Should Assist King John Stockton be Named US LNG Ambassador?
In light of yesterday's US/EU LNG deal, it's time to create a new federal position:
LNG Ambassador
And while you might argue that EQT Corporation's Toby Rice has already been playing the role of LNG Ambassador, perhaps his #UnleashUSLNG campaign could use an assist from none other than NBA Hall-of-Famer John Stockton.
Why's that, you ask?
Well, Stockton—who happens to turn 60 today—would be a perfect fit for several reasons:
1 - US LNG has the ability to assist our global teammates as they scramble to wean themselves from Russian #energy, much as John Stockton's 15,806 assists helped his teammates thrive during his 19-year career with the Utah Jazz.
2 - Stockton's hard-nosed, gritty approach was often mis-labeled as "dirty," much like the natural gas industry, which is often mis-labeled as dirty, despite the undeniably positive net impact natural gas development has had (and can/should continue to have) on the environment.
3 - As a humble and durable leader who only missed 22 games during his pro career and who avoided the spotlight like the plague, John consistently got his job done without any fanfare, much as the oil & gas industry has been consistently getting stuff done for 160 years, regardless of how much (or little) our "fans" appreciate the critical role oil & gas—much like a point guard—plays in our everyday lives.
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Transcript
(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)
On the heels of yesterday announced agreement between the United States and the European Union to provide the European Union with additional LNG from countries that are not Russia, I today in proposing the formation of an additional position within the federal government, and that position is the ambassador of LNG. And while you might believe as I do that the federal government is already bloated and doesn't need any additional positions. I would argue that the importance and the timeliness of this topic, LNG and more broadly, the energy industry and the ongoing energy crisis, if you will, particularly in Europe, that this position is warranted, this position is important. And so in addition to recommending the position, I also have a recommendation for who should fill that position. And that person is NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. And you might be asking why John Stockton would be recommended for this position, when in many ways, we already have an LNG ambassador in the form of Toby rice, because if you've been following the headlines, you will have seen that Toby rice, the president of the largest natural gas producer in the United States, has been out there in many ways as an LNG Ambassador touting all of the benefits of LNG both from a geopolitical standpoint and energy security standpoint, but also from an environmental standpoint. And he's been doing this for years long before of course, the invasion of Ukraine. But nevertheless, Toby is a busy man, he's running a big company and important company. And so I am proposing somebody who could be dedicated to this role as LNG ambassador and that person again is John Stockton. But why why John Stockton? Well, for one of course, right now is in the midst of March Madness, and of course, we saw more March Madness last night with a another victory by St. Peter's as it moved on to the lead age, people have basketball on the mind. Right. And certainly, when you think of basketball, at least when I think of basketball, the person that I turned to is my favorite player of all time, and that is John Stockton. Another reason of course, is that while John Stockton is Gonzaga team is typically one of the better teams it was the number one overall seed despite being upset the other night. But again, there is a connection between Gonzaga who had been in the headlines until they're upset loss and who again is connected forever to John Stockton minus the lack of connection recently because his tickets were revoked. But that's a whole nother story for another day. But anyway, another reason of course, is that John Stockton turns 60 years old today, so happy birthday, John Stockton, and again as a as a gift to John Stockton, who, of course, was the ultimate gift earliest figuratively in terms of passing, why not gift him this new position. But of course, most importantly, and flowing from his gift giving ability. John Stockton is the king of assists. And what is this whole LNG thing about? Well, in many ways, it's about assisting our allies, right? Giving them the tools, if you will, giving them a bit more freedom, eventually to wean themselves off of Russian sources of energy. And so again, why not turn to this king of assists? Why not turn to somebody like John Stockton, whose autobiography in fact, in fact, is called assisted write, that is the world that he lived in. That is what allowed him to have great success. He helped others thrive, he helped his team thrive. And so what are we doing with this LNG commitment? Well, the goal is to help others thrive, our European allies, and while again, the logistics and the timing, and there's all kinds of other things that need to be sorted out for that to actually happen. But at least yesterday's announcement was a step in the right direction. So why not go ahead and form this, this new position this LNG Ambassador position and give it to John Stockton. And so with that, I would be remiss not to use John Stockton to build upon the ultimate goal of the energy detox, which is of course to help you become a better leader within the energy industry, which again, helps us turn to someone like John Stockton, who in many ways is the ultimate leader, the ultimate energy industry leader, despite again, being from up in Spokane, Washington, where again, I don't believe they are the biggest producers of energy. But nevertheless, John Stockton as a point guard is in many ways what you want to be as a leader, you want to see the floor, you want to see things going on, you want to be in control. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're the ones scoring the points, right? You're not necessarily the Karl Malone, who was launched into second place on the all time scoring list because of somebody like John Stockton course noting that LeBron James just passed Karl Malone here a couple days ago for that second slot, but nevertheless, again, John Stockton was there as a leader who was happy to be behind the scenes was anything but flashy. Heck, he showed up to games in a minivan, right, just wearing khakis and a polo shirt didn't show up in a Maserati. Not that there's anything wrong with that or a $10,000 suit.
