What are your favorite quotes from a sports figure?

athlete, coach, team owner, league commissioner, it doesn't matter. Stupid quotes, funny quotes, memorable quotes, controversial quotes, anything.


I thought of this when I was reading the recap of the Chargers game yesterday and I saw this line by Shawne Merriman, "When you're a game-changer, you're expected to go out there and change the game."

It'll be forgotten in a day or two, but just seeing that made me think of this thread idea.



so let's see 'em.

 

Ironically enough, I was thinking about this last night while catching some of the Seahawks/Broncos came at work. It reminded me of what Hasselbeck said a few years ago during the Seahawks first playoff game against the Packers when it went into overtime and he came out for the coin toss:

"We're going to get the ball and we're going to score"

a few plays later the cocky idiot was intercepted and it turned into the Packer's game - winning touchdown.

I always seem to remember that around this time a year.

 

"We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money"

 

"We couldn't do diddly poo...." - Jim Mora

 

Jim Mora's "Playoffs?" and AI's "Practice? I'm a franchise player and you want to talk about practice? Not a game, not a game, not a game, practice."

Especially since that latter one went on for at least 2 minutes.

 

From cricket commentary...
"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willie"

 

[image=http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/k/p/2005-09-24/U338P6T12D1788180F44DT20050924145348.jpg]
Practice X 157 times

 

"This is the greatest country in America" - Yogi Berra

 

"Therapy is a good thing... it can be therapeutic." - Alex Rodriguez

 

Anything by Kevin Keegan.


'This could be a repeat of the final.'

'England can end the millenium as it started - as the greatest football nation in the world.'

'You can't do better than go away from home and get a draw...'

'There'll be no siestas in Madrid tonight.'

'...using his strength. And that is his strength, his strength.'

'Gary always weighed up his options, especially when he had no choice.'

'I'm not disappointed - just disappointed.'

'The tide is very much in our court now.'

'Chile have three options - they could win or they could lose.'

'That would have been a goal if it wasn't saved.'

'The good news for Nigeria is that they're two-nil down very early in the game'

'The substitute is about to come on - he's a player who was left out of the starting line-up today.'

'That decision, for me, was almost certainly definitely wrong.'

'The 33 or 34-year-olds will be 36 or 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around, if they're not careful.'

'England have the best fans in the world and Scotland's fans are second-to-none'

'I'd love to be a mole on the wall in the Liverpool dressing room at half-time.'

'They're the second best team in the world, and there's no higher praise than that.'

'Luis Figo is totally different to David Beckham, and vice versa'

'There's a slight doubt about only one player, and that's Tony Adams, who definitely won't be playing tomorrow.'

'The Germans only have one player under 22, and he's 23'

'Danny Tiatto is not going to make a mistake on purpose'

'We deserved to win this game after hammering them 0-0 in the first half'

'Not many teams will come to Arsenal and get anything, home or away'

 

"Football, bloody hell."

- Alex Ferguson interviewed immediately after Manchester United had beaten Bayern Munich 2-1 to lift the European Cup.

 

Here are few funnies.....

'I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right.' - Lee Hendrie

'I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country.'
- Ian Rush

Interviewer: 'Would it be fair to describe you as a volatile player?'
David Beckham: 'Well, I can play in the centre, on the right and occasionally on the left side.'

'Germany are a very difficult team to play...they had 11 internationals out there today.' - Steve Lomas

'I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock.' - Barry Venison

'I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet.' - David Beckham

'All that remains is for a few dots and commas to be crossed.'
- Mitchell Thomas

'Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had.' - David Beckham

'The opening ceremony was good, although I missed it.'
- Graeme Le Saux

'One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best.'
- Alan Shearer

'I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd.'
- Johnny Giles

'Sometimes in football you have to score goals.' - Thierry Henry

'I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.' - Mark Viduka

'He's put on weight and I've lost it, and vice versa.' - Ronnie Whelan

'If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day.' - Neville Southall

'We lost because we didn't win.' - Ronaldo

'I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable.' - Paul Gascoigne

'I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well.' - Alan Shearer

'I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona.' - Mark Draper

'You've got to believe that you're going to win, and I believe we'll win the World Cup until the final whistle blows and we're knocked out.'
- Peter Shilton

