Fans kvetch about officials. They want them fired 'cause they think they're incompetent.

I always say, "Cool! Let's fire'em all. 'Cause I have all these fabulous refs waiting in the wings just waiting for the chance."

Ooops. I lied.

Unruly Sports Fans Sending Some Officials to the Sideline

Bill Srna recently decided to hang up his whistle after about 30 years as a referee at high school basketball games in Salina, Kan. He said he had grown weary of the hysteria over every backcourt violation and charging call.

“It gets old night after night,” he said, adding that he prefers the relative calm of his full-time job as a firefighter.

Looking for part-time employment in a field in which hundreds of onlookers can raise a ruckus over one’s honest mistake or no mistake at all? There are plenty of openings.

Around the country, it has become harder to find youth sports officials and to keep experienced ones on the job.