Sports

Well, let's see, we have on the bags, Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third ...
~ William Alexander "Bud" Abbott, Who's on first? (comedy routine performed by Abbott & Costello, c.1938)

They will beat us about nine times out of ten, but in losing we will learn a lot of football. We will gain a lot of prestige nationally. And when we win, it will be a mighty sweet victory.
~ Bill Alexander (on playing Notre Dame, as coach at Georgia Tech), (1922)

My hand alone my work can do,
So I can fish and study too.
~ William Basse, in Walton's Compleat Angler (1653). The Angler's Song

Good luck has come my way
I've started on football pools, sir,
I got two out of twelve right to-day.
~ Billy Bennett, This Medal (monologue)

Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.
~ Bill Bradley, Life on the Run (1976).

The game is still full of joy and the lessons learned from it stay with you ... even though the game has changed, the old values still flow through it.
~ Bill Bradley, Values of the Game (October 1998).

To some, we live romantic lives. To me, every day is a struggle to stay in touch with life's subtleties.
~ Bill Bradley, Life on the Run (1976).

If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, quoted in Criswell Freeman The Book of Football Wisdom: Common Sense and Uncommon Genius from 101 Gridiron Greats (1996).

If you whoop and holler all the time, the players just get used to it.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, I Ain't Never Been Nothing but a Winner: Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's 323 Greatest Quotes About Success, On and Off the Football Field (March 2000).

In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first -- ahead of personal glory.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant

Our game plan is first year, a .500 season. Second year, a conference championship. Third year, undefeated. Fourth, a national championship. And by the fifth year, we'll be on probation, of course.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, in Special to Alabama Live (20 June 1997). The Bear Bryant Story

Players can be divided, roughly, into four types. Those who have ability and know it, those who have it and don't know it, those who don't have it and know it, and those who don't have it but don't know it.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, I Ain't Never Been Nothing but a Winner: Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's 323 Greatest Quotes About Success, On and Off the Football Field (March 2000).

If I knew it was worth that much after I missed it, I would've run after it.
~ William Joseph "Bill" Buckner (on the baseball that dribbled through his legs in the 1986 World Series which had just sold for $93,000.00), (1998).

In the meantime, on the sly,
Something's going on up high.
Max has shown some foresight here,
For he brought his fishing gear.
~ Wilhelm Busch, Max and Moritz (1865).

It is difficult to find in life any event which so effectually condenses intense nervous sensation into the shortest possible space of time as does the work of shooting, or running an immense rapid. There is no toil, no heart breaking labor about it, but as much coolness, dexterity, and skill as man can throw into the work of hand, eye and head; knowledge of when to strike and how to do it; knowledge of water and rock, and of the one hundred combinations water and rock can assume -- for these two things, rock and water, taken in the abstract, fail as completely to convey any idea of their fierce embracing in the throws of a rapid as the fire burning quietly in the drawing-room fireplace fails to convey the idea of a house wrapped and sheeted in flames.
~ Sir William Francis Butler, The Great Lone Land (1872). Chapter XII

I am really proud of how far this team came this year. I really want to give our players a lot of credit. I think of this as a positive experience for the team. I thought we had a good shot to win today, but we just didn't get it done. We need to go back to work and learn from our mistakes and do what it takes to get back here again next year.
~ Bill Callahan (on Super Bowl XXXVII), The Oakland Raiders News Article (27 January 2003). The Day After

We've got to be the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game.
~ Bill Callahan, Post-game Press Conference (30 November 2003).

Whether or not you are a team that has a blend of experience and youth or you have a young team, or whatever -- you have to compete to win every year. That is just the climate of the NFL these days.
~ Bill Callahan, ANG Newspapers (25 July 2002). Are Raiders old or aged to maturity?

If the game is run properly as a professional game, you do not need 57 old farts running rugby.
~ William David Charles ("Will") Carling, in Yorkshire Television (Channel 4) Fair Game (4 May 1995).

He was only a little man, only about 7st 2lb, but when he got on a horse he became a giant. He just had magic in those hands of his. He never looked aggressive and never looked very strong on a horse, but he had something that made those horses run.
~ Willie Carson, attheraces Latest News (13 October 2003). Carson pays tribute to 'The Shoe'

I remember when I was in college, people told me I couldn't play in the NBA. There's always somebody saying you can't do it, and those people have to be ignored.
~ Bill Cartwright

I'm not worried about the team or what this does for our future. I'm just worried about Jay. I'm worried about the severity of his injury for his career. We just have to wait and see. Our thoughts are with him.
~ Bill Cartwright, The Chicago Tribune (20 June 2003). Bulls' Williams breaks leg in severe motorcycle crash

Golf puts a man's character on the anvil and his richest qualities -- patience, poise, and restraint -- to the flame.
~ Billy Casper

Golfers are the greatest worriers in the world of sport.
~ Billy Casper

Play every shot so that the next one will be the easiest that you can give yourself.
~ Billy Casper

Think ahead. Golf is a next-shot game.
~ Billy Casper

Try to think where you want to put the ball not where you don't want it to go.
~ Billy Casper, quoted in Criswell Freeman The Golfer's Book of Wisdom (1995).

I want to play cricket because I like it. It is my profession, and may fairly be made as lucrative as possible. Others in my position want the same as I do. The public is interested in good cricket, and will pay to see it.
~ William Clarke (cricketer), quoted in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, v.162 (July 1897). Cricket and the Victorian Era

Gaming is sometimes called play; but, what is it in reality? What is the object of every gamester? It is to gain by the loss of another.
~ William Cobbett, from Twelve Sermons (1823). 8th. The Gamester

The sports of the field are the best of all, because they are conducive to health, because they are enjoyed by day-light, and because they demand early rising. The nearer that other amusements approach to these, the better they are.
~ William Cobbett, Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life (1829). Letter I: To A Youth

If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, than why practice?
~ Billy Corgan

I did not want to turn to playing golf because golf is about as much exercise as shuffling cards.
~ Bill Cosby, Time Flies (1987).

