Sunday, April 16, 2006

Integrity

Some time ago, an article in National Racquetball Magazine told the story of Reuben Gonzales, who was in the final match of a professional racquetball tournament. It was Gonzales' first shot at a victory on the pro circuit, and he was playing the perennial champion. In the fourth and final game, at match point, Gonzales made a super "kill" shot into the front wall to win it all.

The referee called it good. One of the two linesmen affirmed that the shot was in. But Gonzales, after a moment's hesitation, turned around, shook his opponent's hand, and declared that his shot had "slapped" into the wall, hitting the court floor first. As a result, he lost the match. He walked off the court. Everybody was stunned.

The next issue of National Racquetball Magazine displayed Reuben Gonzales on its front cover. The story searched for an explanation of this first-ever occurrence on the professional racquetball circuit. Who could ever imagine it in any sport endeavor? A player, with everything officially in his favor, with victory in his hand, disqualified himself at match point and lost! When asked why he did it, Reuben replied, "It was the only thing I could do to maintain my int
egrity."

9 comments:

Id it is said...

Few cherish that quality anymore; Kudos to Gonzalez!

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bablu said...

You sure need guts to admit the foul. I rememeber Walsh not running out last man Qadir in the Reliance World cup 1988 semi-finals and losing the match in the process. But thats sportsmanship.

ജെയിംസ് ബ്രൈറ്റ് said...

Nice blog.
My best wishes.

Anonymous said...

Salaamz

Lovely post. sis kasi ho? Im good, getting bored from easter break over here.. :(

Asma said...

nice post sam

take care.

Trailady said...

In a world where so many people will do whatever it takes to win- even cheat, it is impressive when someone sacrifices in order to maintain their integrity.

Honor is very important in my book! I did not like to cheat in school. Sure, I might get a good grade, but how could I feel good about it knowing I didn't really earn it? Great post as always...

David said...

I'm sure that put him under a lot of pressure afterwards. But maybe he didn't even let it bother him becuase he knew God works everything out for good to those who obey Him.

Anonymous said...

We all tend to be such "materialists" that we don't at first see what it was that Gonzalas gained by "losing" the match - something far more precious than gold and a Number 1 spot among his peers - he maintained his self-respect; he thus walked with God.