Pranešimai spaudai: I.1 (JAV)

The bizarre saga of Doppelgangers former GM Dan Sanders continues this week, as reports have surfaced of his arrest and detainment by authorities in Thailand on charges of drug trafficking, smuggling, and human trafficking.

U.S. handball fans may recall the peculiar incident three seasons ago when the now-disgraced handball GM dismantled the roster of the reigning champion Doppelgangers, before vanishing. It has now come to light that he emigrated to Thailand and became involved with an organized crime syndicate there.

This past Tuesday, a joint Thai and United States task force raided the group's compound in Chiang Mai. After a protracted firefight, Sanders was pulled from a closet he was hiding in, and escorted to the U.S. embassy for extradition for his numerous criminal offenses and crimes against the international community.

When asked for comment, Doppelgangers current head coach, LeRoy Sheets said, "man... everyone who is affiliated with the Doppelgangers franchise still remembers the day that everything changed overnight. And we remember who was responsible for it. I hope he gets what he has coming to him. It's been a long road to rebuilding what he took apart."

Veteran defensive back Derek Carney, who was brought back to the franchise in the wake of the fiasco to provide leadership and stability to the locker room had this to say: "while I definitely would've wished to have returned to my home team under better circumstances, I think the weird situation actually served to really bond our mishmashed group of guys together. It's been an absolute pleasure being back and seeing some of the younger guys really come into their own."

And Carney's words ring true with a lot of fans too. After an upset win in the national cup and a division I.1 3rd-place finish, fans are the most optimistic that they've been since the team's rebuild started. The doppelgangers have, once again, accumulated youngsters of noteworthy talent at nearly every position, and the deep crop of prospects gain more confidence with each passing day.

Doppelgangers team owner concluded our interview with the this thoughtful reflection: "We're trying to just put all that past business behind us now, honestly. A lot of people are probably happy that Sanders is seeing the effects of karma come back around, but as a franchise, we're honestly looking towards the future. The past few seasons has been a bit of a hectic time, but our fans stuck with us, supporting our franchise through it all. We know they still remember our former championship era, and everyone from the players, to coaching staff, to even our arena custodians are working hard each day to restore our team to it's former glory. Hopefully our loyal fans don't have to wait much longer for another title run from the Doppelgagners."

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