I was on the ninth grade football team, which was madeup of me and ten other guys from the remedial gym class. All we had to do was look at the parallel bars, and they gave us a 'D'. I never got into the game, and I had to give my jersey to the guy who'd had his ripped.
~ Bill Cosby

Detested sport,
That owes its pleasures to another's pain.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book III. The Garden

Great contest follows, and much learned dust
Involves the combatants; each claiming truth,
And truth disclaiming both.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book III. The Garden

After all, fishing is an activity in which family and friends can participate. It really is a bonding experience. Why, for many of us, fishing lines are the true ties that bind.
~ Bill Dance, Bill Dance's Fishing (January 2002).

For angling-rod he took a sturdy oake;
For line, a cable that in storm ne'er broke;
His hooke was such as heads the end of pole
To pluck down house ere fire consumes it whole;
The hook was baited with a dragon's tale, --
And then on rock he stood to bob for whale.
~ Sir William Davenant, Britannia Triumphans (1637).

Honey, I just forgot to duck.
~ William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (on losing World Heavyweight title in 1926), Dempsey (1977).

I loved to make a great defensive play, I'd rather do that than hit a home run.
~ Bill Dickey

My entire life has been an attempt to get back to the kind of feelings you have on a field. The sense of brotherhood, the esprit de corps, the focus -- there being no past or future, just the ball. As trite as it sounds, I was happiest playing ball.
~ David William Duchovny, Playboy Interview: David Duchovny (December 1998).

Willie Mays was the best ever. When I was in college I once made a catch like the one Mays made over his head. Sometimes when I'm lying in bed at night I think about it. It still makes me warm.
~ David William Duchovny, Playboy Interview: David Duchovny (December 1998).

The young guys are going to be a great part of this sport in the near future. But I still want to make my mark while I'm here.
~ Bill Elliott, The Associated Press (5 August 2002). Elliott's experience finally prevails at Brickyard

A baseball game is twice as much fun if you're seeing it on the company's time.
~ William Feather

After lunch all the youth of the city go out into the fields to take part in a ball game. The students of each school have their own ball; the workers from each city craft are also carrying their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and wealthy citizens come on horseback to watch their juniors competing, and to relive their own youth vicariously: you can see their inner passions aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree adolescents.
~ William FitzStephen (giving the first description of football in England), A Description of London (c. 1174/1183)

Never play poker without a limit. It is then the most dangerous of all games.
~ William J. Florence (nee William Jermyn Conlin), The Gentleman's Handbook on Poker (1892).

The strong point in poker is never to lose your temper, either with those you are playing with or, more particularly, with the cards. There is no sympathy in poker. Always keep cool. If you lose your head you will lose all your chips.
~ William J. Florence (nee William Jermyn Conlin), The Gentleman's Handbook on Poker (1892).

It's a team thing, and baseball is a team sport. It's the thing you dream about. The other awards, like the All-Star team or Gold Gloves, are individual accomplishments. But a lot of great players have never had the chance to play in a World Series, so it's the greatest thrill.
~ William Ashley "Bill" Freehan (on his contributions in the 1968 World Series).

I thought they were only allowed two bouncers in one over.
~ Bill Frindall (on the appearance of a streaker), BBC Radio (1995). 4's Test Match Special scorer

I find golf very relaxing ... it's a way to get away from work and get outside. It's a lot of fun, and once you get going it's almost kind of addictive.
~ Bill Gates

The crack of a bat sounded amplified in cavernous Yankee Stadium, sprinkled lightly with fans on a cool September evening.
~ William E. Geist, in The New York Times (22 September 1984). At Yankee Stadium, a Wistful September Song

Like all kindred sports, hunting and fishing for example, the sport of Trapping may be perverted and carried to a point where it becomes simple cruelty, as is always the case when pursued for the mere excitement it brings. If the poor victims are to serve no use after their capture, either as food, or in the furnishing of their plumage or skins for useful purposes, the sport becomes heartless cruelty, and we do not wish to be understood as encouraging it under any such circumstances.
~ William ("W.") Hamilton Gibson, Camp Life in the Woods, and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making (1880). Preface

And there he plays extravagant matches
In fitless finger-stalls
On a cloth untrue
With a twisted cue
And elliptical billard balls.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, The Mikado (1885 opera).

Deer-stalking would be a very fine sport if only the deer had guns.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, in Gilbert and Sullivan: A Biography (1951).

A friend of mine, a dedicated golfer, shot a hole in one playing by himself. Disaster.
~ William Glasser, M.D., Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom (1998). Chapter 2: Basic Needs and Feelings

A good many of us can date our first experience of first-class play from witnessing the famous All-England Eleven, and hundreds will tell with glistening eyes of the good old times when they were considered worthy of a place against it.
~ William Gilbert (W.G.) Grace, Cricket (1891).

Young batsmen should not be allowed to practice the stroke; indeed they should be severely reprimanded if they show any tendency towards pulling!
~ William Gilbert (W.G.) Grace, Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal Recollections (1899).

I played golf every day of my life nearly until a few years ago, except Sundays, and I gave it up. I'm not going to tell you why I gave it up -- but there wasn't enough exercise to me, and there's not enough money to pay those fees. I almost went to the government for a loan.
~ Billy Graham, in Remarks by the President at Banquet in Honor of Dr. Billy Graham and Mrs. Ruth Graham (2 May 1996).

The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.
~ Billy Graham

I just didn't know what to expect. ... There's no substitute for experience. Now I realize I need to work a lot harder off the field. It's not about just getting out there and running, it's about studying and knowing your opponent and knowing the job you've got to do.
~ William Green, The Associated Press (27 November 2002). Browns Rookie Back Not Nearly As Green

It's eider dis or dat wid me. Dere ain't no in-between.
~ Bill Guthrie (on calling balls and strikes)

A game to subdue the turbulent spirit, or to worry a tranquil mind.
~ William Hartson, The Kings of Chess (1985).

