Narrative

Shane O'Dell

5/21/12:

Summative writing Assessment:

National Basketball Association (Nba) Technical Fouls were established in order to keep order in an Nba game. For example, any player who engages in rude conduct toward an officials. In the 2010 Milwaukee Bucks vs. the New Orleans Hornets game, Sodell had a rather “bad game”. This important playoff game took place inside a majestic blue court and Neptune Gold seats all around the arena. The crowd was outstanding, very passionate about the game of basketball. The mood felt great as the Hornets went into the game against the Bucks. Sodell, being the best player on the team, had trouble controlling his anger at times, yet never received a Technical Foul. But tonight, Sodell was fired up for this game as it counted for a huge spot in the 2010 playoffs. But the dilemma was, the Bucks were secretly paid to try and take out some of the players in the game in order to help out another Nba team who had already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Sodell has had a bit of tension with a certain player on this team named Brandon Jennings. Earlier after a game, Sodell was called things such as “trash, horrible player, etc” which made him very made. And tonight, Sodell had a big target on his back. Bounties were after him with a goal in mind to injure him or get him out of the game somehow, even if it meant receiving a double technical which would mean Sodell was ejected.

The game flowed well through the first half of the game. The Bucks were down by 4 at the end of half. Then came the 3 rd quarter. A player on the Bucks named Brandon Jennings attested to pass to another player named Luc Mbah a Moute, but Sodell intercepted the pass. The commissioner screamed,

“Sodell has the ball!” Sodell with his speed, sprints the ball up the court, going around a defender with his cross-over. A step behind him was Brandon. Sodell takes his final step before making it to the free throw line and takes step 1, step 2. In the air, raises his hand to dunk on what he thinks is a fast break, but out of the blue, SMACK!

Brandon had elbowed him and Sodell missed the dunk, the ball flying in the air. The referees check to see if Sodell was okay, but Sodell was furious. He leaped up off the ground getting ready to fight but his teammates held him back. Then the Referee says,

“Technical Foul, #5, Sodell for engaging in fighting toward another player.”

Sodell runs over toward the referee,

“What did I do? I WAS ELBOWED? NO FOUL? Are you kidding me!?”

The referee says,

“I am not here to argue, get over the call, and play some basketball.” Sodell wasn't happy as he said back,

“What a joke, I get a Technical Foul for **this?”** The referee very frustrated gestures toward the “T” symbol, meaning a Technical Foul as he said,

“Get Out! He has violated the rule, being rude toward the the ref, engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct, DOUBLE TECHNICAL!” This meant Sodell was ejected. Sodell had only said those things in the heat of the moment, but with an earlier rule change by the Head of the Nba David Stern, players were not allowed to argue calls with referees no matter how bad the call was. This implies that referees were never wrong. In Sodell's mind as he walked off the court, thought it was all unfair. He had let his team down because he was a very good scorer. Since he had to leave the court after receiving the double technical, the other team got to shoot 2 free throws (an easy 2 points that the player made), and the Bucks got the ball back. The Bucks ended up winning that game with the lack of scoring while Sodell was gone.

Sodell, waiting for his team, sat with a towel over his face in a sign of distress. He faced was blood red, in embarrassment, with his body resting on the locker room bench. He could hear the boos from the crowd all the way from the locker room.

“It is all my fault!” Sodell screamed. Coach came in first, followed by every member of the New Orleans Hornets roster. Not a single person had any happy expression on their face. Sodell with almost what appeared to be a tear couldn't even look to see the disgust his teammates had with him.

“You should've kept your cool man.”, One teammate said.

“We needed you” Another said. Then coach took removed the towel off of Sodell's head, sweat flying off, looked him in the eyes and said 7 words,

“The teams more important then your anger.”

This phrase bounced through Sodell's mind. His anger in the referees call costed his team the victory.

The next year, a rule expansion by the commissioner David Stern, was implemented because of this event with the Technical Fouls on Sodell. Now referees are told to call Technicals on players who use body language after a call has not gone their way, much like Sodell showed in the game. Also, failed measures to keep Technical Fouls in the game (in the 2006-07 seasons) had to have more strict rules so referees and players don't ruin t.v.

After this rule was announced Sodell was in a post-game press conference. An interviewer asked,

“After hearing the rule expansion on a Technical Foul, where do you stand on this expansion?” Sodell calm replied,

“Technical Fouls take the emotional aspect of the game away, last year I received a Double Technical Foul and it was a really bad call. In the heat of the moment, I made a bad description to yell but players should be able to ask about calls to officials. If used correctly, the Technical Fouls have their place in the Nba.”

In some cases Technical Fouls can't stop players from having their emotions get to them. For example in a Detroit Piston's game, a player named Ron Artest got into a verbal fight with another player. After receiving a Technical Foul, he proceed to head to the stands to take it upon himself to fight the crowd after he thought a person threw water at him. This lead to the game being cancelled and suspension of many players on both teams. Also Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season because of his actions. But in Sodell's case, the Technical Foul was not needed simply because Sodell want to know why he was given a foul when he got fouled. Sodell ended up gaining a lot more knowledge about Technical's from his double that he relieved.

Many things were learned and added about Technical Fouls after Sodell's game. One, that basketball is becoming less and less emotional as the Technical Foul rules are expanded. In every sport, there is always going to be a bad call, and players and coaches should be allowed to ask the referees what happened about the call. Also players should be given some exception as to reacting in the heat of the moment. The fines can get very pricey. 1 Technical will take $2,000 right from someone. More of these fouls can lead to more pricey fines such as 4,000 and $16,000 along with suspensions. These fouls do have their place in the game to keep order but at times they are unnecessary.