A QUICK TRIP HOME

Hey all, I am back after a few days away.

 

I got to go home and see my family and friends. I had such a good time. It's crazy for me though because I didn't really want to leave. I have never really felt this strong about not leaving so it kind of shocked me. I think as I get older I start to see things completely different.

 

The best part of my short visit is that I got to spend some time with my nephew! He is such a sweet little thing, and I think I can see him being spoiled in the near future! VERY NEAR FUTURE -- Lol.

 

Ok, I am off now -- I have made it back to Phoenix and will lay down before I head to practice. Time to get back to work we have Seattle on Tuesday.

Until next time,

Meek 

REACHING OUT THROUGH READING

Let me share with you all how much fun that I had tonight!

It was a book reading on the 23rd floor of our building. It all started from a day at the pool and this dad and his daughter was down there and we were all having such a good time and got to talking. As we began to share stories, ideas began to rise. After he found out that I was an author and had a children's book out he suggested that I share it with kids in our building. I thought it was just talk but it actually happened and he posted signs in the elevator to make sure other kids saw it. There was milk and cookies and some good kids that were truly into the story. I loved it and had a blast.

The highlight of the evening was MJ and Macey reading with one another as well as helping each other with words that they didn't know. That is such a great thing and they are definitely our future. The kids that attended, I gave them a copy if the book and they were all excited and was all talking about doing their chores. LOL!

It truly was a great night,

Meek

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FOR THE LOBO FAMILY

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along my thoughts and prayers to Rebecca Lobo and her family.  Rebecca's mother, RuthAnn lost her battle with breast cancer today. 

She was diagnosed in 1995 while Rebecca was still playing at UConn.  The thing I remember and respect the most was the fact that she and Rebecca took their opponent head on.  RuthAnn became a tremendous advocate for the fight against breast cancer much as did Sherie Starkey, the wife of my coach at LSU.  Both RuthAnn and Rebecca wrote a book, "Home Team" to talk in part about their fight against breast cancer.

She also received many awards such as the Maria Miller Stewart Award for mentoring young girls and boys and advocating equality for girls in education, and the Susan G. Komen Award, Connecticut Chapter. The award has since been renamed the Komen RuthAnn Lobo Award in her honor.

And, just as my grandmother, she was a long-time educator, and was actually a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

I hope that you will join me in keeping the Lobo's in our prayers -- and even more importantly we must continue to work hard to defeat breast cancer.  It has been a big part of my HOPE Foundation and will continue to be -- and from this point on, I will consider RuthAnn Lobo are coach in heaven!

http://www.wnba.com/bha/bha_2003.html

JAPAN VICTORY GIVES HOPE TO A NATION IN CRISIS

As I sat down today and watched the Woman's World Cup Soccer Championship, I cheered extremely hard for the USA team. I wanted so bad for them to win. I know how hard they had been working, and how much they really wanted this title. This would have been such a great win for them. As the Japanese continued to fight and work just as hard, my whole attitude began to shift. I started thinking about the tragedy that they had faced as a country and how much they would have wanted to bring that championship back to their country. They wanted to bring some light back to their nation and that is something that I can understand. 

I can recall the same thing happening when my hometown of New Orleans faced the devestation of Hurricane Katrina.  My family and friends, as did so many thousands on the Gulf, lost most or all of their belongings.  Some paid even the ultimate price -- loss of life. For most of those in the New Orleans area, it was a confusing time in which they felt they have no place to go or no one to turn to in the time of dispair.

In 2009 we, the Phoenix Mercury, won the Championship and I was able to go back to my home town and celebrate with them. I was able to go back and bring a little light back to the people that were searching for some hope...something to believe in, something that would take their mind off of what they were really facing. I was so happy about that and so excited to bring it back to my city. Soon after that our NFL team, the New Orleans Saints brought our city its first Superbowl Championship and the city went nuts. They were so excited and celebrated more than ever. It was that victory and those players doing what they could to put our city on their backs and bring Hope back to the community.

