Sports Realism Quotes

I enjoy sports movies that don't sugarcoat. One thing that irritates me about sports movies is that they're like, 'The magic of the ball,' and 'The magic of the stadium.' It ain't that magical. When you get hit coming across the middle at 25 miles per hour, the magic's over.

I don't watch TV but occasionally I'll read the Washington Post. I will say that sports are the only "real thing" on television.

Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling.

I just like playing guys, normal dudes. That's the stuff that I really enjoy watching: when it feels grounded.

I was always a decent hockey player, but I'd have never made the NHL.

You can't fake wrestling. We can fake punch, but with wrestling you just have to go ahead and do it. You really need to see the hand hit the face, the head butting and everything.

There is nothing like playing in the actual games, compared to simulating it, working out, playing some five-on-five. It's not the same.

I don't [know] what everybody else's motives are, I don't know what your motives are, but mine is to portray the real life of an NBA player. And it's not all about I just do everything, like I'm the hardest worker, or I love to play basketball every day, I go to the gym at eight and don't leave until five. No, that's not how it is. That's not how I am.

When it came to football there was a certain age where I realized that my future in football was being a grease spot on the side of some bigger player.

Although I'm a scratch Ping-Pong player, there is no possibility of me beating a top professional.

I'm a decent table tennis player, but if you were to put me up against any of the guys you see on television at the Olympics, I'd be lucky to get a couple of points.

With 'Love & Basketball,' I played ball my whole life and did track at UCLA. So, I'm an athlete. And it was very important for me to get it right. I started with casting: As an athlete, there's nothing worse for me than watching a sports movie and the woman that they hire can't run or can't shoot. It sets women's sports back years.

I reread "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, the father of all sports books. Aside from that, and books like "Out of Their League" by Dave Meggyesy, sports books generally pull their punches.