HANDBALL
Handball is big in Denmark. Since Scandinavians haven't yet realised that football is a winter game (they stop playing it between October and March), handball is the sport of choice during the dark months here. Every small town has its own sports hall, where they play handball and badminton.
It helps if your national team is good at it. The Danish women won the Olympic title three times in a row from 1996 to 2004, and the European championships, widely held to be the most difficult of all, in 1994, 1996 and 2002 (Norway has since won the latter four times in a row). While the men won the 2008 European championships, and have won minor medals at various world championships during the past decade. Yesterday the men's team were in their first world final since 1967, just across the Øresund in the Swedish town of Malmö. Unfortunately, they were up against the reigning world, Olympic and European champions France. After a pulsating final in which Denmark equalised in the last second to make it 31-31, France pulled away in extra time to win 37-35.
However, if handball is big in Denmark and other continental countries, it is decidedly "unbig" in Britain. I can vaguely remember seeing it at the Olympics on television as a boy; but the first time I saw it live was when I went on an exchange to Germany as a 14-year old, and my exchange partner played it. A cross between basketball and five-a-side football, it seemed a bit odd to me. But then cricket probably does to a German.
Since the 2012 Olympics will be held in London, Great Britain has the right to show up with a team in every team sport. Which includes handball. The authorities could have decided that since handball is not really played in Britain, they wouldn't bother. But they took the opposite view, and have since been scouring Europe for dual nationality players, who can play the game. At which point, I have to admit to more than a passing interest. Because my younger son, aged 19, is one of those players. A goalkeeper who grew up playing handball in Denmark, he is now part of both the GB senior and under-21 squads. They tend to get thrashed by more established countries; but under the watchful eye of their Serbian trainer, they have from a standing start made quite a lot of progress. My son is not yet certain of playing in the Olympics, but he has got a good chance. Which would be terrific, if he made it.
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 31 January 2011
Sunday, 30 January 2011
ANDY MURRAY
No British male tennis player has won one of the four major championships since Fred Perry took the U.S. Open in 1936. So excitement was high amongst British tennis fans, when Scotsman Andy Murray early this morning played against Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open. Why then, as a British tennis fan, was I rooting for Djokovic, particularly since he had knocked out my perennial favourite Roger Federer in the semi-finals?
It's not as if Murray is no good. He is consistently ranked fourth in the world, behind Rafael Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, and has won a string of tournaments and even more money. Yet his on-court demeanour is, to me at least, intensely irritating. It is not because he gets pumped up; virtually all tennis players except the exceptionally elegant Federer do that these days. But he looks grumpy all the time, surly even, and some of his braying facial expressions seem more to resemble a gnu in the mating season. Moreover, his "support team", led by his mother, is way over the top. Passion for sport is one thing; but passion expressed in that way is another.
A year ago, in my first ever blog, I predicted that Murray would never win a Grand Slam tournament. Today's performance, in which he was roundly beaten by Djokovic in straight sets, confirmed me in that view. Outgunned physically in the first set, he should have changed tactics, using his volley (where is better than his opponent) to shorten the rallies and save energy. But he continued in the same way, choosing to challenge Djokovic on his terms, namely his fitness, and running into a brick wall. It was never going to work.
Murray has now appeared in three Grand Slam finals and lost all three. Worse, he has lost all three in straight sets. As the time since the last British major winner gets longer and longer, the pressure will mount, just as it did with Tim Henman, the last British tennis hero. Henman never won a Grand Slam; I still think Murray won't either.
Walter Blotscher
No British male tennis player has won one of the four major championships since Fred Perry took the U.S. Open in 1936. So excitement was high amongst British tennis fans, when Scotsman Andy Murray early this morning played against Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open. Why then, as a British tennis fan, was I rooting for Djokovic, particularly since he had knocked out my perennial favourite Roger Federer in the semi-finals?
It's not as if Murray is no good. He is consistently ranked fourth in the world, behind Rafael Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, and has won a string of tournaments and even more money. Yet his on-court demeanour is, to me at least, intensely irritating. It is not because he gets pumped up; virtually all tennis players except the exceptionally elegant Federer do that these days. But he looks grumpy all the time, surly even, and some of his braying facial expressions seem more to resemble a gnu in the mating season. Moreover, his "support team", led by his mother, is way over the top. Passion for sport is one thing; but passion expressed in that way is another.
A year ago, in my first ever blog, I predicted that Murray would never win a Grand Slam tournament. Today's performance, in which he was roundly beaten by Djokovic in straight sets, confirmed me in that view. Outgunned physically in the first set, he should have changed tactics, using his volley (where is better than his opponent) to shorten the rallies and save energy. But he continued in the same way, choosing to challenge Djokovic on his terms, namely his fitness, and running into a brick wall. It was never going to work.
