In some sports, they do. Most NFL games end with the members of the competing teams mingling and talking with each other, and, almost always, the two opposing coaches shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. posted by jammer at 9:05 PM on October 19, 2006
Hockey teams do.
And I think it happens more frequently in championship games, doesn't it? posted by padraigin at 9:11 PM on October 19, 2006
(This may not be the pro sport you're looking for)
But I know that professional volleyball teams (up to the Olympics) shake hands after the match (and often times beforehand, accompanied by an exchange of gifts.)
It's one of my fonder memories of Nationals. *reminisce* posted by sperose at 9:15 PM on October 19, 2006
In baseball, like what you're probably seeing tonight, I think the norm is not wanting to diminish or slow down the on-field celebration. Let the winners have their moment and all that, then get out of there.
Anyway, wait 'till next year. posted by sdrawkcab at 9:19 PM on October 19, 2006
Hockey teams do a long, drawn-out handshake after each playoff series (including the Stanley Cup finals). It's actually quite impressive, especially when the losing team waits patiently in line while the winners jump around and celebrate for a few minutes.
But they don't do it for regular season games. posted by mullacc at 9:25 PM on October 19, 2006
These are pros. At your job, when you lose a competative bid or win one for that matter do you congratulate the other bidder on a nice job?
Grade school, Middle school, High School and to a lesser extent college (Div II and Div III) are amateurs playing for the sake of competition and sport. At the end of the game an "attaboy" is what they have won.
I think it is too much to expect from pros. posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:34 PM on October 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
There is no good reason. They should. posted by gregoryc at 10:02 PM on October 19, 2006
It depends on the sport.
Tennis players who don't shake hands and congratulate the winner after a match are held in very poor regard.
Cricket teams usually maintain a high degree of decorum and shake hands.
In AFL (Australian Football), teams usually have a chat and pat each other on the back after a game, sometimes even if there was a fight on the field during the game.
You even see boxers do it, if they're not total pricks.
It's a way of maintaining the distinction between the game, and ordinary life outside the game. It feels lame and unsportsmanlike to drag the competitive contest off the field once the game is over and the result is decided. Maintaining the acrimony after the scores are settled and the game is wone smacks of not respecting the result, which honest sportspeople should always do. posted by Jimbob at 10:18 PM on October 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
they do it after professional footbal, er... i mean soccer matches. especially after big games and often with shirt exchanges. posted by kendrak at 10:19 PM on October 19, 2006
The difference in the NFL is they don't line up like in high school or grade school. There the behavior is instilled by coaches to promote good sportsmanship. However it might be a good thing because if the kids saw it, they'd want to do it too. Sportsmanship could be cool if done in sort of a throwback style. They should brand sportsmanship in a leauge-wide effort. posted by Ironmouth at 10:55 PM on October 19, 2006
I'm gonna go with...because most professional sportsplayers are spoiled millionaire brats who should be spanked until they remember how to behave.
I live in a place infested with football (the oval, not the spotty ball) players. I think most of them should be clubbed like baby seals. But that's just me. ;) posted by dejah420 at 11:00 PM on October 19, 2006
Done after rugby also, amateur and pro, in a fairly formalized way. Given a number of examples where they do this, I don't think JohnnyGunn's explanation holds -- it seems to have much more to do with the culture of the particular sport than it being hyper-competitivity preventing the losers from engaging in a handshake. posted by Rumple at 11:04 PM on October 19, 2006
I'm going to take a half-assed guess specific to professional football (nfl) and basketball. Immediately following a game, players are expected to engage interviewers in standard banter about the game. They frequently have to talk to several interviewers from various sports and news outlets. There's a lot of players on an nfl team and enough on basketball team. For all those guys to line up and shake hands would take organization and effort - and it would eat into the valuable air-time of the networks which equals lost dollars. My guess is that it's set up to expedite the post-game stuff that happens.
Hockey teams are small and fast enough to just skate through and shake hands. In other sports (like tennis) it's just more practical, and considered poor form not shake hands. posted by quadog at 12:01 AM on October 20, 2006
Grade school and high school athletes are not being paid to do their job. They are not under contract to perform well, and have no real obligation to do well. They're out there for fun. Anytime it stops being fun, they can quit.
