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Shakes Turn to Swings
Perhaps it was bad luck that the first game, and first pregame handshake, of the 2009 season packed more emotion than a typical non-conference contest. The University of Oregon was attempting to avenge a loss to Boise State University in which the Broncos knocked the Oregon quarterback out of the game. Senior running back LeGarrette Blount created bulletin board material before the game and a fiasco after. Blount used colorful language to imply his team owed Boise State revenge, rushed eight times for negative-five yards in the game, punched Boise State defensive end Byron Hout in the face before attempting to start fights with teammates and Boise fans, and was suspended from the team.

AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff did not blame the handshake for the ugly events after the game.

"I thought to myself, 'What would have happened if they hadn't shaken hands before the game?'" Teaff told ESPN. "This wasn't a fight. This wasn't a brawl. I was impressed by the coaches and players who showed restraint and self-control last night."

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To Shake or Not to Shake?
Some teams decided to answer Teaff's question and find out what happens when teams don't start the game by wringing hands. In one of the weekend's marquee games, Oklahoma State University decided against shaking hands with University of Georgia players.

"Our first concern was (we'll) have 115 guys out there and they'll have 70, it just takes one guy to pop off," OSU Head Coach Mike Gundy told The Oklahoman. "Then I don't know how you're going to break it up. How do you control something like that?"

But many teams participated in the sportsmanship initiative without incident.

"It's just another gesture to send a message that football is not a gentle sport by any measure but gentlemen can play it," Marshall University Head Coach Mark Snyder told The Herald-Dispatch

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Coaches React
At Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, every game is followed by a handshake, an act that is not likely to change because a college football player several states away punched an opponent. Montgomery County coaches view the incident as isolated and have seen much worse. In 2007, a James Hubert Blake High School player in street clothes carried a knife into the handshake line and cut three opposing players' hands.

"Ever since then, we've been able to use it as a teaching tool," Tony Nazzaro, Head Coach at James Hubert Blake, told The Gazette. "In that case, the person gave no indications beforehand of what he was going to do. But I've had kids who should be held out of the handshake because their emotions are still running too high ... Those type of incidents are few and far between, so we shouldn't let a couple of bad incidents ruin what is still a positive experience 99 percent of the time."

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Official Protest
The football field hasn't been the only home for recent handshake debate. In October 2008, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) adopted a rule requiring basketball officials to stay on the court during the postgame handshake. The Massachusetts State Basketball Officials Association (MSBOA) objected to the rule on grounds that it put officials in danger of fans or coaches who were upset by calls during the game.

"Anyone who picks up a newspaper knows that we're living in a violent society," Alan Goldberger, lawyer for the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, told The Boston Globe. "The rule is so absurd as to border on delusional."

The MSBOA filed a temporary injunction with the Worcester Superior Court, and the MIAA fired back.

"There is no merit to their case," MIAA lawyer James Long told the court. "We haven't had any problems. It's history vs. speculation."

Ultimately, the court ruled the officials must stay on the court until the handshaking is done.

Kyle Garratt is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management.