Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers Podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. In
Speaker 1: this special edition of Tom's Talks, we hear from former
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers president and entrepreneur Pat Crochee. It was
Speaker 1: twenty years ago when the seventy six Ers made it
Speaker 1: to the NBA Finals. Proachee talks about that postseason run,
Speaker 1: ringing the bell prior to a six years playoff game,
Speaker 1: a recent health challenge, and his spiritual quest. Here's Pat
Speaker 1: croche Thank you so much for doing this, Pat, We
Speaker 1: appreciate it. It's just great to see you. And I
Speaker 1: know you've been through a lot health wise of late.
Speaker 1: How are you doing, Tommy. I'm doing great. I'm truly
Speaker 1: I feel great. It never stopped me. I mean I
Speaker 1: really had a mile a mile touch by cancer was
Speaker 1: c seldom foam on my chest. So I had some
Speaker 1: surgery and radiation, but nothing compared to the people who
Speaker 1: I come across in my life now and so I
Speaker 1: feel is blessed. And for you, with your personality and
Speaker 1: your whole mantra, you were like bringing on, what do
Speaker 1: we do? Tommy? It never stopped me from zero to ten.
Speaker 1: It didn't stop me. I might have had a little
Speaker 1: fatigue during the radiation, but I still worked out. It
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with my mental inspiration because I
Speaker 1: didn't feel it was me. It was my body, but
Speaker 1: it was not me. It never so we'll do what's
Speaker 1: what do I need to do? Okay, let's go. Let's
Speaker 1: do it and get it done with. We get together
Speaker 1: on the occasion of you coming to the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers game, and as we speak, you'll have already done this,
Speaker 1: but you're going to ring the bell. And for you,
Speaker 1: you called it coming home. It was twenty years ago
Speaker 1: where you know you last led the seventy six ers
Speaker 1: and that franchise or the franchise and the team at
Speaker 1: that time made it to the NBA Finals. It will
Speaker 1: be special for you tonight to ring the bell. You
Speaker 1: know that ringing the bell. Obviously I just did it
Speaker 1: finishing radiation, so it was celebratory. This is also celebratory.
Speaker 1: The last time I was on that court, I did
Speaker 1: walk out with Ai when he retired his jersey. But
Speaker 1: the last time I was invited to come, I'm not
Speaker 1: even show was invited time because it was the seventh
Speaker 1: game against Milwaukee we wanted. I ran out in the
Speaker 1: court and jumped in a Tumbo's arms. That to me
Speaker 1: was the twenty year delta between men and now where
Speaker 1: both teams were great, ranked number one in the East,
Speaker 1: and the sky was the limit. I mean, the energy,
Speaker 1: the enthusiasm, and the talent of this team is so exciting.
Speaker 1: And we'll get into the two thousand and one entry
Speaker 1: led by Iverson, but there are a lot of similarities.
Speaker 1: This team has captured the imagination of the Delaware Valley.
Speaker 1: They both have a major star in the Sixers with
Speaker 1: Joel embi Now and of course Iverson at that team.
Speaker 1: They're fun to watch, they play hard, kind of bring
Speaker 1: those two worlds together, if you will. From your perspective. Well,
Speaker 1: and you know they both had great coaches or have
Speaker 1: great coaches. Doc Rivers, I love Doc Rivers. I've known
Speaker 1: Doc for a long time, even as a player. And
Speaker 1: then Larry Brown, So those two really start and lead
Speaker 1: by example. They listen well, they coach well, they know
Speaker 1: the x's and those but at the same time they
Speaker 1: know the buttons to push with each and every player.
Speaker 1: And then when you get on the court, it all
Speaker 1: comes around the star. It all comes around. Well, let's
Speaker 1: just say the sun, the star that shines the brightest,
Speaker 1: whether it was Ai or Joel Ebid, that is required
Speaker 1: in the NBA, and then how you mix the other
Speaker 1: stars shining lights around it. And this team has the
Speaker 1: potential to shine really really bright, stay healthy, shine brightly.
