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Something that has bothered me for a long time is- who the heck started all that jumping after a victory of some dimension? It just seems ridiculous to me. Everyone does it, but who started it? Just seems juvenile for a bunch of guys 20 to 40, jumping as if they found ants in their pants. It's pro sports, give each other a nice hug, or hand shake and let it be that. Also, all that ritual cheap champagne spraying at each other falls in the same category for me. They repeat it through each level of the playoffs. Goggles and shower curtains over everything-what a mess. I like the high fives after a winning game during the season, that seems professional to me. Also, a while back, I liked Matheny taking off his hat toward the losers dugout- I think it was the Dodgers.

Perhaps I don't recall the 1940's games, but I can't remember all this foolishness back then. So much for my old foggy rant.

I honestly think it started as a spontaneous reaction for some and then as years went by it became the representation of joy and celebration after your team does something amazing.

Personally I'm much more of a fist pump guy.

Edit: I thought you meant for fans not for players. Probably just so much energy and excitement they don't know how to get it out any better than jumping.

Re: the cheap champagne / beer / goggles thing, I imagine after the first few times it happened impulsively, then some company bought the rights and yet more things we once thought were fun solely exist nowadays to advertise to us.

The celebration thing is fine, though I think it is strange that they do it after each round of the playoffs (and clinching). That's unique to baseball--no other sports teams celebrate like that each step of the way. Maybe after winning the pennant it is OK--other sports do celebrate making the finals (or semifinals, in the case of the NCAA).

I do wish baseball teams would shake hands after each round, as a show of sportsmanship. I believe the Dodgers/Cards in 2004 was still the only time teams have done this.

That's one of my favorite things about the NHL playoffs. They beat the [expletive] out of each other for a 7-game series and still shake hands at the end.

That tradition has trickled all the way down to beer leagues. As someone who still plays, I enjoy the tradition of shaking opponents hands after the game, and I enjoy doing it.

Shaking hands really should be a thing that's required in professional sports. They make you do it in high school football, not sure why you don't do it at the higher levels.

When the Cardinals beat the Dodgers in the NLDS one of the years with Tony managing the teams shook hands after the deciding game.

I like the old days when the fans joined in the celebration.

I like the idea of shaking hands after a series.

I think the champagne thing started in baseball because it used to be if you won your division, you won a pennant and got to go to the World Series. Evan after multiple divisions were added and additional rounds of playoffs, teams still celebrated winning the division. I'm OK with doing it when you clinch a division, because it's such a long slog. And I'm also OK with popping champagne after winning a pennant and the World Series. Winning the frickin wild card game should not be celebrated like that, and probably not a division series either.

Popeye_Card wrote:The celebration thing is fine, though I think it is strange that they do it after each round of the playoffs (and clinching). That's unique to baseball--no other sports teams celebrate like that each step of the way. Maybe after winning the pennant it is OK--other sports do celebrate making the finals (or semifinals, in the case of the NCAA).

I do wish baseball teams would shake hands after each round, as a show of sportsmanship. I believe the Dodgers/Cards in 2004 was still the only time teams have done this.

I think that was Larry Walker's idea. He wanted something like NHL teams do after games.