I grew up admiring the Green Bay Packers but have grown to love the Packers.
~ William Henderson, The Associated Press (1 March 2002). Packers Re-Sign FB Henderson

Winning can become an infection, just like losing can.
~ William Jennings Bryan ("Billy") Herman, in Baseball When the Grass Was Real (1975). 9. Billy Herman

Before you conquer the three rebellious ivory balls and make them do your bidding, you must first conquer yourself. I have found billards to be more than a game; I have found it to be a philosophy of self-control.
~ William Frederick "Willie" Hoppe, Thirty Years Of Billiards (1925).

We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde.
~ William Horman, Vulgaria (1519).

The evolution of statistical information about baseball, progressing nicely from 1869 to 1955, was frozen solid for a generation afterward.
~ Bill James, This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989).

Of all the things I did as a young kid, involvement in sports had the greatest impact on my life.
~ (William) Bruce Jenner, in American Men Of Olympic Track And Field: Interviews With Athletes And Coaches (2005). Chapter 5. William Bruce Jenner

The only athletic sport I ever mastered was backgammon.
~ Douglas William Jerrold

I don't even know why everyone else is here. They should just hand the gold medal to me. Everyone else can fight for second place.
~ William Dean ("Bill") Johnson (at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics)

Augusta National and the Masters -- while happily entwined -- are quite different. One is a private club. The other is a world-class sports event of great public interest. It is insidious to attempt to use one to alter the essence of the other. The essence of a private club is privacy.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson, Statement by Hootie Johnson from the Augusta National Golf Club. (9 July 2002)

This year's telecast will be conducted by the Masters Tournament. We appreciate everything our media sponsors have done for us, but under the circumstances, we think it is important to take this step.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson (Statement from the Augusta National Golf Club), CBS News (31 August 2002). Masters Shuns Commercials

We are going to make an attempt, as we always have, to try to keep the golf course current with the times.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson, The Augusta Chronicle (4 April 2002). The 'new' National: Will the added distance favor long hitters?

We are sorry, but not surprised, to see these corporations drawn into this matter. Augusta National is NCWO's true target. It is therefore unfair to the put the Masters' media sponsors in the position of having to deal with this pressure.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson (Statement from the Augusta National Golf Club), CBS News (31 August 2002). Masters Shuns Commercials

We've always had changes, and we'll continue to have changes to try to keep pace and be contemporary with the game of golf.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson, The Augusta Chronicle (7 April 2002). Master of the Course: Innovator oversees progress to keep up with technology

We take our membership very seriously. It is the very fabric of our club. Our members are people who enjoy each other's company and the game of golf. Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any outside group with its own agenda.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson, Statement by Hootie Johnson from the Augusta National Golf Club (9 July 2002).

Well, there are seven fielders in front of you, all of them placed so that they are in a position to pounce upon all kinds of drives, liners or grounders. The principal thing to do is to hit 'em where they ain't.
~ William Henry "Wee Willie" Keeler, in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (29 July 1901).

Learn what pitch you can hit good, then wait for that pitch.
~ William Henry "Wee Willie" Keeler

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.
~ Billie Jean King

Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball.
~ Billie Jean King

I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life.
~ Billie Jean King, in ESPN "Classic's SportsCentury" (2001). Billie Jean won for all women

I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn't win that match. It would ruin the women's tour and affect all women's self esteem.
~ Billie Jean King (on the Battle of the Sexes tennis match with Bobby Riggs), in ESPN "Classic's SportsCentury" (2001). Billie Jean won for all women

In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I'll be worth a sentence or two. ... That's why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won't be anybody's number one, and it's that same old thing: if you're not number one, then what does it really matter?
~ Billie Jean King, Billie Jean (1975).

It teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose, and it teaches you about life.
~ Billie Jean King (on sports), interview in The Motley Fool Radio Show (3 July 2002).

It's really impossible for athletes to grow up. On the one hand, you're a child, still playing a game. But on the other hand, you're a superhuman hero that everyone dreams of being. No wonder we have such a hard time understanding who we are.
~ Billie Jean King

Sports are a microcosm of society.
~ Billie Jean King, interview in The Motley Fool Radio Show (3 July 2002).

Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility.
~ Billie Jean King

We have the great fortune of having the best two players in the world with Serena and Venus. As they demonstrated with some tremendous wins at the Australian Open, they are both playing top-level tennis.
~ Billie Jean King, The Associated Press (3 February 2004). Williams Sisters to Play in Fed Cup

Women's sports is still in its infancy. Really, the beginning of women's sports for us in the United States started in 1972 with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships for the first time.
~ Billie Jean King, interview in The Motley Fool Radio Show (3 July 2002).

Holy Toledo!
~ Wilbur D. "Bill" King

Within the baselines anything can happen. Tides can reverse; oceans can open. That's why they say, "the game is never over until the last man is out." Colors can change, lives can alter, anything is possible in this gentle, flawless, loving game.
~ William Patrick (W.P.) Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982).

Baseball is more than a game to me; it's a religion.
~ William J. "Bill" Klem, at Bill Klem Night, Polo Grounds, New York City (2 September 1949).

The best umpired game is the game in which the fans cannot recall the umpires who worked it. If they don't recognize you, you can enjoy your dinner knowing you did a perfect job.
~ William J. "Bill" Klem

The most cowardly thing in the world is blaming mistakes upon the umpires. Too many managers strut around on the field trying to manage the umpires instead of their teams.
~ William J. "Bill" Klem, quoted in the Sporting News magazine (1948).

Your job is to umpire for the ball and not the player.
~ William J. "Bill" Klem

Any 1-2-3 outing feels great. Pitching effectively, that's the biggest thing. ... I never set a number on how many saves I want to get because that feels like a limitation. I just want to do my job.
~ Billy Koch, The Associated Press (15 August 2002). A's on track

I saw a few fans today and they were saying things like "Great season." But in my mind, you're only as good as your last outing. And my last outing was horse (manure).
~ Billy Koch, The San Francisco Chronicle (8 October 2002). Koch angry at himself for Game 5 collapse

I don't fight. I agitate, then walk away.
~ William (Bill) Laimbeer Jr., Sports Illustrated magazine

Baseball's a very simple game. All you have to do is sit on your butt, spit tobacco, and nod at the stupid things your manager says.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

I always liked to play. Give me the ball, let me throw every day.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee, quoted in The Spaceman Cometh: Has It Been 20 Years Since Bill Lee Retired From Baseball? (June 2002).

