Players First Quotes & Sayings

Josie glanced back to the TV. Again the players seemed to be celebrating some minor achievement. It offended the eye at first, then Josie grew to understand it. That's what's missing in my life, she thought. The celebration of every single moment, like those fucking idiots on TV. — Dave Eggers

Our coach was absolutely out of his head. He must have read Bear Bryant's book. We had 78 players out. The first day 35 quit. Twenty quit the second day. We ended with 17 players. It was depressing. — Merlin Olsen

We are looking to get counties to play their young England players earlier, and the first reports from the counties are that it is working well. It also helps us to prepare in a better fashion. — Andy Pick

When I played with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team, there was a huge gap between his ability and the ability of the other great players on that team. But what impressed me was that he was always the first one on the floor and the last one to leave. — Steve Alford

Each kid got a small allowance for helping with the harvests, and Kiernan would always head straight to the tobacco shop. Not for cigarettes. At first, he even threw the cigarettes away, but later he'd save them and sell them to the older kids to get enough money for another pack.
Kiernan didn't want the smokes. He wanted the baseball cards.
When we got back to the Farm, Kiernan would sketch out a baseball diamond in the dirt and we'd stage games with the players from the cards he collected. — Rysa Walker

English fans love spectacular players like Alan Shearer and that is exactly what United have now signed. He has magic in his boots. The first thing you notice about him is that he is incredibly quick and very, very powerful for such a young man. He has great, close control and his technique is excellent. He believes he can do anything with the ball, and that confidence makes him very special indeed. — Cristiano Ronaldo

Characteristics of a Team Player We all fit into different niches. Each of us must make the effort to contribute to the best of our ability according to our own individual talents. And then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group. Thus, I valued a player who cared for others and could lose himself in the group for the good of the group. I believe that quality makes for an outstanding player. It is also why the best players don't always make the best team. I mean by this that a gifted player, or players, who are not team players will ultimately hurt the team, whether it revolves around basketball or business. Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team. — John Wooden

The World Cup in 2010 is going to be the most inspirational thing ever to hit the streets in South Africa. For the first time, the World Cup won't just be something that is happening on the other side of the world think about the excitement-the biggest players, from all over the world, will be playing football in a stadium just round the corner from home. — Benni McCarthy

It occurred to me, then, how nearly real life resembles the first rehearsal of a play. We are all of us stumbling through it, doing our best to say the proper lines and make the proper moves, but not quite comfortable yet in the parts we've been given. Still, like players who trust that -despite all evidence to the contrary- the whole mess will make sense eventually, we keep on going, hoping that somehow things will work out for the best. — Gary L. Blackwood

The first few weeks of school were always surreal, like you landed on an alien planet with strange teachers and unfamiliar classrooms, even though the lockers and cafeteria seemed familiar. — S.M. Stevens

It's an honor to be playing with these four players and to be a part of their fifth World Series title and my first. — Mark Teixeira

I first thought maybe I'd do a banjo presentation record, where I'd play a couple of songs and get a bunch of other players to do the rest. Then I realized I had enough of my own songs to do an album of them. — Steve Martin

From the time I was 3, I wanted to be a major-league player. To accomplish that at 35, get my name on my jersey, be in the clubhouse with major-league players, see my family for the first time in three months, be in my home state and pitch the day I got called up, was incredible. — Jim Morris

The first task is to get to know the players really well-watching them as individuals in training and in match play-to see what is good in their natural game. Then, and only then, can we begin to outline the general tactics. — Helenio Herrera

Paul Scholes was the jewel in the crown, the first name on the teamsheet and unquestionably one of the finest England players of the age. He flourished at once in the international arena, which didn't surprise me given his fabulous all-round attributes. He had almost everything - talent, intelligence, courage. His only blemish, which he never really shook off, was his tackling. There was always the chance of that red mist coming down. Overall, though, Paul was a wonderful player and he's a lovely lad, a credit to his club and to himself. — Glenn Hoddle

If it is the case that you need just a first 11 and three or four more players, then why did Christopher Columbus sail to India to discover America? — Claudio Ranieri

First impressions matter more in basketball than in any other sport, and they can be savored only in person. Players can't hide behind pads or helmets, so we can stare at them, evaluate every move they make: running, jumping, walking, even ogling the cheerleaders. We can see every ripple and tattoo. If they're lazy, we can tell. — Bill Simmons

On one such Wednesday, Charlie introduced me to the game Warcraft 3. It was like no game I had ever played before. It enabled the player to build an army and battle against other players online. After the first round of Warcraft III, going up against John Jo and Charlie, I was captivated. The game was so much fun. I couldn't help but think about it every second for the next two days. When the following Friday arrived, we played it for most of the day and well into the night. — Anonymous

