Sportsmanship

[Lloydinho77]

Cliff notes included at the end as I realise I've written more than I intended to


A general question really which can be applied to all 1 on 1 sports, if not all sports in general.

At what point is it acceptible to end a sporting encounter without shaking your opponents hand?

The general consesus I guess is "never." I certainly believe that you should always be willing to offer a handshake at the end of a game played in a sporting manner regardless of how bad you feel at the end and I am certainly not asking of you can be forgiven for not shaking your opponents hand when you lose/play badly.

I ask as I have just seen a mosconi cup game where Earl Strickland and Daryl Peach were having a heated debate between shots. Before the final rack Daryl approached Earl to let him know that he would "see [him] outside after the game"

Clearly these two men disliked eachother and in an interview after the game Peach branded Strickland "the scum of the earth." Yet they still shook hands breifly after the final 9 ball was sunk.

I am no angel and was frequently referred to as "talented but tempramental" on a tennis court. I would often get frustrated and argue with my opponents if I felt they were treating me unjustly in a (self-umpired) league game. As a rule I would always shake hands at the end of the game. Once or twice I walked off the court and drove home without saying a word to my opponents or shaking their hands.

On these occassions I was CONFIDENT (key word) that they had not played within the spirit of the game: calling balls wrongly in their favour, speaking to me in a patronising manner (I was often much younger than my opposition) and other things which go against ettiquette in tennis such as hitting balls to the opposite side of the court to you when "passing" them back and slowing down/interferring with the rhythm of your play outside of the game especially when you are serving.

I am not trying to justify my behaviour on these occasions. It has only happened once or possibly twice in a long history of playing many different sports. I have captained football and tennis teams and I have umpired finals in regional junior tennis events - I am a sporting and just person and very passionate about what I do.

I wonder how many of you feel there is a theoretical point where refusing a handshake at the end of a game is justified or not and if so describe it. Perhaps there is a real life scenario where you refused a handshake and you feel it was justified?

To anybody who thinks they will never play a game without offering a handshake at the end of it. Why is a handshake so integral?

Cliffs: Is there any scenario where you wouldn't shake hands at the end of a game. why/why not?

[magicman]

I have never not shaken a hand when offered, but on two occassions never offered mine.

One was in a county match when my opponent was snookered, came off the side cush and missed the ball on 3 times, each time being put back by the ref and on the 4th occasion, suddenly he could see the ball on direct and went and potted it! Obviously the ref had asked me on every occasion whether the replaced ball was ok, but you assume the ref and your opponent will get it right. He went on to clear up as I think it was the last red, and I lost the match 2-1. I considered he'd deliberately cheated and so did half of his own team!

The other occasion was in a national handicap tournament when a player with a supposed high break of 79 had an 91 and a 84 against me in a best of 5 when I was giving him 45 start. He had undoubtedly lied, presumably with the collusion of his local club manager, and though he made out that he'd just beaten his highest break twice, any decent player can tell via safety play, shot choice, positional play, and technique whether you're better than you say. If I remember correctly the competition had a first prize of £3000 and this was the last 16. I still ended up with a bit of cash but knew whole-heartedly I'd been robbed by a bandit.

I don't think I'd have shaken Maradonna's hand or Mike Tyson's minus one ear. As long as a player hasn't out and out cheated you, then I think you must quell your natural disappointment and shake the guy by the hand, wish him well and bite the bullet.

[johnnybev1987]

Well personally i would never think its acceptable not to shake the other persons hand, see i have played snooker at league standard for 3 seasons now and although have had 1 or 2 runnings i have always shook someones hand just out of respect regardless whether they got lucky or whether i felt they were being unsportsman.

But there are a few in the league who will not shake hands or offer a drink which is customary in our league, but although im not a good loser so to speak just not in my nature and will always be courteous

[Terry Davidson]

Just remember, '2 wrongs don't make a right'. You should ALWAYS shake hands at the end of a match, no matter what happened during it.

Terry

[missneworleans]

Exactly Terry
I remember i defeated one man sth 9-2 he was very dissapointed and didnt shake my hand!
I will shake anybody's hand even If I dont like him much

[Lloydinho77]

Just remember, '2 wrongs don't make a right'. You should ALWAYS shake hands at the end of a match, no matter what happened during it.

Terry

Obviously that's the rule. But doesn't there have to be an exception which proves the rule. Also doesn't the handshake become somewhat hollow if there are no circumstances in which you wouldn't offer it?

I guess the ideology behind the handshake is to celebrate ettiquette and being a good sport at the snooker table. If there wasn't any in a particular game does offering a handshake then make it meaningless?

[Lloydinho77]

Exactly Terry
I remember i defeated one man sth 9-2 he was very dissapointed and didnt shake my hand!
I will shake anybody's hand even If I dont like him much

Sorry for the double post - I'll always (and always advocate) shake hands with anybody who beats me fair and square, no matter how much I dislike them as a person. What happens on the table, field, etc. Stays on it.

[pigeonslayer]

Playing snooker i have always offered and shook hands with my opponent before and after a game, although whenn i played pool there was an occasion when i refused to shake a member of the opposition's.
We were playing a Cup semi-final and had 'history' with the team we were playing, we had won the cup the previous two seasons.
we had played each other numerous times, and their captain was a particularly abrasive character, our team contained a couple of compulsive individuals.
Any way it was back in the days when the rules were opposite bags for the black, no 2-shot carry. so the frames were always pretty drawn out. It was best of 7 frame, made up of 5 singles and 2 doubles.
We had led after the singles 3-2, so just needed one of the doubles frames to progress to the final.
The frame was a long one, both teams pockets for the black were blocked, and a member of my team played a shot that their team took issue with (I cannot remember what he did), anyway a row ensued and their captain said 'if you want it that bad you can have it' - so quick as flash our doubles players shook hands with their doubles pairing and pushed the balls down the pockets.
They then realised their error in concession, and another row broke out, which nearly ended up becoming physical.

I am not particularly proud of my behaviour that night, and have not come across anything like it since (and i would like to think i am older and wiser!).

[Terry Davidson]

When you do not offer to shake hands after a match then your opponent(s) know that their borderline tactics have gotten under your skin.

Much much better to smile, shake hands and offer a 'well played' and make it as genuine as you possibly can to let them know you couldn't give a *crap* about their unsportsmanlike conduct.

Much better to note it and be ready for it the next time although if it is unsportsmanlike conduct then a complaint to the management of the tournament or league would be much more appropriate but do it AFTER the match is completed, and especially if you won as it has more impact if you won and it can't be regarded as 'sour grapes'.

Besides, I think gentlemanly conduct in all cases is much better than being regarded as a sore loser and a 'Wilma Whiner'.

Try and disregard poor conduct and keep your mind focused on the table and the game at hand

Terry

[magicman]

Absolutely agree with you Terry.

I did qualify my post with the caveat 'Ive never not shaken a hand when offered.'

In nearly 30 years of play these two instances are the only ones I can ever remember getting to me to the degree that I didn't actively seek a handshake.

[lennon11]

in the league i play in a particular player is a really bad loser always moaning about players being "bandits" off their handicaps...sometimes true but hey thats how it goes.when ever i play him the moment the moaning starts it just makes me even more determined too beat him real bad,always make a point of shaking his hand and being courteous..think this riles him even more to be honest.