Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball players
 

Jim Rome was riding LeBron James pretty hard just now for failing to congratulate the winning Orlando Magic players after the last game of their Eastern Conference Championship Series. He said it made him look like a poor sport and a sore loser.

That got me to thinking: Upon the completion of a pro baseball game, the winning team's players congratulate one another on the field, while the losing team simply disappears from the dugout and down the stairs to the locker room.

Why do losing basketball and football teams stick around on the field/court to congratulate the winners, while baseball players get a pass? Isn't this a double standard? Would LeBron be considered a poor sport if he did the same as a player for the Indians following a loss to the Rays?

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Poor sport or not I'd be right with LeBron, Rome (and while I'm at it Cowherd) is a moron.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Hockey players always form a line and shake hands with their opponents after the final game of a playoff series. In the NFL it seems optional - much like baseball. Although players do sort of informally congratulate each other and sometimes pray together. You don't see it in baseball past college.

Although you can't say LeBron is a phony. He may be a poor sport but you have to admire him somewhat for taking the loss so hard.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

I'd say it's because of the contact. You feel like you've been in hand to hand combat with the other team after a basketball or football game. There's more of a bond in contact sports, at least that's always been my experience.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Did Lebron usually stick around to shake hands after winning a series? It's easy to be a good sport after a win. I have a little bit of a problem with him not congratulating the Magic, but it doesn't make him a bad guy. He just let his emotions get the best of him and made a mistake.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Location, location, location...

If NFL or NBA players were in dugouts with tunnels to the escape, they may be more like baseball players.

In baseball, when the game ends, you have 9 players from one team on the field, with only 1, 2, 3, or 4 of the offensive players on the field at the same time when the game ends. The vast majority of the baseball teams are already away from each other and the dugouts are on the opposite sides of the fields.

In football or basketball, you have more players closer together at the end of the game than you do in baseball, and often times, players have to cross the field/court and pass opposing players in order to get to the locker room. Baseball players have a nice tunnell to escape down.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

I would think it's more of a tradition thing in baseball.

As for Lebron, no one would really care if it was Ron Artest doing this kind of crap. But Lebron is the face of the NBA. Did Jordan ever fail to shake hands with the opposing team? My guess is no without checking, but Lebron is just a sore loser. Part of the reason I liked the guy so much is because he was so classy and did things the right way. This is a bad blemish on his record with me. Grow up Mr. James. Quit acting like a baby.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Didn't two baseball teams line up and shake hands within the past few seasons? I remember seeing it, but can't remember which teams it was. I liked it, and think teams should do it more often.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Little League World Series :)

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

One thing I think it's important to remember is that LeBron is 24 years old and in many ways still a kid. He just showed that he's got some growing up to do, IMO, but it's not a black mark against his character or anything.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

I think the post was lost in some board crash or other, but I started a thread on this a couple of years ago, wondering why teams shaking hands and saying "good game" or somesuch was considered basic sportsmanship after a game or series, in pretty much any sport at any level, except pro baseball. Mostly, it's an "always been that way" thing, rooted in the attitudes a hundred years ago where people thought that if you could bear to shake someone's hand you must not have wanted to win badly enough. I think most people know better nowadays, but tradition is tradition.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

Who cares? I want LeBron w/ a chip on his shoulder. I want him angry.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

http://www.freep.com/article/2009060...+media+s+glare

Two of a kind: Sidney Crosby, LeBron James caught in the media's glare

BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

somehow, it's probably all Ty Cobb's fault.

Re: Postgame actions of football and basketball players as opposed to baseball player
 

If they accept congratulations after winning, they should shake hands after losing. Anything else smacks of elitism.