I kissed my first girl when I was 15, and then I lost my virginity when I was 17. So that's pretty good. It was just that when you're in high school, you're sort of forced into the normal world, where you're competing with the football players, just kind of in that world where somebody like me didn't quite fit in. — James Mercer

I think in the future we need to look at our youth department to provide more players for the first team think it is important for a club to have a good amount of players that have roots with the club and region. — Arsene Wenger

Football's about the young players, bringing youth team players through to the first team and hopefully getting the best out of them so they can go on to play for their country. — Wayne Rooney

I was an ambassador for Betway during the Rugby World Cup and at the moment I'm working as an ambassador for Artemis Investment Management. I also organised the first Rugby Aid in 2015. We had celebrities playing rugby against former England team players and raised a ton of money for Rugby For Heroes [a charity for former servicemen and women]. Only one celeb got crunched quite badly - Jaime Laing from Made in Chelsea ended up with cracked ribs. — Mike Tindall

I still miss the players and I miss the game and the strategy. The first couple years were really difficult. Now I realize I'll never coach again. It's still hard to go into the stadium on a game day, because it's hard to just be a fan. But it's easier now than it was the first two or three years. — Tom Osborne

The first time I met Leo Messi, I didn't know who he was, only that I couldn't believe the boots he was wearing. But he is like a brother to me. It was at the start of 2005, when I was with the Argentine under-17 squad and I saw him chatting with Ezequiel Garay and some other players about the boots he'd brought back from the U.S.A. — Sergio Aguero

If we're going to solve the problems in North Korea, the first thing we're going to have to do is start helping them get basic amenities like electricity, televisions, and DVD players over there. Otherwise, how can they watch 'Garden State'? — Zach Braff

you expect your teams and your players to be disciplined on the court and off, but that you have always been able to have those expectations of your players because your players know first and foremost that you care about them as people. When players know that their coach cares about them and has their best interest at heart, coaches can be demanding and players will always respond. — Carl J. Pierson

The first thing any coaching staff must do is weed out selfishness. No program can be successful with players who put themselves ahead of the team. — Johnny Majors

The first great chess players, including the world champion, got by perfectly well without constant coaches. — Anatoly Karpov

We have a lot of players in their first year. Some of them are also in their last year. — Bill Walsh

Hendrix was back there with a few of the others who were like my training wheels ... hearing him as a teenager taught me to look at the guitar in a different way - and how to tap into that thing inside of me that was already leaning toward improvisation. You learn other players' licks at first; then you take off the training wheels and start using the licks as building blocks to make your own thing. That's how influences work. somewhere in whatever I do, there's a little bit of Hendrix - plus about a hundred others — Junior Brown

Normally the first to read the small print, I had deliberately hidden away any paperwork that referred to this ridiculous task, and now I found myself kissing goodbye to a laptop, a mobile phone and two fully-loaded MP3 players, not to mention the halogen light that allowed me to work through the night if I so desired. I stared disconsolately out over the shimmering tarmac and wondered if I might be granted permission to shave my legs. — Tabitha McGowan

It is a well known fact that almost all the outstanding chess-players have been first-class analysts. — Mikhail Botvinnik

I pick first my best team, and my captain from that team and I only pick players that are on form. — Rudolph Straeuli

Actually it was easier than you'd think. We were the guys who had the opportunity to play for something. Only 26 players on the eight teams had that chance. We would wake up in the morning and have a reason to train. We are able to have four weeks to play at this level. Since the first day our policy was not to talk about the labor situation. Our goal was to win. We'll enjoy it for one night. Then the reality of the owners locking us out sets in. — Kris Draper

That first group of Manchester players allowed me to enjoy coaching at a very young age that motivated me to do it. If it wasn't good, I might have made a career change. — Steve Alford

A ballplayer has two reputations, one with the other players and one with the fans. The first is based on ability. The second the newspapers give him. — Johnny Evers

Even though there are some great keyboard players on the album, there are a number of songs with no keyboard on them and the backing is all guitar oriented. This is first time I've ever done this actually. — Lee Ritenour

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

I grew up watching my Dad, Uncles Ciaran Murray and Brendan Murray, and cousin, Aedin Murray, who were all national caliber Gaelic football players in Ireland. I try to watch as much Gaelic football as I can, it is my first love. I bleed Green, White, and Orange. Gaelic football players don't get paid to play, you play to represent your county that is more important than earning money. — Patrick Murray

