Robservations: They said it… again
From time to time, our Standard Sports Glance at the bottom of page 1-B contains what we label a “Quote of Note.”
Usually, these are inspiring bits of wisdom, saved through the years after their utterance by some member of the sporting community.
Frankly, we’re running out of them. And even more frankly, I’m growing tired of finding them, and considering using something else in that space.
So taking one last look at the miles and miles of information superhighway, your friendly neighborhood sports department today offers some of the brightest — and not-so-brightest — sports quotations of all time.
First, the motivational:
• “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” — Vince Lombardi
• You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. — Michael Jordan
• Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. — John Wooden
• The minute you start talking about what you’re going to do if you lose, you have lost. — George Shultz
Secondly, the confusing. And for that, we look no further than the legendary Yogi Berra:
• “You can’t think and hit at the same time.”
• “Nobody goes there, it’s too crowded.”
• “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
• “The only reason I need these gloves is cause of my hands.”
• “We were overwhelming underdogs.”
• “The other team could make trouble for us if they win.”
• “Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.”
And finally, the downright dumb. And for some reason, these were the easiest, and most numerous, of the sports quotes you’ll find. Whole volumes are devoted to them:
• Upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the Skins say, “I’d run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl,” Matt Millen of the Raiders said, “To win, I’d run over Joe’s Mom too.”
• Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: “He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings.”
• Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1966: “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”
• Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: “I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes.”
• Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson hooking up again with promoter Don King: “Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.”
• Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.”
• Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: “My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.”