When is a T a T?

[Oz Referee]

There have been many discussions in the last few weeks about technical fouls, and how far a coach has to go before getting one (or getting tossed).

This is a topic that I feel can be discussed with benefit to all officials (and coaches & players) as most referees have differing opinions on the matter.

Personally, I am a big beliver that how something is said is more important than what is said (in most cases).

For instance, a player can say f@#k loud enough for the other players to hear when they make a meal of an open lay-up and I will warn them or give them a signal. However, a player can use the same word under their breath, but direct it at me, and they'll cop a "T".

A similar example is discrimitory comments. I wear glasses, and this adds ammunition to coaches on a regular basis ("time for a new pescription hey ref?", "you should clean them sometime", etc). Again I believe that these comments can be responded to in other ways than "T's". A favourite of mine is in response to the classic "four eyes" comments.
But coach, with four eyes I can see twice as much

Fianlly, I feel that the differences between what referees call can be a big issue. I have a fairly thick skin and can take a lot of chriping before I throw a tech, but this doesn't suit everybody. I had a partner a couple of games ago that t'd a coach for the comment "C'mon ref, both ends" after a 3 second call, because it implied that he was biased!

To me, that is over the top, but I would like to hear others opinions on this. (And sorry that this post is so long).