Check this article out: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,913018,00.html It agrees with Keith.
At first blush, this appears to be a slam against referees -- that they "suffer" from a superiority complex. But as the article points out at the very end, it is one of the personality traits that we must have to survive as officials -- I would add within reason. There are the "officious" officials which Keith frequently rails about -- and in my opinion, those are the extreme and the exception. We must be confident and we must have healthy egos and senses of self worth. Those who are self-conscious or feel inferior get ridden out of the game after getting an earfull or two from unruly (or idiotic) fans and coaches.
Absolutely, we're superior. Not only do we understand 17 simple laws, we know how to apply them, unbiasedly, in real situations. And, besides being blind, we have to be hard of hearing.
I agree with you 100%. If you think about it, this is one of the reasons we loose so many youth referees. They are sent out to do the "easy" U-Little games, which have the most vocal fan and coach base. And, because of their maturity level the get intimidated. It is really too bad that we don't have a way of instilling the confidence and healthy egos into all of the NUGs.
former nat'l that i shadowed on Job Shadow day told his class (he teaches HS math now...) that blowing the whistle had made him lose some of his hearing so they couldn't all talk @ once....and as for being blind, if ppl scream i need glasses i think to myself, "would you like me to come show you my contacts? my glasses slip down my nose bc i'm in so much motion"
Two sides to the same story? Interesting, the BBC article seems to be favorable towards referees ("Tough as old boots") but the Guardian article says we "suffer from illusory superiority". I find it quite amusing the two takes on the same research study. And I thought this was science (i.e., cold hard facts).