I say all this to share something that we all know and have seen on many different ocassions. The sports world is so much more than just sports. It does things to bring cities, states, and countries together. It gives people a sense of hope and a connection to something great. It also helps brings smiles, laughter, joy, and happiness to others.  I am happy for the nation of Japan as this championship will certainly add fuel to their rebuilding efforts as they continue to rebound from such a tragedy. 

That world Championship game shifted for me and I went from being a fan of the USA Soccer Team, to an understanding human. Being one that has had to deal with devastation, I understand what happened for Japan as they celebrated their Victory.

HOPE FOR A WORLD CUP TITLE!

As someone who greatly believes in "HOPE" (via my H.O.P.E. Foundation), you know I loved this sign at today's World Cup Soccer Championship Game!!!

U-S-A!

U-S-A!

U-S-A!

BOOK SIGNING A HUGE SUCCESS

Wow, what a great day!

The book signing at Stupid Cupid was so much fun. I want to thank each and everyone of you that found time to come out and support Alex and myself. Alex Chambers was the guy that traveled to all 13 cities that has a WNBA team in it and visit with each team to learn more about what we as athletes/women go through on a daily basis. Alex then put all of his experiences in a book. I was so happy to team up with him today for the book signing. He is such a good person and wants nothing but the best for us as women as well as the WNBA. Super happy that he is truly a Mercury fan. (X Factor baby).

Again this was such a good day and I was honored and humbles by all of you the continue to support my book, "Meek Moments: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

Until next time,

Meek

GREAT ROAD WIN AND QUICK TRIP HOME TO PHOENIX

What a great team win today against a very talented Minnesota team. It was a very high scoring game 112-105, and it was a very exciting up tempo game. It was really good to see Seimone and I love the way she has bounced back from last year's injury. She is back to her old self and I am super happy for her. After our hard fought game my sister sent me this adorable picture. I am so excited to see them. Ja'niya is going to be a great big sister to her new brother Jayden. It was great day for me. Good win and a proud aunt.

Meek

MEEK AND ALEX CHAMBERS SET FOR SATURDAY BOOK SIGNING

I'm very excited to be doing a book signing this weekend with author and friend Alex Chambers has just released a book 13 Teams: One Man's Journey with the WNBA

The two of us are going to hang out for awhile selling and signing our books so it is a wonderful opportunity for us chat with the WNBA fans in Phoenix -- hope you will come by and say "hello."

Meek Moments: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions - A children's book which is "a fictionalized version of a younger Johnson, and the protagonist has decisions to make about prioritizing, something that Johnson says she learned from her grandmother, Jewel Johnson, who was a mother to her own seven children and Johnson."
- Kelly Carter, ESPN.com

13 Teams: One Man's Journey with the WNBA chronicles Stephen Litel's 28 day journey to all 13 arenas in the summer of 2009.The event will be held at Stupid Cupid, 5027 N. Seventh Ave (NE corner of 7th ave and Camelback), Phoenix on Saturday, July 16th from 2:30 - 4:00pm.


Come down and grab your copy of our books & we'll scribble in them for you.

Meek

A WIN, A ROAD TRIP AND A NEW NEPHEW!

I apologize for not blogging after our victory against Tulsa. I was really trying to take care of some things. Anyway, as you all may know we did win and it was by a pretty large margin. I believe it was almost 50. I had another great time with Doneeka and as always it was great seeing her.

On another note in that same day my sister gave birth to my new nephew who's name is Jayden. I can not wait to see him. So happy that all went well and that both he and my sister are great.

Time is really flying this summer we are almost half way through our season. We are now in Minnesota where we will face a definite new and improved Minnie team with the addition of Maya Moore. But I will also get to see Lady Tiger Seimone Augustus as well. We are both a running team so this should definitely be fun. It's an early one though, tip off is at 12 central. I'm looking forward to it and hope all of you that will watch on line is also.

Talk to you all later,

Meek

QUICK TURNAROUND TO PLAY SHOCK AGAIN

Hey there!