What I found interesting about Slava Fetisov was that he went through three different generations of Soviet hockey. In the late 70's, he experienced the Miracle on Ice, and then in the 80's became with his teammates the Russian Five, the most dominant team in the history of hockey, and then helped bring down the hockey system when the Soviet Union collapsed and became one of the first players to play in the NHL, and then ultimately came back to Russia. — Gabe Polsky

When you look back you talk about legends of the game, he's certainly up there. Twenty trophies since 1994. He just seems to get better and better. I've had the honour of playing alongside him. The four years I've played alongside him, he is the best player, one of the first names on the manager's teamsheet. He is just a complete legend. There are not enough players like Paul Scholes around any more for my liking. 'Legend' is over-used but this guy is right up there with the very best. — Dwight Yorke

First and foremost I am a teacher, I care. Caring is helping the players to develop — Lou Holtz

At River Belle we don't just listen to our customers, we also try to anticipate their demands and be the first to market with the features that become industry standards. This extended variety of games is a huge step toward creating a one-stop gaming experience that makes a world of difference for our players. — Tim Johnson

At the moment we've only got 16 first-team players and my initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician (the new Wolves manager gets the excuses in early!) — Mick McCarthy

First and foremost, Tendulkar is an entertainer and that for me is as important factor as any fact or figure. Too often boring players have been pushed forward as great by figures alone. For sheer entertainment, he will keep cricket alive. — Barry Richards

As financial market players know, advantage comes from reacting to news first. The same thing is true for all companies. When you start the conversation, you are recognised as someone who is plugged into the marketplace of ideas. If you talk about an idea early, you naturally get more exposure because the threads of conversation stem from what you have said. If you're in late you get lost in the cacophony. — David Meerman Scott

The statistics John Wesson has compiled in The Science of Soccer show that Premiership football players are vastly more likely to have been born in the first half of the school year. These were the biggest boys in the class and were thus selected for the school team. How fair is that? — Daniel Finkelstein

I notice that teams are now more interested in Japanese players than when I first went to Europe. — Hidetoshi Nakata

Or I could see Fish, Just a button up, Like a Mayor, Like a President, Just demands so much from his teammates, Has played with so many great players, But still respects everybody. He's 38 years old, And he has nothing else to prove, And I said, "Fish you wanna come get some shots up with me?" And first thing he says is "Yes." He always wants to learn. Even though he's done so much in this league, Played with so many great players, He always wants to learn, And that motivated me To know that it's never a point Where you can stop getting better. And he's a guy that made me realize that. — Kevin Durant

The young bloods of the South; sons of planters, lawyers about towns, good billiard players and sportsmen, men who never did any work and never will. War suits them.. They are splendid riders, first rate shots and utterly reckless. These men must all be killed or employed by us before we can hope for peace. — William Tecumseh Sherman

In any "age" there are always waves, the first gold rush where there are many players, then the crowning of a few kings where everything converges to a few places, and the third wave where the market is stable enough to accommodate several small players who serve particular niches. — Anonymous

I said to myself & to my coleagues at Melwood that I'd probably never play for a better club with a better players than Liverpool ever again, Then I went to Real Madrid & in 2009 we met Liverpool in the CL first knock-out round. Liverpool beat us 5-0 on aggregate. I wasn't happy because my team had lost but I was happy with my promise. I did NOT play for a better club with a better players than LIVERPOOL — Jerzy Dudek

Look for players with character and ability. But remember, character comes first. — Joe Gibbs

If my forward arrives in a one vs one situation, I always say: 'let him work it out.' Then my players say: But we can help him!'. My reply is: First, there's a good chance you'll only run in his way, and as a second attacker you're drawing a second defender with you, and two vs two is harder than one vs one.' — Johan Cruijff

You have to demand things and believe you're worth more. And once you do demand them, you're usually going to get them. The players who first came in were very humble because we came from obscurity. Today's players, on the other hand, have a sense of entitlement. — Sue Wicks

Actually, when I was very young, first starting to play, I think I probably listened more to clarinet players than to saxophones. — Gerry Mulligan

Give all the credit in the world to Angelique Kerber - great, great talent. She's been in the top 10 for the last four years, and she's one of those players that just really had a difficult time, when the chips were on the table, to kind of bring them over. And this time, she did it. I'm really happy for her because these chances don't come for these other players. Serena Williams has got 21 grand slam champions. Angelique Kerber was in her first final. — Howard Bryant

I'm not the first player to have their home Grand Slam and not perform. There have been a few Australians and French players, you name it. It's a tough thing. But it is one of those things. Would I rather have a Grand Slam in my country than not? I would. — Samantha Stosur

In the NFL you get one first-round draft pick if you're lucky. You couldn't really outwork anybody else. In college I could recruit ten players with first-round talent every year. — Nick Saban

