Ron Santo Quotes

Major League Baseball has the best idea of all. Three years before they'll take a kid out of college, then they have a minor league system that they put the kids in. I'm sure that if the NBA followed the same thing, there would be a lot of kids in a minor league system that still were not good enough to play in the major NBA.

I played good ball in the minor leagues, and that's why they called me up to the major leagues.

I think there were a lot of people at Mankato reaching out to the Vikings saying to just bring me in for a tryout.

Until you're a rookie, you don't know what NBA game shape is.

I only missed nine Premier League games from a possible 228 between August 2004 and May 2010.

That was...that was choking. You're right. But of course when you play against (Roger) Federer, he's No. 1 in the world, he won three grand slams last year, and he's just full of confidence. It's difficult to do anything regular to beat him. You have to do something extra to be able to have the chance to beat him. Set points, I had six of them and I couldn't take one. But I was close.

My job as a coach was to make something meaningful out of one of the most mundane activities on the planet: playing pro basketball.

How did Mike Bibby get on the team? Any Cub Scout with Boy Scouts can do Boy Scoutish things. When Bibby was in the Cub Scouts, he was a Cub Scout. When he was with Vancouver, nobody heard about him. Now that he's with Sacramento... he's on the team. I ain't going.

Everybody in New York thinks the Knicks are Playboy bunnies, and I have been telling them for years the Knicks are a rabbit. They're closer to a Playboy bunny this year but for the last few years these guys are like, 'We have a really good team!' And I say, 'You really think that?' And I say, 'No, they don't.' But this is the best team they've had in a while.

It's hard to get up for a good high-school team like the Chicago Bulls.

I spoil a lot of people with my play. If you have three bad games in a seven-year career, people are going to point that out.

It's funny, you can get over the win pretty quick and get ready for the next opponent. When you lose, it just eats at you.... What could we have done? What should I have done? All those things. Just part of playing professional sports and sports in general.

When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions. If I don't believe it, then they don't need me on the court. I've just got to believe that in my heart.

This ain't the Girl Scouts. This ain't the Boy Scouts. This is the NBA.

Kobe's an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today's players.

I thought my chances to make the Braves were better and that they were being fairer to me, paying me more money to play in a lower classification ... Besides, the Giants spelled my name "Arron" on their telegram.

The writer ... an athlete required to break the four-minute mile every morning.

We've got sports scientists who insist it's important for the lads to eat after games to refuel, even if it's 2am. I used to refuel after games at West Ham until half past three in the morning in a different way - but then I'm old school.

I am going to be a professional soccer player.

I don't think there is any place in football for drinking. I have said on several occasions to players: You don't put diesel in a Ferrari.

I can't keep protecting people who don't want to run about and train, who are about three stone overweight. What am I supposed to keep saying? 'Keep getting your 60, 70 grand a week but don't train'? What's the game coming to?

When it's time to focus in and play ball during the season, 100% of my focus is on that. When it's the offseason and I've got time to be away and I can do other interests - they don't conflict. I'm good at compartmentalizing. I can put everything in its appropriate box at the time and open it up when I need to at a later time.

I'm playing great tennis. I'm enjoying the tour, having fun with the fans off the court. I'm loving it now.

There is no excuse for a professional footballer not to be 100% fit.

I don't see anyone playing in the major leagues today (1982) who combines both the talent and the intensity that I had. I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.