Why would anyone be a referee ?

If its abuse your looking for, I have the perfect solution. Grab a whistle and referee a Gaelic football or hurling match. As a player, I am 100% guilty of giving out to referees! I also believe the standard of refereeing is nothing short of a joke ! However I do take pity on referees ! There is little or no consistency when implementing rules. Take for example, the advantage rule. One referee allows 5 seconds, and brings the play back after a shot on goal, another plays advantage but if you get your shot away its advantage over, and others don’t play advantage at all. This drives players, myself included up the walls ! One referee gives a yellow card for a black card offence and vice-versa! The abuse referees get for minimal pay is really appalling ! A cultural change is needed to put a stop to this. Harsher punishments need to be put in place for players that challenge referees in an abusive way. In Rugby, the captain is the only player allowed to talk to the referee and all players respect this and the referee. The G.A.A needs to take a good look at this and it needs to take action before we are left with no referees at all. I respect anyone who enters the middle of a field with a whistle because it sure is not a job I would like to take on!