Marv Quotes & Sayings

Continuity holds the best writer hostage of the worst. — Marv Wolfman

All the buildup and hype, everything else, is foam. The game is the beer. — Marv Levy

I've always felt that I shouldn't scream on the air ... I just feel there's a way of rising enthusiastically if there's an exciting play, but you don't have to scream. There are people who do shout, and I think that's unnecessary. You have to be under control at all times, no matter what's taking place. Enthusiasm and excitement can be expressed without going berserk. — Marv Albert

Teaching is very important. The nature of your personality isn't that important. Lombardi was very extraverted, very bombastic. Landry very quiet, reserved. Both were great teachers and great coaches. — Marv Levy

I don't know why you decided to wear that costume, but it makes you a symbol. Just as Robin was a symbol. Or Superman, or Nightwing, or the policeman who wears his uniform. And this isn't just a symbol of the law, it's a symbol of justice. When one policeman is killed, others take his place because justice can't be stopped. — Marv Wolfman

In animation, you may be working with 20 writers, and everybody has to write the same thing. You can't have episodes that don't feel like they belong. In comics, you're gonna write a whole run, which means it's your style that's coming through. But when you're working on a show that's collaborated with a dozen other writers, you have to have a style that blends the show together. So you can't write it the way you normally would, because your script will stand out from all the others. — Marv Wolfman

I took all the courses you would need to be able to go to law school. But my experience in college with football made me want to go into coaching. — Marv Levy

The best passing drill is pass - set - hit. The best setting drill is pass - set - hit. The best hitting drill is pass - set - hit ... Anything less than a game situation, unless very well planned, has the possibility of introducing artificial situations, and complete transfer to the game might not occur when drills are constructed in this manner. — Marv Dunphy

As a collegiate, I think you spend 50 percent of your time recruiting. It is a distasteful process. — Marv Levy

If Justin Beiber was 7 feet tall, he'd look like [Meyers Leonard] that. — Marv Albert

I don't remember Bill Walsh being old. I remember young Bill Walsh. He wasn't gray-haired, and neither was I when we first met. His legacy will live on. Bill Walsh's name and his accomplishments will be remembered and revered so long as the great game of football is played. — Marv Levy

Marv stared at his phone. Kids these days. It was like on that day in school when they taught personal responsibility, this entire fucking generation had banged in sick. — Dennis Lehane

How close, Frost?"
"Real close, boss. I swear on my life."
Joker slowly looked up, eyes glistening with black hope. The fire in his madness was still burning.
"If you're going to swear, swear on something that matters. — Marv Wolfman

To me, doing the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona for NBC, just seeing the Dream Team take the floor, was a thrill for me. I don't think there was another team in any sport with that high level of athletes playing together. — Marv Albert

If there's age discrimination - and there may be - I've always felt that the person who discriminates is hurt more than the person being discriminated against, if the second person shucks it off and moves forward. — Marv Levy

I never have suspected or sensed a whiff of cheating in any of our Super Bowls. — Marv Levy

When it's too hard for them, it's just right for us. — Marv Levy

Happiness made Marv anxious because he knew it didn't last. But happiness destroyed was worth wrapping your arms around because it always hugged you back. — Dennis Lehane

The age factor means nothing to me. I'm old enough to know my limitations and I'm young enough to exceed them. — Marv Levy

I know that you are a mere flea! I know that you need only be squashed to be done away with! I know that I have fought this same battle a thousand thousand times before ... but, perhaps this time I can crush you like the insect you are! — Marv Wolfman

I don't know exactly what are you supposed to do when you retire. Lie on the couch and do nothing? I didn't want to do that. — Marv Levy

Age is inevitable. Aging isn't. — Marv Levy

Marv's a guy you've got to be careful around. He doesn't mean any harm, but he causes plenty. — Frank Miller

As coaches, we learn to accept criticism for our decisions. If a writer says you shouldn't have gone for it on fourth-and-one, we understand that's part of the job. We expect it. — Marv Levy

How's yours?" inquires Marv soon after. "Or more to the point, what is it?"
"Eggs and cheese and something."
"Do you even like eggs?"
"No."
"Then why'd you get it?"
"Well, it didn't look like eggs when it was on that other guy's plate."
"Fair enough. You want some of mine? — Markus Zusak

If I had coached in high school for 60 years, I would have loved it. Getting to the top was not a goal. I welcomed the opportunities, but I just believed do the best doggone job you can, and good things will happen. — Marv Levy

Absolutely everything undergoes evolvement - whether it's technology, journalism, the NFL, medicine. — Marv Levy

A good education prepares you well for anything. — Marv Levy

Whenever I think of baseball, the first name that comes to mind is Babe Ruth. What the Babe was to baseball, Shula is to football coaching. There are certain figures in sports who are larger than the games they play or coach, and Don Shula is one of those. — Marv Levy

