CP3 and the Way to be

One of my best basketball memories from college has more to do with bowling. We were having a lackluster practice when coach aborted all the drills and in lieu of prolonging the drudgery, took us all to the lanes for an impromptu afternoon of bowling. A love was born, quiet as it was kept, for the sport.

New Orleans Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul shares the love and turned his hobby into a charitable event. It’s called the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational and it pairs PBA bowlers with professional athletes and/or entertainers. “Ludacris,” Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers), Lamar Woodley (Pitsburgh Steelers), Lebron James and many others have lent time, dollars and star power to a cause that benefits thousands of kids from New Orleans and Paul’s hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Paul’s invitational is a case-in-point about synergy and mobilization as it shows the effectiveness of creating alliances…the right kind of alliances that use partnerships to serve a deadly blow to the limitations of poverty. PBA greats like Norm Duke and Jason Belmonte are not household names the way NBA stars are but everyone involved in today’s event had an elevated stature worth lending. Today’s event had an added bonus as well being held at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans. The U.S. still has thousands of service men and women stationed abroad and in harms way and Americans love the troops even when they disagree with the politics that deployed them. Hip Hop pioneers Eric B. and Rakim once rhymed the words, “And you sit by the radio, hand on the dial, soon as you hear it, pump up the volume.” Well, synergistic events do just that for the downtrodden domestically and worldwide. It’s not rocket science either, once you analyze why a bowling tournament stands to reach so many and draw their support.

Bowling is the working man’s sport it would seem. It’s the sport I remember from childhood as we went to the smoke filled bowling alleys as kids and waited for the time we’d be strong enough to bowl with one hand. Basketball, football and entertainment cover a multitude of demographics as well with the military component even more far reaching. If I study CP3’s (Chris Paul’s well known moniker) strategy, it’s genius for philanthropy. Have a clear benefactor that supporters can see. Have a parent organization (The Chris Paul Foundation) that charitable events funnel directly into and find a tribe of marquee individuals and entities who will link arms with you and celebrate the effort your putting forth. Oh, and it helps if ESPN carries the event on a Sunday afternoon when everyone is at home just waiting for the Superbowl to start.