Speaker 1: And the other similarity, or at least one of them, is,
Speaker 1: you know, back then in ninety nine and six Ers
Speaker 1: got into the playoffs. He've been out for nine years,
Speaker 1: and there was an ascent, if you will, until they
Speaker 1: got finally through Indiana and then you know, into that
Speaker 1: run where as you say, they played first Toronto and
Speaker 1: then Milwaukee and then eventually the Lakers. Same thing with
Speaker 1: this crew, like you know, they've made it to the
Speaker 1: playoffs now four years in a row, and it seems
Speaker 1: like now might be the time, and there's like a
Speaker 1: crescendo building. It was very similar to that time two
Speaker 1: decades ago. Right, Well, it's a great metaphor, you're right,
Speaker 1: And it was those two first two times ninety nine
Speaker 1: and two thousand where we made it to the second round,
Speaker 1: but both times that yellow machine of Indiana and Reggie
Speaker 1: Miller knocked to say out. And then we have to
Speaker 1: play him in the first round of two thousand and one.
Speaker 1: But you learn, right. If you haven't learned, you're going
Speaker 1: to keep repeating the same mistakes. So two thousand and
Speaker 1: one learned. Now we shall see this two and twenty
Speaker 1: one team if they've learned from their entry into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: is not good enough. Pat you embody Philadelphia. You know,
Speaker 1: growing up in Landsdown and being just totally woven into
Speaker 1: the fabric of what a Philadelphia fan is from your perspective,
Speaker 1: somebody who was right there in the trenches as a
Speaker 1: fan and then made it all the way to the
Speaker 1: boardroom as an owner of a franchise, basically the face
Speaker 1: the business side of a franchise. How do you describe
Speaker 1: a Philadelphia fan smart? I do? I think they're smart.
Speaker 1: I think they're smart when it comes to sports. Yes,
Speaker 1: they're a fan. But people say they're so hard. No,
Speaker 1: they don't want to take any bs. They know when
Speaker 1: you are bs and them. They know what it takes
Speaker 1: to win. They know. I'm not saying they're a coach.
Speaker 1: I'm saying they know the games. They know that's what's required,
Speaker 1: whether it was the Flyers or the Phillies or the
Speaker 1: Eagles or the Sixers. It doesn't matter. They know when
Speaker 1: you're not giving them as straight, but they also know
Speaker 1: that when you're giving it all. So if you don't
Speaker 1: win it at all, they still put you on their
Speaker 1: shoulders like they did to our team in two thousand
Speaker 1: and one. They know everything slept out on that court,
Speaker 1: and I think they know right now that this team
Speaker 1: has the potential to generate a parade, and they're behind
Speaker 1: this team knowing that. I'm not saying they're expecting it,
Speaker 1: but they will evaluate it along the way to make
Speaker 1: sure that that team gives everything they got in every possession.
Speaker 1: You had a lot of fun with it too. I
Speaker 1: mean that's kind of your nature right to push things
Speaker 1: to the edge. Whether it was I still honest to
Speaker 1: Pete and I know it's been Larry Platt wrote that
Speaker 1: great piece about you. But when I drive over the
Speaker 1: Walt Women Bridge, like dozens of times over the years,
Speaker 1: I think, man, that dude, hey climbed I can barely
Speaker 1: hold on to the wheel like sometime, but you climbed
Speaker 1: up there. I remember the one where early on it
Speaker 1: and we do it. There's a lot going on right
Speaker 1: now with the playoffs and getting into the marketplace. Still
Speaker 1: to this day, it's awesome. But like you did that
Speaker 1: deal where you cap the cabbies right right there, like
Speaker 1: it's seventeenth in market, Like a lot of guys would
Speaker 1: have been arrested, but you were out there handed out
Speaker 1: caps and sixers hats and like you were out there
Speaker 1: and it blended well. It made perfect sense. Speak to
Speaker 1: that a little bit, Tom. No one has ever brought
Speaker 1: that up, nor have I ever thought about that. And
Speaker 1: that was earlier on in my reign, and it was
Speaker 1: a Dave Kosky creation because I told him I would
Speaker 1: love to see all the cabbies where our hat because
Speaker 1: at the time, in ninety six ninety seven, we weren't
Speaker 1: too good and there weren't that many fans. It was subtle,
Speaker 1: but not really. The revolution hadn't started yet, and so
Speaker 1: he came up with the idea to CAPTI Cabby, meaning
Speaker 1: we'll go down Center City and give everyone. I think
Speaker 1: it was a free pep seat and free salt cutzel
Speaker 1: and a cap too, and we'll just put it out there.
