They are the easy targets -- sometimes even the scapegoats for the losses in athletics events across the nation -- despite the fact that they are the only ones involved who really don't have a vested interest in the final score.

Officiating is a subjective science, which incorporates a variety of factors, including the "human element." To make things even more complicated, there are any number of differing opinions regarding what constitutes good or bad officiating. In most cases, the outcome of the game and the individual's affiliation contribute to the formulation of those opinions.

That is the reality faced by game officials, whose job it is to ensure an even playing field by enforcing all the rules and regulations during NCAA contests.

There are many reasons why officials enter a career path in which they are seldom praised by anyone except their supervisor -- and who truly know that a particular call was the right judgment despite the protest of the thousands of fans in attendance.

In the heat of the moment, it's easy for fans who may be tossing out barbs to forget that the referee or umpire has no vested interest in the outcome. Some disparagement is expected simply because of the nature of the job, but too often it crosses the line of dehumanizing officials.

"We can handle the criticism," said Barry Mano, the founder and president of the National Association of Sports Officials. "But unsporting behavior is something very different. You may yell out, 'You stink,' because of a call I made -- in some measure, that makes me feel good. I have a saying, which is: I love it when you boo.

"As a game official, I think you have to feel that way. But it is a different matter when fans or coaches think you're dishonest, or when fans come down from the stands and physically assault you, or when fans wait for you after the game out in the parking lot or in the hallway. That's a different order of things. We're seeing more and more of that these days, and it drives people out of this industry."

For most game officials, officiating isn't their day job. They juggle their schedules from occupations such as superintendents of schools, college law professors, firefighters, high-school athletics directors and civil trial attorneys. Being a good father, mother, husband or wife also is a huge part of their hectic lives.

Making judgments or blowing a whistle in intercollegiate athletics is a passion that keeps them close to a sport they love -- and it provides a necessary ingredient for any contest to occur.

Officials often begin humbly by filling in as an official for youth sports and working their way up to junior high, junior varsity and varsity high-school events. By working at those levels, officials develop a love for doing the job.

"There may be only 100 people in the gym, but everything is like the NCAA championship or the Olympics to them,'' said Marcy Weston, the NCAA national coordinator of women's basketball officiating. "Everybody wants you to be perfect. If you stay in officiating more than two or three years, you'll probably stay eight to 10 or more years. Those who leave often get out in the first year or two because they can't take people criticizing them. Local associations have mentoring programs and classroom sessions to teach you how to get through this."

But there is no better teacher than actually going out and dealing with matters firsthand.

"You really can't prepare anybody to face irate crowds, angry coaches and tough situations after games and so forth," said Hank Nichols, Weston's NCAA counterpart for men's basketball officiating. "All you can do is tell them to be professional, try to do the right thing all the time and when the game is over, get off the court quick."

Once officials reach the NCAA level, refining their skills and mentoring other young hopefuls are the next steps.

"Each of us has an obligation and a responsibility to do what we can to make the game better,'' said men's basketball official Ed Hightower, who has refereed nine Men's Final Fours. "I mean talking to young officials so they will treat the game with the greatest deal of respect, courtesy and dignity. It's about giving something back to young officials so they understand it's not what the game can do for them, but what they can do to make the game better."

That is the kind of attitude the officiating community wants to see from veterans in the industry. Any occupation is going to have some trial-and-error moments, but a good foundation is beneficial to starting an official down the right path.

"You just can't have people saying, 'Send in your money, join the state association, buy your shirt, buy your whistle, good luck and we hope you do well,' " Weston said. "That would be a terrible way for anyone to start a job. You have a boss and someone who would help you. You need help in your formative years. Current officials have to take that responsibility."

Getting it right

Knowledge of the rules book in a particular sport is a must for any official, too, but much of the learning curve revolves around experiences on the field of play.

Officiating isn't a stale clinical process because of the emotions involved in the competitive environments. There are personality traits and characteristics that can be mastered in hopes of becoming a better official.

"I call them intangibles," said Jon Bible, who has umpired six Men's College World Series, has spent three years in the National Football League and has been a football referee in the Big 12 Conference since 1996. "You have to have good communication skills and be willing to listen. I don't think you're born with it, but you can develop it. If you get some good training early on -- like in baseball, if you learn how to position yourself behind the plate, you can become a good ball-strike umpire. If you do that, you have a whole bunch of it licked."

Another overlooked fact about officials is the amount of hours spent in preparation. The rewind button on the VCR or DVD player is used extensively by officials so they can see both positive and negative decisions. The goal is to lead to more consistency in their craft.

"Officials don't want to miss calls -- they don't want to have games decided on a call that's wrong," Nichols said. "People just don't understand how dedicated they are, and how hard they work to be fair to both teams. It's just something that people don't realize."

Becoming an official isn't for everyone. After all, people have their threshold as to how much abuse they will take. Again, some of it comes with territory and that is a sound base for anyone wanting to officiate.

"I like it because most people think you are nuts to do it, and so that's psychological income," Mano said. "I like being put in the situation where I have to take charge of matters and be fair, decisive and accountable. Those are great skills to have and I did it for 23 years, and at the Division I (basketball) level in the NCAA for eight years. I found it not only good therapy but very satisfying, because it's like walking the coals in the old days, you know? It proved I could do something that most people don't even want to undertake. And it's a fun thing."

In an ideal world, officials would like for the profession to be regarded as an honorable occupation that young people looking for involvement in athletics would consider as a career. Such an image, they say, would produce a commensurate increase in the supply of officials at the grass-roots level.

"Right now, what I see from kids as they're growing up is, 'Why would I want to be an official?' " said Sally Walker, a softball umpire who also is the athletics director at University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois. "They see the grief that officials take. Somehow we have to make officials look better in the eyes of the spectators and in the eyes of the kids."

Michelle Brutlag Hosick also contributed to this story.