La Valliere, Mike
Major league catcherI like to get into the minds of my pitchers and see how they're going to react to me with a soft voice or a hard voice or something in between. So I'll know what that pitcher's going to do whenever I get out there. I'll know whether I've got to kick him or whether I've got to burp him and put him over my shoulder and sing a lullaby to him. I'm a very highly-paid baby-sitter sometimes. I'm your basic educated nanny. I can teach them a few things and I can send them to their rooms. Lambert, Jack
NFL linebackerSome players are spoiled little brats who have never grown up and live in a sort of dream world. They're given special privileges, treated like royalty since the first day they ran for four touchdowns. LaMotta, Jake
Middleweight boxing championWe were so poor, every Christmas Eve my old man would go outside and shoot his gun, then come in and tell us kids Santa Claus had committed suicide. Landis, Kenesaw Mountain
First baseball commissionerWe need not fear any loss of the best traditions in the Great American game so long as boys of grade school age can find a vacant lot to play in. No one need urge the average normal boy to play baseball. His desire to emulate those he so easily sets up as his heroes, and a place to play are all that is necessary. They can't come back. The doors are closed to them for good. The most scandalous chapter in the game's history is closed. Landry, Tom
NFL coachDefense: that's where you have to start rating a team's chances for the championship. The first championship is the toughest. After that, they come easier. Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. The more successful you become, the longer the yardstick people use to measure you by. If you are prepared, then you will be confident and you will do the job. Emotion gets in the way of performance. Landy, John
World-class milerThe mile has a classic symmetry. It's a play in four acts. Lane, MacArthur
NFL running back One time he bit me. Another time he tried to break my ankle. Another time he tried to crack my leg. Nothing happened. I guess maybe my leg was too green. Lansdorp, Robert
Tennis coachThe better you become, the more people will try to find something wrong with you. Lardner, Ring
SportswriterWatching an America's Cup race is like watching grass grow. Larouche, Pierre
NHL player One team will choke. The other team will win. LaSorda, Tommy
Major league managerI found out that it's not good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people don't care and the other twenty percent are glad you're having trouble. He wants Texas back. There really is a Big Dodger in the sky and I think he has come down and taken over Hershiser's body. I knew June was Pedro's favorite month, so I told him that in the U.S., June had sixty days. I'd see him in July and say, "Well, Pedro, it's June 52 and I see you're still hot." Guys ask me, don't I get burned out? How can you get burned out doing something you love? I ask you, have you ever got tired of kissing a pretty girl? The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination. Lau, Charlie
Major league catcher and hitting coachNobody should hit .200. Anyone should hit .250. There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them work. Law, Vance
Major league infielderWhen you're in a slump, it's almost as if you look out at the field and it's one big glove. Lawson, PeterJournalist Unless something is done soon, international sport will be a competition between circus freaks manipulated by international chemists. Layden, Frank
Basketball coach and executive It's hard to feel fit as a fiddle when you're shaped like a cello. I asked [a former player], "Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?" He said, "Coach, I don't know and I don't care." Layne, Bobby
NFL quarterbackWhat I miss is the guys. That's what I miss more than anything. I miss going to training camp. I miss the road trips and the card games. I miss the fellowship. The locker room, the places where it was a pleasure to be. The practice sessions. I miss the bar where we'd go for a beer after practice. I miss having that beer with the guys. I miss the ballgames. I mean, when you've got a whole team looking forward to everything, when you've got guys showing up for practice early and staying late - well, you've got something there. We had that perfect thing for a while. What I miss now is my teammates. Leahy, Frank
College football coachEgotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity. A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall. Teamwork teaches that each member of the organization must sacrifice for another--for the good of everyone. There are no shortcuts in life -- only those we imagine. The first and foremost requisite of a good football player is that he must have a burning desire to play the game. There is absolutely no substitute for this. Lee, Bill
Major league pitcherWinning is better than the next worse thing. I'd change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you'll straighten out the rest of the world. The other day they asked me about mandatory drug testing. I said I believed in drug testing a long time ago. All through the '60s I tested everything. 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. Lema, Tony