Speaker 1: I didn't know how we were going to do it.
Speaker 1: I just knew that when I'm in a city, I
Speaker 1: always talked to the cab driver. And if they haven't
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets, hat On or Lakers had, how's the team
Speaker 1: I wanted them to wear Sixers had. Well, it was outrageous.
Speaker 1: We stopped all traffic for hours. There had to be
Speaker 1: what hundreds of cabs all interlocked, blocking all track. You're right,
Speaker 1: I should have been arrested. It was. People were hanging
Speaker 1: out of their windows in the office buildings, screaming and
Speaker 1: young as if it was a ticker tape parade. It
Speaker 1: was so much fun. I'm thinking, oh, this is good,
Speaker 1: this is good. The Sixers team, the two thousand and
Speaker 1: one team that we're referring to in the anniversary of
Speaker 1: them going to the finals, is coming up, including game one.
Speaker 1: And this team was so beloved at Sixers team because
Speaker 1: of Iverson and all of the forces that he brought
Speaker 1: to the table. And then, like we said, the ability
Speaker 1: to compete and play hard, and you had so many
Speaker 1: great role players and obviously they were very successful. But
Speaker 1: they didn't win the championship. The Sixers fell short. You know,
Speaker 1: we finished second place to the Lakers, but they did
Speaker 1: win the first game, and you were out in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles's stables. I remember we went to dinner. In fact,
Speaker 1: I had, and I said, in Beverly Hills, right next
Speaker 1: to the late Gary Papa. He did a live shot.
Speaker 1: I was as close to being on Action News, but
Speaker 1: I was right next to you too. But what do
Speaker 1: you remember about that? And why did that resonate so
Speaker 1: much with everybody? Particularly the Game one victory, Tommy, I
Speaker 1: know you were at that night, that that restaurant we
Speaker 1: were at, and I had my own entourage. It was
Speaker 1: on trash before entourage, without the sex because my wife
Speaker 1: was there. It was just fun like and it was
Speaker 1: wild because it went into overtime, like overtime, here is
Speaker 1: this dark horse and that year the Lakers had never
Speaker 1: lost a playoff game, right, weren't they undefeated throughout the playoffs?
Speaker 1: And so here it goes into overtime and Iverson steps
Speaker 1: over to Ron Lou And I mean I was in
Speaker 1: the stands just going. My hair was on fire, I
Speaker 1: was out of my mind, and it was just such
Speaker 1: a great feeling that here was an opportunity for all
Speaker 1: of Philadelphia to show the world that we are winners,
Speaker 1: that whatever you might think between New York and Washington,
Speaker 1: that we're second best. No, no dreams do come true.
Speaker 1: This was regardless of the apptcome of the playoffs, you
Speaker 1: could be a winner in that very moment, and that's
Speaker 1: it proved to me. It was wonderful. We'll have more
Speaker 1: of my conversation with Pat Croche in a moment. Sixers
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Speaker 1: hundred gambler now back to my chat with Pat Crochet,
Speaker 1: so of lay Pat and just reading about, like I said,
Speaker 1: this piece of biography, if you will that, Larry Platt
Speaker 1: went on, you've you've gone on a journey of sorts
Speaker 1: right to find oneness, spiritualness and centeredness. Speak to that.
