Olympics Part IV

12:15--Women's Team Handball Semifinal now on MSNBC! I heart handball. It's South Korea and Norway in a semifinal match, early first half.

Some basic handball rules--There is a restricted area roughly the size of the 3- point line in basketball in front of the goal that defenders can never enter, and offensive players can only enter once they are in the air, jumping and throwing the ball toward the goal. The court is essentially the size of a basketball court. It's 6 on 6 with a goalie.
2 30-minutes halves. No extra-time bullcrap in this sport.
A player can only hold the ball for 3 seconds at a time before doing anything. You can take 3 steps before or after dribbling. Contact is generally let go if the defender has good body position...think the block/charge call in basketball.
The ball is between a volleyball and softball in size and is not soft.
Transition offense and defense is key, just like in basketball.

I don't know how good a job I did describing the game, but it's very fun to play, having done it for a period of time during a PE course at GVSU (yes, Helly, I did get college credit for that class).

12:25--this new freecreditreport.com song/commercial is the worst thing on television EVER.

12:28--Swin Cash did the color commentary for the China/Aussie women's game. She did a reasonably good job of murdering the English language throughout the telecast. At one point she said that Aussie stud center Lauren Jackson had a "chronicle" ankle problem. Apparently her ankle doesn't enjoy reading Mike Mattson's picks?

12:31--My boy Brian Clay just threw the shot a career-best distance, putting himself solidly in first place with 2 events to go for the day. They then showed him on camera shirtless, he is not a small dude. He referred to his arms as "guns" while laughing about it, then said he is having a great time and just making memories while the rain just pelted him in the face. He said those things in the most sincere, I'm-having-a-blast way possible. The announcer said, with 7 events left, the gold medal was "his to lose".