2013 World Men's Handball Championship

The 23rd  Men's World Handball Championship just wrapped up at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. The championship was held in multiple cities in Spain. This was Spain's first time hosting the tournament. 24 teams enter the tournament. Six teams are put into four different groups for a preliminary round. The top four teams in each group make the knockout stage. The knockout stage is a regular single-elimination tournament with seedings based on performance in the group stage. Here are three things to remember about the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship.

The Final

Spain celebrate winning the Handball title
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The Men's World Handball Championship Final featured Denmark and the hosts, Spain. The road for Denmark started by going undefeated in group play, followed by knockout round wins against Tunisia, Hungary, and Croatia to make the finals. Spain lost one game in group play and defeated Serbia, Germany, and Slovenia for the opportunity to compete for the Gold Medal. The game started off close. After 19 minutes of play, Spain only held a one goal advantage over Denmark. For the rest of the match, Spain controlled the game. They went on a 26 to 11 run to end the game and run Denmark out of the building. The championship for Spain in their second, and their first since 2005. This is the second consecutive silver medal for Denmark. 

Top Performers

The All Star Team
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There were many players who performed at their highest level. Both teams in the final had two players on the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship All-Star Team. Keeper Niklas Landin and Right Wing Hans Lindberg represented Denmark on the team and Pivot Julen Aguinagalde and Left Back Alberto Entrerrios did the same for Spain. Also on the team, at Center Back Domagoj Duvnjak of Croatia, Right Back Laszlo Nagy of Hungary, and Left Wing is Timur Dibirov of Russia. The MVP of the tournament was Denmark's Left Back Mikkel Hanson. Hanson scored 22 goals, 20 assists, and eight steals. The top goal scorer of the tournament was Denmark's Anders Eggert. Aron Palmarsson of Iceland was the tourney's leader in assists with 35. Poland's Marcin Wichary was the leader in saves with 46.6%. 

The "Loser's" Bracket

The Australia national handball team
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A unique quality of the World Men's Handball Championship is that their are games for 23rd place, 21st place, 19th place, and 17 place games. To get to these placement games, the teams would have to go through a bracket. The last-place finishers of the Group Stage went to a bracket in hopes of being the 21st place team. The second-to-last team of the Group Stage go to another bracket to try to become the 17th place squad and the President's Cup.

In the 23rd place game, Australia went up against Chile. Australia has a history of losing at the championships. The Aussies have  only one win ever and have finished 24th at every World Championship except one. This year was no exception as Chile beat Australia 32-23. In the 21st place game, Montenegro lost to South Korea, 30-27. The 19th place game featured two Middle Eastern teams in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In a shootout, Saudi Arabia defeated Qatar, 33-30. And, in the 17th place game, Algeria topped Argentina 29-23 to win the President's Cup.

The Return of Basketball to Seattle

According to reports, Sacramento Kings majority owners, the Maloof family, a have agreed to sell their majority interest to a Seattle based group for 525 million dollars. The group will get 65% of the Kings. The group is led by hedge fund manager Chris Hanson. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is also part of the group. The 65% include 53% from the Maloof's and 12% from Bob Hernreich a minority owner.

The Primary Logos of the Kings franchise
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The Kings have a history of moving cities. They were formed in 1945 in Rochester, New York. The team was called the Royals and was originally in the National Basketball League. They joined to the NBA for the 1948-49 season. After the 1956-57 season, the Royals moved to Cincinnati and stayed their for 15 seasons. Before the 1972-73 season, they left Ohio for the midwest. The Royals played a split schedule in Kansas City and Omaha and also changed their nickname to the Kings to avoid confusion with the Kansas City Royals of MLB. That's how they got the name the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. After three seasons, they dropped Omaha from the name. And finally, the Kings moved to Sacramento before the 1985-86 season and have stayed there since.

