June 22nd, 2010. The captain of the fishing boat, Citation, didn’t use good discernment in picking his crew, and it cost him nearly $1 million.
The vessel's anglers had been participating in the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, June 11-19 off North Carolina. Andy Thomossan landed what was by far the biggest fish: an 883-pound marlin, a tournament record.
The team on Saturday was declared winner of the prestigious competition, and there was plenty of celebration.
However, there also was a post-event lie-detector test, after which it was revealed that one of the hired crew did not possess a valid fishing license, available in North Carolina for only $15, or $30 for non-residents.
That was a violation of tournament rules and after lengthy deliberation, tournament officials late Tuesday disqualified the catch and denied the Citation team the winning purse.
End of celebration.
"No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it's a nice ending to the story isn't it?" Thomossan told the Jacksonville Daily News. "He failed to get a fishing license, but we didn't know it. He told us he had it. He didn't. So you take a man at his word, you know?"
That man is Peter Wann. According to the state's fisheries division, he went out and bought a license after the catch of the monster marlin, bringing more shame to his team. He'll be fined $35 and ordered to pay court costs totaling $125.
The new winners are those who fished aboard the vessel Carnivore and caught the second-largest marlin, weighing 528.3 pounds. They net a grand total of $999,453.
Michael Topp, one of Citation's owners, figured the tournament board would not rule in Citation's favor.
"I think the Big Rock committee is doing what they have to do," he said. "I understand that. I'm a retired colonel. I know about rules."
What are the RULES when it comes to picking a winner? We need to make good choices when it comes to the various people we will partner with in life. This is certainly the case when it comes to choosing whom we will marry. Most of us are probably already married (so for us it might be too late to pick a winner in that regard) but certainly not all of us. And there are other areas besides marriage where it’s important to pick good partners. We need to make good choices when selecting leaders in the church, political leaders, business associates, and best friends (BFF’s). We need to know how to pick a “winner.”
The account of Samuel’s anointing of David illustrates how God can help us to do just that. The year is 1000 BC. The place is Israel. The prophet Samuel is called upon to select the next king of Israel to succeed the incumbent, whose name is Saul, when he dies. Samuel needs to pick a winner because being the king was obviously an important job requiring great character and leadership. In those days the king directly influenced the spiritual welfare of the entire nation. Today we continue our sermon series entitled: “David – Keeping it Real.” We’re drawing four lessons on “how to pick a winner” from Samuel’s anointing of David.
