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I think it boils down to one or more of a few things, including:
1. Abuse. People are not conditioned to being yelled at constantly by so many people. Especially when the people doing the yelling don't have a clue about what they are talking about. Officials often start because they think they can do a better job than what they've seen done, either in person or on TV. Whether that's true or not, they often think if they do a better job, people will appreciate it. But they don't understand that when you are keeping score, at least one side isn't going to like you.
2. Advancement. I've found officials in all sports I've worked particularly competitive individuals, at least for the most part. We all believe we should be working higher level games than we actually work. Some people are right about that, but many aren't. However, just like the fans and coaches yelling at us, its extremely hard to make a truly objective evaluation of where you should be as an official. Whether right or wrong about where they are as an official, if they aren't working level X, many feel its time to move on and do something else.
3. Politics. Similar to 3, individually, most officials I've run across don't like the group political structure of the organization they are in. Many don't like the fact that the assigner gives out the best games to his drinking buddies. Like in 2, sometimes there are valid complaints here, other times, its a failure to be objective or accept the truth. Either way, I've known many to get out over this.
4. Time. Mentioned above, its getting harder and harder to work these days. During the season, I'm required to attend meetings for no pay and gas expenses. I've got to do scrimmages for the same. Then in the off season, I pretty much have to go to camps at my own expense. A conservative estimate for me is about 250 hours for football and probably 350 or more for basketball. That's about 10 percent or more of my awake time during the year.
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