Murray has now appeared in three Grand Slam finals and lost all three. Worse, he has lost all three in straight sets. As the time since the last British major winner gets longer and longer, the pressure will mount, just as it did with Tim Henman, the last British tennis hero. Henman never won a Grand Slam; I still think Murray won't either.
Walter Blotscher
Saturday, 29 January 2011
DANISH CUISINE
Last year the award for the world's best restaurant went to Noma, in Copenhagen. Earlier this week, the World Cuisine Championship, named the Bocuse d'Or after the famous chef who started it in 1987, was won by the Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed, who had been second and third in earlier years. This time his menu of baby lobsters, followed by lamb with tongue, was sufficient to land him the top prize in Lyon.
The competition was in fact a complete Nordic triumph, as second place went to Sweden and third to Norway. What's happening in all these northern kitchens? And where are the French?
Walter Blotscher
Last year the award for the world's best restaurant went to Noma, in Copenhagen. Earlier this week, the World Cuisine Championship, named the Bocuse d'Or after the famous chef who started it in 1987, was won by the Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed, who had been second and third in earlier years. This time his menu of baby lobsters, followed by lamb with tongue, was sufficient to land him the top prize in Lyon.
The competition was in fact a complete Nordic triumph, as second place went to Sweden and third to Norway. What's happening in all these northern kitchens? And where are the French?
Walter Blotscher
Friday, 28 January 2011
FLOOD REPORTING
There have been floods over much of the southern hemisphere during the past month. In Brazil more than 800 people are known to have died in the region around Rio de Janeiro, after torrential rain caused floods and mudslides in the hilly area. At least 70 people have died in South Africa after weeks of heavy rains. Eight of the country's nine provinces have been declared disaster areas, and big rivers such as the Zambezi are at twice their normal levels. In Sri Lanka four weeks of heavy rain have destroyed crops and forced hundreds of thousands of people into makeshift camps. At least 40 people have died. While in Australia, torrential rains have created rivers in Queensland where none existed before, and swamped the country's third biggest city, Brisbane. More than 30 people have died.
The adverse weather conditions are due to what is known as the La Nina effect. Cold water rises to the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America. Buffetted by strong easterly winds, this cold water surges westward, pushing the warm water in front of it. This gets trapped by the land masses of Australia and South East Asia, causing high pressure to build up, and resulting in unusually high rainfall. The phenomenon then continues westward, reaching southern and southeastern Africa and eventually the east coast of South America.
One interesting aspect of these events is the inverse relationship between the amount of media reporting of them and the number of deaths involved. Most of the focus - in Europe, at any rate - has been on Australia. There were a few items on the news about Brazil, but hardly anything about Sri Lanka. And until I starting clicking on links in order to write this post, I knew absolutely nothing about what had happened in South Africa.
Is it because we intuitively identify more with fellow rich, mainly Caucasian, societies? Or is it because we are more inured to the loss of life and property in poor countries; losing a two-story brick house with manicured lawn is somehow worse than losing a mud hut and two cows, even if the first is protected by flood insurance and the second is not? Sadly, I think it is the latter.
Walter Blotscher
There have been floods over much of the southern hemisphere during the past month. In Brazil more than 800 people are known to have died in the region around Rio de Janeiro, after torrential rain caused floods and mudslides in the hilly area. At least 70 people have died in South Africa after weeks of heavy rains. Eight of the country's nine provinces have been declared disaster areas, and big rivers such as the Zambezi are at twice their normal levels. In Sri Lanka four weeks of heavy rain have destroyed crops and forced hundreds of thousands of people into makeshift camps. At least 40 people have died. While in Australia, torrential rains have created rivers in Queensland where none existed before, and swamped the country's third biggest city, Brisbane. More than 30 people have died.
The adverse weather conditions are due to what is known as the La Nina effect. Cold water rises to the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America. Buffetted by strong easterly winds, this cold water surges westward, pushing the warm water in front of it. This gets trapped by the land masses of Australia and South East Asia, causing high pressure to build up, and resulting in unusually high rainfall. The phenomenon then continues westward, reaching southern and southeastern Africa and eventually the east coast of South America.
One interesting aspect of these events is the inverse relationship between the amount of media reporting of them and the number of deaths involved. Most of the focus - in Europe, at any rate - has been on Australia. There were a few items on the news about Brazil, but hardly anything about Sri Lanka. And until I starting clicking on links in order to write this post, I knew absolutely nothing about what had happened in South Africa.
