Whoever thought up John Terry’s latest injury is a genius. Maybe he is really carrying a knock, although I hope it’s just a clever way of avoiding the stupidity of this weekend’s hysteria—or as the Premier League/FA/those-who-have-nothing-better-to-do have dubbed it, the necessary pre-match handshake.
Where are we going with this whole handshaking malarkey? Isn’t football supposed to be about tribalism and us against them? In fact, every team sport carries that weight of us against them, so why try to muddy those boundaries with a pre-game handshake? What good is going to come from forcing John Terry and Anton Ferdinand to exchange in something formal and gentlemanly following their history? Its as pointless as what happened with Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra last season and with Wayne Bridge and Terry a few years back at Stamford Bridge. Remember how eagerly and childishly those cameras focused on what would happen between two former friends; the bonds of a great alliance now broken, or something equally dramatic.
Why do we need it? Hugs and kisses right before a Champions League game isn’t necessary. If you’ve got mates on the other team (as Cesc Fabregas did when he represented Arsenal during their ties with Barcelona) then leave all of that for afters. Go out, have a drink, catch up, but that time before the game should be a period of focus for what’s important. Football will roll out the same old story about respecting the game, but it’s a real mugging of those ideals when five-minutes later tackles are flying in and studs are showing. Hasn’t football made a mockery of itself enough without the added tension of handshakes and the useless swapping of shirts, pennants, girlfriends, and whatever else we can throw onto the pile.
American sports don’t do it, because somewhere along the lines they realised that there is no use for pleasantries right before a battle. Imagine the Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide lining up for a handshake just moments before they get ready to take each others heads off in a college football game. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers hate each other, as do the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. Do sports fans mingle with each other and talk about the good times prior to a game? No, they’re separated by a 10 tanks and rows of armed guards. But football will want to act as the peacekeeper and portray good role models. Certainly some footballers do live a reasonably respectful lifestyle, but what about the rest? Those calls for respect and good feelings were thrown out the window last night after the seventh round of shots.
We don’t need it. Football really needs to find a way to re-establishing the difference between two teams and not try and force something that isn’t there. Why should Aaron Ramsey have to be faced with Ryan Shawcross, why should Wayne Bridge have to dread that weekend where he’ll be forced to think of a way to avoid contact with Terry? If players want to engage with people on the other team, then there’s that short time following the final whistle. Some choose to head straight down the tunnel (the unsociable, miserable lot) while others use it to find that good ground between countrymen and former team-mates. That is where handshakes are acceptable and the only time they’re necessary.
It’s not just about avoiding the circus that surrounds racism and un-Christian acts, but it’s about rivalry and competition. Football’s governing bodies, however, really don’t seem to look at it that way. They seem to love the built up hysteria and the excitement of what will happen when two blokes who hate each other are forced to face one another. It seems the only explanation. Of course, individuals aren’t bigger than the sport as a whole, but don’t allow those comparisons and arguments to come up. If the FA were in the right frame of mind to scrap the handshake the last time Chelsea and QPR met, they obviously see the damage it can do. From here on, do the right thing and get rid of it for good.
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