Zdenko Uzorinac

Zdenko Uzorinac was born 7.7.1929 in Zagreb, Croatia.

He was top-grade table tennis player: 
- have won several national championships with his club and in doubles, 
- with his club GSTK Zagreb he won Europe Club of Champions (1962),
- with national team he won bronze medal in Swaythling Cup (1951) on World Championship in Vienna.

Since 1948 he has followed international table tennis continuously (26 world Championships).

He has written 13 books and monographs on table tennis, as well as many articles and commentaries published in Croatian and foreign magazines and journals.

He is a member of the International Associations of Sports Journalists (AIPS) and since Calcutta 1975of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Media Committee.

He has received the ITTF Aword of Merit (Tianjin 1995), as well as highest Croatian sport award; the Dr. Franjo Bucar Prize.

International Crisis Group 

Dear Ms Feldworth, 
Thanks for your comments! Though it is far from the first time we have said this. 
Best regards, 

Nicholas Whyte 
Europe Program Director 
International Crisis Group
media@crisisweb.org 


Dear Ms. Cronin: 
It is extraordinary to me that, for the first time, an entity actually 
does NOT want to reward Serbia! For the last 12 years I have wondered 
if both the media and western governments have turned into virtual 
morons. The plethora of pro-Serbian propaganda coming from renowned 
journalists, tv media and governments has astounded me. Additionally, 
the willingness of governments to forgive hundreds of millions of 
dollars in debt, provide billions in aid, and continually sympathize 
with Serbia as "poor victims" due to the "suffering" Serbia incurred 
while its people laid waste to towns in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo and 
while they practiced the most vicious forms of ethnic cleansing, 
genocide and mass rape should insult one's intelligence and moral 
integrity. This incredible political deference shown to Serbia continues 
while Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo will be repairing the torn pieces of 
their infrastructures for a very long time. 

I congratulate your website on an enlightening report. 

Judy Feldworth 
St. Louis, MO, USA 

Krisitan Krekovic

Self-portrait

Dear Mr. Bach,

It is little known that in Palma de Mallorca there exists Museo Krekovic, founded by Croatian born Peruvian artist Krisitan Krekovic. The Krekovic Collection in Palma de Mallorca was officially opened in 1982 by Queen Sophia of Spain. For more details see

www.hr/darko/etf/art.html     #krek   (in English)

www.hr/darko/etf/krek.html   (in Croatian)

www.hr/darko/etf/krekk.html   (Art critics)

Do You know that Kristian Krekovic portrayed

Mahatma Gandhi, 
the English Queen (in 1938, upon her request), 
the royal family of Spain, and 
the royal family of Sweden. 
It would be of great interest to have all these portrats on the web. 
Manuel Vegas Castillo, Director of Culture of the Peruvian Ministry of Education: 
Kristian Kreković, the Croatian-born artist, has dedicated his life and his Art to the fabulous Empire of Inkas, Pre-Inkas and present day Hispano-American Folklore, with such prodigality of love and truth, art and knowledge, force and sensuality, sacrifice and perseverance, the likes of which have never been equalled by any other painter in the artistic history of America...
BARCELONA; "La Vnaguardia Espanola": Juan Coretés, 1957. 
"...as sensational, without any exaggeration, can be qualified the exhibition brought to us by the Croatian-born Peruvian artist Kristian Kreković. His, for the most part monumental paintings are masterly and complicated compositions, with absolutely perfect drawing, masterly treatment of chiaroscuro and brilliant and luminous palette...".
Greetings from Zagreb,

Darko Zubrinic

www.hr/darko/etf/etfss.html    

We Speak and Write Croatian

In a relation to the article on the use of the term "Serbo-Croatian" as the name
of our language at several web sites, I would like to bring to your attention
another such example. Unfortunately (and annoyingly), PubMed Central (PMC),
which is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's digital archive of life
sciences journal literature, persistently uses mark "Serbo-Croatian (Roman)"
with the titles that appear in Croatian bio-medical journals published in the
Croatian language (i.e. "Lijecnicki Vjesnik", "Acta Medica Croatica" etc.). 
Access to the abstracts of articles in PMC is free, so this site is probably the
most used one world-wide among the medical professionals (please, check at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi). 
Maybe some public pressure would convince U.S. National Library of Medicine to
properly associate the name "Croatian" with the medical articles published in
the Croatian journals in Croatian language. After all, by doing that they would
not only correct the erroneous information but would also recognize the fact
that is already accepted by some of the US government agencies (please, check at
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2098.html). 
Please send your e-mails to: custserv@nlm.nih.gov 
or write to:
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894

Thank you. Sincerely,
Stanislav Lechpammer, MD, Ph.D.
Assistant Editor, "Acta Clinica Croatica" 

The Croatian wonder

 
By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer 
Posted March 14, 2003 

Fellow countrymen
The Magic's Gordan Giricek is one of four Croatian-born players in the NBA, and they are among 65 international players from 34 countries and territories. The other Croatians:
* Dalibor Bagaric, Chicago: He's a 7-foot-1, 290-pound center who has played just five games this season. Bagaric, 22, is in his third season with the Bulls but has played in just 90 games.
* Toni Kukoc, Milwaukee: The 10-year veteran is on his fourth NBA team. He first made a name for himself as a reserve forward on some powerhouse Bulls teams in the mid-'90s. Always known as a good shooter and a deft passer, Kukoc is a 6-11 reserve small forward for the Bucks.
* Bruno Sundov, Boston: He turned 23 last month but already is in his fifth NBA season. The Celtics are the third NBA team for Sundov, a 7-2, 246-pound reserve center whose career-high for points (17) came against the Magic on Jan. 30, 2001, while he was with Indiana. 