I think about the cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens it won't matter if I get this guy out.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

My first edict if I were Commissioner of Baseball would be to get rid of the designated hitter, to bring back the 25-man roster, to get rid of Astroturf, maintain smaller ballparks and revamp quality old ballparks. I'd outlaw video instant replays. I'd outlaw mascots. I'd put organic foods in the stands. I would make cold, pasteurized beer mandatory from small breweries located near the ballparks -- no giant multinational breweries. I would bring back warm, roasted peanuts. Just the smell of grass and those warm, roasted peanuts should be enough to make people come to the park. I would just try to reduce it to an organic game; the way it used to be.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee, quoted in Tales from the Red Sox Dugout (2000).

My policy would be no guns; no butter. They'll both kill you. Tear down the defenses. Ted Williams will be my Secretary of Defense. He'd go out and tear down all defenses just like he did the Boudreau shift.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee (on what he'd do if he were President of the United States), quoted in Tales from the Red Sox Dugout (2000).

People started sports to resolve inner conflicts. It keeps them from robbing banks and shooting people.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

The more self-centered and egotistical a guy is, the better ballplayer he's going to be.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

There is definitely a curse out there and they've got to realize that Boston is controlled by witches, warlocks and those Scottish, whatever they are called, things that hang around castles and stuff. They've got to realize that they are also not malevolent, but benevolent, too, and you've just got to honor them and everything else and get everything on your side and then we can alleviate that curse and come back and beat the Yankees. We've all got to pull together as a psychological and spiritual New England entity. Use the Force.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee, quoted in The Spaceman Cometh: Has It Been 20 Years Since Bill Lee Retired From Baseball? (June 2002).

When cerebral processes enter into sports, you start screwing up. It's like the Constitution, which says separate church and state. You have to separate mind and body.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

You have to know physics. I really liked the roughed up baseball. You know they check them all the time. The ball hits the dirt, the catcher hands it back to the umpire, the umpire throws you a new one. The catcher, a good catcher, will scrape it along the ground after the umpire gives it to him and then throws it back to him so you know what side was roughed up.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee, quoted in The Spaceman Cometh: Has It Been 20 Years Since Bill Lee Retired From Baseball? (June 2002).

You have two hemispheres in your brain -- a left and a right side. The left side controls the right side of your body and right controls the left half. It's a fact. Therefore, left-handers are the only people in their right minds.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

You should enter a ballpark the way you enter a church.
~ Bill "The Spaceman" Lee

A ballplayer could go to college and be a sportswriter. But what writer could be a ballplayer?
~ Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin

Everybody judges players different. I judge a player by what he does for his ball club and not by what he does for himself. I think the name of the game is self-sacrifice.
~ Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin

I really love the togetherness in baseball. That's a real true love.
~ Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin

[T]he two of them deserve each other -- one's a born liar [Jackson], the other's convicted [Steinbrenner].
~ Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin (July 1978), in ESPN "Classic's SportsCentury" (2001). Billy battled opponents, himself

I want everybody to feel he has a chance to get into a game when he comes to the ballpark. I play guys when I want to so they'll be ready when I have to. I don't consider myself a motivator of players. I think it's an insult to a ballplayer to have to be motivated.
~ Gene William Mauch

Bridge is the most entertaining and intelligent card game the wit of man has so far devised, and I deplore the fact that so many people go cut of their way to make it a bore.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, How I Like to Play Bridge (1944)

I think the golf course is based on tradition. By changing the golf course, I think you lose a little bit of that tradition. We'll see how it plays out this year. Maybe it's time for a new tradition to be written too. Who knows?
~ Billy Mayfair, The Augusta Chronicle (4 April 2002). The 'new' National: Will the added distance favor long hitters?

Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what it is most truly is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

Hopefully, they can say, "There goes the best baseball player in the world." I honestly believe I did everything in baseball that a baseball player can do, and I did it with love.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr., The Associated Press (22 October 2002). Mays Wants to Be Known As 'Best'

I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

If people want to say Barry is No. 1, they won't get an argument from me. As long as I get to be No. 2.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr., The Associated Press (28 October 2002). Barry Bonds Leaves With Respect

In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept criticism. Without 100 percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

It isn't hard to be good from time to time in sports. What's tough is being good every day.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

Play as long as you can, because you only have one chance.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

The home-field advantage in baseball, to me, I don't understand. I had to play as well on the road as I did at home.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr., in The New York Times (13 July 2003). Mays Recalls All-Star Games With More Passion on the Field

When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But, when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.
~ Willie Howard Mays Jr.

I admire Dennis a lot and appreciate what he's done. But I also know that we live by the fact that there ain't never been a horse that can't be rode, and there's never a cowboy that can't be throwed.
~ Billy Joe "Red" McCombs, in Star Tribune (5 January 2002). Dennis Green and the Vikings part company after 10 years

I love pro football, so my favorite event was the third Super Bowl in Miami in 1969. The heavily favored Baltimore Colts were playing the New York Jets, a 17-point underdog. The Jets were from the American Football League, a league that was considered inferior. So, it was a great thrill when the Jets beat the Colts. I think that established the American Football League in the minds of football fans. In my mind that would be the greatest sporting event I was ever at.
~ Will McDonough, in Teen Ink (December 1999). An Interview with Will McDonough, Sports Writer

That's the thing about sportswriting. ... You may not make a whole lot of money, but every once in a while, you get a chance to see how these people live. You get a chance to sample how the rich and famous and powerful spend their time.
~ Will McDonough, quoted in The Boston Globe (10 January 2003). Will McDonough: A man of substance

The two major things that changed the makeup of all professional sports are money generated by television and courts that players went to in order to win their freedom as free agents. ... Because of the money, I don't think the players play with the same desire they once did.
~ Will McDonough, in Teen Ink (December 1999). An Interview with Will McDonough, Sports Writer

Your victory may not be winning the race, but something even more valuable and and empowering. Your victory may be being able to reach within the depths of your capabilities and competing against yourself to the greatest extent you are capable of.
~ Billy Mills

Be urbane to everybody. You can never tell in which pool the next sucker will bite.
~ Wilson Mizner

Imagination plays its part, too, in the game of pocket billiards, just as it does in any sport.
~ William Joseph "Willie" Mosconi, Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards (1948).

