Live Sports Abroad Part III: Women's European Handball Federation Champions League

Continuing our series, we went to a women's handball match in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This was fun because it's a sport you really don't see in the States.  You may catch a game or two during the Summer Olympics, but that's it.  Let's get to the questions.

Seriously, Jim, are you trying to go to the most random sporting events you can find?

Well, maybe.  I'm equal opportunity on sporting events of all kinds.  Weird and mainstream.  Basically whatever we can go to that has a cheap ticket.

So, what the heck is handball?

The best way I can describe it is sort of like a cross between lacrosse and basketball.  I don't have a full grasp of the rules, but basically teams pass a ball between players and try to throw it into the goal.  Contact usually resulted in a whistle and play being reset for the team with the ball.  I believe there are rules about how much you can travel with the ball.  Nobody seemed to get called for anything like travelling, but I'm pretty sure it exists.  There are two 30 minutes halves with not much stoppage, so the game moves quickly.  Here's some shots of the action:

OK, who was playing?

First a quick word on the league.  It is a yearly tournament comprising of the respective national championship winners of the top European countries in handball.  We saw the Slovenian national champs, RK Krim Mercator from Ljubljana take on the Russian champs, Dinamo-Sinara from Volgograd.  Krim has won the national championship in Slovenia every single year since the 1994-95 season.  The league has only existed since 1991 when Slovenia gained their independence from Yugoslavia.  So, they are 20 for 23 in national titles, but have won the Champions League only twice.  Still, they are basically a Slovenian handball dynasty.

How was the game?

It was really entertaining.  It's pretty fast paced and it was close throughout.  Going low seemed to be the usual strategy for scoring goals.  It appears you can bounce the ball off the floor into the goal.  There is an area around the goalie you can't touch with your feet, but you can jump over it and shoot so there are lots of entertaining jump shots.  Krim had the lead by a point or two for most of the match but Dinamo-Sinara tied it up around halfway through the second half and ended up winning 26-24.  The whole thing was over in a brisk hour and 25 minutes.

Mascots?

Nope.

Any good Jumbotron action?

There was one, but it just showed pictures and videos of the team and random ads.

Anything good at halftime?

Not much, some kids played a mini game of handball for a bit.

How was the crowd?

Small, for an arena that can hold over 12,000, but Krim did have a modest fan section that was into it complete with drums and noisemakers.

What were the concessions like in a Slovenian arena?

For this, they were basically non-existent.  Two stands open selling drinks and no merchandise whatsoever, but here's a giant Krim shirt that was in the stands:

Anything strange worth mentioning?

The referees were twins.  At least I'm reasonably sure that they were.  The following pictures are two different people:

What's part IV going to be?

I have no idea, but if I can find something you'll hear about it.