They’re not just responsible for observing and moderating the action?in front of them at a fast pace. They’re also responsible for bearing?the brunt of the emotions of a game that tend to boil over. On top of?that, they’re not robots, so they also have to be aware of their own?emotions and try to remain objective.

It’s a tough job. If refs make a mistake, they’ll get lambasted. If they?do a great job, no one mentions them. I always tried to keep that in?mind and treat them like the real underappreciated and emotional?humans that they are. I think that always worked to my benefit.