Football is a wonderful game. I love it. I'll tell you one reason why: it's an honest game. It's true to life. It's a game about sharing. So football is a team game, and life is a team game.
~ Joe "Willie" Namath, Football for Young Players and Parents (1986).

We'll win the game. I guarantee you.
~ Joe "Willie" Namath (responding to a heckler at the Miami touchdown Club prior the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, or Super Bowl III; January 1969)

Par is whatever I say it is. I've got one hole that's a par 23 and yesterday I damn near birdied the sucker.
~ Willie Nelson

It's great to win, but it's also great fun just to be in the thick of any truly well and hard-fought contest against opponents you respect, whatever the outcome.
~ Jack William Nicklaus

Of all the lands in which I have been fortunate to play golf, Scotland is my favorite. That's not just because the game evolved there -- historians continue to argue about who actually invented it -- or because of its marvelous old links courses, but primarily because of the people.
~ Jack William Nicklaus, My Story (1997). The Real Beginning

A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
~ Bill O'Connor

Concentration-wise, we're having trouble crossing the line mentally from a toughness standpoint.
~ Bill Parcells

Don't worry about it. It's just a bunch of guys with an odd-shaped ball.
~ Bill Parcells

I just think it was a case of my own inability to make a commitment that I know is necessary to be successful in the NFL. ... I'm finished coaching. There aren't going to be anymore rumors about me coaching. I just feel like I couldn't make the commitment to do it ... you know you just can't kid yourself; you got to know that.
~ Bill Parcells, in The Sporting News (18 January 2002). Parcells says no to Bucs; "I'm finished coaching"

I like linebackers. I collect 'em. You can't have too many good ones.
~ Bill Parcells, in Eric Pooley (26 January 1987). True Blue: From Giants to Supermen

I'm energized, determined and I look forward to being part of the community here in Dallas. I know what station football occupies on all levels in the state of Texas.
~ Bill Parcells, The Associated Press (2 January 2003). Parcells gets $17.1 million deal to coach fourth team

I'm not a bus-station kind of guy, but there are a few players here I'm not sure want to be here. They've got a brook-trout kind of look.
~ Bill Parcells

I thought I did, but I'd be a fool not to listen. This is America, after all.
~ Bill Parcells (on not being able to get coaching out of his system), The New York Daily News (21 December 2002). He can be America's Tuna: Parcells admits Dallas interest

My entire life has been spent thinking about this game. That's pretty narrow ... I don't view myself as a person who's well-versed in very many subjects. I'm not proud of that.
~ Bill Parcells (on coaching football), CBS TV "60 Minutes" (31 August 2003). The Coach: Bill Parcells

This is one of the most competitive businesses there is. ... It's my life. It's my blood. It's how I'm measured.
~ Bill Parcells (on professional football), CBS TV "60 Minutes" (31 August 2003). The Coach: Bill Parcells

Will loved all sports and sports people. He loved his family. He was a real pro, a confidant, and a man you enjoyed being around.
~ Bill Parcells, quoted in USATODAY (10 January 2003). 'Boston Globe's' Will McDonough dies

Jockeys are an odd breed, you know. Most of us don't have much formal education. I didn't get past the seventh grade. But when a jock gets interested in something he doesn't let go until he knows all about it.
~ Billy Pearson (remarks in a 1957 interview with The San Diego Union), quoted in The San Diego Union-Tribune (15 December 2002). Billy Pearson, 82; jockey, quiz show winner

You're looking at the Fridge, I'm the rookie. I may be large, but I'm no dumb cookie.
~ William ("The Refrigerator") Perry, Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew (1985). Super Bowl Shuffle

Lead us in a few words of silent prayer.
~ Bill Peterson

You guys have to run a little more than full speed out there.
~ Bill Peterson

Life sucks, and then you fly.
~ Bill Purdin (on skydiving), Legend, Inc. (accessed May 2003). Quote Archives.

I never gave up; if I'd given up, I'd never be at Shea Stadium. If I'd listened to critics along the way, who knows where I'd have wound up. Keep fighting back like I did. Quitting is the easy way out. Whatever your goals in life, it is imperative that you stay focused, determined.
~ Willie Randolph, Commencement Address at Fordham University (19 May 2007).

The way that I approach my entire racing career is to do it right.
~ Willy T. Ribbs

As a batter, his only weakness is a wild pitch.
~ Bill Rigney, (on Willie Mays).

The starting line of the New York Marathon is kind of like a giant time bomb behind you about to go off. It is the most spectacular start in sport.
~ William Henry (Bill) Rodgers

I guess there is nothing that will get your mind off everything like golf. I have never been depressed enough to take up the game, but they say you get so sore at yourself you forget to hate your enemies.
~ Will Rogers

I gave her the power to carry sail.
~ William J. Roué (on the success of the Bluenose schooner)

I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me.
~ Wilma Rudolph

I played because I enjoyed it, but there's more to it than that. I played because I was dedicated to being the best. I was part of a team, and I dedicated myself to making that team the best.
~ William Felton (Bill) Russell, in ESPN "Classic's SportsCentury" (2001). Russell was proud, fierce warrior

I tried to treat them like me, and some of them weren't.
~ William Felton (Bill) Russell

The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports cliches know, is a scoreless tie.
~ William L. Safire, in The New York Times (6 November 1983).

A man whom both the waters and the wind,
In that vast tennis-court, have made the ball
For them to play upon.
~ William Shakespeare, Pericles. Act II, scene i

Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act II, scene iii

I wish ye sport.
~ William Shakespeare, Cymbeline. Act IV, scene ii

The pleasantest angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
And greedily devour the treacherous bait.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act III, scene i

There be some sports are painful.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act III, scene i

Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.
~ Bill Shankly

I was only in the game for the love of football -- and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool.
~ Bill Shankly

If a player isn't interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be!
~ Bill Shankly

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. ... I can assure them it is much more serious than that.
~ Bill Shankly, in Sunday Times (4 October 1981).

