Geoff Schoenberg

I screamed “Fuck You” about as loud as I could. I felt I had been wronged, hurt, insulted. This object of my anger had personally offended me. I didn’t care who I was with, where I was or what I was doing. I only knew that my feelings had to be made clear.

Who was I screaming at? An ice hockey official who was refereeing a junior (Under 20’s) game that was being played 14,419 km away. Where was I? I was stone cold sober, alone in my house early on a Wednesday afternoon. The referee in question had made a call I disagreed with. It was probably the right call, but all I know is it went against my team. I was cheering on Team Canada in the World Junior Hockey Championships. They were playing against the United States in the Gold Medal game. The game in question was as back and forth as you can possibly get with both teams overcoming deficits and huge momentum shifts. I spent this game jumping up off the couch, swearing, cheering, clapping, bouncing nervously and generally going through the complete realm of emotions. Canada ended up losing and the rest of my Wednesday was rather unproductive.

It was Friday afternoon, the first week back at university after the Christmas break. I certainly wasn’t setting any records for work rate and efficiency (again, it was the first Friday back after vacation, gimmie a break!). Around 2:30pm I decided it was time to go home. I got home two and a half hours later at 5pm. The weird thing is, it only took me 27 minutes to get home. So, you might be wondering what held me up between 2:30pm and 4:33pm. I spent two hours and three minutes playing online backgammon and, more importantly, listening to the College Football National Championship game between Texas and Alabama. The game was one-sided for a long time, but as soon as Texas started to make a comeback, I simply couldn’t leave. I sat, listening to a football game on the radio for a couple of hours instead of going home at the end of a tough week. I simply had to listen and see if the Disney story of the rookie QB who comes in after the veteran gets injured was going to play out…

These two experiences were great reminders of why I care about sport. It reminded me of the passion I have for sport and the length to which sport matters in my life. I’ve been fortunate to been involved with many different sports (soccer, lacrosse, speed skating, ski jumping, football and many more) in many different ways (participant, administrator, coach, referee, etc) and the thrill that happens when you “nail it” is amazing.

So despite the many random, difficult moments that come with any sporting pursuit, with any academic work and with living internationally, it’s always nice to be reminded why I’m doing what I’m doing. I want to help others have the opportunity to love sport as much as I do. I want my life to be surrounded by sport and I want to see people accomplish their dreams in sport. My journey continues….

But, most importantly, How Bout Them Cowboys????