When I was twelve, I went hunting with my father and we shot a bird. He was laying there and something struck me. Why do we call this fun to kill this creature who was as happy as I was when I woke up this morning. — Marv Levy

You're looking...good enough to eat. Figuratively speaking, I'm strictly vegan. — Marv Wolfman

Hello, madness, my old friend. * — Marv Wolfman

Quick guys get tired; big guys don't shrink. — Marv Harshman

Great football coaches have the vision to see, the faith to believe, the courage to do - and 25 great players. — Marv Levy

I'm hoping to get started on a new novel. — Marv Levy

Where else would you rather be than right here, right now? — Marv Levy

I exercise, walk a lot, and break into the occasional trot. I also lift weights three days a week, and I like to read about what makes a good diet. Overall, I do follow a healthy lifestyle. — Marv Levy

I wanted to be Marv Albert or Bob Costas. Those were my favorites growing up. Still are! — Dave Pasch

I'm sure there were concussions galore back when we played, but the doctors would just say, 'Shake it off,' or something like that ... or 'Come on, you got to be tough ... get back in there.' I see so many guys who played pro football in their 50s now who are so debilitated from having played it. — Marv Levy

Game calls can't be just, 'Oh, by the way,' as part of a larger discussion. — Marv Albert

In 1957, I was a 16-year-old office boy for the Dodgers. — Marv Albert

Three, maybe four times a week, I run for 30 minutes. If I don't run, I'm out for a brisk walk at least an hour every day. — Marv Levy

If you have everything prepared, the rest will take care of itself. — Marv Levy

The caliber of play in professional football compared to college is better and everybody knows it. They don't realize how much better. What a giant leap forward in the ability of talent level, the speed, and even the grasp of what you are trying to do. There is no other distractions before the players. — Marv Levy

Expect rejection, but expect even more strongly to overcome it. — Marv Levy

You adhere to a philosophy, but part of the philosophy I have is that I don't want to be too doggone inflexible that I miss a good player. — Marv Levy

There will be many failures sprinkled among the successes you enjoy. — Marv Levy

Our goal is to develop our team, to earn what we get, to learn, to develop unselfish attitudes. If we achieve that, the results is that we'll win. — Marv Levy

I feel very fortunate that I'm doing what I wanted to do from the third grade on. I became very interested in the sports broadcasting aspect even at that early age. I'd turn down the sound on the TV and do games in my house - and probably get everybody looking for me to go into a room and lock the door so they didn't have to hear it. — Marv Albert

Actually, I'm working on a book of poetry. — Marv Levy

It is not how tall you are, it is how GOOD you are. — Marv Dunphy

If you say you plan to retire in two or three years, you've already retired. — Marv Levy

The Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan's three-point explosion in Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals against Portland is easily one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. As he made his sixth straight, he winked directly at (broadcast partner) Mike (Fratello) and me and held his palms up in a shrug, as if to say, What can I do? — Marv Albert

I would never scream at my kids, never raise my voice. But as they often tell me, they were so well behaved that screaming was not necessary. — Marv Albert

Marvelous Marv was holding down first base. This is like saying Willie Sutton works at your bank. — Jimmy Breslin

I am going to miss Don Shula. I like him, and I admire him. I'm going to miss looking those 53 yards across the field and thinking, 'There is a coaching legend.' — Marv Levy

I was a Knicks fan of the Kenny Sears-Carl Braun-Jim Baechtold vintage. I was even their ball boy when I was a teenager. — Marv Albert

Buddy, I don't mean to poke my nose in where it don't belong, but that there is a dame to kill for. Why'd you let her go? — Frank Miller

With villains you always have to understand what motivates them. Most people don't just think they're evil. They believe or know they are doing the right thing because of the circumstances they find themselves in. Or they are overwhelmed by circumstances and can't stop what they'll do next. — Marv Wolfman

Growing up knowing that I wanted to be a sportscaster and knowing that the best school in the country was right in my back yard, I certainly knew all there was to know about Marty Glickman and about people like Bob Costas and Marv Albert and all of the other greats that have passed through there. — Beth Mowins

Nancy's got a guardian angel. Seven feet plus of muscle and mayhem that goes by the name of Marv. — Frank Miller

I just want people to finish the book and say, 'I was entertained.' When I set out to do it, I had no deal in place. I knew it would be tough. I read somewhere that John Steinbeck was turned down 22 times on his first novel. But I was just going to do it. — Marv Levy

I was enamored with Charles Dickens as a kid, and his names blew me away. — Marv Levy

If you don't change with the times, the times are going to change you. — Marv Levy

My on-the-court game was ordinary. I had a jumper but needed screens. I could go right but not left. — Marv Albert

