A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE FROM PHIL JACKSON

Good Day all!

Last night was another good win for us. I am hoping that we can continue this type of play going into the playoffs.  We were with out one of our players last night (Penny Taylor), but everyone stepped up and did what we needed to do as a whole to bring us to victory. I was extremely happy for and proud of Dewanna Bonner-- she played really well for us and showed a lot of her versatility. Also, after the game was over I got to spend a little time with LSU Alum Toni Gross, we had a great tome catching up. That's right y'all -- we Tigers are everywhere.

We are going to be in San Antonio as we take on a very hungry Starzz team on Thursday night. Tune in on the web and follow the game and see what happens. These playoff spots are a close race.

One last thing I want to share with you my chapel visit yesterday. We had a motivational speaker come in and speak with us and she mentioned a lot of things. But the one that she said that stuck out to me was a quote by Phil Jackson. It said "Good teams become great when everyone trades in me for we."  I thought that was such a great quote and not just for the game of basketball, but in life also. Sometimes we get so caught up in the things that we have going on, we tend to forget about others.

Thanks for listening talk to you again soon.

Meek

10 DAY ROAD TRIP WITH A VISIT TO A SPECIAL MONUMENT

Hello everyone!

This has been such a crazy time and it has caused me to not connect with you the way that I would like to; so with that being said you all know that I apologize and I am about to catch you up on all that has been going on.
We are now on a 10 day road trip and we are half way through it but I promise that it has already been too long.

We started out in Connecticut where it was a close hard fought game that we let go in the end. From there we took an 8 hour train ride right after the game for safety measures due to Hurricane Irene that was headed to the DC area. We were fortunate though that it did not come where we were. But giving that I am one that is accustom to hurricanes, my heart does go out to all the people that were affected.

We did come away with a win though against Washington, which was something that we needed and it was definitely a good feeling.

What was even better was that I got a chance to go see The Martin Luther King Monument. I got up early that morning before it was time to get on our bus and headed down to it. It was such and honor and a privilege to be able to witness that statue. The guy who did it, did a wonderful job. It was so detailed and well put together. This was definitely a great way to start my morning and I love nothing more than to be able to share all of this with you.

Right now we are in Tulsa and we play them tonight at 7 pm another game that we need to get, and from there we head to San Antonio.

Wish us luck everyone, and thanks for taking the time to tune in with me.

Until next time,
Meek

 

TEAM BONDING -- AND PROTECTING AN EGG!

What a great night tonight!

After taking care of a lot of things that I needed to take care of, we had a team dinner at our owners house, Robert Sarver. We had such a great time -- we bonded, laughed, and played games while we were there. Robert truly supports us and we always have a good laugh when he is around.

One thing that we did that I really enjoyed was split up in groups and come up with a way to build a fort for an egg that was given to us. Now the bag that was given to us had some tools in it and some you were able to use and some you were not able to use -- but you had to collectively come together and figure out a way to protect your egg. Once we were done each grouped talked about their philosophy on protecting the egg and then had to stand up on the second floor and drop it to see if their group was successful. There was one group that put it together and was successful at protecting the egg, but all in all we had a great time and it was a good experience.

Meek

MEEK BOOK REVIEW: BOETRY

A lot of people always ask me what I do when I'm relaxing or wanting to do something away from basketball.  Well, for one I love to read.  I was taught that "leaders are readers" so I not only enjoy reading for pleasure but hopefully to help myself grow in some sort of way.  At this moment I am reading the book "Boetry" by Batrice (Bo) Welt.

Here are a few of the passages that really impacted me:

Desire- A derivative of dreams that should not be constrained.
This ultimate attraction that inspires reaction
Its sustained by passion that should not be rationed And accelerated by the will that leads to being fulfilled.
Focus is needed so try to resist, Temptations that insist that you should do this and stay true to your feelings For they're never misleading or deceiving
Discover what it means to fulfill your dreams uncover your desires you will be inspired.

Faith- A knowing from within
A trust of divine degree no need to plea
Its an incredible force that keeps us on course and carries us through
To our divine entitlement that's due.
Without it we fumble and tumble then crumble
Feeling Lost Confused Battered and Bruised
To have Faith one must initiate
A desire that inspires the will that instills a trust that we must
Believe that we'll receive when sometimes it feels unreal

Hope- A constant reassurance that never diesIt grows dim and fades in to the shadow of strife that gets lost in the confusion and illusion of lifeSeems hard to hold onto when disappointment anoints you with constant trials and ongoing denialsHope is a sign that we're still aligned with what destiny decides so
Hold on to the spark that appears in the dark For its light will see you through
To what God has in store for you.

THRILLED WITH VICTORY, SAD FOR A FRIEND

Wow, what a great win for us last night!

It was really hard fought and it was one that we needed. We had not beaten the Storm since 2009 when we won the championship so last night we broke a 9 game losing streak to them. I am so proud of my teammates on the effort that we all put forth.

I am sad though because I found out that one of my friends on the other team Tanisha Wright lost her mom recently. I wish"T" and her family all the best in this time of grieving. I have known Tanisha for some time now and I know how important family is to her. I am keep them in my prayers and praying that God gives them the comfort that they need.