'I faxed a transfer request to the club at the beginning of the week, but let me state that I don't want to leave Leicester.' - Stan Collymore

'I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George Ndah had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing.' - Ade Akinbiyi

'Without being too harsh on David Beckham, he cost us the match.'
- Ian Wright

'It was a big relief off my shoulder.' - Paul Gascoigne

'I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier.' - Ugo Ehiogu

'My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7.'
- David Beckham

'I was surprised, but I always say nothing surprises me in football.'
- Les Ferdinand

'There's no in between - you're either good or bad. We were in between.'
- Gary Lineker

'Winning doesn't really matter as long as you win.' - Vinny Jones



Brilliant!

 

They're in my Facebook profile:


"That's what they get for building a stadium on the ocean."
-Oil Can Boyd, after a game was fogged out in Cleveland

"They can do whatever they want. I'll still be eating steak every night."
-Von Hayes on Philly fans booing him

"I don't give a **** about no trade rumors. As long as somebody 'CTC,' at the end of the day I'm with them. For all you that don't know what CTC means, that's 'Cut the Check.' I just go out there and play. Again, somebody just 'CTC.' "
-Rasheed Wallace on trade rumors during the 2003-4 season

 

Nothing can top the immortal Rickey Henderson. Rickey just loves these quotes. Note this is from a blog called the random burrito.

?Listen, people are always saying, ?Rickey says Rickey.? But it?s been blown way out of proportion. People might catch me, when they know I?m ticked off, saying, ?Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?? They say, ?Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey for? Why don?t you just say, ?I?? But I never did. I always said, ?Rickey,? and it became something for people to joke about.?


In 1996, Henderson?s first season with San Diego, he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat. Steve Finley said, ?You have tenure, sit wherever you want.? Henderson looked at Finley and said, ?Ten years? Ricky?s been playing at least 16, 17 years.?

This one might be my second favorite. This wasn?t too long ago, I think it was the year he ended up playing with the Red Sox. Anyway, he called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: ?This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.?

Moments after breaking Lou Brock?s stolen base record, Henderson told the crowd ? with Brock mere feet next to him ? ?Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.?

A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti?s estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were taking steroids was accurate. His response was, ?Well, Rickey?s not one of them, so that?s 49 percent right there.?

On being Nolan Ryan?s 5,000th career strikeout: ?It gave me no chance. He (Ryan) just blew it by me. But it?s an honor. I?ll have another paragraph in all the baseball books. I?m already in the books three or four times.?

A reporter once asked Rickey if he talked to himself, ?Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I?m trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself??

OK, I know everyone has been waiting for it. Alas, according to both parties involved, it?s not true. I wish it were. Heck, both Rickey Henderson and John Olerud have said they wish it were true. But it just didn?t happen.

The story went that a few weeks into Henderson?s stint with the Mariners, he walked up to Olerud at the batting cage and asked him why he wore a batting helmet in the field. Olerud explained that he had an aneurysm at nine years old and he wore the helmet for protection. Legend goes that Henderson said, ?Yeah, I used to play with a guy that had the same thing.?

Legend also goes that Olerud said, ?That was me, Rickey.?

Henderson played with Olerud on the Blue Jays and the Mets.

Rickey was asked if he had the Garth Brooks album with Friends in Low Places and Henderson said, ?Rickey doesn?t have albums. Rickey has CDs.?

During a contract holdout with Oakland in the early 1990s, Henderson said, ?If they want to pay me like Mike Gallego, I?ll play like Gallego.?

In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed. Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman ? then a low-level nobody with the organization ? called Rickey and asked if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said, ?I?m just waiting for the money market rates to go up.?

