World Cup Handball: The Final Stretch

urbanhawk17 said:Germany's out.

Man, you seriously need to start using something other than Internet Explorer.

City went totally south because the big boss ran into massive money troubles. This guy was basically the king of the flour industry—Mirza told me he had stacks of cash, just throwing money at players left and right. When their contracts ended, he’d make sure everyone got paid exactly what they earned. He even built an entire airport in City just so European teams could fly straight there instead of landing in Madrid.

Then, the flour king decided to get into construction. Word is, the guy tried to build an entire city from scratch, and then the recession hit. Everything just spiraled after that. First, the local government begged him to cover half the budget, but they turned him down. After that, the team moved to Madrid, but I guess that didn't last long either.

George Ward7 said:City totally collapsed because the big boss ran into massive money troubles. This guy was basically the flour king of Spain—Mirza told me once, he had cash flowing like you see in movies. He’d just hand out money to the players whenever he felt like it, and when their contracts ended, everyone got paid based on what they actually put in. He even built his own airport in City so European teams could fly straight there instead of having to land in Madrid.

Then, I guess, the flour king decided to try his hand at construction. Word is, the guy built an entire city from scratch right before the recession hit. After that, everything just went downhill fast. First, the local government refused to bail him out by covering half the budget, which was a huge mistake if you ask me. Then the team moved to Madrid, but that didn't even last long.

Yeah. Just handing out his own hard-earned cash left and right.☕ I saw it all—the luxury apartments, the golf courses, the fancy spas... all of it went bust, not just his stuff. It reminds me of that whole situation in China, where they were busy building these cheap imitations of European cities, putting famous old European boulevards in the middle of nowhere, and then nobody actually bought anything... just ghost towns. Kind of like Detroit or Milwaukee.🙄

German soccer clubs are falling apart too: HSV, Werder, Wolfsburg... they used to stun European crowds with their play during trips to places like Manchester, Paris, Milan, Indianapolis, or Barcelona... now, they're mostly just worried about getting relegated.🍿

RK Chicago really needs to go beat Vardar on their home turf right about now. That should be the first big test after all those messy national team performances. It's a chance for all the stars to show up in Chicago and finally play some serious matches ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Indianapolis should be taking down Vardar 🤣 🤣 🤣
What a ridiculous take 🙏

driftingotter47 said:Indianapolis should probably face Vardar 🤣 🤣 🤣
What a take 🙏

I mean, it’s not impossible, I guess. Arpad Sterbik is getting up there in age too, otherwise he probably would’ve ended up at some massive powerhouse club by now. And Angelov? Yeah, he’s old. Not exactly looking like a spring chicken either. If this turns into a low-scoring grind, Indianapolis wins. But if we start trading blows and hitting 27 or 28 goals? That wouldn't be great for us.

Indianapolis has a top-tier coach on the bench, plus a really solid staff.

We've got two elite keepers: Stevie and Jump, if we’re sticking to those nicknames.☕

Then there's Horvat, who’s always reliable and doesn't seem to get rattled even when playing in front of screaming crowds.

Cingesar, who grabbed a bronze medal at the recent 2018 World Cup.

Dobrivoje Markovic—he's a class act, super experienced, and since he used to play for RK Vardar, he knows their whole vibe. He knows their mindset, their strengths, their tactics, and yeah, where they fall apart.

Tin Kontrec and Igor Vori are basically specialists when it comes to those one-on-one defensive and offensive battles.

Stipe Mandalinic, who also snagged a 4th place finish at that last 2018 World Cup. The guy’s got speed, he reads the floor well... you know how it is.

Tonc Valcic is like a modern-day catapult. Just a powerhouse attacker, plus he works his tail off on defense. Real value for the staff. His brother Joseph is pretty much on that same level, too.

Velko Markoski—I mean, just the name carries weight in the handball world.

And I definitely wouldn't leave out Lovre Jotic and Luk Sebetica; they were both part of that 4th place run at the 2018 World Cup.

Honestly, everything points to an Indianapolis win—the stats, the experts, all of it.

I guess you really are quite something 🙏🤣

Tony Valcic is a constant threat on the attack, honestly, the guy hasn't played center in five years 🤣 🤣
Are you seriously trolling us right now? Respect to you, I guess 🙏 🙏

Just wondering, did LA Galaxy fold entirely, or are they just playing in lower leagues now?

Edit: I see they're in USL League One, but I'm curious—is this actually the same club or a brand new organization?

Kenneth Clark18 said:Just wondering, did LA Galaxy get shut down entirely or are they just playing in some lower leagues now?

Edit: I see they're in USL League One North, but I'm curious—is this actually the same club or a total reboot?

So, LA Galaxy is sitting in USL League One North. Usually, when people say HSV, they mean Hamburg Sport Club. Basically, we just call them the Hamburg Sport Club here.

It’s kind of funny, though, because their whole historical legacy traces back to a club called Bad Schwartau. There’s actually this really famous food brand that uses that exact name—Bad Schwartau jam. I love the blueberry one, or strawberry, or cherry... those are good. But man, I remember this one time, I guess I was just distracted or whatever, and I made this totally impulsive move and bought orange jam instead. Huge mistake. Total disaster. It was full of these tiny, thin strips of orange peel, and I just couldn't deal with it. The bitterness from the zest was just... intense. Honestly, I'm still trying to get over that orange peel trauma, even years later. Just a bad memory. I learned my lesson, though. I stick to what I know. I haven't touched orange jam since.

Anyway, I was thinking about how their coach, Michael Biegler—who used to coach Poland, right?—probably has a better handle on developing talent and getting players to actually play with some real skill.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michae...Biegler_01.jpg

In that photo, he just looks... I don't know, sad? Like he's completely resigned to his fate and totally at odds with the rest of the world.

The so-called "stars" have all jumped ship, which, honestly, feels like such a predictable trend in modern sports lately—just everyone chasing the almighty dollar.

The roster is basically just leftovers now. I had some free time, so I started coming up with nicknames for the players, you know, inspired by those legendary clubs, national teams, and actual handball icons: Plaue, Rix (aka Rex), Nowacki, Papirow, and Born (aka in USA).

Mods, are you guys actually going to do something about this troll or what?

Joseph Kern5 said:I had some downtime, so I started coming up with nicknames for their players. I based them on legendary clubs, national teams, and actual handball icons: Plaue, Rex (aka Rex), Nowacki, Papirow, and Born (aka Born in USA).

You're way ahead of your time🙏