The fact that the carry is seldom called, but frequently done, i can live with.  The fact that the travel violation is seldom called, but frequently done, i can live with.  Hell even the crappy charge call when a player has an open line, only to have another player run from the other side of the floor, get to a spot a split second before the driving player gets to the half-circle, and a charge is called and this is a good defensive play, i can stomach this (but this is a close second to what i am about to discuss).  but the technical foul is the worst case of authority given to the officials. 

watching the game last night to see bobby jackson get tossed, and quickly for that matter, because an official has an ego drives me insane.  the fact that you need to know which officials you can talk to and which ones you can't talk to (cough, steve javie) drives home my point.  i look at the NFL.  this is a brutal sport where for the life of the player they have been taught to hurt the other player, and there is just as much arguing and posturing at the officials in that sport as their is in the NBA and they don't get called for a "technical foul".  i mean really, what the hell is a technical foul anyway? 

the NBA has let the players run this league for so long that this is their way to keep them in line.  really?  why is it you rarely see kobe get a technical, and he talks to the officials every trip down the court.  the only comparison i can think of for a technical foul is the  police officers who need to fill their ticket quota.  oh no the city needs more money, go out and write more tickets for parking violations or someone rolling through a stop sign, eventhough there is nobody around a 10mile radius of this stop sign and he/she is making a right hand turn.  the NBA seems to use the technical foul to supplement their income. 

david stern:  ok, attendence is down, tv viewership is down, we need to find a way to bring in more money.  any suggestions?

"yes" man:  well sir, we could take some authority out of the hands of the officials, actually play basketball the way it is suppose to be played by letting the players decide the outcome of the game.  this will allow smaller markets to actually compete and bring the fan base back to places like sacramento, memphis, minnesota and charlotte.

david stern:  ok, your fired.  no, what i want to do to bring in more money is have the officials call more technical fouls to "troublesome" players like rasheed wallace and smaller, lesser-known players so we can pay for the pension plans of duane causewell, lionel simmons, steve kerr, tom tolbert and other guys who have probably found other careers, but we are contractually obligated to give them some money for being average players who stayed in the league the minimum amount of time to get a pension for the rest of their lives.  yes, that is what i want to do.  someone get me javie on the phone.

the fact that the clippers were able to get marcus camby out of denver for the option to switch second round picks and a bag of doritos simply because the NBA would profit from two LA teams being successful is pitiful. 

back to my original point, sorry for the tangent.  the technical foul is the most useless authority given to officials.  has it actually stopped them from arguing?  has it given me the opportunity to actually know more officials names than i normally should?  has it been used evenly?  when was the last time you saw kobe, shaq, lebron, dwayne wade or any other "superstar" been tossed because they received a 2nd technical? 

my solution, get rid of the technical foul.  put a fourth official on the floor so you can cover the corners of the halfcourt.  make the game more like the college game and let the players actually be able to play defense and be agressive.  if you want to curb the arguing, then really penalize the player or the team, like you have just cost your team 10 pts for your actions.  or suspend the player for 1 or 2 games. 

as much as david stern has been a decent commissioner (basically he is the vince mcmahon of the NBA because he took a once laughed at sport and made it into a very profitable business by piggy-backing on one player, MJ, much like vince did hulk hogan) he has let the players association get way too powerful.  their guaranteed contracts, like baseball, have destroyed the sport.  the star players get the star treatment and everyone else is treated differently.  hence the technical foul. 

"how dare you mr. average player argue my call your outta here.  ok kobe, yes i understand, i missed that call.  yes i will call it next time.  yes sir i understand you make more than i do.  yes, i know my mom is a whore.  mr. bryant, could you hold for one second, sheldon williams you are out of here.  ok, sorry mr. bryant.  yes i will make sure it doesn't happen again' - Steve Javie

what a business...er, i mean sport.