Is it because we intuitively identify more with fellow rich, mainly Caucasian, societies? Or is it because we are more inured to the loss of life and property in poor countries; losing a two-story brick house with manicured lawn is somehow worse than losing a mud hut and two cows, even if the first is protected by flood insurance and the second is not? Sadly, I think it is the latter.
Walter Blotscher
Thursday, 27 January 2011
JUSTINE HENIN
On the day when defending champion Roger Federer, elegant as ever in white shirt and yellow sweatband, was beaten in the semi-final of the Australian Open tennis tournament, spare a thought for Justine Henin. The diminutive Belgian, a winner of 7 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal, has been forced to retire from the game at the age of 28 owing to a persistent elbow injury.
This is Henin's second retirement, after she left the game in May 2008 while ranked number one in the world. She came back at the beginning of 2010, not least in order to win Wimbledon, the one major title she had never won. However, during a fourth round loss at the tournament last summer to her great Belgian rival Kim Clijsters, she slipped on the grass, and tore a ligament in her elbow. It is that injury which has now caused her to quit for good.
In the field of female tennis players, 99% of whom play with two-handed backhands, her one-handed backhand stood out for both its effectiveness and beauty. John McEnroe once described it as the best backhand in either the women's or the men's game. Will we ever see its like again?
Walter Blotscher
On the day when defending champion Roger Federer, elegant as ever in white shirt and yellow sweatband, was beaten in the semi-final of the Australian Open tennis tournament, spare a thought for Justine Henin. The diminutive Belgian, a winner of 7 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal, has been forced to retire from the game at the age of 28 owing to a persistent elbow injury.
This is Henin's second retirement, after she left the game in May 2008 while ranked number one in the world. She came back at the beginning of 2010, not least in order to win Wimbledon, the one major title she had never won. However, during a fourth round loss at the tournament last summer to her great Belgian rival Kim Clijsters, she slipped on the grass, and tore a ligament in her elbow. It is that injury which has now caused her to quit for good.
In the field of female tennis players, 99% of whom play with two-handed backhands, her one-handed backhand stood out for both its effectiveness and beauty. John McEnroe once described it as the best backhand in either the women's or the men's game. Will we ever see its like again?
Walter Blotscher
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
BRIDGE (2)
Playing in a tournament obviously brings benefits. Last night was the first round of the club championship, where I play regularly on a Tuesday. Still feeling the adrenalin rush of the grand slam bid under tournament conditions, my partner and I finished top with 744 points. To put that in context, only one other pair reached 700 and fourth place was a lowly 619. It's looking good so far ...
I knew we were going to do well, when we were the only pair at the 20 tables to bid and make 6 spades on the first hand of the evening, everyone else making the standard 4 spades + 2. That got my partner going, and he kept it up for the whole evening.
I fully expect hubris to kick in next Tuesday in round 2. But I can enjoy how things stand for one week, can't I?
Walter Blotscher
Playing in a tournament obviously brings benefits. Last night was the first round of the club championship, where I play regularly on a Tuesday. Still feeling the adrenalin rush of the grand slam bid under tournament conditions, my partner and I finished top with 744 points. To put that in context, only one other pair reached 700 and fourth place was a lowly 619. It's looking good so far ...
I knew we were going to do well, when we were the only pair at the 20 tables to bid and make 6 spades on the first hand of the evening, everyone else making the standard 4 spades + 2. That got my partner going, and he kept it up for the whole evening.
I fully expect hubris to kick in next Tuesday in round 2. But I can enjoy how things stand for one week, can't I?
Walter Blotscher
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
MOLE WARFARE (5)
It has been all quiet on the western front this winter; I haven't caught a mole since 28 November. Which has irritated me somewhat, since there has been a pesky critter - pesky being exactly the right word to describe him - holed up under the compost heap since the day after. Because of the frozen ground, he has had difficulty doing anything more than sitting there. But he has more than made up for that during the occasional thaws by creating the biggest molehills I have ever seen.
My patience was beginning to wear thin. Until this afternoon, when I finally got him. Bingo. Now all I have to do is demolish his molehills, and wait for the spring offensive. We all know that there will be one, the question is where exactly they will launch an assault.
Walter Blotscher
It has been all quiet on the western front this winter; I haven't caught a mole since 28 November. Which has irritated me somewhat, since there has been a pesky critter - pesky being exactly the right word to describe him - holed up under the compost heap since the day after. Because of the frozen ground, he has had difficulty doing anything more than sitting there. But he has more than made up for that during the occasional thaws by creating the biggest molehills I have ever seen.
My patience was beginning to wear thin. Until this afternoon, when I finally got him. Bingo. Now all I have to do is demolish his molehills, and wait for the spring offensive. We all know that there will be one, the question is where exactly they will launch an assault.
Walter Blotscher
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