Speaker 1: I know it goes way beyond the little description I
Speaker 1: put forth. But but what have you found? And what
Speaker 1: did you do? What are some of the things you've
Speaker 1: done of the last few years? Regarding that a time
Speaker 1: it started about six years ago, and it wasn't I
Speaker 1: wasn't not a spiritual seek or something happened and it
Speaker 1: was this quote. Most of our life occurs in our
Speaker 1: head and memory, imagination, speculation, interpretation. So if you want
Speaker 1: to change your life, you'd best be by changing your mind.
Speaker 1: When can you change your mind? I know I can
Speaker 1: change a body, it's a physical therapist train or I've
Speaker 1: changed all kinds of bodies. I've changed my opinion many times.
Speaker 1: But can you change a mind? And then I went
Speaker 1: into it and through that something happened, something cracked. And
Speaker 1: then I went deeper and went around the world and
Speaker 1: visited all kinds of sages and yogis and had retreats
Speaker 1: and along the way what you realize Tom And it's
Speaker 1: very simple that nothing on the outside and this temporary
Speaker 1: external world can bring permanive inner happiness. You have to stop,
Speaker 1: be still and turn around and look within, whether it
Speaker 1: requires prayer or meditation. Meditation help with me, because you
Speaker 1: realize that those crazy ass thoughts in your head aren't you.
Speaker 1: They're not true, so let them flow through. But unless
Speaker 1: you learn that and you realize, you start I was
Speaker 1: always thought I was voice in my head. I didn't
Speaker 1: know there was such an activity. And what happens is
Speaker 1: it can make you suffer. You revert and get pulled
Speaker 1: to the past in comparisons, and you get protected to
Speaker 1: the future and expectations, anticipations, judgments. But what about now.
Speaker 1: A's where life is, and that's what happens. You let
Speaker 1: go of the past and future unless you're talking about
Speaker 1: the twenty one team, and that's okay. Anything joyful is okay.
Speaker 1: And then you bring it back to the now. And
Speaker 1: so to share with your viewers, be in the present
Speaker 1: moment as much as you can make the present moment
Speaker 1: your friend. How the universe unfolds before you is for you,
Speaker 1: not against you. You may not want it, you may
Speaker 1: not like it, but it's for your evolution, for your awakening,
Speaker 1: and so take advantage of it and then see what
Speaker 1: it brings and use it. You can change your future.
Speaker 1: So like I know, when you ran, you know, you
Speaker 1: ran six miles a day. You did it in the morning,
Speaker 1: and you used to say that was to tamp down,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever, voices whatever. Your mom you called her
Speaker 1: a saint, she was a devout Catholic. All of those
Speaker 1: things were woven into your past. But this was wholly different.
Speaker 1: This was obviously a lot more in terms of research
Speaker 1: and finding out more knowledge to get to this point.
Speaker 1: In this realization that you've just spoke of, correct and
Speaker 1: that's the word tim self realization. Not this separates up
Speaker 1: the ego being attached to our beliefs and feelings, but
Speaker 1: something much bigger that which is aware of your thoughts
Speaker 1: and feelings, a universal awareness that you and I are
Speaker 1: the exact same eye, the same I am once where
Speaker 1: I am Tom or I am pack. Then everything changes.
