Picture this:

Before the game, the home team is in the locker room, bursting with adrenaline, ready to run out to thousands of screaming, adoring fans.

In a small room right next to them are the referees, getting ready to be booed by those same screaming fans just for doing their job.

Being a referee is an extremely difficult job that most sport fans do not realize when they are watching. Referees need to make game-altering calls in real time that can make or break a team’s chances of winning.

It looks easy to make these calls when you watch them in slow motion, but the referees do not have that luxury.

Take MLB umpires, for example. They need to call balls and strikes on fastballs going 100-plus mph and curveballs moving from one side of the plate to the other.

They don’t have the box that shows balls and strikes like we do on television.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, there is an account named @UmpScorecards that tracks the accuracy and missed calls of umpires in each game. In the World Series, the overall accuracy of each game was 93 percent, 97 percent, 94 percent, 93 percent, and 96 percent. Each game featured a different umpire calling balls and strikes, and none of them could get a perfect 100 percent.

In the 2022 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pat Hoberg officiated a perfect game with 100 percent accuracy on balls and strikes, according to @UmpScorecards.

Calling 129 of 129 taken pitches correctly on the biggest stage in baseball — that should be celebrated.

Now picture this:

It’s the fourth quarter of an NFL playoff game, and all your favorite team has to do is get a defensive stop to win the game. The quarterback of the opposing team unloads a deep ball to the wide receiver down the sideline. The wide receiver and the cornerback get physical with each other while the ball is in the air, and the pass is incomplete.

Just as you think that defensive stop won you the game, you see the dreaded yellow flag fly across the screen.

Pass interference.

NFL referees have it tough in a different way than MLB umpires, as football is a much faster and more physical game. There really is a penalty that happens on every play—usually holding—but it is up to the referees to decide whether to “let the players play.”

What people don’t know, though, is that NFL referees are graded on their performance every game by league officials, supervisors, and former coaches, according to NFL Football Operations.

The more high grades referees receive, the more likely they are to get the opportunity to officiate higher-stakes games like postseason matchups. Referees can get bonuses ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 per playoff game, according to NBC Sports.

So why wouldn’t a referee try to get each call correct to raise their grade and qualify to officiate playoff games?

Sometimes sports fans make it seem like the referees are purposely giving out unfair calls and “rigging the game.” In reality, it is just a difficult job.

Now, can referees make bad calls? Absolutely — it’s human nature, and I am not denying that.

All I am asking is you have a little sympathy for the referee next time they make a call that screws your team over.