THE ALCHEMY OF SPORTS

Alchemy,as I understand it, is the unification of diverse metals to promote change with the result being a metal much more precious than any one individual metal that is in the collective batch. In fact, unifying all creates something even greater than the sum of its parts.

Sports are no different when we do it correctly. With athletics, we all have the opportunity to unite as a diverse population and promote massive change with the result being a unified, connected, compassionate,cooperative, selfless, giving, joyful, culture doing what we love for a cause that is something bigger than anyone involved. The outcome is a culture that finds its common heart, beating together and performing at levels comparable to our capabilities. This is an alchemy of blending over time, the diverse cultures of the athletes to form ONE unified culture with one heart, one soul, one purpose, one goal.

So, knowing this, we can now think about sports in a different way. Instead of fighting and battling each other in a war, we can use sport as a vehicle to achieve our very best. We can all come together and compete in the true sense of the word. The Latin root for competition is "compatiere" meaning "to seek together", our full human capacity. Our opponents are our partners on the journey of everlasting and never ending improvement and joy. We embrace each other and offer up our very best performance so that we achieve our mission of full capacity living.

Think about this... great performance is only possible in a culture where we UNITE  with all our diversity, where we respect and honor each other and connect in an emotionally and spiritually safe environment where greatness  and gratitude proliferate. Without this, there is no great performance.

What I describe here is the culture of the G.S.Warriors under the leadership of Steve Kerr and his remarkable staff. The antithesis of such we are witnessing in today's chaotic, turbulent, confusing and despairing country. I believe this administration needs to take a lesson from the playbook of the Warriors if we , as a country, are to return to a world leadership role, to unite, to accept differences and be a culture of world champions. Sport, I have learned, is a huge opportunity to create sane cultures and help to restore the sanity of our Divided States of America.

We can begin this process by LISTENING to the athletes protesting against social injustice and inequality. All they want is what the pledge of allegiance is saying: "liberty and justice for all".
There are several ALCHEMISTS in the NBA... Witness Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Brad Stevens,
coaches who are most successful. What I am saying is WHERE IS THE ALCHEMIST IN OUR WH?

THIS IS THE FIRST OF WHAT COULD BE MANY POLITICAL STATEMENTS. My work in sports is to build sane, successful cultures that function at high levels on and off the field. These are worlds I love to be part of and I am sad about how these core values are being destroyed by our administration.  I want sports to become the teacher, mentor and example of what we crave...sports as a microcosmic classroom for showing us the way back to what the USA is all about.

I love sports and I love the country I grew up with. Let's recapture our romance with decency. Put into one cauldron, trust, respect, courage, integrity, compassion, joy, selflessness, fearlessness, belief, love and see what results happen.