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Ruben Gonzalez

 Ruben J. Gonzalez joined the newsroom in April 2005.
Email Ruben at rubengonzalez@ktxs.com

He was raised in Tulare California, a town that is a 30 minute drive from Fresno. He is the son of a preacher man and accounting supervisor and fits nicely in between an older brother and little sister.  

Ruben’s journey began while working as a merchandiser for the 7up beverage company. One day as he was preparing to build a soda display, he asked himself if that was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He told himself no and then asked himself “What then would you like to do?” He promptly said, watch sports and talk about it.

 The next day Ruben gave his two weeks notice and enrolled at the College of Sequoias. There he eventually became a sports writer for the school newspaper and by year 2, was the Editor in Chief. While on assignment one day, the basketball coach asked him about his future plans and Ruben replied he wanted to get into broadcasting. The coach knew this and that same day sent him to a radio station in Porterville where they were looking for a play-by-play announcer. For two years, Ruben worked at KTIP 1450 AM where he was always bombarded with questions about how Monte Moore was doing. At the time, he knew little about the former owner of KTIP until one day, Ruben’s boss told him to take a class at Porterville Junior College. The class: Sports Broadcasting by Monte Moore. On the very first day of class, Ruben struck up a relationship with the former Oakland A’s and NBC broadcaster that would eventually steer him to Abilene.

 On the very last day of class, Ruben asked Monte if going to a “big” school was better than going to a “smaller school”. Monte’s reply was if you’re good, you will find a job. Ruben then asked if he knew of any colleges to look into as it was time for Ruben to transfer to a 4-year school. Monte reeled off a few better known schools, but then mentioned that Abilene Christian University was another I should look into as his daughter was a teacher there. In 2004, Ruben enrolled at ACU and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. Now he is living proof that dreams do come true, as he has the opportunity to watch sports and talk about it.

 Ruben enjoys sports, as you probably know by now, but he also is an accomplished cook, able to make almost every Mexican dish you can throw at him. He even has the nerve to say that he has mastered the art of Texas BBQ. He loves to write and says that he hopes to have at least 3 books published before he dies. His favorite sports are as follows, 1. NFL,  2. Boxing  3. MLB  4. NBA.