I feel I'm better now than I ever have been. You learn so much as you're doing it. I'm watching tapes and I'll see things that get me annoyed and where I know I can improve. I understand better letting the crowd play more. I've always said it was important for me who I was working with, because I like to kid around a lot. But I've also learned to use my partner better. I'm feeling good. There's no reason to stop. — Marv Albert

Did I ever think at the time, when I was with the Alouettes and the Chicago Blitz, that I would be head-coaching a team in the Super Bowl? It would be hard to believe. Is it a dream come true? Yes. — Marv Levy

Are you any relation to your brother Marv? — Leon Wood

I consider myself a Chicagoan, and if anybody else does, that gratifies me. — Marv Levy

What it takes to win is simple, it's not easy. — Marv Levy

If we control the ball, they pay. — Marv Dunphy

I've always been entranced by writing. — Marv Levy

So, when I spotted a cougar stretched out on a thick pine tree branch near the park gates, I wasn't surprised. I can't say the same for the women clinging to the branch above the cat. she was the one screaming. The cougar-a ragged-ear old top I clled Marv-just stared at her, like he couldn't believe anyone would be dumb to climb a tree to escape a cat. — Kelley Armstrong

Volleyball is one of the most interactive games going. It is a game of intuition, imagination, improvisation - but most of all, of reciprocity - of teamwork. There is no way to free-lance in volleyball. — Marv Dunphy

My strong game was ping pong. Relentless ... steady. — Marv Albert

If you believe you are doing a good job in which you enjoy and like, then don't resign regardless of the pressures. — Marv Levy

She smells like angels ought to smell, the perfect woman ... the Goddess. Goldie. She says her name is Goldie. — Frank Miller

I'm about 75 pages into a book on poetry. I don't know if anybody wants to read it. It's on any broad variety of subjects. I walk down the street and think of a topic and jot it down and say, 'Okay, that's another one.' They go from the humorous to the serious to every topic imaginable. — Marv Levy

In radio, you are the game, so to speak - you have to describe every aspect. In TV, I've always felt less is more, and it's really a question of my setting up the color analyst more than anything else. — Marv Albert

Systems don't win, players do. — Marv Levy

My father Sam, by his lifelong example, displayed for me the virtues of an honest day's work and of great personal courage. — Marv Levy

(after Monster T shot himself)
"Smart guy," Joker said, and he laughed. "Lotta brains. — Marv Wolfman

World War II was a must win. — Marv Levy

For a long time, I was an assistant in the NFL to George Allen, and George was paranoid that other teams were cheating on him ... that they were offering bounties, that they were wiring our locker room, that they were putting food poisoning into the pregame meal of the other team's stars, stuff like that. — Marv Levy

It's impossible to work under conditions where they confused negativity with objectivity. You can't fool the fans. — Marv Albert

Experience should be a plus as long as it doesn't become complacency. If you say, 'We're not going to change; we didn't do it that way before,' then you've become too old. — Marv Levy

Security comes from earning it-not seeking it. — Marv Levy

Flag: What are you really up to?

Waller: You want the big picture?

Flag: No, I like being fed a steady stream of crap and kept in the dark like a mushroom. — Marv Wolfman

The 16 years have gone so fast. I came to Minnesota as a 19-year-old kid. Marv Grissom was the pitching coach, an old-timer who taught me quite a bit. Marv didn't like the way I stepped toward the plate. I had a tendency to throw across my body. So, he took me off to the side at Met Stadium and put a chair on the mound. If I threw across my body, I would step on the chair. Marv was trying to hurt me. I fooled him. I started stepping the right way. — Bert Blyleven

I know. Being evil is great. Who else besides super-villains and fortune five hundred companies can get away with not paying taxes? — Marv Wolfman

Chronological age is only an approximation of your functional age. — Marv Levy

Players know how to dribble, shoot and pass. The challenge is to teach them why they should do it a certain way, and when they should do it. — Marv Harshman

In Buffalo, you can't imagine how much people revere Fred Jackson because of his high character, his community involvement, coming from a Division III school. — Marv Levy

What you do should speak so loudly that no one will hear what you say. — Marv Levy

Steve Kerr, now coaching Golden State after eight tumultuous and very inconsistent years at TNT. — Marv Albert

I don't know if there ever has been anyone in the NFL who plays his position as well as Steve Tasker. — Marv Levy

I have stayed active. I do keep moving. But I should start swimming more. Great exercise. — Marv Levy

Working with the kind of talent that I've gotten to work with, like the cast of Sin City, it makes me think probably more fully dimensionally about what is going on behind their eyes. But I draw the way I draw, and ain't nothing gonna change that. Although, I draw Marv and I think, "Boy, I could throw a little Mickey [Rourke] in there." — Frank Miller

Bill Polian and I agreed when we first came together with the Buffalo Bills that we'd bring players only of high character to the team. — Marv Levy

There are people in New York who feel I should have more of a hometown approach. I feel we have to be a mirror and reflect what's happening on the court. — Marv Albert