Since the most important responsibility of a coach in regard to the actual playing of the game is to teach his players properly and effectively to execute the various fundamentals of the game, he is first of all a teacher. — John Wooden

And so the game went on in this manner, a throng of children playing keep-away from a bowling ball tossed back and forth between two plump ogres. The air filled with shrieks and cheers and shouts of laughter as daring players thrilled at the sport. That is, all but the few poor souls knocked flat and captured. No laughter rose from behind bars because those in the birdcage knew what was in store. They would soon be lunch for a couple of hungry ogres.
Now you might be thinking - didn't Gavin call it fun when he was swallowed by a wolf earlier? And didn't he tell that raven-haired girl it doesn't hurt to be swallowed whole by a bear? All true, all true. But here's a secret you might not know.
Ogres chew their food.
Luckily, it's only the first bite that stings. — Richelle E. Goodrich

The first thing I do when I get there-like all of the players on tour-is apply sunscreen. One of the few hazards of the job is the wear-and-tear our skin takes from the sun. — Karch Kiraly

This was the first time ever, since the legendary Pangu created the world, that suona players and professional funeral wailers were dueling for territory. — Liao Yiwu

For the first six years of his career, Sammy Sosa was one of the least patient players in the game. He could hit the long ball and steal a base, but he was undisciplined. — Bill Dedman

Cristiano Ronaldo's was the most exciting debut I've ever seen. There have been a few players described as 'The New George Best' over the years, but this is the first time it's been a compliment to me. — George Best

When we're considering investing in a startup, we first want to know that the entrepreneur has a clear understanding of the market. Who are the major players? What about this market is ripe for disruption? What is this startup's unfair advantage to disrupt this market? In the first conversation we have with a company, these are questions that we're looking for clear answers to. — Mike Belsito

Famed basketball coach Phil Jackson, a meditator himself, arranged to have his players - first the Chicago Bulls, and then the L.A. Lakers - learn meditation as a way to improve their focus and teamwork. Jackson finds that mindfulness assists players in paying attention to what's happening on the court moment by moment. Such precise training in attention has paid off during tense playoffs; Jackson has led more teams to championships than any coach in NBA history. Meditation — Sharon Salzberg

In some ways, I was a little bit surprised [by how dominant we were] but then I look at the players in our changing room and it doesn't surprise me because we've got quality in there. If we click and play well like we did in the first half, we can open up any team. — Rio Ferdinand

After giving a student the basic mating patterns and strategies you must begin giving them advanced concepts. At first these ideas will not make sense, many players will have a vague idea of what you are talking about but nothing more. Even a fragmented understanding of these concepts will prove useful though, and eventually they will improve as these lessons are assimilated by repetition and example. — Jeremy Silman

Football helmets were first designed to protect against skull fractures, but users get more than skull fractures. We need to take a look at this to see if there is any way to improve safety. We need to set some standards, because the ones now are not protecting players to the highest level. — G. K. Butterfield

Never accept limitations. — Jake Byrne

The first is the political tale of how thirteen colonies came together and agreed on the decision to secede from the British Empire. Here the center point is the Continental Congress, and the leading players, at least in my version, are John Adams, John Dickinson, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. — Joseph J. Ellis

For a lot of the players it was their first exposure to the Southern female - the most flagrant cheater in the mutual disarmament pact known as feminism. Lipstick! Hairdos! Submissiveness! — Michael Lewis

I feel confident that we will have a beginning, middle and end, in this season, and it was wise of NBC to then call it what it really is, which is a mini-series. "24" is a really good example, in that there was a definitive beginning, middle and end for the first season. They had a slightly different format than we have, but the second season just retained Jack Bauer and a few other players, with the same basic format and idea, but it was a completely different show. — Remi Aubuchon

Those organisations, al-Qaeda being the first one, have all settled in areas full of mining and oil resources or in geostrategic zones. They settled in Afghanistan which underground is filled with oil and lithium. North Mali is filled with mining resources (uranium). It is essential to question the impact and role of some international players that create or let those organisations settle there. — Tariq Ramadan

Destructive Abundance is what I call the result of this imbalance. It is what happens when selfish pursuits are out of balance with selfless pursuits. When the levels of dopamine-incentivized behaviors overwhelm the social protections afforded by the other chemicals. When protecting the results is prioritized above protecting those who produce the results. Destructive Abundance happens when the players focus almost exclusively on the score and forget why they set out to play the game in the first place. — Simon Sinek

People say I'll be drafted in the first round, maybe even higher. — Craig Heyward