The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.
~ Bill Shankly

What a great day for football, all we need is some green grass and a ball.
~ Bill Shankly, Virgin books. Bill Shankly: it's much more important than that: a biography

It is truly an honor to have played my whole career in the AFL and to be in the Hall of Fame.
~ Billy Shaw

When you're riding, only the race in which you're riding is important.
~ William Lee (Willie) "The Shoe" Shoemaker

Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete.
~ William Lee (Willie) "The Shoe" Shoemaker

You can't become a prisoner to the percentages of a computer. I don't think the human element will ever be taken out of the game. At least I hope not.
~ William "Buck" Showalter

The lariat snaps; the cowboy rolls
His pack, and mounts and rides away.
Back to the land the cowboy goes.
~ William Jay Smith, from Celebration at Dark (1950). The Closing of the Rodeo

[T]he chase, the sport of kings;
Image of war, without its guilt.
~ William Somervile, The Chase, Book I (1735).

If we don't hold kids, the sport's going to be in trouble -- we've heard that consistently in every sport. The kind of stuff we do is critical to try and make sure the next generation of fans doesn't go off entirely to snowboarding and stuff like that.
~ Bill Squadron, The Mercury News (8 February 2002). '1st and Ten' line creators turn glowing into growing business

Our live webcast on IronmanLIVE.com is in many ways a glimpse into the future of sports media coverage. We strive to incorporate the best features of television and the Internet into a truly interactive media experience for sports fans.
~ Bill Squadron, World Triathlon Corporation, Inc (28 March 2001). The Ironman Triathlon World Championship Goes LIVE Online At www.IronmanLIVE.com

I was flabbered.
~ Wilver Dornel "Willie" Stargell

It's supposed to be fun, the man says "play ball" not "work ball" you know.
~ Wilver Dornel "Willie" Stargell

They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square.
~ Wilver Dornel "Willie" Stargell

Trying to hit Sandy Koufax was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.
~ Wilver Dornel "Willie" Stargell

Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.
~ Wilhelm Steinitz

Personally, I have always looked upon cricket as organized loafing.
~ William Temple (archbishop) (1925).

Baseball must be a great game to survive the fools who run it.
~ Bill Terry

Hitting is business. With two strikes you really protect that plate.
~ Bill Terry

I had great control, I never missed hitting the other's fellow bat.
~ Bill Terry

To hit .400 you need a great start and you can't have a slump. The year I did it, I was around .410, .412 all season and I was really hitting the ball on the nose.
~ Bill Terry

[I] saw the game was over, and hung up my toasting iron, captain.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis (1848-1850), Volume I. Chapter XXIII: New Faces

If we don't start playing better on defense, it's going to be hard. We can't just sit there and win shootouts.
~ William Thomas, The Associated Press (3 December 2001). Gramatica Brothers Make Winning Kicks

Hit at the girl whenever possible.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden (on playing mixed doubles), How to Play Better Tennis (1950).

In these days of modern tennis a player is as strong as his weakest stroke.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, Match Play and the Spin of the Ball (1925).

Most tennis players look upon the ball that is used as merely something to hit. ... Let me suggest the ball for a moment as an individual. It is a third party in the match. Will this third party be on your side or against you? It is up to you.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, Match Play and the Spin of the Ball (1925).

Never give your opponent a chance to make a shot he likes. ... I may sound unsporting when I claim that the primary object of tennis is to break up your opponent's game, but it is my honest belief that no man is defeated until his game is crushed, or at least weakened. Nothing so upsets a man's mental and physical poise as to be continually led to error.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, Match Play and the Spin of the Ball (1925).

Sensational and unexpected shots at crucial moments have won many a match.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, The Art Of Lawn Tennis (1921).

Tennis is more than just a sport. It's an art, like the ballet. Or like a performance in the theater. When I step on the court I feel like Anna Pavlova. Or like Adelina Patti. Or even like Sarah Bernhardt. I see the footlights in front of me. I hear the whisperings of the audience. I feel an icy shudder. Win or die! Now or never! It's the crisis of my life.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, quoted in Voices: A Memoir (1983).

There is no sensation in the sporting world so thoroughly enjoyable to me as that when I meet a tennis ball just right in the very middle of my racquet and smack it, just right, where my opponent should be but is not.
~ William T. ("Bill") Tilden, Match Play and the Spin of the Ball (1925).

If sports are supposed to be good for you, how come athletes are over the hill at 31?
~ William E. "Bill" Vaughan

Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr.

I have discovered in 20 years of moving around a ballpark, that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr., Veeck -- As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck (1962).

I was in the game for love. After all, where else can an old-timer with one leg, who can't hear or see, live like a king while doing the only thing I wanted to do?
~ Bill Veeck, Jr.

Look, we play the Star Spangled Banner before every game. You want us to pay income taxes, too?
~ Bill Veeck, Jr., The Hustler's Handbook (1965).

The only thing about a baseball game that matters is the ephemeral notion that you had a good time.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr.

The true harbinger of spring is not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of the bat on the ball.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr., (1976).

This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There's time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr., (1981)

When you're out there in the big-league pressure cooker, a pitcher's attitude -- his utter confidence that he has an advantage of will and luck and guts over the hitter -- is almost as important as his stuff.
~ Bill Veeck, Jr., The Hustler's Handbook (1965).

We have no differences because we have nothing in common.
~ Guillermo Vilas

Nobody ever played second base like he did, and I've been in the game 50 years. The impressive thing about Maz was that he did everything perfectly. I backed him up for 10 years and never got a ball.
~ Bill Virdon (on Pirates teammate Bill Mazeroski), in ESPN "Classic's SportsCentury" (2001).

