I had been playing for a while, and I asked Louisville Slugger to send me a dozen flame treated bats. But when I got it, I realized they had sent me a box of ashes.

I was a naturally aggressive left-back, a cut-throat tackler.

Most home teams have chapels, so when I’m on the road I’ll probably go to their services.

I focus on one thing and one thing only – that’s trying to win as many championships as I can.

An agent won’t help you get drafted higher, won’t make you win more games, and won’t make you faster or stronger.

You can say that 2016 was my finest. It went well for the national team, started by winning the SAFF Cup, we reached the finals of AFC Cup, we reached the semis of ISL. I think it was a fruitful season.

In my opinion, baseball is as big a business as anything there is. It has to be a business, the way it is conducted.

When I came up to bat with three men on and two outs in the ninth, I looked in the other team’s dugout and they were already in street clothes.

Even if soccer is not number one in the United States, they do things very well here. There’s much our country can learn from the U.S.A., because we all know that soccer is not the main game in India. We can still do more things, like provide better facilities for the players so they can perform well.

Today, Negroes play on every big league club and in every minor league. With millions of other Negroes in other walks of life, we are willing to stand up and be counted for what we believe in. In baseball or out, we are no longer willing to wait until Judgment Day for equality – we want it here on earth as well as in Heaven.

Football is all about fans.

I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.

When you play sports like tennis, you’re alone, and that’s a good school for life, but it’s also a good school for life to bring your best and make those around you better, too – helping others in difficult moments.

How you played in yesterday’s game is all that counts.

I am very happy to be signing for the best team in the world and especially proud to be the first Portuguese player to join United.

If I hit a man, his head is gonna go into the bleachers.

The bat is not a toy, it’s a weapon. It gives me everything in life, which helps me to do everything on the field.

I don’t know who I would have been if I never watched MotoGP.

When I was in Portugal I hardly played six-or-seven matches. Although I would train daily to keep my shape. Even then it was really difficult when I came back to get in shape and represent my country.

I like sports, and I enjoy playing basketball and lifting weights.

My priority is cricket. Everything that I get apart from it is a result of the effort on the field. Everything else follows. I am pretty aware of my priorities, and I don’t really focus on things that are not as important to me as cricket.

I was a very average player and became a trainer in Germany with a special club.

In college, a loss is pretty devastating. That feeling kind of goes away in an 82-game season. You hate to lose, but you also have a lot more games to make up for it.

All an agent is going to do is buy things for a player, damage his eligibility, and make the player dependent on them.

I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President.

I try to encourage all my teammates, and I sure hope that some day all athletes – my kids, high school kids – get the same level of care I get. Because you can play for a long period of time without having knee replacements, without having all the major head trauma that people are dealing with.

There have been so many great players that I’ve played with, that I’ve played against over the years.

Whoever the coach is, my job is to talk to him, understand him and be a better player under him and give my best.

In England, you have stadiums in the middle of the city.

When I won the Golden Gloves in 1960, that made me realize I had a chance. And when I won at the Olympics, that sealed it: I was the champ.

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

I’d just as soon play tennis with the net down.

Career highlights? I had two – I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.

The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game. He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud.

The way I figured it, I was even with baseball and baseball with me. The game had done much for me, and I had done much for it.

Football is a sad game.

It would make everything I worked for meaningless if baseball is integrated but political parties were segregated.

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.

Winning the title in England is the biggest challenge of them all.

If you watch any good player, they’re using different parts of their body and working with instruments that respond to those movements. They’re moving in many dimensions at once.

A lifetime contract for a coach means if you’re ahead in the third quarter and moving the ball, they can’t fire you.

When you are in good form, you keep hitting the target. You may have the best match but you may still not have the goals. But scoring is most important and it feels so good that I have been knocking them in. It really boosts the morale.

That’s what you live for as a sportsman. You have to put up a fight.

As long as I am playing competitive football I am happy.

As an athlete, you’d better laugh at yourself when you slip in the mud.

If I make a mistake and finish 10th when we should have finished ninth, then I will be unhappy.

Team sports aren’t my thing. I find it easier to pick something up if I can do it at my own speed. And you don’t need a partner to go running, you don’t need a particular place, like in tennis, just a pair of trainers.

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.

Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.

If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.

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

From the boys‘ point of view, scouting puts them into fraternity-gangs, which is their natural organisation, whether for games, mischief, or loafing; it gives them a smart dress and equipments; it appeals to their imagination and romance; and it engages them in an active, open-air life.

In all my years of baseball, I have always expected to be traded. I never liked the idea.

I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.

I have never cared especially for outdoor sports and have no desire to excel at tennis, swimming, or golf. I’ll leave those things to the men.

I have learned, in my life and work as a sportswriter, that big-time Sports and big-time Politics are not so far apart in America. They are both a means to the same end, which is victory… And why not? Victory is good for you, and don’t let anybody tell you different.

My game is really played above time. I don’t say that like I’m saying I’m ahead of my time. I’m saying, like, if I’m on the court and I throw a pass, the ball that I’ve thrown will lead my teammate right where he needs to go, before he even knows that that’s the right place to go to.

The first mistake in public business is the going into it.

I love football and the intensity of football in Liverpool, this is what is very good for me.

I didn’t mean to hit the umpire with the dirt, but I did mean to hit that bastard in the stands.

I used to play a lot of different sports. Now when I look back, I understand that it really helped with my hand-eye coordination.