If you want to teach your kids about good sportsmanship, well, you probably shouldn’t show them this video. But it’s still hilarious.
Siena defeated Rider 78-68 on Tuesday night in a matchup of MAAC foes. But the final score wasn’t the story; after the game, Siena coach Jimmy Patsos lined his team up to shake the opponents’ hands, as is tradition. Rider already had started walking off the court, though, leading to this bizarre scene in the “handshake line.”
Classic video of Siena coach Jimmy Patsos shaking hands with air as Rider walks off without showing sportsmanship. pic.twitter.com/WHtmc9WTEq
— Zach Bye (@byesline) January 18, 2017
Rather than leave the court himself, Patsos just pretended Rider was there, going through the classic “invisible handshake line.” He really carried the whole thing out, too.
Of course, there’s a backstory to Patsos’ stunt. Near the end of the chippy affair, a pretty serious scuffle broke out that resulted in both head coaches needing to be separated.
After the game, Rider head coach Kevin Baggett explained he purposefully avoided the handshake line to prevent any further incident.
“I decided to not shake hands, because I didn’t want anything to escalate again between the teams,” Baggett told ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman. “That’s my prerogative — to protect my team whether anyone else thinks it’s good sportsmanship or not.
Patsos, for his part, insisted he was OK with Baggett’s decision despite his obvious mockery of Rider after the game.
“I like Kevin a lot and respect his decision,” Patsos told ESPN.com, adding of his phantom handshake, “They were gone. I just kept going. I went with it.”