We have a lot of players in their first year. Some of them are also in their last year.
~ Bill Walsh

Forget about the Leonid meteor shower, how about FloorCam!
~ William (Bill) Theodore Walton, III, in The New York Times (26 November 2002). Camera's Vertical View of the N.B.A. Is All Legs

His worst shot is better than anybody else's bad shot.
~ William (Bill) Theodore Walton, III

I hate this goddamn town. The organization screwed me over, and I want to play for a real team. I can't get out of here fast enough.
~ William (Bill) Theodore Walton, III (on the Portland Trailblazers), (1979).

I want to bowl well enough and long enough to make the Hall of Fame. I'd like to be one of the youngest players to enter the Hall.
~ William Joseph "Billy" Welu

Football, in its purest form, remains a physical fight. As in any fight, if you don't want to fight, it's impossible to win.
~ Bud Wilkinson

Baseball is heaven's gift to struggling mortals.
~ George F. Will, Bunts (1999). Baseball in the Unmitigated City August 13, 1984

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
~ George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball (1990).

Chicago Cubs fans are ninety percent scar tissue.
~ George F. Will

Football combines the two worst features of American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.
~ George F. Will, in International Herald Tribune, Paris (7 May 1990).

It is committee meetings, called huddles, separated by outbursts of violence.
~ George F. Will, in Newsweek magazine (1976).

Part of the beauty and much of the moral seriousness of sport derives from the severe justice of strenuous play in a circumscribed universe of rules that protect the integrity of competition. Records are worth recording, and worth striving to surpass, because they serve as benchmarks of excellence achieved under the pressure of competition.
~ George F. Will

Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.
~ George F. Will, Bunts (1999). Baseball and Communism March 28, 1982

The object of a sport can be put simply. You put a ball in an end zone or through a hoop, or you put a puck in a net, and prevent the other fellows from do so. Sports are not complicated in their objectives, but in execution they have layers of complexities and nuances.
~ George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball (1990). Introduction

Every year, we go through challenges. With my dad, it was what I was going through. As a professional player, you have to rise above, you can't use it as an excuse. It was definitely on my mind, but I wouldn't put it as a reason. I just didn't hit.
~ Bernie Williams, The New York Daily News (28 February 2002). Bernie Can Focus on Baseball Again

I have played professional baseball for over half my life. From the time I picked up a baseball glove, I did not want to put it down.
~ Bernie Williams, in New York Post (21 May 2007). Bernie: I Don't Think You Have Seen The Last Of Me

The World Series and the postseason is a thing you've got to go with the flow. In the World Series, you let it all out.
~ Bernie Williams, The New York Daily News (28 February 2002). Bernie Can Focus on Baseball Again

With this club, it doesn't matter where you hit. You're going to have people on base, one through nine.
~ Bernie Williams, The New York Daily News (28 February 2002). Bernie Can Focus on Baseball Again

Fundamentals are the most valuable tools a player can possess. Bunt the ball into the ground. Hit the cutoff man. Take the extra base. Learn the fundamentals.
~ Dick Williams

Playing without the fundamentals is like eating without a knife and fork. You make a mess.
~ Dick Williams

I've alway gone back to the belief that you don't win -- that the other team usually beats itself.
~ Dick Williams, in the Christian Science Monitor (17 July 1974).

My mental approach is totally different. My coach predicated everything on defense. He always talked about defense, defense, defense. I took it to heart that if you play defense, you can take the heart from an offensive player.
~ Eric Williams, USA TODAY (23 May 2002). Celtics' Williams is extremely defensive

If you're going to be a good basketball team you have to play every play. I preach that all the time. And I kind of coach that way to back up what I say.
~ Gary Williams, The Associated Press (2 April 2002). Williams Realizes Lifelong Goal

I feel like my whole life has been a dream to play in a game like this. I always told myself that it was a dream to make it, but it's a dream of mine that when you do make it, you act like you've been here for a while.
~ Jay Williams (on his regular-season debut with the Chicago Bulls), The Chicago Tribune (31 October 2002). Williams gives bright preview of the future

It's a time when you can't hold back and you've got to put everything on the line. We're going to fire all bullets in the tournament. That's the only way you can win it.
~ Jay Williams, The Associated Press (14 March 2002). Duke's Williams Star of NCAAs

In baseball, you can't try harder, you have to try easier. Instead of squeezing the sawdust out of the bat, you have to hold it like your child.
~ Matthew Derrick "Matt" Williams

When you think about it, a home run is a mistake. The idea is to hit the ball hard, on a line, so the defense can't react to it. Hit it high in the air, which is how most home runs are hit, and most of the time it will be caught. It's a mistake.
~ Matthew Derrick "Matt" Williams

She showed what she should show. Integrity for the sport, for her sister, the family, and strength to know that it's just a game.
~ Oracene Williams, The Associated Press (8 June 2002). Take that, Big Sis! Serena Williams beats Venus for French Open title

We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I just can't figure out where else to play.
~ Pat Williams

These players are prima donnas. They need to educate themselves so they don't make such stupid remarks.
~ Richard Williams

Ayurveda deals with using your environment to put yourself in balance. I've realized, both on a psychological and physical level, that the things we do in football don't bring more harmony to your life. They just bring more disharmony.
~ Ricky Williams, The San Francisco Chronicle (21 November 2004). NFL dropout Ricky Williams chilling in Sierra: He's been found studying the healing arts

I loved playing football, but the reasons I loved football were just to feed my ego. And any time you feed your ego, it's a one-way street. ... There were so many things I had to deal with that erased the positives I got from playing the game that it wasn't worth it. It's like eating a Big Mac and drinking a Diet Coke.
~ Ricky Williams, The San Francisco Chronicle (21 November 2004). NFL dropout Ricky Williams chilling in Sierra: He's been found studying the healing arts

I'm a beast in the second half ...
~ Ricky Williams, The Associated Press (25 November 2002). Dolphins Damage Chargers 30-3

I've had a lot of clouds in my life since I got into pro football -- too many -- but now I feel like I can see really clearly for the first time. And I can see the Super Bowl from here.
~ Ricky Williams, ESPN The Magazine (16 September 2002). Redemption Song

