Quotes on Sports
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
Muhammad Ali
Tweet
Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
Heywood Hale Broun
Tweet
It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner.
Vince Lombardi
Tweet
For when the one Great Scorer comes
Grantland Rice
To write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost-
But how you played the game.
Tweet
Football doesn't build character. It eliminates the weak ones.
Darrell Royal
Tweet
Football isn't a contact sport; it's a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.
Vince Lombardi
Tweet
If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes real good, you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games.
Bear Bryant
Tweet
There are no office hours for champions.
Paul Dietzel
Tweet
I can reach a kid who doesn’t have any ability as long as he doesn’t know it.
Bear Bryant
Tweet
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.
Lou Holtz
Tweet
Let the mind control the body, not the body control the mind.
Jimmy Johnson
Tweet
There is a place both present and future in America for true, clean sport. We do not rank it above business, the occupations of our lives, and we do not look with approval upon those who, not being concerned in its performance, spend all their thought, energy and time upon its observance. We recognize, however, that there is something more in life than the grinding routine of daily toil, that we can develop a better manhood and womanhood, a more attractive youth, and a wiser maturity, by rounding out our existence with a wholesome interest in sport.
Calvin Coolidge
Tweet
The first thing any man has to know is how to handle himself. Training counts. You can't win any game unless you are ready to win.
Connie Mack
Tweet
I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.
John Wooden
Tweet
There will be nights when your shots won't fall, but you can play good defense every night.
Red Auerbach
Tweet
Russell's first law: you must make the other player do what you want him to do.
Bill Russell
Tweet
I stress offense without the ball and defense before the other player gets the ball.
John Wooden
Tweet
Good coaching may be defined as the development of character, personality and habits of players, plus the teaching of fundamentals and team play.
Claire Bee
Tweet
Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you've got him.
Bill Russell
Tweet
If you do anything in any way, whenever or wherever, that I think is detrimental to the good of this basketball team, to the school, or to yourself, I'll handle it as I see fit.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the context.
This is the source.
We talk in coaching about "winners" - kids, and I've had a lot of them, who just will not allow themselves or their team to lose. Coaches call that a will to win. I don't. I think that puts the emphasis in the wrong place. Everybody has a will to win. What's far more important is having the will to prepare to win.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the source.
A quick way for any player to make himself better is to think about what he himself doesn't like to play against.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the source.
It's always to your advantage if the other guys are worried more about what you're doing than what they want to do.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the source.
To be as good as it can be, a team has to buy into what you as the coach are doing. They have to feel you're a part of them and they're a part of you.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the source.
I've never felt my job was to win basketball games - rather, that the essence of my job as a coach was to do everything I could to give my players the background necessary to succeed in life.
Bobby Knight
Tweet
This is the source.
The eight greatest words ever put together in the English language: America, America, God shed His grace on thee...
Bobby Knight
A part of that grace is a responsibility I believe each of us has: to make sure we provide those who follow us with the same opportunities you and I were given by those who preceded us. That's uppermost among all that I've tried to do as a coach - I and thousands of other coaches and teachers that kids across this country have been fortunate enough to have at some point in their lives.
Tweet
This is the source.
I'm not too proud to change. I like to win too much.
Bobby Bowden
Tweet
If you want to be a champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one.
Red Auerbach
Tweet
Kids shouldn't play for coaches. They should play to play together and to have fun.
Mike Krzyzewski
Tweet
If you see players who hate practice, their coach isn't doing a very good job.
Bill Walsh
Tweet
Ninety percent of this game is half mental.
Yogi Berra
Tweet
A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on "x's and o's" as compared to time spent learning about people.
Mike Krzyzewski
Tweet
So many times people are afraid of competition, when it should bring out the best in us. We all have talents and abilities, so why be intimidated by other people's skills?
Lou Holtz
Tweet
It always amazes me that spectators want to coach, coaches want to officiate, and officials just want to watch the game.
Lou Holtz
Tweet
What I'm looking for is a running back who can carry the ball twenty times on Saturday and then show up at practice Monday without a lawyer, doctor, or agent.
Lou Holtz
Tweet
If I was murdered as soon as practice is over, there would be so many suspects among the players that they wouldn't even try to investigate.
Lou Holtz
Tweet
Whoever said, "It's not whether you win or lose that counts" probably lost.
Martina Navratilova
Tweet
The greatest thing about tomorrow is I will be better than I am today. And that's how I look at my life. I will be better as a golfer, I will be better as a person, I will be better as a father, I will be a better husband, I will be better as a friend. That's the beauty of tomorrow. There is no such thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will apply tomorrow, and I will be better.
Tiger Woods
Tweet
How you run the race - your planning, preparation, practice, and performance - counts for everything. Winning or losing is a by-product, and aftereffect, of that effort.
John Wooden
Tweet
Do those things necessary to bring forth your personal best and don't lose sleep worrying about the competition.
John Wooden
Tweet
When you give total effort - everything you have - the score can never make you a loser. And when you do less, it can't somehow magically turn you into a winner.
John Wooden
Tweet
I do not judge success based on championships; rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential.
John Wooden
Tweet
When you punish your people for making a mistake or falling short of a goal, you create an environment of extreme caution, even fearfulness. In sports it's similar to playing "not to lose" - a formula that often brings on defeat.
John Wooden
Tweet
Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Vince Lombardi
Tweet
When your expectations are not real high - and that's a sad way to be - losing becomes a habit for a lot of players and coaches.
Steve Spurrier
Tweet
I think every coach in America would benefit from coaching at a school that's the underdog most of the time.
Steve Spurrier
Tweet
That's fine - people can call me arrogant, cocky, whatever. At least they're not calling us losers anymore. If people like you too much, it's probably because they're beating you.
Steve Spurrier
Tweet
To me what's important is making the best use of the time you have with your players, not the time when the coaches are by themselves coming up with schemes and watching film on the other guy. It's what you can teach your players to do that counts. That's the most important part of coaching.
Steve Spurrier
Tweet
If you don't learn anything but self discipline, then athletics is worthwhile.
Bear Bryant
Tweet
The only thing even in this world are the number of hours in a day. The difference in winning or losing is what you do with those hours.
Woody Hayes
Tweet
Purposely being irate - in order to accomplish something - can be more effective in sports than approaching it with a rational or seemingly rational approach.
Bill Parcells
Tweet
I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.
Bear Bryant
Tweet
A resolute and resourceful leader understands that there are a multitude of means to increase the probability of success. And that's what it all comes down to, namely, intelligently and relentlessly seeking solutions that will increase your chance of prevailing in a competitive environment. When you do that, the score will take care of itself.
Bill Walsh
Tweet
This is the source.
[C]onsistent motivation usually comes from a consuming desire to be able to perform at your best under pressure, namely, the pressure produced by tough competition. If a player needed me to light a fire under him by turning the other team into a demon, he was lacking something I couldn't give him.
Bill Walsh
Tweet
This is the source.
A lack of play should be treated like malnutrition: it's a health risk to your body and mind.
Stuart Brown
Tweet
Find something you like? Get a new inspiring quote every day!
Get the free Daily Quote by email:
You should follow me on twitter here.