I've been getting a lot of phone calls on the 24-Hour Sportsline (647-2499) from parents with kids who play junior varsity football. The fact that the media doesn't cover JV sports bothers them and they can't understand that JV teams exist to produce varsity players, and thevarsity has to take precedence.

Wednesday, in a "Q's without A's"column, I mentioned the St. Mary's JV football team winning the Maryland Scholastic Association C Conference championship, which prompteda call from A. L. Johnson of Annapolis.

"I'm glad to see you did something on JV football in your column.It's about time," he said.

Those of us in this business simply don't have enough space to do the varsities justice, and we often wish we could do more, but Mr. Johnson and others will love this column. It's an "All-JV Football" Sidelines.

Today, this space is devoted to JV football, but I must tell you that it starts on a sour note. Yousee, JV sports has the same problems as varsity sports, and if we are to engage in equal time, the JV guys can't escape the negative, either.

Can we shake on that? No, and let me tell you why.

You've read it here before, and I witnessed it first-hand Thursday afternoonat Severna Park High School. I'm talking about this hypocritical shaking-hands business after a game that can lead to a fight. Don't you know it led to a brawl?

The Falcons and their archrival, the Annapolis Panthers, played their final JV football game of the season, with Annapolis prevailing, 7-6, in a hard-fought game. Near the end of the game, there was a lot of the usual extracurricular rough stuff andlate hits, as the zebras separated a few guys.

It was obvious that the two teams didn't care for each other, and the fact that there were a couple scuffles as the clock was winding down should have indicated to the coaches on both sides not to take part in the hypocritical, ceremonial handshake.

Instead, Annapolis coaches Bob Bohanan and Dennie DeWitt, along with Severna Park coaches Bob Ferguson and Dick Keck, lined up their respective teams at midfield to shake hands. About halfway through the line, all hell broke loose, with punches being thrown and guys flailing away on the ground.

Bohanan got clocked and thought that he had broken his nose. Fortunately, he did not. The four coaches did their best to restore order, along with several parents, and varsity coach Andy Borland was summoned from a nearby practice field to help.

Borland took charge and wisely cleared the field and sidelines of all parents and students. No one argued with thebig guy. No one is that stupid.

After order was restored, the coaches lectured their teams and Borland was heard shouting at his JV. All the coaches handled it well in letting the kids know that such incidents cannot, and will not, be tolerated.

The Annapolis JV team met with principal Laura Webb after school Friday. Webb wanted to makesure the kids understood the seriousness of the brawl and how it must not happen again.

Both sides will tell you that it was the otherteam's fault, and it would be unfair for me to render an opinion, since my son, Sean, plays for Severna Park and I've known Bohanan and DeWitt for a long time and consider them friends.

I think it's safeto say that both teams were at fault, but more importantly, that thehand-shaking nonsense was the real culprit.

It's supposed to symbolize sportsmanship, but more athletic fights start because of the ceremony than anything else that happens at a game.

Unfortunately, alot of parents are used to seeing little Johnny shake hands in youthand recreation sports and consider it true sportsmanship. So, when Johnny gets to high school and the higher levels of youth sports, theyare appalled when someone doesn't want to shake hands.

"They're bad sports, because they didn't shake hands" is what you often hear when someone refuses to shake after a game, but they don't take into consideration all the anger and frustration that could be built up inside players during a hard-fought game.

I think it's very wise for that player not to shake hands and possibly explode when someone passing through the line smirks or laughs at him.

When an athlete playshard and exhausts all his physical and inner strength to win a game,it's understandable -- and I think commendable -- that he is upset if he loses. Winners don't accept losing. They can learn from it, but they never accept it. That's why they are winners most of the time.

In order to keep that type of athlete from venting his anger after a game, it's better that he not pass through a line of opposing players.

Sure, there are some kids who win and who will shake hands with class, and maybe even console the other guy, but every team has at least one wise guy who likes to agitate and stir things up. That's all it takes.

It's better not to risk an ugly incident like the one at Severna Park Thursday, with coaches rolling around on the ground and getting popped by students.

Certainly, there already is too much violence on our streets, with drive-by shootings and gang fights. We don't need it to escalate to the athletic fields.

So, what's theanswer?

If the teams are going to do it, then do it only when there has been no hint of bad blood and cheap shots during a game. Once the signs of a potential brawl are there, don't take the chance of lighting the fuse for the sake of shaking hands.

Don't admonish those who don't shake hands as being unsportsmanlike. To me, sportsmanship is not shaking hands, but showing your opponent respect and playinghard.

I say, let the kids seek out the guys they want to shake hands with or talk to after a game, but forget these long lines, where they come at each other single file.

Or better yet, if the schoolsfind it really necessary to shake hands, then do it before the game.The chance of a fight before a game is practically zilch.

And onemore suggestion. Why can't the officials get a little more involved,instead of fleeing to their cars immediately after the game?

I'm not saying they have to referee postgame brawls, but why couldn't they make the decision on whether two teams should shake hands after a game by advising the coaches of their opinion just before the game ends? The zebras are right there in the heat of the battle, and as neutral parties, who would be better to make the decision?

Let's shake on that.

Now, let's get to a few congratulations for some of our JV football teams.

First, the postgame battle aside, how about someapplause for a great game from the Annapolis and Severna Park JV's Thursday, as both teams finished with 8-2 records?

Also, congrats to papa Tom Harmon and his son, Scott, for leading the Meade JV football team to a 10-0 record and the county 4A title, including victoriesover Annapolis and Severna Park.

Ditto for Class 3A South River'sunbeaten 10-0 JV football team of Coach Tom Newman and his assistant, Lance Evans. The Seahawks posted eight shutouts and outscored theiropponents by a lopsided 187-12 margin. No county team scored on the Seahawks.

Baltimore County teams Randallstown and Perry Hall were the only ones to score on South River.

"We just had a fantastic year," said Newman, a journeyman assistant coach. "Our defense scored 14 points, so by giving up only 12 points, I call that a plus two."

Newman also said he was "real proud" of rookie assistant Evans, who was a disciple of the late Annapolis coach Big Al Laramore.

"Lancedid a great job and worked really hard with the defense," said Newman. "He's young (just out of Western Maryland College), and the kids took to him real well. He's going to be an outstanding coach."

So, how did I do, Mr. Johnson?