After fifteen years of facing them (pitchers) you don't really get over them. They're devious. They're the only players in the game allowed to cheat. They throw illegal pitches and they sneak foreign substances on the ball. They can inflict pain whenever they wish. And, they're the only ones on the diamond who have high ground. That's symbolic. You know what they tell you in a war - 'take the high ground first.' — Richie Ashburn

I would love to see as many of the black players as possible in today's Major League Baseball make every effort to go to the Negro Leagues Museum and get a first-hand view of how it all started. — Ferguson Jenkins

Young players expose themselves to grave risks when they blindly imitate the innovations of masters without themselves first checking all the details and consequences of these innovations. — Alexander Alekhine

The best thing that a coach can have is experience. The first time that you're going out to lead a team on the field, you have certainly thought about what you're going to say, but it gets easier as you go. You'll learn what works and what doesn't, not just about what you do on the field but what you say to players to get them motivated. — Vince Kehres

Players who are committed to the team first will find a way to help when things are going bad, they will do whatever it takes. Kids that are more into themselves will not do that. They will take care of themselves and get more individual when things are tough. — Dick Bennett

I know some players like being the centre of attention and I admit that when I first became a player I liked fame, too. But that feeling lasted only for three months. Then I realised what it was really like to be the centre of attention all the time. It isn't all good. — Mario Balotelli

I am basically turning football players into sprinters for a while. When we first talked about it, I didn't know how my expertise could be used. — Ato Boldon

For the first time, we have the genetic sequences of all three of the players in the global malaria debacle: the parasite, the anopheles mosquito and the human. It's a very important milestone. — Anthony Fauci

First-class players lose to second-class players because second-class players sometimes play a first-class game — Siegbert Tarrasch

The thing about the banjo is, when you first hear it, it strikes many people as 'What's that?' There's something very compelling about it to certain people; that's the way I was; that's the way a lot of banjo players and people who love the banjo are. — Steve Martin

The first year I started hockey, I didn't know how to skate, so I got on the ice with all of the hockey players, and we were doing drills where we had to go backwards in figure eights. And I could not skate, and I just kept falling on my butt, and it was very embarrassing. — Shawn Mendes

If one of our players gets his second foul in the first half, then he must come out of the game and not re-enter until the second half. To play defense and not foul is an art that must be mastered if you are going to be successful. — Chuck Daly

I am here to give my players the little push they need, just like they needed long ago, when first learning the art of the swing. All you needed then was a little push, and quickly you were pumping away, flying higher and higher, without any more help from the 'coach.' — John Kessel

Playing catch is often the first professional act of the day, it's a transition from personal life to team business. Lastly, as all position players think they can pitch, at least half of us are working on our off-speed stuff likely at the detriment of our elbows and shoulders, but we can't help it. It's too much fun. My changeup has come a long way since high school. — Fernando Perez

Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically but you have to find first what you are good at. — Viswanathan Anand

It would have been unthinkable for anyone on the block not to know the names of the players, their batting averages, and the win-loss record of the pitchers. We knew who they were playing on a given day, where they were playing, who was pitching, and how many games out of first place they might be. We also knew as much information about their personal lives as the baseball cards we flipped and traded provided. Most of our contact with the Dodgers came through the radio and TV play-by-play commentary of Red Barber and Vin Scully, who were as familiar to us as the players. Ebbets — Bernie Sanders

A tragedy's first act is crowded with supporting players, policeman scribbling in pads and making radio calls, witnesses crimping their faces, EMS guys folding equipment. — Darin Strauss

When I was coaching, the one thought that I would try to get across to my players was that everything I do each day, everything I say, I must first think what effect it will have on everyone concerned. — Frank Layden

The team comes first. We want to keep all of our players. We want to take care of all of our players, but the team comes first. — Bob McNair

Instead of speaking about Real Madrid, Mr Wenger should speak about Arsenal and explain how he lost 2-0 against a team in the Champions League for the first time [Braga]. The history about the young kids is getting old now. Sagna, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Van Persie, Arshavin are not kids. They are all top players. — Jose Mourinho

Numerous things that go on such as the way Houston interacts with my family; we're treated in a first-class way. They helped us when my wife lost our baby daughter in a miscarriage. They help with anything you ask of them because they are a very caring organization with positive attitudes about its players. — Johnathan Joseph

The market is like a machine that needs to be constantly excited. It needs to constantly produce wealth and more excitement. There are some leading players who are always there before everyone else, and they set market trends, they make people safe about the excitement. Of course, those who buy it first are the first to drop it. It's an ongoing game. — Maurizio Cattelan

My focus was always first and foremost to stop the puck. I never let the other players on the other team get to me. — Andy Moog