When I met NFL referee Mike Carey last season, I was introduced to him as one of his biggest fans. He smiled and shook my hand. Then he said, “You need to get out more.”

He’s right. For whatever reason, I’ve long been obsessed with sports officials.  Fans have favorite players, and so do I. But I also have favorite officials. I watch Carey-officiated games and root for penalties just to hear his explanations. Before Ed Montague retired as a baseball umpire, I watched his games praying someone would strike out looking so I could see him ring the batter up. (The best way to describe that call is a “Get the [expletive] out of here!” gesture.) My dream tennis match? One in which chair umpire Steve Ulrich uses his sonorous voice to announce the scores in a tiebreak.

Officials have the most thankless job this side of those who work in lost baggage at an airline. (As Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy pointed out in a larger bit about “stupid people,” no one ever walks by the lost-baggage department and says, “Got all my bags. Thanks!”) Officials have it the same way. They get all the scrutiny of the athletes but none of the rewards. If they have a great game, they remain anonymous. Sometimes a color commentator will say, “Wow, that’s a great call right there.” But usually he won’t.  They can’t win; they can only not lose.

Officials need to be celebrated, but they’re cast as villains before they even do anything. As Bruce Weber points out in his book, As They See ‘Em, fans routinely boo umpires at baseball games before they even take their positions. Then they’re booed some more during the game and screamed at by the grown men they’re charged with regulating. Everyone thinks he can do a better job than an umpire. Almost everybody is wrong.

None of this is to say there aren’t bad officials. I wouldn’t want to play in an NBA game overseen by Bennett Salvatore. Nor do I think much of the umpiring crew that somehow includes both Joe West and Angel Hernandez. Umpire Bob Davidson and plenty of others could tone down their confrontational habits. But just as Luis Castillo helps us appreciate the value of Chase Utley, umpires like those help accentuate the great umpires, like Tom Hallion and his right-guttural-twist-uppercut strikeout call.

Besides everything else, how can anyone not appreciate the great names of umpires? Tim Tschida and Tim Timmons – on the same crew? Chuck Meriweather? Nice. I know of only one man named Fieldin, and that’s Fieldin Culbreth. Other favorites include Laz Diaz, Kerwin Danley, Hunter Wendelstedt (son of former umpire Harry Wendelstedt) and Dana DeMuth. The Triple-A fill-ins, those next in line for full-time gigs, have some promising names as well: Todd Tichenor and Mike Muchlinski, to name two.

I don’t think universal love of officials is going to catch on soon. Few people are going to adopt my habit of checking the umpires of each game right after learning the pitchers. But maybe – even in this era of high-definition replays and ever-increasing hatred – people could learn to keep an open mind. For all the replays that show a mistake by an official, there are a half-dozen more that show a call he got right or a call that isn’t clear even when the footage is slowed down.  Just wait until they make a mistake before saying, “Kill the umpire” or “He sucks.”

Earlier this season, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said, “People pay to watch players play, not to see umpires and managers. I don’t know any people that say. ‘I want to see Ozzie Guillen manage or I want to see Joe West [expletive] umpire.’” I agree. I don’t want to see Joe West [expletive] umpire or Ozzie Guillen manage. But there is a long list of officials I would pay to see. As a friend put it, “I head out to the ballpark when Dan Iassogna comes to town.”

He was kidding, but put in a different umpire and I would have taken him seriously. I think I do need to get out more.

Tom Boorstein has never eaten at Taco Bell but does write for MLB.com and SNY.tv. You can read his thoughts on the Yankees here and follow him on Twitter here.