Are you fans too??.... or just refs

[M&M Guy]

I agree with everything said so far. You should be a fan of the game to enjoy working it. That's why I don't officiate volleyball; I was never a big fan of the game, so it would be hard for me to spend the time needed learning the game. (There's something different about naked beach volleyball though, right JR?...)

Snaqs is also right - if you do enough games you'll start to look at them differently as an official rather than as a fan. I don't know how many times I've sat next to friends at an Illinois game when the official makes a call (say, a travel) against an IL player, I'll be saying "Travel" under my breath, and my friends will jump up and say, "Aw, c'mon ref, that's not a travel!". I'll look at them and say, "Yes it is, because his left foot was the pivot, and he obviously lifted and replaced it before shooting". They'll look at me and go, "Oh. Well, we don't want it to be a travel...".