USA Team Handball Blogs

"Halloween on Steroids"

Wed Feb 17 17:59:00 -0500 2010

Hello to all and to all, hello.  Sorry it has been so long, I think almost a full month.  That is inexcusable and therefore I will make no excuses.  A lot has happened in the past month and over the next few pages I will try and highlight those experiences in an exciting and… Read More

Pt. 1. America the Great! Pt. 2. Move over, Lance!

Wed Jan 13 11:36:00 -0500 2010

I’m not even sure where to start.  It has been over three weeks since I last sat down to chronicle Jen and I’s exciting life.  I believe the last time we posted it was a few days into our wonderful and much needed Holiday Vacay in the cold and snowy, yet beautiful, Northeastern… Read More

A young Santa Claus, Surf and Turf a …

Tue Dec 22 12:00:00 -0500 2009

The best compliment so far about my beard has, quite surprisingly, come from the person who hates it the most. Jen, and I'm sure she wishes now she hadn't said it, blurted out that I looked like a young Santa Claus whose beard hadn't yet turned white. I accepted this compliment with great enthusiasm… Read More

Junior National Team trip to Poland

Tue Dec 08 15:22:00 -0500 2009

Hey Everyone, Sorry it has taken me a while to get on here and write about Poland, but you know how things go.  I have to start by saying it was a great experience.  So many new faces to the US Handball world is great.  We need to keep it going! The facilities were… Read More

Meeting with The Man

Mon Dec 07 15:48:00 -0500 2009

Hello to all and to all, hello.  It is Monday afternoon here in gloomy Germany.  Jen and I have had a busy and interesting two weeks since the last time I sat down to write a blog.  I’ll start with the important things and go from there.  Last Thursday morning we had the… Read More

Blame it on Jen

Wed Nov 25 17:05:00 -0500 2009

First things first, to our friends and family: it's Jen fault.  It has been almost two weeks since we posted something and I am going to without a second thought blame it all on Jennifer, for she thought it pertinent to have the computer with her in Poland (she was right, of course) and leave… Read More

New Home, Burgers and Fries

Tue Nov 10 13:22:00 -0500 2009

Hey, back again.  It's been awhile again, I realize this and I am profoundly sorry, but we somehow continue to stay unbelievably busy even though we have no jobs.  My respect continues to grow for those of you who hold down a daily grind and manage to participate in a life outside of… Read More

A busy two weeks

Fri Oct 30 18:08:00 -0400 2009

Hello again from across the pond. Sorry it has been so long, it has been a busy two weeks for us. A very good and promising two weeks but busy and long. For starters, we know have Visas and are legal to stay in this great country. Hooray! The Visas are good till Jan. 22 and are provisional… Read More

Vacation Spots

Fri Oct 16 18:51:00 -0400 2009

The broken record continues to play. Another week, still no jobs, handball continues to improve, the Broncos still haven’t lost and every day is a little colder. That said, in eight days our freedom in Germany as tourists ends and we become fugitives, which I’m strangely okay with. Jen… Read More

A Gang of Dubs

Tue Oct 06 15:30:00 -0400 2009

It’s Monday here, rainy and cold. Jen is busy doing push-ups, sit-ups and band work. Exciting. We just finished watching the movie "Bank Job" with Jason Statham, it was pretty good, worth the rent.  Our teams both earned their first wins of the year on Saturday!  Jen’s team… Read More

Crunch time

Wed Sep 30 11:39:00 -0400 2009

Hello to all and everybody, grab a drink and prepare yourself for another installment of "Live from Germany." Two more games, two more in the L column. Jen and I both lost our games on Saturday, however, I got to play and Jen didn’t receive a red card, two positives. Jen’s squad was… Read More

A check-in from the 'Heart of Europe'

Tue Sep 29 14:19:00 -0400 2009

What’s going on, stateside homies?  Another check-in from your friends living in the heart of Europe (it says this on a sign on the outskirts of the town we live in). I'm watching Jen practice again, hooray. Here it goes:Handball! Jen and I are a collective 0 for 3 in our European… Read More

