Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.02.2012, Side 10

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10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • February 1 2012
Over the past few years, Iceland has enjoyed unprecedented
success in the major handball
championships – runners up in
the 2008 Olympics and bronze
medal winners in the 2009
European Championships says
it all and the disappointment
of only reaching sixth place in
the World Championships last
year also attests to the success
the Icelandic handball fans
have become used to.
Therefore, the expectations
were fairly high when the
Icelandic men’s team embarked
on a journey to the Balkans,
Serbia to be precise, for the
2012 European Handball
Championships. Only fairly
high as the expectations had
been slightly dented when
Snorri Steinn Guðjónsson,
one of the pillars of the team
over the past ears, decided
to prioritize his wife and
their newborn child over the
tournament and also when it
became clear that team captain,
and handball superstar, Ólafur
I. Stefánsson would not recover
from his long-term injury in
time for the championships.
Widely regarded as one of
the best players in history,
grand old man Stefánsson –
he’ll turn 39 in the summer
– is still the most
important player in
the team. Instead
of Guðjónsson and
Stefánsson, the team
will have to rely on
Alexander Peterson
(Stefánsson’s under-
study since 2005)
and 21-year old
starlet Aron
Pálmarsson, both
of whom are world
class players in their
own right.
Yet, Strákarnir
okkar (e. Our boys)
as the team is usually
referred to in Iceland
gave a disappointing
performance in the
first group stage.
In fact, the team
only barely, and undeservedly,
managed to avoid elimination in
a round robin group competition
against Croatia, Slovenia
and Norway. Especially the
match against Slovenia will
be remembered as one of the
worst performances this team
has ever given. Since advancing
to the main round, Iceland has
beaten Hungary and lost to
Spain. One game remains in
the main round against France,
the reigning Olympic, World
and European Champions but
as a result of the lost game
against Spain, Iceland has no
possibility of advancing to the
semi-finals.
During the heyday of the
current Icelandic squad, France
was the only team that could beat
Strákarnir okkar. A win against
the French team is therefore
the best way to finish the 2012
European Championships with
the flag aloft.
Note: Iceland and France
tied, 29-29
Icelandic Handball a disappointment
G Sverrir Þór
Uppsala, Sweden
Gilbart Funeral Home Ltd.
Four generations of devoted service
in the Selkirk area and throughout
the Interlake since 1935
CHapeLs in seLkirk and GimLi
309 Eveline Street, Selkirk
Toll free 1-800-230-6482
482-3271
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Selkirk
Icelandic players celebrate reaching the finals at Beijing Olympics
Ólafur I. Stefánsson pictured at right cannot take part in the current
championship due to injury
PHotos courtesy oF HsÍ
There is little doubt that many of the areas of the world that are endowed
with year around good weather,
are a magnet for strange or
sometimes undesirable people.
At this point it is probably
prudent to mention that the great
number of Nordics, including
Icelandic folks, that have
settled here, are not necessarily
included in that group. There is
always the exception from the
rule. But your reporter/consul
must admit that he has been
called on, on several occasions,
to bail out of prison a landsman
who has gotten in trouble
with the law. There was one
incarcerated last year, but the
offense was relatively innocent.
He was drunk, which happens
to the best of Icelanders, and
urinated in the open at an
outdoor bar in Miami Beach. In
a recent newspaper there was a
littany of strange petty crimes
and mishaps, that had ocurred
in Florida last year. Here are
a few: Police in St. Petersburg
said two would-be carjackers
forced a couple out of their car
at gunpoint, but ran away after
they couldn’t figure out how
to drive a car with a stick shift
... The family dog ate $ 1,000
in cash that a St. Augustine
couple left on the kitchen table
... While he did not rob the
bank, an unhappy Palm Coast
customer left quite a deposit.
He urinated in a drive-through
bank tube and drove off ... A
Jupiter condo association is
requiring residents to pay for
DNA testing for their dogs so
they can track down who does
not pick up his pooch’s poop.
Fritters are deepfried
delicacies or tidbits. The
spelling is uncannily similar
to the Icelandic word fréttir.
So,what you are getting is
news from Florida regarding
Iceland and some tidbits too.
Florida
Fritters
Thórir S. Gröndal
Florida