I’ve spent years listening to coaches and players acting as backseat officials, and fans becoming armchair referees from the stands.
From that experience, let me just say, loudly: “Hey, backseat ref, you suck!”
I can have bad moments on a field, no doubt; but a trained official having a bad game is worlds ahead of the peanut gallery.
There’s an undeniable shortage of sports officials in America — not just in lacrosse — and studies of the problem pinpoint a number of factors: verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse directed at officials, poor/inconsistent pay, few young recruits and little success in keeping them, plus limited career growth.