Seattle has a strong basketball history. They had their own NBA team from 1967-2008, the Seattle Supersonics. The team moved to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season. Even though it has only been five years, there has been a wanting for another team. Now, it looks like 
Seattle has gotten their wish.

A reason the Supersonics left for Oklahoma City was because of the inability to get money for a new arena. The KeyArena is not a top tier arena. When there was a team in Seattle, the KeyArena had the lowest capacity of any arena. The new arena is being funded by Hansen.  Tomorrow there is a meeting in Seattle on the subject of the arena .

Does the move to Seattle also mean the return
of the Sonics
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I have always thought of Sacramento as the little brother in the NBA family. They always felt a step behind. Sacramento isn't a place you would think "They definitely have an NBA team." Being the little brother, they were put in a hole. When fans think of the next relocation, they would instantly think Sacramento. Losing Sacramento is not going to drastically change the league. Seattle is probably more fit for a team anyway. Seattle has about 4.2 million residents in the metro area, more then Sacramento's 2.461 million. Seattle also doesn't have any problems with making a new arena. The one question I have is whether or not the new name of team will be the Supersonics. I like the Supersonics' name, but it's history is with Oklahoma City. Also, Seattle must take into account the Kings' rich history. If the new owners don't name the team the Supersonics, they will need to work on a good name, or else the fans won't be happy.

NHL Season Preview 2013

The NHL is back. After a 119 day lockout, the league is coming back after only a week of training camp. The season will only be 48 games and with only conference opponents facing  each other. That means the Stanley Cup will have two teams that have never faced each other during the season. That should make for a very interesting season. Here are some things and teams to look for when the first puck is dropped on Saturday.

Top Form

During the lockout, Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk
went to play in the KHL
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Unlike after the NBA lockout, the players have been playing in other leagues, putting many of them in mid-season form. Ilya Kovalchuk is one of the players who should be firing on all cylinders. He played for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He captained the West in the KHL All-Star Game over the weekend and had a hat trick in the game. Kovalchuk had 42 points on 18 goals and 24 assists during the regular season. I  expect a lot for the hot Kovalchuk and the Devils this season. Same with Evgeny Malkin who played with the KHL's Metallurg Magnitagorsk during the lockout. He had 65 points on 23 goals and 45 assists. Malkin should be dominating in the first few weeks as Sidney Crosby will try to get back in the swing of things. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had a bad season last year after coming into the season with high expectations. There were some bright spots and the Bolts. Steven Stamkos was the league leader in goals with 60 and 37 assists. Martin St. Louis had 49 assists and 25 goals. While the frontline was playing very well, the back line struggled. They averaged 3.39 goals against per game, worst in the league. They signed Andres Lindback to compete with Mathieu Garon for the starrting goalie spot. No matter what who starts, they need to keep the opposing players from scoring. If they can do that, they will be in good shape.

Vancouver Canucks

Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo
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The Canucks were the number one team going into the playoffs and lost in the first round to the number eight seed Los Angles Kings. The big controversy of the playoffs was over the goaltender situation, where starter Roberto Luongo in favor of Cory Schneider. It looks like Schneider will be the starter, as Luongo might be traded soon. One thing that worries me is that they only had three players who played in Europe during the lockout. I know some of their stars are getting older, but more players should have played during the lockout. With only a week to get ready for the season, the Canucks will need time to get into a rhythm. Vancouver has a chip on it's shoulder after last year's playoffs. Expect them to start slow and finish the season strong.

2013 Hall of Fame Inductees

No one on the BBVAA Ballot Will Be Included In This
Years Plaque Section In Induction Row
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For only the time eighth ever and first since 1996, there was not one player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) to become a Baseball Hall of Famer. 3000 Hit Club Member Craig Biggio was the leading vote-getter in his first year of eligibility with 68.2%. Steroid allegations affected players in their first year on the ballot. Those include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa, who all received 36.2%, 37.6%, and 12.5% respectively. Their will be players inducted into the Hall of Fame who were voted in by Veteran Committee a few weeks ago (Who we will talk about later). There are many players who are on the cusp or are not getting the support they deserve. Here are some of the more notable and interesting players who will be on the ballot next year.

