Allez Bleu! Allez Bleu!

     University of Michigan fans were right at home in the Handball arena Monday night as chants of "Allez Bleu" rang out.  That translates as "Go Blue" to those who forgot high school French.  Les Bleus, as French teams are known in the sporting world, responded with a hard-fought win over Sweden to secure a spot in the quarter finals.  This is one sport where the small nation of Iceland is very competitive. No U.S. team qualified, if we even have a team.  It is primarily a European sport played from grade school on.
     At first blush, the handball court looks like basketball with a goal on each end, a shooting arc and perhaps a little wider.  That's where the comparison ends.  In handball you can carry the ball, run with ball, dribble once in a while, engage in physical contact, shoot from outside the arc and face a big guy trying to block your shot.  Wait a minute!  That is basketball!  No, not really.  To say that basketball and handball both have contact is to say that ballroom dancing and wrestling both have contact.
     You have to imagine a game in which the shooter always ends up on the floor, where setting a screen is to grab as many defenders as possible and the shot is thrown as a line drive.  And, oh yes, the goal is at ground level (like a small soccer goal) and guarded by some fool willing to stand in front of strong throws without any equipment.  Like many of  Olympic team sports the emphasis is on continuous play.  Substitutions are on the fly, the ball is quickly retrieved at one end and started up to the other end.
     There is no "taking a charge" in this game.  No one cares if you get splattered to the floor.  The proper defensive technique is to simply grab the opponent.  To score, the preferred technique is to launch yourself from outside the ark horizontal to the floor and fling it past the goalie just before crashing.  Very entertaining and a great spectator sport with relatively few rules to require explanation.  It gives new meaning to the American sporting expression, "No harm, no foul."

     Les Bleus score against Sweden in the group game to gain the quarter finals.  Note how much physical contact is involved.

French Player Launches Himself with Ball at Ready

No Foul Called on Play, Just Good Defense

Long Range Shot by France