We are both improving greatly

Mon Sep 21 16:16:00 -0400 2009

Hello, everybody! Sorry it has been so long; we have encountered more Internet trouble which is unbelievably frustrating. I can’t even remember the last time we wrote, early last week I think. So, quick updates, we still have no jobs, either one of us. Both teams are searching for us now,… Read More

I am the best golfer in Germany

Tue Sep 08 22:15:00 -0400 2009

What a weekend!  We woke up Saturday morning to find a text from Jen’s coach that said to meet them at the gym at 11 to do some shopping. They took us to a shop in Weil am Rhein that is a small sponsor of the club. The owner of the shop gave each of the girls 200 Euro’s worth of… Read More

I found a team: ESV Weil

Thu Aug 27 16:14:00 -0400 2009

We have been checking the website whenever our Internet is fast enough to load it. Very happy to read about all the plans for the fall, the camps and the trips. It's exciting to see how great a job the Federation is doing in following through and creating opportunities for US handball players. I… Read More

Jen's defense is looking good

Mon Aug 24 18:24:00 -0400 2009

We have now been living in Germany for a month. We still have no jobs and I have no team but things are going well. We have been working for Jen's coach, helping him close a store. We have been working 12-hour days in the hot non-air-conditioned store, but it is good money and our only source of… Read More

In Germany & Waiting for Handball Se …

Tue Aug 11 12:59:00 -0400 2009

My fiancée Jen and I have been in Germany for three weeks today. We have had our ups and downs, trials and tribulations, but mostly we have enjoyed ourselves and had fun. We have no jobs yet so we fill our days looking for jobs, learning Deutsch and watching MTV and CNN (the only two English… Read More

Finale

Sun Jun 07 18:46:00 -0400 2009

Tag, This will be the last blog from Lübek. The organization and the running of the tournament were incredible. The people behind the scenes were amazing. The hotel and staff were great. I am still relatively new to USA Handball but I think that trips like this are definitely worth the… Read More

Handball Heaven and Ireland

Sat Jun 06 11:24:00 -0400 2009

Heyo, All the days have run together. I think it is Saturday but I don't really care; I'm in a handball heaven. Training in the morning and playing at night has been great, I think I've learned more this week than I did in the previous 10 months I have been playing. The Bad Schwartau team was… Read More

Tonight we play Bad Schwartau

Fri Jun 05 12:47:00 -0400 2009

Dropped a tough one last night. We played well for the first 15 minutes or so, then Luxembourg started playing a lopsided 4-2 and we couldn't beat it. Moral is still good, I think everybody was bummed about taking a loss. However, for most of us, it was our first official international game. The… Read More

Getting ready for the Rumble in the Strand

Thu Jun 04 11:48:00 -0400 2009

Middle of day four here in Lübek; the weather has cooled down a bit but it is still very nice. We just finished eating lunch. I'm pretty sure everybody is heading for a pre-game nap and meditation. Everyone, even old man Ortega, is excited and ready to play. We worked on positional movements… Read More

Mitwoch

Wed Jun 03 15:05:00 -0400 2009

Today has been yet another good day. We enjoyed two lighter practices, mostly working on passing, plays and combinations. Making sure our bodies are ready for tomorrow's showdown yet also staying in shape and performing our main goal of the trip, which is to get better all around as players and as a… Read More

Zwei Tag/Day 2: Scrimmage against Neustadt

Tue Jun 02 19:33:00 -0400 2009

'Hallo' again from Germany, U.S.A. 30, Neustadt 20. We played well this eveing and posted our first win together as a team. The game was a lot of fun. The opponents were good guys and the refs didn't give us a home job. Our defense was stellar; we are able to put Thomas Giordano, Jason… Read More

Midday Update from Deutschland

Tue Jun 02 13:09:00 -0400 2009

We eat like kings! The hotel has an amazing spread prepared for us three times a day: meat, pasta, bread, potatoes, salad, desserts. I am very impressed and full; we just finished lunch. This morning's training session went very well. We got loose, did a couple of goalie drills than did an up and… Read More