Craig Biggio

If I am Craig Biggio, I would not be worried, unlike second place vote Jack Morris. He only needs 39 more votes to become a Hall of Famer and has 14 years to get it. That is more than enough time for Biggio. 

Jack Morris

Jack Morris is another story. Morris only three votes less then Biggio, however, he is in his 14th year of eligibility. He has one more year to make and I am not sure if he can. I am unsure if I would vote for him, considering there are other players who are more deserving.

Tim Raines

Tim Raines
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I believe that Tim Raines is a definite Hall of Famer. He has had a steady rise after getting only 24.3% in 2008 and 22.6% in 2009. It started with Raines getting 30.4% in 2010 then 37.5% in 2011 followed by 48.7% in 2012 and finally 52.2% in 2013. He has a career WAR of 66.2, 2605 hits, .294 batting average, .385 on-base percentage, 1571 runs, 808 stolen bases, and 1330 walks. Those are Hall of Fame numbers, especially the steals. One of the best base stealers of all time should have already made it into the Hall. Since he has not, it should not be soon before he is standing at the podium giving his acceptance speech.

Lee Smith

Only a select group of closers make it to Cooperstown, and Lee Smith should be one of them. He was once the career leader in saves with 478 before Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. He has 178 more saves then Bruce Sutter and 168 more then Goose Gossage. He also had 1251 strikeouts, 3.03 ERA, and 1.256 WHIP during his 18 year career. Lee Smith was a consistent and dominant closer who put fear into the hitter's when he went to the mound.

Inductees Inducted By The Veteran Committee: Hank O'Day, Jacob Ruppert, and Deacon White

Hank O'Day
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Hank O'Day was elected in as an umpire, but was also a pitcher for seven years before umping and also managed for two years. O'Day is known as one of the greatest umpires of all-time and is finally getting his recognition. He was an umpire for 35 seasons, second only to fellow Hall of Famer Bill Klem, and was an umpire in ten World Series, tied for first with Klem. He received fifteen of the sixteen votes possible.

Jacob Ruppert was the co-owner of the New York Yankees from 1915-1922 and then owner of the team from 1922-1939. During his tenure, the Yankees went from a middle of the pack  to a successful franchise. The team went from zero World Series appearances and World Series championships to ten World Series appearances and seven World Series titles (Note: Ruppert passed away before the 1939 season, in which the Yankees won the World Series). His biggest accomplishments include signing Babe Ruth in 1920 and the building of Yankee Stadium. Ruppert also received fifteen of the sixteen possible votes.

Deacon White played in the majors for twenty years from 1871-1890. White caught more then 400 games without a glove and the luxury equipment we have today. White had the first ever hit in a major league, in the first ever game of National Association in 1871. He has a career batting average of .312 and 2067. He had a great season in 1877, leading the league in batting average (.387), slugging percentage (.545), OPS (.950), hits (103), RBIs (49), triples (11), and total bases (145). White won SABR's 2010 Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend. White received fourteen of the sixteen votes possible.

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds's Difference In Body Size
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Barry Bonds is a first ballot Hall of Famer, without a doubt...if there are no steroid allegations. Since there are and he admitted to unknowingly using steroids. That turns me away from voting for Bonds for the Hall. However, he didn't use steroids for all of his career. According to a a book, Game of Thrones, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, he started using steroids after the 1998 season. When you look at his stats from 1986 to 1998, he had 411 homers, 1216 ribbies, 445 steals, a .290 batting average, .411 on-base percentage, and .556 slugging percentage. He had 3 MVP's in 1990, '92, and '93. Those are define Hall of Fame numbers. Barry Bonds was a Hall of Famer before the steroids and should be rewarded for that.