Handshake or Fist pound?
 

This one has been bugging me lately. No consistency. Some old school refs will only handshake and the youngsters all pound. Me....I dont care but make it universal. It looks silly when you do one thing, your partner does another and the player does the opposite.

Also, does it change when your dealing with player?coach? partners?table?

I fist pound. Then again why would you care what your partner's do on something as trivial as this?

Peace

Handshakes here to players and coaches and fist pound our partners before going to the spots for the tip-off.

Same here on both points.

Handshakes to coaches. Fists to players & pardners. Pards also get "attaboys".

I will shake a coaches hand, bump fists with players and bump fists with my partners...in the locker room. I don't need/want the attention that waiting to run out while I bump fists with my partners may bring. [shrug] just a Tomism.

I also agree with others, what difference does it make what your partners do?

*** grab?

+1. My assignor ripped me a new one for giving the captains a fist bump so now it's reserved for partners.

When in Rome.....
 

Last yr our Association "directed" we do the handshake for players (we always did that for captains and coaches). A lot of folks didn't like that because of flu season and all - just sayin.

Now, new Association, we seem to be back to fist bumps for players, hand shakes for captains and coaches, and of course fist bumps for us right before tipoff.....so much to remember! :p

Your assignor doesn't have enough things to worry about, apparently. What a stupid thing to rip somebody for. :rolleyes:

Shake hands with coaches, fist bump with players and chest bump partners, especially after a solid call.

No, it doesn't.

I always shake coaches' hands. I fist bump with players because I don't want to shake all of their dirty hands during the middle of winter. With partners, it just depends on who it is and what they do.

Hand shake captains and coaches...fist bump players during introductions (I wouldn't care if they banned this completely. I will have plenty of time to interact with players DURING the game.)...hand shake with partners.

That's how I did it, but our board just received instructions last week that it's always a handshake, not a fist bump. Roman Law rules again.

...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.

No, no, no...I move from one end of the line to the other when they switch to the other team. That way I am always last in line. A lot of the kids around here know what I'm up to by now! :)

I've done games both ways, and there's been no difference. Games with no introductions don't have the pregame handshake or fist bump. You're obviously free to disagree, but my experience tells me you're wrong.

Respect comes from the coach, and they're all perfectly capable of teaching it without the crutch of a handshake.

I worked a V game where the crew all three try to do something different. I adopted this for the rare JH game that does introductions, and those poor kids have no idea what to do when they get to me. Maybe I should stop because it is probably unprofessional to laugh with your partner during player introductions.

Here in NE Ohio, all the assosciations suggest we fistbump the players, shake hands with partners, and chest bump all coaches. :D

On The Lips ...
 

If she's hot, she gets a hug and a kiss. Coaches and partners. Not players. I don't want to officiate games in prison.

There's a prominent D2 assignor in this area of the country who doesn't want his officials shaking hands or fist bumping with the players during introductions.

It would certainly give new meaning to backcourt violation.

What does that assignor want us to do when we are approached by the players and they are looking to acknowledge us? Most of the time I even am in those situations is because when the players are introduced, they are running by us to shake the hands/fist pound the head coach and either on the way to them or way back they come to us. I used to not like it either, but not sure what it would look like if we refused to do shake/pound their hand.

Peace

I don't know for sure what he wants as I do not work for him. But I do have a very good friend (and others I know) who does. For a while in games we worked together my friend would step away from the table and stretch or fiddle around with something during introductions. He has stopped doing that in our games but I'm not sure what he does in games he works for the supervisor in question.

(I just got an email from my buddy, I'll ask him right now if this is still a policy and what they do)

JRut, my buddy says he either turns toward the table and stretches or just moves to the other side of the court.

I have no idea why this supervisor has this particular policy.