Yeah... Sounds like it.

Handball is just fucking awesome, period. From what I know about handball (nothing), they take the best parts of basketball (5v5, point guard), hockey (power play), rugby (tackling), and Scandinavia (beautiful women), throw them on a funny looking court for two half hour periods, and let madness and goals ensue. I love it!

A few questions for handball fans on webdip:

- What the hell is the dotted line for? And why isn't that a two or three point line?
- Do you have to dribble? Is there traveling?
- What are the five guys sitting at the table at halfcourt?
- Why doesn't the US play handball?

whoa... you didn't say it was women's handball..... i'm going to have to check this out.

Plus, it's ridiculously fun to watch. I love how the game just keeps going after a goal. I don't really understand the penalty shot, though. Why does the game stop after a goalie stops a penalty? Is this delay to let the goalie run around and yell a lot? Why not just make it a free for all on a blocked penalty, like soccer?

wanna play 1v1 handball, virtually?

Isn't it 7v7 or do women have it easier? The dotted line is for free throws and you have to dribble.

damn... now I'm going to have to research this game.. i'm genuinely interested. This will further cut into my diploming time... well, I suppose I'm at work.. but it's still cutting into time that I should be using productively.

I think the Scandinavian element is similar as in floorball although handball is also strong in the Balkans and not only from Switzerland northwards.

It's 6 players per team, plus a goalie. Contact is only allowed from directly in front of the ball carrier.

- The solid line is the crease (only goalies), and the dotted line is for free throws (idk why, I got it off Wikipedia).
- You can take three steps without dribbling, then three with dribbling, then three without dribbling, I think.

Wait, floorball? Free throws? How do you get a free throw?

I googled it and emfries is right as far as I know.

So this ain't US handball (1v1 like racquetball without the racquets).

So you get a free throw when the refs stop the game, but if you are inside the dotted line you have to go back outside of it (like a free kick in soccer). There are also 7-meter throws (like a penalty kick in soccer), but they happen more often, like a few times a game.

@Draugnar this is "team handball".

Free throw is awarded for minor fouls outside of the free throw line and you execute them from the faul spot. For a faul inside of the free throw line or in any clear scoring position (like in basketball), you get a 7 meter throw (like a penalty in soccer) - those are always fun.

I got that. Aboviously no wall to be bounced off of. More of a full court game.

The dotted line should be a two point line, I think it would add more excitement to the game, which can kind of get bogged down while the offense is tossing the ball around the outside of the dotted line.

My friend is a floorball refferee and he always makes sure he can get a shift during the Czech Open when the Swedish girls come around ;) Haven't really heard about their handballers from my handballing friends though, and I only watch the men's competitions.

I'd love to play handball with some of these Swedish women ;)

But that's the basic strategy :D You can't just approach a sport for the first time and completely reassemble it, that's just rude :) It's similar to how Spaniards play football but it isn't boring, it's exciting and energic.

I want the Swedish women to play with my balls using their hands. Does that count? And melontongue would be a lot of fun too. :-)

Sorry, I'm in a raunchy mood.

Hands and balls go well together.

I'm not trying to insult handball fans, but I'm watching it for the first time, and I made some observations and judgements based on me not knowing the rules. Being a basketball fan, I assumed the dotted line was for two point shots.

Gives me an idea ofr a seat for men at the office. Put a vibrating wriggling hand moutned to the front of the seat right in the middle so it can sit there and play with your balls all day. Make a female version that sits flat and lightly rubs through whatever garment they are wearign that day as well. It woudl definitely make cubicle life much more enjoyable.

You guys never played "european handball" at elementary school?

Obviously, that wasn't as awesome as this sport actually is. It is a way better spectator sport than any of the big North American Professional leagues (football, hockey, basketball, baseball).

I didn't mean it badly, it's actually always enlightening when an outsider approaches something and points out counter-intuitive things the insiders take for granted. But it's more of a combination between the crease zone in hockey and penalty area in football.

All I know is that my interest was peaked the second hot Scandinavian women were mentioned.

Dude, I played this all the time in high school. So good.

@Lando - I bite my thumb at you sir! How *dare* you disparage hockey by listing it with those lesser sports!