I must have basketball officiating withdrawals or something, cause I keep thinking about it. Of course, it doesn't help that my brother keeps asking me questions about, either; but I'm not complaining, I really do enjoy it - perhaps that's a sign for next season.
Anyway, our latest conversation was about not letting games get out of hand because you let things go early in the game. Apparently he opted not to call a technical foul on a player who was complaining about the officiating early in the first half. And of course, emotions continued to escalate from there. I read a great article on SLAM ONLINE from a 9th grade basketball coach that got ejected in the second quarter. His reaction to being ejected may surprise you.
http://slamonline.com/online/blogs/too-real-for-the-league-by-matt-caputo/2009/02/ejected/
He also provides example videos of games that got out of hand due to "no calls" early, including a YouTube video of a classic brawl between Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan - and they didn't even penalize enough players, which made things worse (Jordan should have been T'd up, too!) I also posted a comment.
I really think this is true in life, as well. My mom used to always say that "a stitch in time saves nine". I had no idea what she was talking about as a kid, but I certainly have come to appreciate that as an adult. Laziness and procrastination always leads to bigger problems later than if you just taken care of business when the problem started.
There one more thing, people need to stop worrying that others won't like them if they call them out on things. The best NBA officials are absolutely hated by players in the league, but are also the most sought-after for the big games. They may not like you for making the right call (no matter what it is), but in the end they will respect you for it ... and isn't that more important than being liked?