Speaker 1: Then we costume the eye. But if we all know,
Speaker 1: like this green bead signifies, we're all in this together
Speaker 1: as one one being, one all knowing being, And then
Speaker 1: from there, go and enjoy this world of experience. It
Speaker 1: makes the whole experience different. What happens is your perception
Speaker 1: of the world is a direct reflection of your state
Speaker 1: of awareness. So if you're more aware and you take
Speaker 1: off some of the coloring or customing, then your perception
Speaker 1: of the world is, Oh, like, this journey is enjoyable
Speaker 1: no matter what happens, whether it's the motorcycle accident or
Speaker 1: the cancer, it doesn't matter. Take care of it, take
Speaker 1: care of business, and let's move on. That sounds like
Speaker 1: a recipe, a formula for what is now a fractured world,
Speaker 1: like we're going through quite a bit. I mean, a
Speaker 1: couple of doses of that, if you will, could help
Speaker 1: our society in a larger sense. And that's in part
Speaker 1: what you're trying to share a little bit in some
Speaker 1: of this healed work that you're doing. I know that
Speaker 1: centers around the American Cancer Society, But right, I mean,
Speaker 1: doesn't that Now you're totally right. It is ACS healed
Speaker 1: American Cancer Society's healed health and energy through active living,
Speaker 1: every day active living. It doesn't say blackett living, white living,
Speaker 1: Catholic living, Jewish living. No, No, there are no dimensions,
Speaker 1: no qualifications, no attributes to who is active living, and
Speaker 1: the more body, mind, and spirit we share, the greater
Speaker 1: we are. It's universal, this universal love. When you see
Speaker 1: when you see your loved one, whoever that might be,
Speaker 1: whether they have cancer or not, and you look into
Speaker 1: their eyes and you feel that empathy for them, that love.
Speaker 1: You're not a subject in them, an object. There's just
Speaker 1: loving and that's the oneness. That's what this green bead
Speaker 1: stands for. So any of your viewers you want to
Speaker 1: go to acshel dot com just register if you want
Speaker 1: to make it a little donation, but you'll get this,
Speaker 1: you'll get this Mala bee with that one green bead.
Speaker 1: It's our heel bracelet. And Tommy, I want everyone this
Speaker 1: is a calling for me. Like in nineteen ninety six
Speaker 1: the Sixers were calling for me to do something good
Speaker 1: for the city of Philadelphia. This is something good for
Speaker 1: the world, starting right here in Philadelphia to help heal
Speaker 1: that fracture. And once you realize that you don't need
Speaker 1: to suffer, you don't then share suffering. That's really important.
Speaker 1: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional, and we can
Speaker 1: allow any suffering to go by coming right now to
Speaker 1: bring it full circle a little bit. Not everybody gets
Speaker 1: to feel what you'll feel tonight or at other points
Speaker 1: certainly in your motivational speaking career throughout the years. And
Speaker 1: that is you know what Iverson did or what can be? Does?
Speaker 1: You know you're going to ring that bell and you're
Speaker 1: going to feel a wave of emotion from tonight eleven
Speaker 1: thousand people but really collectively around the entire valley that
Speaker 1: they're going to reconnect, if you will, with you and
Speaker 1: the sixers. What's that like to feel that wave, to
Speaker 1: be the conductor and feel that wave of energy coming
Speaker 1: back and have a course through you. I think it's
Speaker 1: so grand that it transcends words. It transcends words. But
Speaker 1: let me give you a quote. I love this poem
Speaker 1: poet has He's a soupie poet from the fourteenth century.
Speaker 1: I am the hole in the flute that the christ
Speaker 1: breath moves through. Listen to this music. So tonight I'm
Speaker 1: going to be that hole in the flute and listen
Speaker 1: to the music. Just listen to the vibration, listen to
Speaker 1: the energy, and just watch it resonate, not just in
Speaker 1: that arena. See, we think that just what we do
Speaker 1: manifest right in front of no. What we do is
Speaker 1: a vibrational energy that pervades everywhere, so that high vibrational
Speaker 1: frequency from that arena will pervade all the way through
Speaker 1: the fracture you talk about and start the healing. Perfect, Pat,
Speaker 1: We wish you the best, Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: the time, and we'll talk to you down on the road. Tommy.
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for your success and you're still the
Speaker 1: voice of the Sixers. Yeah, man, be well, Pat. Thank you.
Speaker 1: If you like what you're hearing, consider subscribing to the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers podcast network feed or giving us a follow
Speaker 1: wherever you get your paws and if that happens to
Speaker 1: be on Apple Podcasts, we'd love for you to give
Speaker 1: us a rating. I'm Tom McGinnis. Talk to you down
Speaker 1: the road.