The biggest plus for me is I'm coming into a situation where they already have a good team. They're just adding a good player. I'm going to be surrounded with talent. I'm not going to feel like it's my job to win games. I just have to do my part.
~ Ricky Williams, The Associated Press (9 March 2002). Miami Gets Williams, but Not Kreutz

The biggest thing is I'm going to a place where we're going to win right away, and I'm going to be a part of that. That's all you can really ask for.
~ Ricky Williams, The Associated Press (9 March 2002). Saints Trade Williams to Dolphins

This is the ultimate team game, but I make everyone else on my team better by making myself better.
~ Ricky Williams, ESPN The Magazine (16 September 2002). Redemption Song

Cricket is basically baseball on valium.
~ Robin Williams

If you talk for one minute about 400 wins, you need to talk about good kids. You need to talk about kids who have tried to do things the right way and represent this university well.
~ Roy Williams, The Associated Press (16 January 2003). Kansas coach Roy Williams notches win No. 400

I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this week and I'm not letting anybody bother me with any junk if it doesn't do anything with Kansas basketball, my players, great places to eat or rivers to spit in.
~ Roy Williams, Press Conference (2 April 2003).

My entire life, I dreamed of playing there. I dreamed of coaching there. I don't think anybody loves that basketball program like I love it.
~ Roy Williams (on North Carolina), The Associated Press (23 November 2002). Kansas to Face Tar Heels in NIT Semis

This is one of those times I feel so inadequate as a coach and person. There's nothing that can change the way the kids feel, nothing that can change the way I feel.
~ Roy Williams, The New York Daily News (8 April 2003). A final worthy of the Superdome

You'd rather have talent than anything. Experience would be second. If you could pick the best, it would be experience and talent. ... I think that's what we have.
~ Roy Williams, Reuters (7 April 2003). Kansas-Syracuse Final Offers Intriguing Match-Ups

Hopefully, we can build a rivalry and we'll be able to do this a lot. Make a legacy, then retire champions.
~ Serena Williams, The Associated Press (8 June 2002). Take that, Big Sis! Serena Williams beats Venus for French Open title

I've worked really hard all my life, there come's a time you have to start winning.
~ Serena Williams

My game has matured, and mentally, I've just matured to another level. That is a major factor in it. Some people mature really late.
~ Serena Williams, The Associated Press (23 August 2002). Serena Williams No. 1 in her family _ and world

Until 8:30 we'll be friends, and when the match is over, we'll be friends again. Whatever happens, we're going home with the maximum amount of money.
~ Serena Williams, The Associated Press (7 September 2002). Sister Slam IV: Williams vs. Williams in U.S. Open final

A man has to have goals -- for a day, for a lifetime -- that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street folks will say, "There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived."
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, quoted in ESPN Classic (5 July 2002). There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived

Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

Baseball's future? Bigger and bigger, better and better! No question about it, it's the greatest game there is!
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

Golf is the only sport where the ball doesn't move until you hit it.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, quoted in Criswell Freeman The Golfer's Book of Wisdom (1995).

Hitting a baseball -- I've said it a thousand times -- is the single most difficult thing to do in sport.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, The Science of Hitting (1986).

Hitting is fifty percent above the shoulders.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

I'd have been a .290 hitter without a Louisville Slugger.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

If there is such a thing as a science in sport, hitting a baseball is it. As with any science, there are fundamentals, certain tenets of hitting every good batter or batting coach could tell you. But it is not an exact science.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, The Science of Hitting (1986).

If you get fooled by a pitch with less than two strikes, take it.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

It is a terrible situation. I think our game's been destroyed and we've really been hurt. I'm just nuts about it all, but it's changed and for the worse.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, The Associated Press (30 September 2001). Williams Says He's Feeling Good

It was the center of my heart, hitting a baseball. As a kid, I wished it on every falling star: Please let me be the hitter I want to be. ... If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, My Turn at Bat (1969).

Making good contact with a round ball and round bat even if you know what's coming is hard to do. That seems to be the one major thing that all young players have difficulty with. Why? It's the hardest thing to do in sports. So that's the reason baseball is a hard game to play.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams, Interview in National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Yearbook (2000 edition). Ted Williams: In his own words

Pour water on a sportswriter -- instant horseshit.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

The inside half of the plate. That's where history's made.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

The only thing dumber that a pitcher is two pitchers.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

There has always been a saying in baseball that you can't make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

Think. Don't just swing. Think about the pitcher, what he threw you last time up, his best pitch, who's up next. Think.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.
~ Theodore Samuel ("Ted") Williams

I couldn't deal with a coach. I like my mom and dad because they're really laid back. Once we leave the court we don't talk about tennis, strategy, all that. ... Once mom and dad get tired, I think Serena and I will coach each other.
~ Venus Williams, The Associated Press (25 January 2003). Venus: I'm staying with mom and dad

I don't come to tournaments to make friends, to go to parties, to hold conversations. I come to be the best, and I'm not mean and cruel and dirty.
~ Venus Williams

I have a lot of respect for her. She was my favorite player growing up. That's why I started grunting; I wanted to be like Monica.
~ Venus Williams (on Monica Seles), The Associated Press (9 November 2002). Venus Williams Reaches WTA Semis

If you give me a short shot I will attack you. I'm not a baseliner who rallies. I try to get the point over with.
~ Venus Williams (on her playing style), Sports Illustrated magazine (10 June 1991).

If you're not a competitor, you've just got to go home.
~ Venus Williams, The Associated Press (8 September 2001).

It's what we thought we would always do, so it's a wonderful thing.
~ Venus Williams

Serena and I are exactly the opposite of anything that ever happened before in the game. The old tennis world was pretty reserved. Serena and I are bold. We stand out. We have color. We're strong. We're pretty. We have personalities. We think things out. We're smart.
~ Venus Williams, The San Francisco Chronicle (July 2001).

The crowd at the ball game
is moved uniformly
by a spirit of uselessness
which delights them.
~ William Carlos Williams, from Spring and All (1923). At the Ball Game

I never played drunk. Hung over, yes, but never drunk.
~ Hack Wilson