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Coaches Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels nixed a handshake for a simple post-game wave after the New England Patriots recently got whacked by the Denver Broncos.

Why? Some context: Crusty old-timers of the NFL never shook. Then came a new breed, including Belichick, his post-game clasps perpetually scrutinized, criticized for genuineness.

Can you do battle, some griped through cigar smoke, then kiss and make up without being a charlatan?

Hype would have been heightened since McDaniels was quarterbacks coach for the Patriots until his signing earlier this year with the Broncos.

So, it was agreed in advance. No waggle with the former student. But was this departure from Belichick's customary game denouement really about appearances? Or prevention? Maybe, just maybe, the adversaries were grossed out, like the rest of us, at the prospect of a palm press in this H1N1 pre-season. Ick, where's that paw been? John lever? Near the nose? Ick, more ick.

By custom, a handshake relays greetings, congrats and agreement, its origin, one blog says, in ancient times to show one had no jagged rock in hand, or poison spear. But that was then, this is now.

What it could pass along today is invisible-to-the-eye nasty squiggly weaponry, vector for chills and fever, work days lost, emergency runs possible. Obama fist-bump anyone?

Schools, churches and business people are substituting claps on the back, air kisses, bows, gloves and coy bon mots ("Forgive me, I don't want to pass on my germs"), which secretly translates to "keep your filthy mitts to yourself."

Avoidance has even extended in some places to the mezuzah, reports The Philadelphia Enquirer, a Jewish holy object that hangs at doorposts. Customarily, Jews touch the item and kiss their fingers before entering a room.

Public health educators stress covering coughs and sneezes, or detonating them into a sleeve, and scrubbing. (Note: Restrooms need open-mouth waste bins at the door. Users can turn the handle with paper towels, then drop them without re-contamination. Why don't restaurants, especially, get this?)

Hand washing for prevention goes back 150 years to Ignaz Semmelweis, an Austrian-Hungarian doctor who worked in a hospital where maternity patients were dying at an alarming rate. Most had been treated by student doctors who worked on corpses in anatomy class before making patient rounds, reports the Centers for Disease Control.

Students did not wash their hands effectively, an unrecognized hygienic practice, and dangerous bacteria were transmitted. Semmelweis, to the snickers of colleagues, began insisting students wash hands before treating mothers. History was made. Deaths fell fivefold.

Some people will find it excessively paranoid to eschew the handshake or the friendly kiss or hug this winter. After all, while germs can make us sick so can a deficit of cordial or collegial human contact.

Will Bill Belichick shake hands today with coach Raheem Morris after the Patriots meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (hand sanitizer in the hip pocket) in the NFL's third annual game at Wembley in London? Or will the two play it safe and wave? Hey, anyone want to shake on a bet?

BETSY SHEA-TAYLOR, a former editor and writer for The Sun Chronicle, is a freelance writer. She can be reached at prosewing@aol.com.