July 1, 1999

The following is not a typical athlete's journal entry. You will not read about how many points were scored, who won, or who was difficult to guard. Mostly because of what you'll read about below. Instead, you will experience The World According To Me. Each week, I'll be posting another entry, so stay tuned ...

This is my last pre-scar journal entry. I write this just hours before going under the knife and acquiring a new ACL. Talk about the depths I will go to just to get some flowers and Hallmark cards (all of which can be sent c/o the New York Liberty).

My rehabilitation has gone well so far and still allowed me to go to practice and spend a lot of time with my teammates. We were given tickets to Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs by Knicks President Dave Checketts. Unfortunately the game was not very exciting. The most eventful thing happened as Kym Hampton and I were leaving the arena. A gentleman told me "Yo Lobo, when I was in prison , I read your life story for nine days". I don't know what is scarier ... that he was in prison, or that it took him nine days to read 200 pages.

Wicks

Another scary event that we all deal with in the WNBA ... drug testing. Our entire team was tested before and after practice one day. It is not scary because there isn't any chance of someone failing the test. It is scary because the entire testing has to be observed by both the head of league security and our team representative to the union - Sue Wicks. This means that Sue has to be in the bathroom as everyone produces her specimen. We patiently waited a full hour after practice because Coquese Washington had an acute case of stage fright. Most of the team hung out in the snack bar by the court but poor Sue was stuck in a less pleasant place. Ah ... the power of being the team Rep!!!

I think now is an appropriate time to have a moment of silence for our New York Knicks ...

SHHHH.

OK, back to business. Here is the IN CASE YOU MISSED THE MORNING NEWS part of My World.

A man in the Philippines was executed for a crime even though President Joseph Estrada made a phone call to stop the execution. The problem was that Mr. Estrada was met with either a busy signal or a fax tone when he called. Two words ... 1.) Pager 2.) Cell Phone (ok, three words).

How scary is it that more people know that "Just Do It" is the Nike slogan than know that the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are in the Declaration of Independence - 79% versus 47%?!? How about "Just Read It" ... once!!!

By the way, you haven't truly been heckled until you've been heckled by a homeless person. I was walking back from pregame meal with Sue when a homeless man yapped at me, "No more basketball for you, Rebecca". Of course I just kept walking . After all, what can you say to someone like that? Sue and I laughed and shook our heads in amazement that I was getting heckled by this gentleman. Only in New York City.

Now that I can't walk nearly as much, I must rely on cabs to get most places. One evening I got in a taxi with a chatty driver. On the way to a place called Deniel, he told me every city he'd ever lived in (which was an extensive and unprovoked litany). When he finally stopped talking he turned the radio volume up. Every song title had something to do with killing or murder. I couldn't wait to get to my destination and get out of the cab. I wondered if the guy lived in so many places because he was running from the law!

By the way, you haven't really lived until you've heard a Jamaican cab driver (not the crazy one) sing "Wind Beneath My Wings"!

Time to give a Shout Out to:

 The kids at the Island Garden girl's basketball camp
 The runner up World Champion New York Knickerbockers
 The "active lad" who blew out 30 candles on June 24
 Anyone who is named "Ski"
 My teammate Becky Hammon. She's got game and she's a great kid
 Girls with one hairy arm
 Those who fix their own broken towel rack