Professional golferLet's face it, most of us go into the Open just plain scared. But we are there because no sports event in the world can mean as much to its winner--in prestige, in money, in just plain ego satisfaction--as the U. S. Open. Lemon, Bob
Major league pitcher and managerThe two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen. LeMond, Greg
Champion cyclistPerhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time. Lemons, Abe
Basketball coach Hell, no. When I die, I want to be sick. You mean in the state? I dislike the hypocrisy of coaching. They call some guys great coaches, but look how they get the players. One coach in the Southwest Conference reports another for cheating and everyone wants to know who the dirty rat was who turned him in. How can a person get tired playing basketball? Getting tired is inside of you. Letterman, David
ComedianI heard doctors revived a man who had been dead for 4½ minutes. When they asked him what it was like being dead, he said it was like listening to Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto during a rain delay. Levy, Marv
Football coachNot many guys, deep down inside, want to block a punt. Oh, a lot of them will bust in there, but only a few are really willing to put their face in the kicker's foot. Lewis, Carl
Olympic track championMy thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win. . . Channel your energy. Focus. Lilly, Bob
NFL defensive linemanYou must be aggressive, but you can't go completely nuts because you will make a lot of mistakes. It's a difficult balance. Lindros, Eric
NHL playerIt's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice. Lindsay, Ted
NHL playerThe hockey stick is a great equalizer. Linz, Phil
Major league utility playerYou can't get rich sitting on the bench, but I'm giving it a try. Lipscomb, Big Daddy
NFL defensive linemanI just wrap my arms around the whole backfield and peel 'em off one by one until I get to the ball carrier. Him I keep. Listach, Pat
Major league pitcher I felt fine a week ago, so I was getting pretty anxious. There's only so much rehab you can do, only so much batting practice you can take, and my wife is already pregnant. I needed to get back out there and play again. Liston, Sonny
Heavyweight championOne day you're the champ and your friends say, "No one in the world can beat you, champ." Then you're no longer the champ and you are all alone. A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There's got to be good guys and there's got to be bad guys. Little, Lou
College football coachFootball is a sensible game, but it is surrounded by crazy people. Littler, Gene
Professional golferGolf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most accurate misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes. Lloyd, Earl
Basketball coachThe primary job of a coach is to make sure his team doesn't lose games it should win. Lloyd, John Henry
Negro League shortstopI do not consider that I was born at the wrong time. I felt it was the right time, for I had a chance to prove the ability of our race in this sport, and because many of us did our very best to uphold the traditions of the game and of the world of sport, we have given the Negro a greater opportunity now to be accepted into the major leagues with other Americans. Loes, Billy
Major league pitcher Oh, hell, if you win twenty games they want you to do it every year. Lolich, Mickey
Major league pitcherAll the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, "See, there's a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer." Lombardi, Vince
NFL coachBeat your opponent where he is strongest and you demoralize him. 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. Winners never quit and quitters never win. We make no issue over a man's color. I just won't tolerate anybody in this organization making it an issue. We respect every man's dignity, black or white. I won't stand for any movements or groups on our ball club. If anything is bothering any of our players, we settle whatever it is right away. If we find something that doesn't fit in with the Packers, we lick it before it starts. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. Football is two things: blocking and tackling. I don't care about formations or new offensives or tricks on defense. You block and tackle better than the team you're playing, you win. The harder we work, the luckier we get. The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. I don't build character. I eliminate the people who don't have it. Looney, Joe Don
Running back A good back makes his own holes. Anybody can run where the holes are. Lott, Ronnie
Hall of Fame defensive backIf you can believe it, the mind can achieve it. Loughery, Kevin
Basketball coach Some guys go to war for their country and these guys won't even play basketball for it. Louis, Joe
Heavyweight championEverybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. He can run, but he can't hide. Lowenstein, John
Major league playerThey should move first base back one step to eliminate all those close plays. Lucci, Mike
NFL linebacker Yeah, they gave me the game ball. If they hadn't given it to me, I would have taken it, anyway. Luciano, Ron
Major league umpireUmpire's heaven is a place where he works third base every game. Home is where the heartache is. Lyons, Steve
Major league player and broadcaster Every five years, a man has to change his Sox. |
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