I am the exact opposite...Formerly obnoxious fan, now a referee.
If he was in my gym, he would've been toast early on.
I had a coach make a point in the pregame once (He's actually from DeNucci's area) to tell us that he is a former referee. Somehow, he thought it would either make us favor him or respect his judgement when he asked for a call. After one of my partners whacked him, I told him, "Coach, since you are a former referee, you understand the concept of no longer coaching with the box, right?"
