A Monday Night Football booth interview during the Baltimore Ravens-Washington Commanders preseason game this week took a strange turn. That came when new Commanders’ owner Josh Harris attempted to shake ESPN announcer Joe Buck’s hand when Buck held it near him. And now, that “handshake” has transcended sports and networks, with FS1 NASCAR Race Hub analyst Jamie McMurray doing the same thing to colleague Regan Smith Tuesday evening:
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1694123461436981535
Smith’s “I don’t know what just happened there” was great. And this got a lot of excellent Twitter reaction. Here’s some of that:
https://twitter.com/BrettBaldeck/status/1694124693853270088
It’s McMurray’s fifth year as a Fox analyst, following a long driving career. He told AA earlier this year he’s really enjoyed that transition as a way to keep in touch with the sport:
“I have friends who don’t race any more and are trying to figure out what life is. Because you get to go every weekend, racing, and then all of a sudden, you stop, and you have a lot of time on your hands. It’s been a great way to not just stay involved, but TV is also so much different than driving.”
“The driving part of it, you’re racing the car on weekends, but during the week, there’s either sponsor commitments or going to the shop…it’s quite a bit busier. TV, it’s kind of planned out, you know what your next week looks like, so it’s not nearly as chaotic as driving. And getting to do TV, getting to be involved and engaged and stay around what you did your entire life, that’s great. I really enjoy that part of it.”
And he certainly found a fun way to work in another sports reference Tuesday.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.