In June 1999, when Henderson was playing with the Mets, he saw reporters running around the clubhouse before a game. He asked a teammate what was going on and he was told that Tom Robson, the team?s hitting coach, had just been fired. Henderson said, ?Who?s he??

When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s, Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a great view that he could see, ?The Entire State Building.?

During one of his stays with Oakland, Henderson?s locker was next to Billy Beane?s. After making the team out of spring training, Beane was sent to the minors after a few months. Upon his return, about six weeks later, Henderson looked at Beane and said, ?Hey, man, where have you been? Haven?t seen you in awhile.?

To this day and dating back 25 years, before

 

"I am not a role model" - Charles Barkley
"I'm on my bike 8 hours a day...What are you on?" - Lance Armstrong
"Viva LeTour." - Lance Armstrong
"Winning isn't everything...It's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi
"The rim seems like this big ole huge bucket." - Michael Jordan
"I can fly...for a little while." - Michael Jordan
"1,2,3,4,5,6." - Michael Jordan gesturing with his hands
"I'm a bad man." - Muhammad Ali

 

"Hawaii doesn't win many games in the United States." -- Lee Corso

"You can't spell Citrus without UT." -- Steve Spurrier

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." - Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann 1996

Shaquille O'Neal, on his lack of championships: "I've won at every level, except college and pro."


It's not a sports quote, but...
Anti-smoking spokesperson Brooke Shields:
"Smoking kills, and if you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life."

 

I will only name one


2nd Place is the First Loser- Vince Lombardi

 

AI's "practice" has gotta be my favourite.

"We talkin' bout practice."

Yogi Berra has alot of good ones, too.

EDIT:

And recently...

"THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!"

 

Anything by Yogi Berra.

 

Murray Walker FTW


"He's obviously gone in for a wheel change. I say obviously because I can't see it"

"With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go"

"Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough ?"

"Anything happens in Grand Prix racing and it usually does"

"Alboreto has dropped back up to fifth place"

"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboreto is 5th"

"I can't imagine what kind of problem Senna has. I imagine it must be some sort of grip problem"

"He is shedding buckets of adrenalin in that car"

"It's raining and the track is wet"

"And theres just a few more corners for Nigel Mansell to go to win the Canadian Grand Prix...and...he's going rather slow....HE'S STOPPING HE'S STOPPING!"

"and this is the third placed car about to lap the second placed car"

"they say clothes maketh the man... the clothes are Niki Laudas, but the contents are me..." as Murray prepares to take a drive in a F1 car."He gets a total distance of... oh, 1 foot before he stalls it."

 

From an athelete:

"I am the greatest of all time."
--Mohammed Ali

From the press:

Gazzetta dello Sport, 1997, when Juve won virtually every cup there was and Milan and Inter were also really strong:

"Nell'Europa di calcio, il Bundesbank siamo noi", translates as:
"In the European Union of Soccer (Football) we are the Bundesbank (German Central Bank)"

and of course the old headline from an English newspaper when Germany one the World Cup:

"Germany beats us in our national sport for the first time in the 20th century, after we have beaten them twice in theirs"--or something like that.

 

"Today...

I consider myself...

the luckiest man...

on the face of the earth..."

-Lou Gehrig

 

Anything said by Yogi Berra.
Iverson's 'practice' interview.
Jim Mora's 'playoff?' interview.
Dennis Green's 'THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!' interview.
Lou Gehrig's 'farewell' speech.
'I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee.' - Joe DiMaggio
Alot of things said by Joey Porter
Alot of things said by Rasheed Wallace
Jeremy Steven talking trash about the Steelers. lol @ Stevens.






~Liar, lawyer, Mirror for ya, What's the difference? Kangaroo be stoned, He's guilty as the government~

 

Murray was something. My sister and i love to quote:


"WHERE.IS.DAMON.HILL? I'M FLABBERGASTED!!!!!"