Ole' Dell (my office computer) won't permit me to read TXMike's article, but here's my 2 cents worth.....
Comparing officiating football with officiating other sports, I have but only baseball. In baseball, I estimate 90% of the calls are objective - fair/foul, out/safe, ball/strike- while less than 10% are subjective - balk ,obstruction, interference ,etc In football, under 50% are objective - catch/no catch, in bounds/OOB, forward progress - while over +50% -pass interference, personal fouls, holding - are subjective. The objective calls are there for you to make while the subjective calls require your opinion on the fairness/ safety/ control of the game and are more challenging. A baseball umpire may go several innings without needing to move very fast - a saunter down to third to pick up the lead runner coming from first on occasion. In football, we are moving on every play - sometimes chasing a runner 90+ yards. Rare is a football game that doesn't need to have opponents separated. I can't recall the last time that was needed on the baseball diamond.
Yet my love is football. The spirit at game time far exceeds that of baseball. A game with a game clock - I've seen an inning last near to an hour. While moving in football, you stay warm, while standing in baseball you don't. Our crew friendships in football - Friday night lights- often travelling together - post game "reviews" -far exceeds meeting the other ump at the baseball diamond - and waving goodbye after the game.
As a spectator in other sports such as ice hockey and basketball, it appears the officials there are challenged more than us. A higher % of their calls are subjective and the play is more continued. At least our plays mostly run for less than 10 seconds, followed by a little rest. IMHO, a strong ,thick skin is important in any officiating. In my daze of yesteryear, a bad call might be talked about for a while. Today, in our high-tech society with every fan having a camera in his phone, everyone will have seen your "bad call" before you arrive home.
Time for lobster chowder !