...do you touch that dirty ball that "all their dirty hands during the middle of winter" has been touching?:p

Wow, did someone actually complain? Or are they being proactive solving a nonexistent problem?

Damn funny one!

Somebody must have said something. I guess they believe handshakes look more professional.

Probably

Handshake with coaches and captains...

When players are introduced and come past us, I do whatever is the opposite of what my partners are doing. If they shake, I fist bump. If they fist bump, I go for the high five...and I change from player to player.

Why? I just love watching the players fumble around trying to figure it out! :)

It's the simple things in life that bring me joy.

LOL, We must be Brothers from another Mother. Works best when you are in the middle of your partners. Really screws with their mind. :D

In Wisconsin high school basketball, players are not allowed to shake hands with opponents or officials. Period. The starters for the visiting team are announced and then the starters from the home team are announced and they all stay near the foul line by their respective benches.

Sounds a bit uptight, but I actually like not having the parade of handshakes.

I'd prefer they go to the NCAAW protocol -- no handshakes / fist bumps etc. during the player introductions.

A few veteran officials tried to push that here, too. It didn't go anywhere.

I was glad, actually. Anything that discourages sportsmanship isn't a good idea, IMO. I can only see a negative impact this can have on player-official relations.

I think you're overblowing the impact of this little exercise.

Yes, I do. I know it is the same, but it just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I wash my hands or apply hand sanitizer immediately after games and sometimes at halftime as well.

The only time I shake players' hands is right before the captain's meeting. That's also the only time that players shake each other's hands.

I wouldn't be against ending the handshake parade before games. (Starters running to us and then the other team's coach)

I don't think so.

If you're a teenager that's instructed not to shake hands/fist bump with officials, you see us in a different, inaccessible light. It's a little thing, but it has a ripple effect on impressions.

Conversely, fist bumping opens things up for the kids, a little more than handshaking, IMO. (Handshaking is still the way to go for coaches, I say.) This act is very common in soccer around here (mostly post-game, some pre-game) and I see a difference it has on relations.

Does it eradicate problems completely? Of course not. However, the crap factor is certainly lessened when you've made positive contact previously.

Funny comments...but I do carry a small bottle of Germ-X in my bag and apply at halftime. Lots of nasty stuff out here and you can bet the balls you're handling (no Sandusky references please) are covered in germs. :D

We usually shake hands with coaches, then do flying chest bumps with the players. After the starters are introduced the announcer will introduce the referees and then it's SHOWTIME!!!!.....we have a little skit where the two umpires draw pistols at each other and pretend to be in a gunfight. At the same time the referee starts doing some swanky dancing to some urban hit music. SOLDJA BOYYYYYYYYYYY! POW! We all end up spread eagle on the ground, the umpires from shooting each other and the R because that what swanky people do....yo.