"Respect for the Game" Technical Fouls

Is the NBA becoming a "No Fun League?" A reason why you'd say yes is because of these "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls being called for overreactions to calls by the referees. The premise of these tech fouls is to get players and others to respect the game rather than curse out officials or overreact. Sure, foul calls are going to be debated like crazy. Do you have to, however, take away the emotion of basketball by calling ticky-tacky Technical Fouls just because you argue a certain call made by a ref? This whole "Respect the Game" foul deal was patterned after the Technical Foul meister himself- Rasheed (or 'sheed) Wallace.

Allow me to set the mood with a picture:


^ from: bleacherreport.net - Careful arguing foul calls... you could get hit with a "Respect the Game" Technical Foul if you overreact to a foul call. That's even if you act in a way that you don't think warrants a Tech Foul.

I'd rather get T'ed up for a bogus foul call (and in essence give up points to the other team) than get a dumb foul call against me. Part of any sport is emotion, and without emotion, you ruin the atmosphere and character of the game and the sport. The whole "Respect the Game" aspect began (according to USA Today) back in 2006 when NBA referees were cracking down on players who overreact to calls made by referees. Punching the air, turning away in anger, getting in the referee's face complaining a call, and things like that are grounds for picking up these "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls. Yeah- just shut up and play the game, but you can't play the game when you have bull crap foul calls called in games. At least in baseball, most of the refs are willing to let players and coaches argue as much as they like (unless the official ejects them from the game). It's almost as if NBA referees are much less intolerable compared to MLB umpires. Hell, you can get in the face of an MLB umpire in a heated argument. The NBA, though... you try to argue a crappy call, and you get T'ed up (and maybe ejected).

Properly Defining "Respect the Game."

How exactly are you disrespecting the game of basketball if you argue a call (especially a stupid call) made by a referee? The officials have the final say in all actions on the court, but it's not like you're disgracing the sport James Naismith invented with many other people around the world playing and enhancing. Disrespecting basketball (to me) means hating the game of basketball itself- complaining about how poor basketball is, giving rants about how the game is played, saying something like "(some other sport) is better than basketball," and stuff like that. How are you disrespecting basketball by simply overreacting to a foul call? Do coaches disgrace baseball when the coach argues with the umpire? Well... there is ONE case of "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls. Flagrant fouls are acts of disrespecting the game. Flopping (making a foul look harder than it actually is) is NOT respecting the game, either. Oh, and another example of not respecting basketball? Remember a fellow named Tim Donaghy that bet on games? Did he revolutionize and respect basketball? I don't think so. Just play the game, but there's a fine line between what should and shouldn't be considered as "Respect the Game" fouls.

I'm not saying that NBA players have the right to get all up in the face of referees and call them out like punks on the street, but these "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls are just bogus. Save them for when people REALLY want to object and rebel against the NBA. It's not really disrespecting the game unless you have a bunch of referees who make pathetic foul calls and other officiating moves. They are just refs and it's just a game of basketball, but there are LOADS of gray areas in regards to what qualifies as "respecting the game." Even worse is when you try to penalize someone who the ref thinks is acting out of himself/herself in a self-promoting manner outside the boundaries of the game. The NBA is fun (I prefer college, though), but is the emotion of the NBA going to get sapped out with these bogus "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls? The answer looks to be a resounding yes if this thing gets any worse.





What do you make of these "Respect the Game" Technical Fouls in the NBA? Feel free to comment. Oh... there is a petition going on for the NBA to revoke these "Respect for the Game" technical fouls. Look around online for it, though.

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