When you've escaped a grenade thrown in your war-torn homeland of Croatia, you aren't rattled by Gary Payton's trash-talk.

When you've played basketball for $25 a week, you're so thankful to be in the NBA that you offer to give up your daily per diem after being late for the team plane.

And when you've practiced on a grass court, shooting a rubber ball at a square rim on a backboard nailed to a tree, you appreciate the simplest of American-made luxuries, like a long drive to find a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

If you're Gordan Giricek, you bring everything to the Orlando Magic but pretense.

Giricek arrived in Orlando in a four-player trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 19. He was considered a throw-in in the deal that featured Mike Miller and Drew Gooden, both former first-round picks. But in Giricek, the Magic acquired something of a throwback.

They received more than a hard-nosed guard who can score and admirably fill Miller's role; they also received a refreshing dose of reality in a league often overcome by the fumes of excess and self-absorption.

Playing the part of prima donna is foreign to Giricek. He may be averaging 16.8 points in his 11 games for the Magic -- second to Tracy McGrady in that span -- but his entourage numbers just one (his fiancée, Natasa). He has no visible tattoos, nor does he wear eye-popping jewelry.

And how Giricek has existed in the league -- or in an increasingly wired world -- without a cell phone is beyond comprehension.

"Despite my numerous attempts, Gordie doesn't have one," said Marc Fleisher, Giricek's agent. "He's the only client I have who doesn't."

Giricek was headed to an NBA All-Star Game function in Atlanta last month wearing jeans -- his usual attire -- until Fleisher sent him back upstairs to change into a suit. "I told him that you never know whom you'll meet," Fleisher said. "And sure enough . . ."

Giricek and Fleisher promptly ran into Magic General Manager John Gabriel and Player Personnel Director Gary Brokaw. Already, the trade that would bring Giricek to Orlando was in the works. "John told Gordie, 'I'll call you soon,' " Fleisher said. "Who knows if that suit rather than the jeans made a positive impression on John? You never know."

Giricek has made an impression on his team. When he got lost in Orlando en route to the airport to catch the team plane, he apologized to teammates, coaches and flight attendants as he boarded. He innocently offered to surrender his per diem as punishment. "It really opened a lot of guys' eyes because he doesn't take this life for granted," Coach Doc Rivers said.

"One thing I love about 'Euros' [Europeans] and guys like Gordie is they're humble. They come in with less of what I call 'The Star Complex,'" Fleisher said. "No one has been telling them how great they are forever. They haven't been catered to since they were 15.

"You see that in Gordie. He's not your typical rookie."

Not by a long stretch. He turns 26 in June, and he already has played six seasons of pro ball, five in his native Croatia and one in Russia. Giricek, like most Croatian youth his age, grew up idolizing Drazen Petrovic, who starred in the NBA before being killed in a car accident in 1993.

The son of a pipe-factory worker, Giricek moved away from his home in Zagreb in northwest Croatia as a skinny 16-year-old. He played in the junior leagues of Croatia for a paltry $25 a month.

Growing up, Giricek had the use of a makeshift grass court built along a river at his grandfather's house. His grandfather nailed a backboard to a tree and put up a rim -- a square rim, made of wood.

Giricek and neighborhood kids would practice all day, shooting a big rubber ball that passed for the real thing. Although he didn't have the best coaching, he gained agility playing handball and soccer as a youngster.

"I saw him in the juniors," Magic scout Sam Fogan said. "He had a great sense for the game, but he was so darn skinny. He got better and better, going to CSKA Moscow, the premier Euroleague, and got on our radar screen. He always had a hunger to be a great player."

Giricek was drafted in the second round in 1999 by the Dallas Mavericks, who've become the United Nations of the NBA. But the Mavs immediately traded him to San Antonio, and Giricek elected to stay overseas and improve his game. Then, in 2002, the Grizzlies acquired his rights in a trade with the Spurs for a 2004 second-round draft pick and cash.

"I never wanted to put my name in the draft because I didn't want to be treated like a piece of flesh. I wanted to have some influence over where I played," Giricek said. "I was happy to stay in Europe and take baby steps with my game. But I knew if I was going to play in the NBA, now was the time. They might not have wanted me if I was 28 and old."

Giricek shows no hesitancy to take a big shot, square up defensively or put his head down and drive to the hoop. "He's one of the reasons we've quietly improved," Rivers said.

"He's definitely the wild-card surprise of that trade," Milwaukee Coach George Karl said.