I know last night was an ugly win for us, but we did prevail. It was again so good to see Doneeka, and she played very well for the Tulsa Shock. After a short turn around and an early flight, we are going to face this same explosive team again. The game is an early one. We will tip-off tomorrow at 3 so if you are in town come and join us at the US Airways Center. If not tune in on Wnba.com or on your phone with the app Center Court that will allow you to watch it as well.
Until next time,
Meek

PLANE RIDE AND 91st BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

We have finally made it to Tulsa.

But I have to tell you about what I thought was a special moment on the plane ride to Tulsa. Now for those of you that know me, you know that I an usually sleep on the plane, but this time I was up and I am extremely happy that I was. On the plane was an African-American  lady name Layla and she was celebrating her 9st birthday. The stewardess ask the people at the windows to pull the shades down and for everyone to light up their stewardess light which represented the candles. She knew that their wouldn't be enough lights to represent the candles but we did it anyway. And from there we all sang happy birthday to the lady. I was like "wow, what a great thing to witness." Not only did we get to share a small part of her birthday with her, but she was still traveling at 91 and some people never get to travel at all. That was a lot of knowledge and wisdom sitting on that plane and I was happy to witness it.  

After getting to Tulsa we went straight to practice, then I had dinner with one of LSU's finest Toni Gross. It was a great night and I think we could find a Tiger in almost every city we go to.  

Goodnight all!

Meek

MEEK RETURNS TO ACTION, MERCURY DEFEAT LA

After missing the last four games, Meek returned to action and the starting line-up as the Phoenix Mercury captured an important Western Conference game.  The Mercury have now won 6 of their last 7 and moved into third place in the Western Conference.

Despite missing the last four games with an ankle injury, Meek logged 22 minutes, scoring 5 points and dishing out 4 assists.

Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree scored 20 points each, helping the Phoenix Mercury rally past a scary injury to guard Ketia Swanier to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 101-82 Tuesday night.

Phoenix opened the third quarter with a big run and kept it going after Swanier was helped off the court following an elbow to the head by Sparks guard Kristi Toliver. The Mercury turned a 10-point deficit into a 14-point lead in the quarter and never let up on the way to their sixth win in seven games.

Penny Taylor had 16 points and Kara Braxton added 14 for Phoenix.

Swanier went down in a heap late in the third quarter after taking an elbow to the left eye from Toliver, who swung her arm while trying to protect the ball. Swanier lay on the floor for several minutes while writhing in pain, then had to be helped to the locker room.

Toliver was hit with a flagrant foul after initially being called for an offensive foul, and Sparks assistant Joe Bryant exacerbated the situation by arguing the call and was hit with a technical. Toliver also was called for a technical foul on another call a few minutes later.

Box Score: http://on.nba.com/nIRFQC

MEEK AND THE MERCURY ON ESPN2 TONIGHT

This has been a very good week. We had two team gatherings that we all had a blast at. I have been working extremely hard to get back on the court and  Tonight will be the night. It has finally come together. The rehabbing, the extra running, the workouts that i have been doing, I am hoping that they all pay off tonight. We face off with the LA Sparks tonight on ESPN2 at 8 o'clock Central Time. This is another test for us to move in the right direction and i am looking forward to it.

I hope that everyone had a great and safe 4th of July, and also there is still some time left for everyone to vote for me for the ALL-STAR game. Vote on line at www.wnba.com or text 69622 Johnson for me. Thanks again for all the support and please keep checking back for more updates on my blog.

Meek

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

I am up early this morning and reflecting on what a wonderful country we live in and how fortunate we are to have our freedoms.  Obviously there are many Americans that are going through some tough times and I continue to pray for all those that suffer.  But as someone who plays overseas each winter, and visits countries all over the globe, the one constant I always return with when I come home is that the United States of America is truly the greatest nation on earth.

So enjoy the fireworks, the parades and the cookouts -- but take some time to thank God that we do live where freedom rings!

Meek