Making Magic
Pat Williams passed away last week at the age of 84. If you have lived outside the confines of sports, you may ask who he was.
For you, I submit that he was a true renaissance man!
Often called the PT Barnum of professional basketball going from a Collegiate Hall of Fame Catcher at Wake Forest to Co-Founder of the Orlando Magic.
Along the way he competed in 58 marathons, became Minor League Baseball Executive of the year in 1967, authored over 100 books, was a master communicator as a keynote speaker and a loving parent to 19 children, including 14 adopted from 4 different nations! 💪
But for me, he was and will always be my friend.
He also was a spiritual guide and one of my first mentors. Pat smiled – a lot and the best listener I have ever known. He made me feel like the most important person on the planet when we met. A talent that he engaged with everyone!
So how do you say goodbye to a friend like that?
I choose to remember the moments of smiles and laughter I spent with Pat. Hopefully this makes some sense to you.
Pat always trusted my knowledge and experience as a mascot performer. I loved collaborating with his whacky and silly brilliance. It was a symbiotic experience and always produced memorable moments.
When the Orlando Magic franchise was ready for its roll out Pat had decided his new mascot, Stuff the Magic Dragon (what else, right?), would take center stage.
He needed me to be his hired gun for a one-night show. The skilled performer who would ensure success and show the Orlando fans that the Magic’s brand would be filled with serious fun!
It was going to be Halloween night 1988 at Church Street Station, a bustling collection of restaurants and bars in downtown Orlando. Thousands of fans would be there and Pat just wanted Stuff to be a success that night and with his trust and guidance it worked!
Pat was featured on every evening news station in the Orlando market with Stuff’s antics upstaging him with B-Roll brilliance.
He was ecstatic and enthusiastically expressed his gratitude for me being part of a springboard for what was to become one of the greatest NBA brands in the most unlikely of markets in professional basketball history!
I was exhausted by the night’s work but elated that Pat was pleased. I reminded him that I had an early morning flight to catch the next day. The plan was for me to take Stuff back to my hotel room, hang him up to dry, so one of Pat’s staff could pick up Stuff in the morning.
That was the plan but unfortunately life was going to be knocking on my hotel room door instead that night.
When I got to my room all I wanted was a shower and grab a few hours of sleep. But where to hang the costume?
I looked up and found the perfect spot, the fire sprinkler head right in the middle of the room’s ceiling! I took off all of my clothes and started to crawl under Stuff’s butt to get to the bathroom when I heard a loud “Pop!”
Stuff was suddenly on my back and I felt the rush of cold oily water all over me.
Within seconds the costume was soaked and I realized I had triggered the hotel sprinkler system! I threw the costume onto the bed to get it away from the spraying water but realized the damage was already done.
I grabbed a towel from the bathroom, wrapped it around my waist. I was shocked by the image in the mirror staring in horror back at me. I looked like some goth kid who had been in a fight with black soot like oil running down my face.
The fire alarm was blaring. Looking down on the floor I saw water running, like a dam break, under my door and into the hallway.
Clad in only my towel, I opened the door to see a river of water now running down the floor’s hallway and rushing under all the hotel room doors.
I was distracted at the humorous site of a confused hotel guest stumbling out of his room in bare feet, hopping around in a fruitless effort to keep his piggy’s dry.
I took a step further out of my room to assure him there was no fire when I heard my door click behind me. OMG! I only have a towel on, locked out of my room and I looked like a drenched Alice Cooper!
I was reliving this moment just about and an hour after I had heard about Pat’s passing. I grabbed his book, Making Magic chronicling how the Magic came to be.
His hand written inscription on the inside cover said, “To the Great David – It’s Magic in Orlando, Pat Williams 7-18-91. P.S. Please come back. Your room is finally dry!”
I found myself laughing out loud. (Pick up a copy and go right to Chapter 8 and read “Stuff, The Drowning Dragon” for all of the horrifically embarrassing details!)
What stuck with me the most was the poignant moment that Pat created for me when we finally had a chance to connect the day after I had drowned Stuff. I was telling him that I would not accept any payment for my “work.” I had done enough damage already.
He immediately protested, told me I would be fully compensated for my time and then reminded me what a valuable lesson in resilience I had the privilege of receiving just 24 hours before.
He said, “David you were on the mountain top last night! Reveling in the glory of great success. And just hours later you were dropped into the depts of despair! David, you will always remember that day. You must learn to appreciate both the ups and downs that life will bring. You were brilliant and a failure, all in one night! Can’t get any better than that.”
So, with a smile on my face and a heavy heart I say goodbye to Pat Williams. A master communicator, a brilliant author, a loving father, a believer and a true renaissance man but most of all, my friend!
He is blessed to be in heaven with his Lord and Father asking Him, “How can I help?”
Peace everyone and hug a friend today! 🙏
