Well at least they would then have one
A lot of people are defending Howard. Even some posters here have suggested that he was provoked and acted reasonably in self-defense.
Gard did initiate contact, Howard did not act reasonably or in self defense, and the handshake line should be eliminated with individual greetings optional.
Sportsmanship is a foundational virtue of sporting competitions. And public gestures of sportsmanship - whether it’s boxers touching gloves or tennis players meeting at the net - are central to showing the difference between spirited competition and genuine hostility.
I should also say that I agree Gard wasn’t innocent here. He clearly went beyond verbal griping and made aggressive physical contact with Howard. And I think he deserves punishment as well, albeit not as severe as Howard’s.
The current culture in the BIG isthe culprit here. I started a thread on that below.
He struck the third (or fourth) Wis staffer to inject themselves into the mess.
Maybe. But getting rid of handshake lines isn’t going to remedy that.
But, importantly (very importantly), not the guy who had made physical contact with him.
Speaking of culture, I read on social media elsewhere Dick Vitale is now calling for the end of the traditional post game handshakes. Welcome to the liberal's cancel culture, Dick (head)! Wasn't there a time when players from opposing teams individually met at center court for a handshake during player introductions.? I remember an Illinois player practically knocking Eric Gordon off his feet with a chest butt.
I don’t know if this idea is borne of liberal cancel culture or not. But, either way, it’s a bad idea.
Maybe they should consider just doing simulated virtual handshakes on the Jumbotron overhead. Hell, let's bring back the pregame player handshakes the same way in the spirit of sportsmanship, whether real or imagined. Isn't this the way everything seems to be trending?
Thank you. I couldn't recall the name myself, a very fitting one, by the way, for the offense...Chester with the chest butt. Eric should have seen it coming in Champaign. Didn't Gordon drain a long three off the backboard in that particular game as a last laugh?
The culture of the BIG is terrible right now, hopefully this incident will be a wakeup call before something really ugly happens.
This is why the NFL has wisely clamped down hard on taunting. I watch quite a bit of NFL and I think it’s been pretty effective at reducing that aggressive unsportsmanlike behavior.
I watched part of the first half of the Rutger/pu game yesterday and a Rutger player got right in french fry guy's face and held up two fingers after he was called for his second foul. Fry guy handled it well and Rutger was T'd up as he should have been. Then Frenchy decides to grin and mock clap at him which would have been a T as well, but the refs were too busy doing cartwheels at mid-court to notice.
Is that you, Luke? (Witte). Ron (Behagen) wants to know if you ever sired kids after your nuts were kicked as if by mule, such that you had not one, but two lumps in your throat.
Have to go back to the archives but, yes, Eric Gordon (and family) were receiving a tsunami of heat and verbal assaults in Champaign in our contest there and Gordon buried a 3 late in the game on a bank shot and we won it.
Just take a few deep breaths and you should be able to straighten up just fine.
The chest bump game was in Champaign
Gordon family hired their own security to walk and sit with them in Champaign.
It was, and after the Peoria Newspaper had call Eric a "Steaming Pile of Two Guard" Classy.