04:44
Not that there's anything wrong with that. He was first and foremost a family man he had his values straight, his value square. He had six kids, and his retirement was fueled, at least in his words more by his commitment to his family and has a desire to to be there and not be sitting in hotel rooms waiting for games to start. And even though he was still playing fine, he only missed a handful of games throughout his career, he decided to retire because those were his priorities. And that's what you want a leader, right? You want somebody who at one has his priorities straight to has his or her eyes on the floor, so to speak, and watching things move around. And three, probably most importantly, helping other people thrive helping other people do what they need to do. But I guess the the fourth thing I'll throw in there is that a leader when he needs to take charge when he or she needs to say, look, I got this, they can do that as well. And that's what John Stockton did on occasion, most famously, when he launched the jazz into the NBA Finals, when he took over against the Phoenix Suns, he did step up, he was the man he, you know, found, found himself in a position where it wasn't enough to just help others to just assist others. And so again, from a leadership standpoint, ask yourself, in what ways are you like a point guard, like John Stockton, who's content being behind the scenes and quietly helping other people thrive and and do better and move forward and move more smoothly and freely? Or are you constantly striving unnecessarily to be the big man to be the flashy man to be the one with the $10,000 suits in the Maserati, figuratively, unnecessarily, and in turn, might you already be in a position where again, your flash might be detracting from the flow of your team and your ability to win, and again, I can talk for 30 more minutes about John Stockton and everything that he brought to the game and to life and again, I I recommend if you haven't read it, read his autobiography Asst. It's a great story. But regardless of whether you choose to read this, or whether you feel that John Stockton, Stockton is worthy of all of this praise, because he has his detractors, of course. And in fact, while he was playing, I remember again, as a kid, as a big fan of John Stockton, I were number 12, you know, when I was playing youth basketball there because I was that big of a fan. But there were detractors of his just as there are detractors of the energy industry. Of course, many people call John Stockton dirty, they didn't like the way he played. And again, much like the energy industry, they think of us as, as dirty, they don't see our value. And in fact, in many ways they interpret, misinterpret the grit, the the hard nosed nature of the energy industry, for something that it's not that again, it's dirty, simply because do get dirty when we're when we're out and about right, when we're in the field. And we're getting our job done. It's necessary work. But people many ways look down upon it, which of course, is fueling, in many ways, a crisis when it comes to employment when it comes to people who don't want to enter the energy industry or enter the trades and get dirty, if you will. And while again, we can talk for another 30 minutes about some of the topics that the likes of Mike Rowe might also be another good, worthy ambassador, at some point for the United States, at least when it comes to jobs and getting the job done and doing what's necessary to support ourselves domestically. And in turn our allies around the world. Bring it back to John Stockton, he was a hard nosed gritty player and he was durable. He was somebody who again only missed a handful of games throughout his long career, much like you were on gas industry who was there when you need us. They're there when you need us when there is a crisis, we're ready to adapt, unlike other options out there, if you will, again, not to put down those other options when it comes to energy. But the reality is that we've been around for 160 years, and we're gonna continue being around because we are durable. We are greedy, we are hard nosed and we are dirty, at least in the sense that we're not afraid to get dirty. But the reality is we get the job done. We do it right. And again, much like John Stockton, he gets it done by one executing by doing the fundamentals and doing them well. And two by recognizing and again, this is the point of the book here. Assisted assisted obviously he spends his whole book it's co written with with his high school coach, I believe it's co written because he recognizes all of the people that helped him which again brings us back to leaders. He recognizes the leaders around him throughout his life that allowed him to thrive and in turn help others thrive. So the question for you today is not whether you agree with my silly recommendation for LNG ambassador and whether you agree with my silly recommendation for John Stockton as ambassador, but the question for you today is again, are you like John Stockton? Are you unselfish?
09:04
Are you like a point guard? Can you see what's going on around you? And are you trying at every step along the way to assist others to help others thrive and in turn, help your team thrive, help yourself thrive and to build a legacy if you will, not just for yourself, but again, for your organization. And as we move again, to certainly a much wider view for our nation and for those who are friends of ours around the world. And so with that, of course, I wish John Stockton who I'm assuming given his very quiet nature is not listening to podcasts or not listening to this and I'm pretty sure he is disavowed himself of all things social media and just about himself and pretty much anything that's trendy as evidenced by the fact that I believe he was the last one or two people to still be wearing the the short shorts in the NBA for what that's worth. But nevertheless, happy birthday to you John Stockton, and again to all of you watching I hope you enjoy watching the rest of March Madness and rooting for the likes of the little guy Like St. Peter's as they marched through and defeating the big guys like Gonzaga who they didn't defeat directly, of course, but nevertheless, it's a great story a great time of year to be energized to think about basketball, to think about energy to think about all of the power that the natural gas industry and in turn, the power of LNG can provide and continues providing for everybody else. And with that, I hope you have a great rest of the day, a great weekend and as always, thank you for tuning in.