Promise Keepers Men’s Events
8
Truly Alive
3
Muscular Christianity 5
Tama Tane Malosi 11 Samoan Men’s Event Image courtesy of Photosport NZ
The Breakers basketball team is the most successful NZ franchise to ever participate in any Australian league. At the heart of that success is Calvin Thomas Bruton Jr, also known as CJ. Many people take sport very seriously, but is it often a matter of life and death? That’s the question that confronted CJ when an armed robber pointed a pistol at his face! Before CJ arrived in Venezuela, a soccer player had been shot in the leg, so he was advised to remain as inconspicuous as possible. “How can I do that when I’m carrying three suitcases?” he thought. As CJ left the airport terminal, he was met by his driver and then a car pulled up alongside. The driver jumped out holding a gun. Another robber jumped out of the back seat. The boot popped open and a
third man climbed out of there! They grabbed CJ’s suitcases and other bags, then when one robber stepped forward to try and frisk him, CJ slapped his hands away. That’s when the robber pointed a pistol at his face and started shouting. CJ’s driver was shouting back. Then the robbers jumped in the car and sped away. CJ was left shaken, and with only $200 and his driver’s licence in his back pocket. His passport and everything else had been stolen. They made their way to the hotel and the car entered the grounds through heavily locked gates. CJ’s wife Jessica had planned to join him, so he phoned her and told her not to come. That night he went for a walk in the area
That’s when the robber pointed a pistol at his face and started shouting
around the hotel. He thought, “I’ve got nothing left to get stolen anyway.” As he walked the streets, he saw poor people everywhere. The thought came to him that the thieves had taken his stuff to survive. The team owner flew in later and told CJ that he had been the 90th person to be robbed that day. He was in Venezuela to play a series of four games. The series outcome depended on the last game. Before the game, someone told him, don’t eat the food in the hotel, but he was hungry and went ahead and ate. The food was poisoned, but the next day CJ still played and won anyway. The owner gave him a bag of cash in