs and leagues to a number of countries where lucrative contracts and a comfortable living environment can be obtained, the strong sense of loyalty to one’s nationality seems to be diminished.

If one spends many years in a particular country, chances are that the loyalties can become a bit divided. Moreover, certain countries have much more flexible immigration and naturalization laws than others. Austria is one example, and the impact this had on women’s handball was obvious during extended periods. Players recruited to Hypo, especially from the Balkans, from ex-Soviet Union and from Hungary, soon found themselves in a position where they had met the legal requirement to become Austrian citizens and theoretically eligible for the Austrian national team.

Of course, as a way of maintaining some seriousness and to avoid having players switching national teams too often and too conveniently, the IHF and the EHF have regulations that require a reasonable gap. Players cannot just stop playing for one national team, and shortly thereafter, with a new nationality, show up in another event for another national team. But if players and federations have patience and do some planning, clearly there is still room for such changes. Of course, the reactions in the player’s native country are typically not entirely positive…

The probably best known case of ‘migration’ is that of the Belarus native Siarhei Rutenka. He moved to the club Celje in Slovenia, and soon obtained citizenship in accordance with the laws of that country. He most definitively became a valuable member of the Slovenian national team. But as so often happens these days, he moved on to Spain, in order to play for Barcelona. It did not take long for Spanish handball fans, and perhaps also for the Federation, to start ‘drooling’ about the prospects of having Rutenka switch nationality once again and eventually become eligible for the Spanish national team.

But it appears Rutenka developed other ideas. He obtained his Spanish citizenship, as Spain is another country with very easy requirements, but now it appears that he has become nostalgic to the point of ‘completing the circle’. In other words, he has also acquired a Belarus citizenship and really wants to play for the Belarus team, not for Spain. There is, however, one little twist to this, something that Rutenka might have overlooked after his experience with easy switches. He wants to stay in Barcelona, but there is no recognition of dual citizenship between the two countries, so he may be in danger of losing his Spanish citizenship. This in turn may have implications for his future options in terms of place of residence after his days as a handball players are over.

And now a somewhat similar case is beginning to cause frustration in Hungary. One of this country’s most popular and valuable players is Laszlo Nagy, another member of the Barcelona club team. It seems he has now made it clear to the Hungarian federation that they should not count on him in the future. So he might become the player soon eligible to reinforce the Spanish national team instead.

Time for a True European Handball Super League (Part 1): European capitalists and American socialists

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In this new series of essays, I plan to make the case that it’s time for professional European Handball to dramatically restructure its organization to form a true, European Handball Super League. In short, it’s time to adopt the best features of the American sports model and create a top flight Pan-European league. In part one of this series I won’t go into the detail of what such a league would look like. Instead, I’ll first explore a puzzling dichotomy which suggests that maybe such a dramatic change wouldn’t be as upsetting to the European psyche as many think it would be.

Sometimes you can’t really appreciate how another country does certain things until you’ve lived there a few years. Living in France I learned a few things that surprised me and challenged some notions I had about the superiority of my native country. For instance, I’ll never forget the puzzled looks on the French Hospital staff who couldn’t figure out why we dragged our baby daughter to the Emergency Room in the middle of the night for a high temperature. Silly Americans, don’t you know that you call the doctor and he comes to your apartment for problems like that. Oh, and it costs around 40 Euros. Call me a left wing extremist, but I’m thinking if a few more Tea Party Americans experienced SOS Medecins instead of our wonderful Hospital Emergency Rooms at two o’clock in the morning they’d still be clamoring to repeal the Obama health care plan, but only because it doesn’t go far enough.

Of course, it works the other way as well. The U.S.A didn’t get where it is today, if we didn’t do quite a few things pretty darn well ourselves. And nowhere is this truer than how the U.S. organizes and manages professional sports. Pick any metric you like: attendance, player salaries, TV audiences, etc and without question the American system is overwhelming superior to anything in Europe or the rest of the world for that matter. Professional Soccer is the only sport that approaches American numbers and even then if you compare it to our predominant outdoor sport, American Football, it is still clearly: advantage USA.

I’ve written about this a few times before in a couple of articles on “What’s wrong with European Handball” and periodically in forum discussions that crop up on revamping the Champions League or National Leagues. I’ll have to say I don’t think I’ve won many people over. And with the overwhelming evidence I find it a little frustrating, so I chalk it up to my opening diatribe: If European leagues are what you grew up with you may to have to witness American structures personally before you start to rethink your version of reality.

Still, I find it somewhat bewildering that this “my sports league model is better than yours” argument is all backwards as Europeans should have the American model and vice versa. The reason I say this is that most European nations take great pride in their social programs which include universal health care, generous unemployment compensation and pensions. There’s a price, though, for these European safety nets, as taxes are higher and it’s tougher for an entrepreneur to start a new company. There are fewer rich people, but also fewer folks on the margins of society. Liberte, egalite, fraternite, if you will.

In the U.S. we have fewer social programs and there’s more of a let the strong survive mentality. If you’ve got a great idea or run your company better than your competition, well, then you will profit handsomely. Conversely, if you don’t do things as well, then you could go out of business. This is an over simplification of both models, as entrepreneurs can succeed in Europe and American have a safety net as well. The difference is principally a sliding scale with vary degrees of free market and more socialistic philosophies.