Professional athletes are employees. Their "office" happens to be open to the paying public/televised and doing their job is something that people go through much trouble to see. Big games usually mean playoffs, which usually means one team wins and the other goes home. In these instances, it is much more appropriate to give a half-assed "good series/game, better luck next year". Otherwise, it just isn't necessary.
This is less true for individual sports (Boxing, Tennis) since obviously it is a much more personal affair.
I may be in a lonely camp, but I'm glad most pro athletes resist this type of behavior. When I watch pro sports, the last thing I want to hear/learn about is an athlete's life outside of the game. Put some points on the board and get out there and hurt someone. posted by littlelebowskiurbanachiever at 12:02 AM on October 20, 2006
It's a good question. The fact that they don't do it in baseball has always annoyed me. But they *do* line up and high-five each other on the same team! (also: butt-smacking) posted by wemayfreeze at 12:09 AM on October 20, 2006
I was surprised when I read this question.
In Australian Rules Football, to not shake your opponents hand after a game is considered a very low act.
So much so that, perhaps ironically, a refusal often leads to a fight! posted by TheOtherGuy at 12:46 AM on October 20, 2006
I was surprised when I read this question.
Same here. So is it only baseball, basketball and American football where handshakes have fallen out of favour? posted by jack_mo at 4:07 AM on October 20, 2006
Both rugby union and cricket make quite a big deal of this, with the losing team often forming a "guard of honour" to applaud the winning team as they leave the field.
In soccer it's less formal, but both teams usually spend a few extra minutes on the pitch, congratulating each other and exchanging shirts. At the end of every televised soccer match, you will invariably have the cameras cut away to focus on the coaches shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. posted by afx237vi at 5:43 AM on October 20, 2006
My research (years of television watching) indicates to me that they definitely shake hands in every pro American sport. Perhaps not lining up, but at least in some way.
Also, everyone bashing football players is flat out wrong. They shake hands after the game. Always have. posted by dead_ at 6:20 AM on October 20, 2006
Because grownups aren't kids, duh. They probably don't have to be home by curfew, either. posted by languagehat at 6:56 AM on October 20, 2006
I'm with dead_ here, what sport are you talking about? \
In most american professional sports, they don't have an organized handshake line, but they always mingle together and shake hands informally. posted by afu at 7:23 AM on October 20, 2006
I swear I saw the Mets and Cards do it after game six, old school style, with the line and the "good game" mumbles. Did I just imagine that? posted by Divine_Wino at 7:38 AM on October 20, 2006
dead_ has it right. They are almost always shaking hands at the end of the game. Its less formalized, but these guys all work in the same business. They know one another and are usually seeking out buddies from the other team. I always see a lot of laughing and high-fives at the end of the game. posted by Ironmouth at 8:29 AM on October 20, 2006
In the three major American team sports the hand shaking is evident but less organized. But agrieved losers often storm off the court, refusing to acknowledge the other team. (Nowitski at the end of game 4 in the recent NBA finals was a good example of this.) Because they are the stars and they are trying very hard to make sure everyone knows that they are upset, the bhavior overshadows the good sportsmen still on the court acknowledging each other's efforts.
I don't buy the "professionals are above sportsmanship" argument. Their profession has a code of conduct just like every other profession; sportsmanship at all times is the expected behavior of professional athletes. Why do you think they have good-conduct clauses in their contracts?
Frankly I think refusing to acknowledge the effort of your opponent betrays a lack of character. posted by oddman at 8:30 AM on October 20, 2006
I wasn't going to answer at first, because I didn't want to rant. Granted, I don't watch a lot of sports, but my biased opinion is that pro athletes tend to not shake hands after a game (exceptions; tennis, boxing). But I think this has to do (as dejah420 pointed out) with the attitude of athletes today, and a general lack of sportsmanship. Call me a curmudgeon, but I miss the old days of humble sports figures. I remember seeing a clip of Roger Maris when he broke Babe Ruth's single season homerun record - he didn't want to come out of the dugout. Not until his teamates pushed him out, he gave a quick wave of the cap, then back in. Now-a-days there's high fives for routine pop-flies, slam-dunks, and dances in the endzone. As Lombardi (?) said, "Act like you've been there before."