Back to basketball, we have the Silver Stars coming in on Saturday so after today's rest it is back to the drawing board and preparing for them. Thanks you all for all your support and the time that you take out to follow what's been going on. Talk to you again soon

Meek

NBA -- NEXT BEST ACTION...LEARNING AND MOVING ON

We had a tough overtime loss to Los Angeles.  It would be easy to make excuses and talk about playing on back-to-back nights and flying to LA for second game but champions don't make excuses.  What some people don't realize is that champions do lose from time to time.  Many fans think champions should be perfect -- they should win them all.  Lose a game or two and many go into the "sky is falling" mentality.

One thing I have learned from playing at a championship level on the collegiate and professional level is that a big difference between champions and average teams is that champions learn from their defeat.  And each defeat can teach a different lesson.  The course of a basketball season is a long process with many opportunities along the way for us to grow.

On the professional level, you must be able to quickly move from one possession to the next.  The same holds true for victory and defeat.  You have very little time to linger on either unless you want it to allow you to effect you negatively in your next game.  On the professional level, we play the best of the best each night.  You must be constantly moving forward.  At LSU, we were taught to be "NBA" players -- meaning NEXT BEST ACTION.  Possession by possession...game by game!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes regarding defeat and adversity:

"What is defeat? Nothing but education, nothing but the first step to something better."

-Wendell Phillips

"It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible."-Henry Ward Beecher

"Failure is success if we learn from it."

-Malcolm S. Forbes

"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes."

-Henry Kaiser

"Opportunity...often it comes in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat."

-Napoleon Hill

"Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again."

-Henry Ford

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

-Confucius

"History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed.  They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats."

-B. C. Forbes

"Success...seems to be connected with action.  Successful people keep moving.  They make mistakes but they don’t quit."

-Conrad Hilton

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."

-William Feather

"The glory is in being knocked to your knees and then rising again."

-Vince Lombardi

"Fall down 7 times...get up 8."

-Chinese Proverb

SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT MY HOPE FOUNDATION

Wow! What a win that we got the other day against Minnesota. I was so happy with our performance. It was definitely a total team effort. I think this can be the start of turning things around yet again for us.

Also yesterday, I had a special event that allowed me to share more about my foundation with all of our fans. Thanks to Mrs. Christine Ellis of Cedar Sanctuary and David Jones of Positive Image Sports the event went well. Mrs. Ellis Donated 5000 dollars to the H.O.P.E. Foundation which also helped me to purchase 200 tickets for our last home game against the Minnesota Lynx on Sept 11.

This is also with the Donation Package deal that allows you to receive one of these tickets, a Meek Medallion, and One of my books Decisions Decisions Decisions. For just 25 dollars you are able to get this deal. Help me help the kids. Thank you so much in advance.

Check out all these photos from this special evening:

 http://on.fb.me/p2wDmD

One last thing -- we have Atlanta tonight on our home floor -- we are definitely looking to keep this thing going.

Lets get it Merc!
Meek

A TOUGH LOSS FOLLOWED BY AN INSPIRING DAY

Wow! What a tough lost. We fought really hard, but we let it slip away from us. Today was good turn around for us though we got after it and we prepared for the Lynx coming in here tomorrow. We really need to get this one.

On a positive note my teammate Nakia and I got to visit St. Joseph Hospital where they did some spectacular renovations to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Wing in the hospital. In the Brain injury Clinic they have a room of all the teams in Arizona and of course you know my favorite one was the Mercury Room. It was really a nice place to visit and a great thing for me to see that the rooms that they place the patients in are truly entertaining. I had a blast.

Ok I'm off to get focused talk to you all later,

Meek

WELCOMING A NEW TEAMMATE AND HONORING BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

Good morning everyone!

 

I would like to start off by apologizing for not blogging for some time now, but believe me it was for good reason. We have had a lot going on, and through all of that we have a new player on our team - Sidney Spencer. I know all of my SEC readers know who that is and would understand this statement: when I say she wore that other color you know that I mean the orange color. LOL! It's a joy to have her here and to be her teammate once again. We played together in Los Angeles and we became close friends. So everyone welcome Sidney to the Mercury!

Today is our Pink game and for so many reasons and people this game is very important to me. I am so happy to be a part of spreading awareness for it. Here is a picture of my Nike shoes that I will be wearing today as we face the Connecticut Sun today at 3.

This will be a very good game - an uptempo game, and I will get to see my baby Tiger Allison Hightower.

Talk to you again soon,

Meek 

GETTING READY FOR THE 1ST PLACE LYNX

Hey everyone! We turned it around a little. It was a hard fought win for us against the New York Liberty on Saturday night. We really pulled through and I was so proud of how my teammate Ketia Swanier performed. I am so happy that she is back and that all is going well with her and her eye.

We are now in Minnesota where we will play the Lynx on Tuesday. This should be a good one again as well. They are really playing well right now and are currently in first place. Tune in on www.wnba.com, or you can get the WNBA Center Court app on your phone if it allows you. I will let you know for sure if it is a tv game or not. Until then stay tuned

Also for my Mercury fans I am planning something for you all, All the details will be revealed really soon!

Thanks!

Meek