Through his thick accent, Giricek says, "I just try to play hard as possible. I don't know how I do it. . . . Just play hard. This is very exciting for me. This is NBA, and the goal of every player in the world."

McGrady slowly is warming to Giricek, who replaced Miller, T-Mac's best friend. Although McGrady says Giricek "is not Mike," he loves Giricek's ability to finish and create plays.

"He's really fearless," McGrady said.

"If T-Mac passes me the ball, I have to make the shot. I'm not afraid," Giricek said. "I'll never run from the last shot. If you saw me in Europe, I did stuff like that all the time."

Maybe he's fearless because Giricek also knows the other side of the safety and security of NBA life. He knows the bloody horrors of war growing up in Croatia.

"I didn't see that much of it where we lived, but I remember two grenades [bombs] fell on my city," he said. "I experienced one grenade at my school. It hit a wall. It felt like an earthquake.

"You'd see the war on TV all the time. It was terrible. I was lucky."

Giricek then climbed into his car, only to have to step on the brakes hard at the corner near TD Waterhouse Centre. A woman had left an assembled group of autograph hounds and stepped in front of his vehicle.

"I told them I'd get you to stop, Mr. Giricek," she said. "Now can you back me up and sign for us?"

Gordan Giricek shook his head, smiled and signed away.  

Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sptgiricek14031403mar14,0,4094410.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines 

Op-ed: Dear All, Shower Brian with letters of appreciation. Whatan article.Best, Nenad

Zarko Dolinar & Table Tennis Heritage Collection 

Op-ed

To the Ministry of Sports in Croatia and newspapers!

Zarko Dolinar was an extraordinary sportsman and his name should beremembered not just in his beloved Croatia but in the whole world. If themuseums are looking for a few memorabilia items to keep his name and memory oftrue sportsman, we, as a country, should be able to accomplish this. Here is onequick response from the Table Tennis Museum

Sincerely,

Nenad Bach

Dear Nenad Bach,

My friend Tim Boggan * gave me the sad news about Zarko Dolinar's death. 
Please convey my condolences to friends and family.

I am the Curator of the Table Tennis Heritage Collection - see the 
museum online at: http://tabletennismuseum.com

The collection will become the official ITTF Museum later this year.
Hopefully the table tennis memorabilia, autographs and rackets that 
Zarko had accumulated over the years spanning his career will not go 
scattered to the winds. I would personally like to see his items in an 
appropriate setting, and what better place than the ITTF Museum, where 
his memories will have lots of good company!

I hope you can assist in such a transition, or please connect me with 
the right people.

Thank you.

Charles Hoey

tennis@monriver.com 
605 Regina Drive
Elizabeth, PA
USA 15037

http://tabletennismuseum.com 

* Former President of US Table Tennis Association

Janica Winsit all

Janica Kostelic of Croatia celebrates with all her Ski World Cup trophies on the podium after winning the women's overall competition, in Hafjell, Norway, Saturday March 15, 2003. In her hands: the cup for winning the slalom; at center, the overall winner's cup. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati) 

Dr. Sanader in Wall StreetJounal

Wall Street Journal Europe

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MARCH 14 - 16, 2003

East of the Oder/ By lvo Sanader
The Europeans Who Recognize Evil in Iraq

The question of whether to use force against Saddam Hussein has divided Europe like no other issue in recent history. Tensions are running so high between the United States and some of its closest European allies that the trans-Atlantic partnership itself may be jeopardized.

The European publics, elites and media are following Iraq-related news with a level of intensity bordering on obsession. Not surprisingly, there are extensive public discussions under way in Croatia regarding this issue. Indeed, countries like Croatia that aspire to the EU and NATO membership, and yet vividly recall the unique historic American contribution to the cause of European freedom, debate Iraq-related issues with particular vigor.

Given its own experience, Croatia also appreciates, better than most European countries, that evil is not a metaphysical abstraction but that its writ runs through the affairs of men—and that use of force, while invariably a horrible enterprise, is sometimes the only answer to the challenge posed by evil regimes.

Ironically, while not all European countries appear to appreciate equally the gravity of the threat posed by the Saddam Hussein's regime, it is also the case that the differences-both intra-European and trans-Atlantic-are less about ends than means. Everyone wants Iraq to comply with the United Nation Security Council resolutions requiring its disarmament. American, British and European leaders who support the U.S. position argue that immediate action must be taken against Iraq if it fails to comply. Some European governments, as well as much of European public opinion, believe that more time should be allowed for the U.N. inspections to work. The divisions are about strategy rather than values-but they are real nonetheless.

In public discourse, the policy favored by the opponents of immediate military action is often called "appeasement." Strictly speaking, this is incorrect. This concept of appeasement refers to the approach for dealing with Hitler that was prevalent in Europe during the 1930s. At the time, appeasement was driven by a desperate fear of a second world war (by men who had lived through the first). These sentiments prompted many European leaders to adopt an accommodating stance toward Hitler. Of course, the appeasers misjudged the circumstances, the moral imperatives and Hitler. The result was a disaster for everyone.