/rant posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 8:31 AM on October 20, 2006
I don't watch professional sports, but from what I can remember of when I do watch, in North American team sports, the players seem to mingle, largely because many of them know each other from playing together previously, or playing against each other year after year. I think it's partly trying to be good sports, but partly because they actually know eachother well enough for it not to be just forced ritualistic pleasantries like in youth sports. posted by gauchodaspampas at 8:53 AM on October 20, 2006
languagehat: Because grownups aren't kids, duh. They probably don't have to be home by curfew, either.
Uh, right. So adults, not being kids, can now act in a way that exhibits less sportsmanship than kids? Isn't the point of making the kids do it to inculcate good behaviour for the rest of their life? posted by Rumple at 9:22 AM on October 20, 2006
No, the point of making kids do it is to make kids do things adults for whatever reason want kids to do. And this particular aspect of "sportsmanship" is highly overrated. As a sports fan, I want to see games played according to the rules without bribery or other forms of blatant cheating, but I don't particularly care for fraternization between teams, which is (as Ironmouth says) a result of the fact that they "know one another and are usually seeking out buddies from the other team." I grew up in an era when there wasn't nearly as much mobility and most players did not have buddies on the other team, and the ethos (rigidly enforced by managers and veteran players) was that the other team was the enemy and you do not fraternize with the enemy. Before my time it was even more that way; Ty Cobb would have ripped your head off if he'd seen you shaking the hand of an opposing player. Those of you who think teams shaking hands is some sort of age-old tradition are sadly mistaken (at least for baseball, the only sport I claim any historical knowledge of). posted by languagehat at 9:34 AM on October 20, 2006
Ty Cobb would have ripped your head off if he'd seen you shaking the hand of an opposing player.
I had that exact same thought when I saw Beltran talk to Pujols while standing on first last night. It's a GAME SEVEN, dude. That guy's on the other team. He's your friend tomorrow, but tonight you should want nothing to do with him.
But to the question, most American sports leagues do congratulate each other after games, MLB being an exception; hell, NFL games seem to always end 20 seconds early so that the congratulatory orgy can start. I never understood that one - not the handshaking, but doing it while time's still on the clock. Play to the whistle, boys. posted by pdb at 9:46 AM on October 20, 2006
I never see Americans acknowledge the ump or the ref.
I always see soccer players in Europe shaking the ref's hand after a match. posted by wfc123 at 9:58 AM on October 20, 2006
How does knowing each other mean that good sportsmanship is negated? First, they don't all know each other or, presumably, like each other. Second, even if they did, its good sportsmanship anyway.
Sure, during the game, rip each other's heads off. But the second the whistle goes then shaking hands cleanses the air of hostility and reminds the players and their fans that its just a game and normal civilized rules resume and that there are no hard feelings. This matters!
And if adults make kids do some things arbitrarily that doesn't mean that they don't sometimes have good reason in what they make kids do. Is this your view of cultural transmission, that its just arbitrary? Good sportsmanship is one such good reason in my opinion, and we could do a lot worse than remember the values that underlie "good sportsmanship" which temper some of the dog eat dog aspects of the modern world.
Baseball is an exception to much of what people define as sport anyway. From what I understand, Ty Cobb is not exactly a model human being and invoking what he would do as a model for what athletes should do is pretty lame. WWTCD? WTF? posted by Rumple at 9:59 AM on October 20, 2006
I've seen it happen, but it doesn't make for good television so while players are being nice to each other, the TV viewer will see yet another ESPN commercial. posted by drstein at 2:59 PM on October 20, 2006
« Older
Plastic germ action figures th...
| I'm tired of making next to no...
Newer »
Subscribe
posted by jammer at 9:05 PM on October 19, 2006