Can I add one, pretty please?
What on earth has happened to introductions? Dear God, make it stop.
Here's how it works in my neck of the woods:
First we have to introduce the damn cheerleaders. By name. With parents names, if you're lucky. Each aspiring pole dancer does a different jump that looks like an epileptic getting out of the shower. They then shake their pom-poms listlessly.
On to the show. Girl gets annouced. She slaps hands with everyone on her team -- including the assistant coaches, trainers and ball girls, until she makes it to the designated handshaker.
The girl and the DH then go into an elaborate handshake routine that lasts roughly two minutes.
The girl then has to go fist pound all three officials, followed by finding and shaking hands with her opposite number and all the coaches, trainers, dieticians and fellatio specialists on the other team. Then she has to go throw a T-shirt to the kids section on the other side of the gym.
This is repeated 10 times.
Then, apparently, both teams have to huddle in a circle on the floor and perform various chants and rituals to purify the wood and make it safe for them to score 40 points on.
Then, after some 6th-grade oboeist wobbles through something approaching the national anthem, we're almost ready.
But guess what?
They ****ing shake hands again. With the refs. And everyone on the other team. And, since no one thinks to do this until everyone is almost lined up for the tip, it takes a solid three minutes to sort this out and make sure you've pumped every wrist.
Dear God, make it stop.