After a game of basketball at the rec center last week, I started thinking about the practice of shaking an opponent’s hand after a game. Last NFL season, Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley was criticized for not shaking former Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniel’s hand after a hard-fought game.
In their book Sport and Character, Randolph Feezell and Craig Clifford ask, “at the end of the game, should we always, without exception, attempt to shake the hands of our opponents?”
Something tells me the answer to this question should be no. For instance, if an opponent had purposefully injured one of my teammates, I think I would be correct in refraining from the post-game handshake. Or if an opponent is blatantly disrespectful to the officials or my team, I think there is something disingenuous about shaking his/her hand.
Here’s another scenario. I was involved in youth sports for many years, and I encountered a number of coaches who spent the entire game berating his own players, demeaning the referee, or showing general signs of inappropriate and disrespectful behavior. Is it justified to skip the post game handshake in this instance?
The broader question I’m trying to answer is this-- Is the post game handshake in sports dependent in some sense on how an opponent conducts themselves? Furthermore, are there any times when it is morally justified to avoid this tradition?
On the other hand, if you only shake the hand of the opponent whose behavior you respect, then that effectively reduces the handshake to an award your opponent will receive if s/he lives up to your personal standards of ethics. The post-game handshake is viewed by some as a sign of respect for the game and the spirit of the competition, not the specific opponent.
I can see both sides of this argument, and it is an interesting topic to consider.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar