One time, while playing soccer in high school, I was given a red card after dropping the F-bomb at some kid who kept kicking my ankles. I was right in front of the ref. And it was f-ing bulls—t. I embarrassed myself, and my mom was pissed, but since when are referees supposed to be parents?

Now, the NCAA has ventured into this territory by making bench decorum a “point of emphasis” for the upcoming basketball season. The only sort of bench decorum you are probably familiar with now is the rule about coaches having to stay in their prescribed coaching box – as it’s the only rule regarding bench decorum being enforced.

Now, players and coaches who curse or venture onto the court could draw technical fouls for their respective teams. So players can’t “disrespectfully address an official or attempt to influence an official’s decision, use abusive or profane language, taunt opponents or incite undesirable crowd reactions or come onto the court without permission, even to attend to an injured player.”

So how do they hope to suddenly enforce these old guidelines? The NCAA big dogs will provide incentives to the officials who call the most technicals, such as “preferential consideration for conference and NCAA tournament assignments.” And while this may seem like the ethical path the NCAA needs to take, they need to take a step back and realize what they have just done.

The NBA is still reeling from an NBA referee scandal where Tim Donaghy allegedly fixed games for gambling purposes. What may happen in the NCAA may not be quite as extreme, but when you start providing incentives for referees to call extra technical fouls for swearing at them, you give the refs an ability to do something similar to what Donaghy did. It would be terribly easy for a few bad apples to “pretend” like they heard something from the bench, call the technical that could so easily change the momentum of the game, and mark it on their resumes for a pay raise when they get to officiate at the Final Four in April. They won’t have swearing on instant replay.

Regardless, I understand where the NCAA is coming from. Sportsmanship in college basketball seems to be at an all-time low, and the NCAA has every right to be concerned. However, the mistake the organization has made is that it somehow has come to believe that it is responsible.

But sportsmanship does not start with the referees. It starts with the players and the coaches. It starts with personal responsibility. Every player on the court has a duty to keep his head on straight and learn how to handle himself under pressure. The coaches in turn have a responsibility to recruit and develop outstanding individuals who are exceptional athletes and individuals. These players are the role models for thousands, if not millions, of kids who aspire to be collegiate athletes.

Granted, the NCAA’s new interest in enforcing these rules will require coaches and athletic directors to rethink their own sportsmanship policies, and quite possibly even their recruiting methods. However, giving the refs incentive to call unnecessary technicals could alter the outcome of the game, which has the potential to forever tarnish the wonderful tradition of college basketball.

– Andrew Gionnette is a senior in mechanical engineering from Chanhassen, Minn.