CALL ME SNAKE

(Editor’s Note: The following is part of a recurring series–and a popular one at that–on “Handball in the Media.”) I know I’ve said I don’t watch TV, but last night I did happen to catch a few minutes of the new series, “Six Degrees,” which I mention here only because a shadowy figure who appeared on the show last night, known as “The Puncher,” was holding a handball and tossing it in the air before accosting a man on the sidewalk and doing what you’d expect a “Puncher” to do–punching. I worry that this could give handball a bad name. On the other hand, the people the Puncher punched were evidently rats, jerks, or miscreants, so maybe it gives handball a good name. It’s a tough call that, at this early juncture, could swing either way. I suppose time will tell as to how this episode will affect the reputation, and future, of the sport we know and love so well.