But, when we talk about our different sport structures everything is way out of whack as U.S. Professional leagues have hired Karl Marx as their economics advisor and the Europeans have hired Boss Tweed. In the U.S. we’ve instituted rules that limit how much players can be paid (salary caps), force strong teams to pay cash money to weaker teams (revenue sharing), and help ensure that the best new players join the worst teams (drafts). In Europe, it’s a dog eat dog world with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

The results of these polar opposite structures are stark in their contrast. Nowhere is this more true than the competitiveness of leagues. In Europe, it’s all but preordained which teams have a chance of winning their respective leagues. In Germany, Kiel, Hamburg and Rhein-Neckar Lowen have the biggest budgets and despite some early season success from Berlin they will surely play for the title. In Spain it will be Ciudad Real and Barcelona. In other countries it’s even worse with one horse towns like Montpellier ruling the French league season after season. They were such a big favorite this year that you would have to wager $100 to win $10 if you wanted to bet on them to win the French Championship.

But, the point of this new series won’t be to simply rehash the shortcomings of the European model (Although, undoubtedly they will be highlighted again.) Instead this series will make the case that a modified American model could work in Europe. And not only work well, but work magnificently, dramatically increasing revenue, improving competitive play and perhaps most importantly raising the profile of the sport world-wide. In Part 2 of this series I will outline just how such a league would be structured.

SOS Medecins: http://www.sosmedecins.com/index.htm
THN Commentary (20 Aug 06): What’s Wrong with European Club Handball? (Part 1) The Disparity from Top to Bottom: https://teamhandballnews.com/2006/08/whats-wrong-with-european-club-handball-part-1-the-disparity-from-top-to-bottom/
THN Commentary (5 Dec 06) What’s Wrong with European Club Handball (Part 2): https://teamhandballnews.com/2006/12/whats-wrong-with-european-club-handball-part-2/

Cynicism and unsportsmanlike behavior — how far can it go!?

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When you see this heading, perhaps you will find it to be of some consolation that this time I am not talking about incidents in handball. But what I will comment on involves a mentality that suggests that there is no reason why we would not have similar problems in other forms in our own sport. Perhaps the rules in handball do not lend themselves to quite the same behavior, but I am sure also we have some loopholes.

I should not really keep you in suspense any longer. My story involves football/soccer, and more specifically something that happened in a Champions League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Real Madrid, two of football’s most prestigious clubs, a little over a week ago. First I need to explain that in football, unlike in handball, a warning (a ‘yellow card’) is not necessarily wiped out or meaningless once the game is over. In football, whether under FIFA, UEFA or national federations, there are regulations which mean that if a player accumulates a certain number of yellow cards during a competition (or a segment thereof) , then he will be suspended for a match.

So late in the match I mentioned, there were two key players from Real Madrid who knew that if they received one more yellow card before the match ended, then they would be suspended in the next match. And as their team was leading 4-0 close to the end, and as the next game, the last one in the group play, was essentially meaningless, it would be preferable to be suspended for that meaningless match. If they instead played in that match and received another yellow card, they would be ineligible in the next, much more important game, namely the first round of the subsequent knock-out competition.

So, at their own initiative, or more likely at the instigation of their notoriously selfish and cynical coach, they caused (=forced) the referee to give each of them a yellow card for time-wasting, an absurd action in a game that their team had already won. The Amsterdam spectators and the TV commentators immediately understood what was up, and the players got the nasty reaction that they deserved.

But the saddest part came later. When media started criticizing the players and coach, the reaction was totally cynical. “There was nothing strange about it; this is what many players do all the time”, was one of the responses. The coach naturally denied any involvement but defended his players. “Of course we expect our players to behave in the best interests of the club”, was the comment of another team official.

And even worse: in response to newspaper and web reports, the ‘general public’ started weighing in. And I am talking about people with no particular sympathies for Real Madrid but just regular football fans. Most of the comments involved criticizing the media for “making a big deal about it”. Others saw it as a reaction of envy aimed specifically at Real Madrid. Yet others came up with the wonderful suggestion that “the players should be applauded for drawing their yellow cards through harmless action, instead of doing it by kicking the leg of an opponent”. And then there were some who criticized the referee “for not outsmarting the players and (illegally)refusing to give them the yellow cards that they had to be given under the rules”.

I can have some understanding for cynical and unsportsmanlike reactions expressed in the heat of the battle, at the moment something happens. But to find that ‘sports fans’ calmly, a day or two later, find it normal and appropriate to go out of their way to express such opinions, that tells me that regrettably these ‘sports fans’ have very little sense for what sportsmanship is all about, and it tells me that players and referees in any sport must expect to be treated and judged in that kind of fashion. If they act properly, then they must expect to be considered stupid or soft, but if they commit a ‘professional foul’ or an unsportsmanlike act that benefits the team, then they will be celebrated and considered smart.

EHF game of the week: Flensburg at Zagreb (Live and with English Commentary)

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It’s déjà vu all over again this weekend as Flensburg and Zagreb will play each other again. Last Sunday, Flensburg held serve with a 32-29 win at home. This Sunday they travel to Croatia, where Zagreb will look to even things out with a victory. After this match there will still be 4 rounds left, but a Flensburg victory would all but assure them of at least 2nd place in Group D. A victory by Zagreb, however, would level the two sides on points.

It’s also worth pointing out that as there is a real possibility these two sides may finish the 10 rounds of group phase level on points. Should that happen, the goal differential between the two sides in their head to head games will decide seeding heading into the round of 16. Just something to keep in mind if Zagreb has a 2 goal leading heading into the closing minutes.

The match is at 5:30 PM (Central European Time), 11:30 AM (U.S. East Coast) on Sunday, 28 November. Zagreb is 1.5 goal favorite.

On Demand broadcast at ehfTV: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/video/001250

There is also a tape delayed broadcast on the MHz Network in the U.S. at 4:00 PM (U.S. East Coast). For information on how you can watch MHZ see this http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/carriage/